Thursday 1st August

Thursday, 1 August 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Overnight beds at Yeovil Hospital are being freed up thanks to a new bladder cancer treatment. Somerset Council is selling a business centre, office building and several regeneration sites in South Somerset to raise much-needed cash. A trail to encourage people across Somerset to support their local pub is back after five years...and more

Overnight beds at Yeovil Hospital are being freed up thanks to a new bladder cancer treatment. Over the past year, urologists have used a portable handheld laser device to treat small tumours. It's safer, less invasive and quicker than surgery, allowing patients to go home on the same day they receive treatment.

The families of three Somerset swimmers who, together with teammate Duncan Scott made history by retaining their Gold medal in the 4 by 200 m Freestyle, have paid tribute to the team. The quartet, which includes James Guy, Matt Richards, and Tom Dean, have become the first team to win Gold in two consecutive Olympic games.

A business centre, office building and several regeneration sites in Yeovil and South Somerset are being sold off by Somerset Council to help balance the books. Included are the Boden Centre, on Silver Street in Chard, Fiveways Resource Centre on Ilchester Road in Yeovil, Yeovil Small Business Centre on Memorial Road in Yeovil, and 92 acres of land at Thorney Marsh near Castle Cary. The government has permitted Somerset Council to use the proceeds from selling the properties to fund its day-to-day spending. ISomerset Council is selling off a total of 22 sites in the hope of raising between £17 and £21 million, over the next 18 months.

St John’s Almshouse in Sherborne is to get a major makeover – including the creation of a new tea room, alongside affordable accommodation. A joint scheme, involving the Almshouse and Sherborne Abbey, will see space retained for affordable accommodation, with the downstairs of the property becoming a tearoom. Other rooms upstairs will also be used for a young people’s centre and community group meetings. A public meeting for all interested parties to find out more and share views will take place at the Almshouse in the coming weeks.

A trail to encourage people across Somerset to support their local pub is back after five years. It's being run by the local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale with fifty pubs across the county taking part.

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.