Monday 27th January

Monday, 27 January 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

A major incident has been declared by Somerset Council to ensure a multi-agency response to the flash flooding that's affected Chard, Crewkerne, Ilminster, South Petherton and parts of Yeovil. Police believe a 4x4 pick-up truck, found submerged in the River Yeo at Yeovilton at the weekend, may have been stolen. An appeal to raise £2 million to restore the Grand Organ at Wells Cathedral has raised over £1 million in less than 18 months...and more

A major incident has been declared by Somerset Council to ensure a multi-agency response to the flash flooding that's affected Chard, Crewkerne, Ilminster, South Petherton and parts of Yeovil. It's also set up two rest centres in Ilminster and Chard. 12 flood warnings are in place across the county and a number of schools have been closed.

Police believe a 4x4 pick-up truck found submerged in the River Yeo at Yeovilton may have been stolen. Emergency services were called to the Rivers Yeo in Weir Lane after a vehicle was spotted floating in the water on Saturday. Police divers searched for the driver but no one was found. Police say enquiries are continuing and ask anyone with information to call the non-emergency number 101 (Photo courtesy of Michael Clark).

A man who threatened to kill a support worker at the mental health unit where he lived in Yeovil has been sentenced to a community order. Matthew Hunniset, aged 23, of Bladen Valley, Briantspuddle, pleaded guilty to assaulting Hannah Martin and using or threatening unlawful violence towards her. After receiving a pre-sentence report from the Probation Service, magistrates in Yeovil told Hunniset they had come close to sending him to prison. Instead, they sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 30 rehabilitation activity days and a 120-day tagged alcohol treatment order. He was also ordered to pay the victim £250 compensation.

The owners of Chard Bookshop on Pig Lane in Chard are closing the business for good at the end of the week. In thanking the local community for their support over the past six years, co-owner Stevie Kesham blamed rising operating costs, over which they have no control, for the decision to close the business.

An appeal to raise £2 million to restore the Grand Organ at Wells Cathedral has reached the halfway point, raising just over £1 million in less than 18 months. Appeal organisers, the Friends of Wells Cathedral, say they’re hoping to start the refurbishment next year.

One of our local pubs has reopened after being closed for refurbishments. The Lord Nelson on Rectory Lane in Norton-Sub- Hamdon, has reopened with a brand-new bar after being shut since the start of the New Year.

Free face-to-face dementia clinics are returning to Yeovil this week. The sessions, hosted by Dementia UK's Admiral Nurses, offer practical and emotional support to people affected by dementia. They will take place over three days starting tomorrow at the Yeovil branch of Nationwide, in Middle Street.

More from News

Monday 16th June

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.