Thursday 17th July

Thursday, 17 July 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he has serious concerns about plans that could see the closure of inpatient beds at Crewkerne Community Hospital. Ilminster residents are being asked to vote in a referendum on adopting a new neighbourhood plan for the town. An event in which people take part in a race against horses is returning to Somerset later this year...and more

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he has serious concerns about plans that could see the closure of inpatient beds at Crewkerne Community Hospital. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that converting Crewkerne Hospital into a neighbourhood health centre, with the closure of all 20 inpatient beds, is under consideration. Mr Dance says if the changes go ahead, it will impact Yeovil Hospital and Somerset's other hospitals.

A Dorset man has been sentenced after admitting to being the cause of a fatal crash at Yeovilton. Cyrus Bailey, aged 20, failed to give way at a junction, colliding with a car driven by Christine Ibbotson in May last year. She died in hospital three days later. Appearing before magistrates in Yeovil, Bailey was given an 18-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months for causing death by careless driving.

People in Ilminster are being asked to vote in a referendum on adopting a new neighbourhood plan for the town. The vote, in which residents will be asked to support or reject Somerset Council using the neighbourhood plan to make decisions on planning applications, takes place on Thursday, August 21st.

The trial of a couple accused of murder and causing or allowing the death of their premature baby has heard that he would have been dead for at least 30 minutes before they raised the alarm. Two-week-old Brendon Staddon was found with injuries to his head and neck in the special baby care unit at Yeovil Hospital in March of last year. Daniel Gunter and Sophie Staddon, of no fixed address, deny charges of murder and causing or allowing the child's death. The trial at Bristol Crown Court continues.

An event in which people take part in a race against horses is returning to Somerset this year. Man v Horse has been running in Wales but this year a Somerset version will be held on the Quantock Hills in October.

More from News

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
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more