Extra precautions to fight off Covid have been put in place at 43 schools in the County. A Somerset woman is calling for greater awareness of a condition in children who were exposed to alcohol in the womb. A tapestry dating from the 15th century has been returned for public display at Montacute House. The title of "world's best cider" for 2021 has been won by a brand outside Somerset...and more.
Extra precautions to fight off Covid have been put in place at 43 schools in the County, including in Yeovil and across South Somerset. Somerset County Council is asking families with children from nursery to college age to take a Covid test twice each week.
A Somerset woman is calling for greater awareness of a condition in children who were exposed to alcohol in the womb. New research shows there could be up to half a million young people in the UK affected by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. It can lead to lifelong physical, mental and behavioral problems, but often goes undiagnosed. Amanda Boorman adopted two young boys with the condition and says she has struggled to get their condition treated.
A tapestry dating from the 15th century has been returned for public display at Montacute House, near Yeovil, following four years of the restoration project. It shows a medieval knight in armour parading across a background of a thousand flowers. The National Trust spent 1,300 hours cleaning and strengthening the tapestry.
The title of "world's best cider" for 2021 has been won by a brand outside Somerset. Despite the county's famous orchards, local producers were pipped to the post in the World Cider Awards by ‘Farmhouse Still’ a cider made by St Ives Cider of Cornwall.
No money has been committed to major new road projects in Somerset. A road linking Chard and Clayhanger has been closed after it collapsed due to badgers burrowing under the surface. The Bishop of Bath and Wells is on day-2 of his pilgrimage across Somerset to mark the holy week of Easter... and more
Somerset Council says it doesn’t have the money to install solar panels on the roof of the Octagon Theatre. Three men have been charged in connection with an investigation into a hunt in Somerset. Changes have been announced to the times of waste collections in Somerset over the Easter holidays... and more
Avon and Somerset Police say its armed officers attended 2,700 incidents in Somerset last year. Plans have been submitted to build 40 new homes in Curry Rivel. South Western Ambulance is offering free CPR and defibrillator training to help improve cardiac arrest survival rates...and more
There's been a big improvement in ambulance response times in Somerset. Three local people have been charged with offences linked to the theft and supply of prescription-only drugs. A fragment of a jawbone found in a cave in Cheddar Gorge appears to show that humans kept dogs as pets as far back as 5,000 years ago... and more
Somerset Council is offering food vouchers during the school easter holidays to families whose children receive free school meals. A local man has been charged in connection with an incident involving a firearm in Yeovil. The Environment Agency says it could take up to 10 years to protect homes at Holway House Park and Home Farm Park in Ilminster from flooding...and more.
Yeovil MP Adam Dance has raised concerns in the House of Commons about the planned closure of Yeovil Hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Police in Yeovil are appealing for information after a man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm. A 13-year-old terrier named Mole has been rescued after becoming trapped underground...and more
Yeovil College has received a glowing report following an Ofsted inspection. The main road between Chard and Ilminster is to be better protected from flooding. A six-thousand-year-old wooden walkway has been uncovered on the Somerset Levels... and more
A wildcat helicopter belonging 815 Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton has been in action tracking two Russian ships in the English Channel. People living in Somerset will have to pay to use Dorset’s household waste recycling centres from today. A road in Ilminster has closed to traffic today and will stay shut for the next ten days... and more