Monday 3rd August

Monday, 3 August 2026 06:00

By Steve Haigh

A yellow Heat Health Alert is in force across Somerset today. The swimming and leisure centre in Street remains closed following last Thursday's flooding in the plant room. Plans for a new primary school in Chard have been delayed until at least 2030... and more

A yellow Heat Health Alert is in force across Somerset today. The warning means there's an increased risk to vulnerable people, including the elderly, with health and social care services also expected to come under additional pressure.

The swimming and leisure centre in Street remains closed following last Thursday's flooding in the plant room. Freedom Leisure says electrical contractors are due on site today, with the centre expected to reopen later this week.

Plans for a new primary school in Chard have been delayed until at least 2030. Somerset Council had hoped the school, on the Holyrood Academy site, would open by September 2027. The authority says rising construction costs, falling birth rates and delays to new housing developments have forced the project back.

A member of staff at Crispin School in Street has been dismissed after being filmed making comments about Black and Asian pupils during an anti-immigration protest in Taunton. Wessex Learning Trust says the remarks do not reflect the school's values and confirmed the woman will not be returning in September.

Somerset Council will spend just over twenty-three million pounds on parking enforcement over the next eight years. The new contract follows the expiry of the authority's previous agreement and is intended to ensure enforcement continues without disruption.

A Tintinhull man has been banned from driving for three years after admitting drink and drug driving. Thirty-year-old Dale James Campbell, of Bearley Lane, was stopped by police in Yeovil after his vehicle was found to have no insurance or MOT. He was also fined eight hundred pounds and ordered to pay four hundred pounds in court costs.

The Gateway café at Yeovil Community Church has applied for a licence to serve alcohol from eleven in the morning until eleven at night, seven days a week. Somerset Council is inviting representations before making a decision.

More from News

Tuesday 18th August

People across Somerset are banned from today from using hosepipes to water gardens, clean windows or cars, or fill swimming and paddling pools. More cases of the potentially deadly livestock disease Bluetongue have been confirmed in Somerset. Work is underway to improve disabled access at Holyrood Academy in Chard... and more
Monday 17th August

Wessex Water, who supplies almost all homes and businesses in Somerset, has introduced a hosepipe ban effective from midnight tonight. A sinkhole on Station Road in Castle Cary has been repaired, two years after it was first discovered. A Wildcat helicopter from RNAS Yeovilton has taken part in the annual passing-out parade at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth... and more
Friday 14th August

Police are investigating an incident in which obscene words were scratched onto the World War One memorial at Ham Hill. Yeovil MP Adam Dance has repeated his call for the upgrade of the town’s police station to include a custody suite. A Somerset carnival club is building a specially adapted float to allow a wheelchair user and her assistance dog to take part in this year’s carnival circuit...and more
Thursday 13th August

An Ilminster family is celebrating after winning one million pounds on the National Lottery. Police have released a picture of a man they want to speak to in connection with suspected frauds in Somerset. Somerset Council has opened a tendering process to find a main contractor for the £15 million upgrade of Yeovil’s Octagon theatre... and more
Wednesday 12th August

Experts say with good visibility forecast for this evening, people across Somerset should have some of the best views of the solar eclipse anywhere in the UK. A Somerset councillor is calling for the Stop Line cycle route between Chard and Ilminster to be better supported. It's 40-years ago this week since a Lynx helicopter built in Yeovil set a new World Helicopter Speed Record... and more
Tuesday 11th August

Wessex Water says a hosepipe ban is possible if customers fail to cut their water usage. A record number of illegal dog fights were reported in Somerset last year. Yeovil Town's Mason Obeng has won the traditional sack of potatoes, given to the player who scores Yeovil's first goal of the new season, as a lucky omen... and more
Monday 10th August

A local councillor claims anti-social behaviour is putting people off coming into Yeovil town centre. South-West Water has announced a hosepipe ban in the Chard area. Great Western Railway has apologised after a wheelchair user from Chard became stuck at one of its stations... and more
Friday 7th August

Chard's biggest employer, Numatic International, makers of the Henry vacuum cleaner, has announced job cuts. A new Neighbourhood Plan for Hatch Beauchamp has officially been adopted. Two historic artefacts taken from Glastonbury Abbey more than 70 years ago have been returned...and more