Thursday 4th September

Thursday, 4 September 2025 06:00

A new leisure complex on the edge of Yeovil will be built, after plans were approved by Somerset Council. Landmarks across the south-west will be illuminated from Monday to mark Air Ambulance Week. YAOS are hoping to trace passengers stranded at Gander Airport in Newfoundland after the 9/11 attacks...and more.

A new leisure complex on the edge of Yeovil will be built after Somerset Council approved plans. The development, including a gym, spa, two swimming pools, soft play and a business area, will be constructed on the Bunford Park employment zone on the corner of the A3088 and Watercombe Lane to the west of the town. Construction is expected to begin within the next six months and is anticipated to create the equivalent of 100 full-time jobs once it is fully operational.

Landmarks across the south-west will be illuminated from Monday to mark Air Ambulance Week. The annual event raises awareness for the 21 air ambulance charities across the country, highlighting the organisations’ life-saving work and raising funds for their continued operation. Glastonbury Tor and Wookey Hole are amongst the six sites set to be illuminated yellow and green on Monday night.

Use Ilminster’s public bins correctly, or risk losing them. That’s the message from the Town Council, who are asking the public to stop putting household waste in the recreation ground bins and warning that otherwise the facilities will be permanently removed. The Council report that oven chip packages, plant cuttings and even discarded saucepans have recently been discovered in the bins, leading to refuse overflowing at the recreation ground. There have been similar problems with inappropriate rubbish outside the Co-op.

The Yeovil Amateur Operatic Society are working to trace passengers who were stranded at Gander Airport in Newfoundland after the September 11th terror attacks. Their latest production is ‘Come From Away’, a stage musical based on real events, where 38 airliners carrying 7,000 passengers had to divert and land at the airport urgently. It is thought that several people from South Somerset and North Dorset were caught up in the 2001 events, and the society would like to hear people’s stories and get them to meet the cast. If you can help, you can contact them on their website www.yaos.org

More from News

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