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.
Expectant mothers are using Yeovil Hospital once again to give birth following the reopening of the maternity unit. A Yeovil man has been jailed for four years for committing sexual offences against two young girls. Plans have been approved to convert a pub in Milborne Port into housing... and more
NHS Somerset has delayed closing the hyper-acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. A former Avon and Somerset Police officer has been jailed for making indecent images of children. A Somerset man has been fined after pleading guilty to hunting a wild animal with dogs... and more
Nearly one hundred roads in Somerset will be surface dressed this summer to prevent further damage. Almost all children starting primary school in Somerset in September have been offered a place at one of their top three school choices. People in Somerset are being asked to record wild mammals in gardens and other green spaces over the summer... and more
Yeovil MP Adam Dance has backed calls for a cap on heating oil prices. Invitations are being sent out to those in Somerset eligible for the latest Covid vaccine. A pub near Chard has closed just four months after reopening... and more
Wessex Water has been told to pay £300,000 after a sewer spilled into the River Yeo killing dozens of fish. The Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton has been given a grant of half a million pounds. Today marks the official opening of the new visitor centre at Ham Hill... and more
Yeovil College has been upgraded to a Defence Technical Excellence College. Somerset Council is taking legal action against a housing developer that owes £35,000 in contributions towards local services in Broadway. An Ilminster couple have covered the first 400 miles of their epic walk around the coastline of mainland Britain... and more
Avon and Somerset Police has launched a new five-year plan to tackle anti-social behaviour. Additional GP appointments will soon be available at three local surgeries, following a £1 million investment to upgrade NHS facilities in Somerset. A Stoke-sub-Hamdon couple whose daughter died of cancer have raised £128,000 in her memory... and more
Yeovil MP Adam Dance is calling for better support for survivors of domestic abuse living in rural communities. The RSPB in Somerset is urging people to stop feeding birds to prevent the spread of disease. Yeovil Town Football Club says an issue that had threatened it with removal from the register at Companies House has been resolved... and more