Monday 4th March

Monday, 4 March 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

The Government has given Somerset Council the go-ahead to use income from selling property assets to pay day-to-day running costs. A councillor in Chard has started a petition calling for a rethink of plans to close Sunnymeade Care Home in the town. Ticket inspectors have been employed to travel on buses in Somerset to check that passengers have valid tickets...and more.

Somerset Council has been given the go-ahead to sell property assets and use the income to pay the Council’s day-to-day running costs. Somerset is one of nineteen councils in England suffering financial problems to be given government approval to use capital receipts from asset sales to top-up spending on services. Somerset Council will now take out a loan of £77 million over 20 years, paying it back as properties are sold.

A new contract has been issued to run the Number One bus service between Yeovil and Shepton Mallet. South West Coaches will operate the service, with changes to the route and timetable from April 15th. The Number One bus provides an important transport link for students living in Castle Cary, needing to get to Strode College in Street.

A councillor in Chard has started an online petition calling for a rethink of plans to close Sunnymeade Care Home in Chard. Councillor Connor Payne says shutting the home would lose Chard yet another vital provision and have a big impact on residents, their families, and staff at the home. Somerset Care, who run Sunnymeade, say the home is no longer fit for purpose and updating the building would make the home financially unviable.

Ticket inspectors will be travelling on buses in Somerset from this week checking that passengers have valid tickets. Revenue Protection Officers are being employed by First Bus to carry out the checks. Passengers are advised to have their tickets ready to show or risk a £50 fine.

Glastonbury Festival has opened a prize draw to raise money for charities supporting people affected by conflict. Twenty tickets for this year’s sold-out festival are up for grabs with the draw open to the end of March. Organisers say the money raised will be donated to the British Red Cross, Oxfam and War Child.

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Friday 31st July

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
Thursday 30th July

The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Wednesday 29th July

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
Tuesday 28th July

The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Monday 27th July

Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Friday 24th July

Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
Thursday 23rd July

The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Wednesday 22nd July

Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more