Monday 24th February

Monday, 24 February 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

The Leonardo Group, which owns the Leonardo Helicopter factory in Yeovil, has announced strong full-year results for 2024. A new bus station could be built in Langport. Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident in which a dog was fatally injured in Yeovil...and more

The Leonardo Group, which owns the Leonardo Helicopter factory in Yeovil, has announced strong full-year results for 2024. Orders increased significantly, reporting a 16.8% increase, reaching £16.5 billion compared to 2023.

A new bus station could be built in Langport. The town has been chosen in preference to Somerton for the new bus interchange, which is aimed at improving rural routes in the County. £510,000 will be spent building the interchange but Somerset Council aren’t saying when it will happen.

Somerset Council, which’s facing a funding gap of £52 million beginning in April, has been thrown a further lifeline by the government to avoid going bankrupt. After the government gave the Council permission to raise council tax by 7.5%, it has now said it can raise £63 million by borrowing more money or selling assets to meet day-to-day spending. However, Somerset Council has been told that it cannot dispose of community and heritage assets to balance its books.

Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident in which a dog was fatally injured in Yeovil. The dog was with its owner in Combe Street Lane at around 6 am on Saturday, February 1st when it was hit by a car. Police say the vehicle left the scene without stopping. If you witnessed the accident or have dashcam footage call the non-emergency number 101.

The CEO of Visit Somerset, Giles Adams, says proposed changes in charges at Somerset Council-run car parks are the latest in a series of attempts to suffocate businesses in this county. Under the proposals, free parking at council-run car parks will end, together with the introduction of Sunday and overnight charges. Mr Adams claims evening visitors and those living in town, will have to pay to park, and that further pressure will be put on evening entertainment venues.

Yeovil Freewheelers has been presented with £380 by Ilminster and District Lions. The Freewheelers Blood Bikes transports urgently needed medical items across Somerset and Dorset.

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The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.