Thursday 16th May

Thursday, 16 May 2024 07:00

By Steve Haigh

Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.

Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road by the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil will continue for another two months. Wales and West Utilities say temporary traffic lights on Dorchester Road and Hendford Hill will remain until the end of May. After that, temporary lights and a one-way system will operate on Hendford Hill until early August, causing delays to traffic.

Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. The Council says it can’t afford the £70,000 needed to keep the toilets open and they will shut on May 31st. The Council says a deal struck with Somerset Bus Partnership and First Bus will keep the waiting room open for a few more months. Meanwhile, Yeovil Town Council is to take on the running of more services from cash-strapped Somerset Council. Yeovil Town Council has already agreed to take over running the Westlands Entertainment Venue, Octagon Theatre, Ninesprings Country Park and Yeovil Rec, adding around one million pounds to its share of the Council tax. Now, it will run open spaces in Yeovil, including play parks and Yeovil in Bloom, at an annual cost of £350,000.

Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has started a business as a gardener. Josh, who was released by the Glovers last season, says he always planned to start a business when his time ended as a full-time professional footballer.

The number of Bitterns on the Somerset Levels has reached record numbers. Somerset Wildlife Trust says it recently recorded 41 male bitterns on their nature reserves in the Avalon Marshes.

Three sisters are planning to walk from Crewkerne to Lyme Regis raising funds for St Margaret’s Hospice in memory of their late mother. Sisters, Annabel Gray, Laura Tucker, and Sophie Blatchford will set off on the nineteen-mile Liberty Trail to Lyme Regis on Saturday, June 1st, in memory of Caroline Taylor, who died last September.

More from News

Wednesday 18th March

The murder of a two-week-old baby by his father at Yeovil Hospital could not have been predicted, according to a new report. A road in Ilminster is to close to traffic for eleven days later this month. A new Post Office counter is to open in Somerton... and more
Tuesday 17th March

The government is being asked to help fund Somerset's carnivals. Bridgwater Town Council wants more trains to stop at the town’s railway station. A fund raising pie throwing event is taking place for Red Nose Day in Chard... and more
Monday 16th March

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
Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more