Monday 16th March

Monday, 16 March 2026 05:00

By Steve Haigh

Drivers are being told that it could take several more weeks yet before Hendford Hill in Yeovil reopens to traffic. A new bus service between Glastonbury and Castle Cary railway station is to start on a trial basis. Children in Chard are being given free reading books as part of a scheme founded by Dolly Parton... and more

Drivers are being told that it could take several more weeks yet before Hendford Hill in Yeovil reopens to traffic. The road was closed in both directions in February following a landslip. Somerset Council has carried out work to reduce the height of the trees on an embankment but says the land remains unstable. The council says it’s considering building a barrier along the embankment, but that it would narrow the road.

A new bus service between Glastonbury and Castle Cary railway station is to start on a trial basis. Glastonbury TrainLink has been campaigning for a route via Pilton and Shepton Mallet to Castle Cary and has been awarded a £150,000 grant by Somerset Council to cover the cost of the service for an initial six months.

A date’s been announced for a judicial review into plans to build up to 765 new homes at Up Mudford near Yeovil. The Friends of Mudford Action Group is taking action against the Abbey Manor Group and Bloor Homes, who want to build on land on both sides of the main A359. The Friends of Mudford Action Group say increased flood risk, loss of landscape and historic anthrax contamination are reasons why the development should not go ahead as currently described. The judicial review will be heard by a judge at Bristol Crown Court on April 28th.

Children in Chard are being given free reading books as part of a scheme founded by Dolly Parton. Chard Community Hub has been donated four thousand pounds to pay for the scheme, which will see children get a free reading book every month up to the age of five.

A support group in South Somerset for people living with M.E. and Long Covid has received a £500 donation. The money was raised by the Ilton charity bingo group and will be used to help improve the lives of people with M.E. and Long Covid. The M.E./Long Covid Support Group meets on the second Thursday of each month at Donyatt Village Hall.

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Wednesday 22nd April

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
Tuesday 21st April

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
Monday 20th April

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
Friday 17th April

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
Thursday 16th April

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
Wednesday 15th April

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
Tuesday 14th April

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
Monday 13th April

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