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.

    Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told that the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. The unit was shut with little warning last month following safety concerns raised in an inspection report by the Care Quality Commission. It has meant expectant mothers in the Yeovil area have to travel to the Royal Hospital in Bath, County Hospital in Dorchester or Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton to give birth. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Dance said the decision to close the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital had been badly handled.

    Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers in Yeovil. The driver and the seven passengers on the coach made a quick exit when flames were spotted coming from the engine compartment. The incident happened at the crossroads at Vagg Hill. No one was hurt. 

    A Yeovil man has been given a suspended prison sentence after being convicted of a sexual assault against a teenager. Steven Hentschel, aged 54, was convicted of one count of sexual assault on a woman, who was 15 at the time and was given a 4-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. Hentschel was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and had his name put on the sex offenders register.

    The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase. William Eastment, aged 79, was arrested by police as he was about to fly home to the UK. 

    The churchyard at St John’s in Glastonbury has re-opened after being shut for the past month due to anti-social behaviour. 

    Silver Street in Ilminster will be closed to traffic this weekend. It’s to allow for a food and craft market to be held between the Market Square and Court Barton. Residents of Silver Street are kindly requested to remove their vehicles by 7:00 a.m. on Saturday.

    More from News

    • 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.

    • Wednesday 4th June

      Somerset Council states that gas canisters were responsible for igniting six fires at local sorting facilities last year. A leading medical academic in the South West says vaccine fatigue could be the reason why so many vulnerable people are not having a COVID-19 spring booster jab. Avon and Somerset Police say the waiting time for calls to be answered to the non-emergency number 101 has been cut to an average of 11 seconds...and more

    • Tuesday 3rd June

      Police say they have traced a man, believed to be a witness to an incident in Chard in which a teenager alleges she was sexually assaulted. A campaign has started aimed at cutting the number of motorcyclists, cyclists and e-scooter users killed and seriously injured on Somerset's roads. Yeovil Town Council has taken over the management of Yeovil's public parks after Somerset Council announced it could no longer afford to maintain them...and more.

    • Monday 2nd June

      The government's strategic defence review could shed light on the £1.3 million contract to build a new medium-lift helicopter for the Royal Air Force. Police investigating an incident in Chard, in which a teenager alleges she was sexually assaulted, are trying to trace a witness to what happened. Fifty homes could still be built in Castle Cary if an appeal proves successful...and more

    • Friday 30th May

      Yeovil Town Football Club has a new owner. Displays of birds and poultry at this year’s Royal Bath and West Show have been banned due to the spread of avian flu. Organisers of the Wessex Truck Show say they’ve cancelled holding it again in Yeovil. A storm thwarts a man from Martock's record-breaking attempt...and more.

    • Thursday 29th May

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance has secured an adjournment debate in Parliament to discuss the sudden closure of Yeovil's maternity unit. The Royal Bath and West Show 2025 opens today. The go-ahead has been given to demolish the Crispin Shopping Centre in Street and build a retirement complex in its place...and more

    • Wednesday 28th May

      Somerset Council is to spend £3m on employment consultants as it seeks to bring its four thousand staff onto the same terms and conditions. Film and TV production companies spent an estimated £4m making films in Somerset last year. The Wurzels have released a new single written by artificial intelligence in the hope it will take them to the top of the charts...and more

    • Tuesday 27th May

      The Government is to look at the circumstances behind the decision to close the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital. The Royal Bath and West Show opens this week with concerns being raised about the spread of Blue Tongue disease in farm animals. An 86-year-old Somerset man is preparing for his fourth skydive to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society...and more.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 19°C | Low: 11°C

    • Chard

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      High: 18°C | Low: 10°C

    • Crewkerne

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      High: 18°C | Low: 10°C

    • Somerton

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 18°C | Low: 11°C

    • Wincanton

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 18°C | Low: 10°C

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