Thursday 6th March

Thursday, 6 March 2025 at 05:00

By Steve Haigh

Somerset Council has approved a seven-and-a-half percent increase in council tax. People are being asked to return boxes of paracetamol bought from Boots Chemists in Somerset. It’s been revealed that five members of staff at Somerset Council are being allowed to work from home outside the UK...and more

Somerset Council has approved a seven-and-a-half percent increase in council tax. This means a typical Band D property will pay an extra £129 a year in council tax from next month. The decision was taken at a full council meeting yesterday and follows the government permitting Somerset to break the five percent limit on council tax increases, introduced by the previous conservative government. Speaking at yesterday’s meeting, Lib Dem Leader of Somerset Council, Councillor Bill Revans, said the system of local government finance was "broken" but opposition Conservative leader, Councillor Mandy Chilcott claimed the council's budget for 2025/26 was "littered with red flags".

People are being asked to return boxes of paracetamol bought from Boots Chemists in Somerset. It's after a packaging mix up with the batch number 24-10-05. Boots says the tablets are paracetamol but the packaging is incorrectly labelled.

It’s been revealed that five members of staff at Somerset Council are being allowed to work from home outside the UK. Two are employed in the Council’s Legal Department, two in the adult social care department, and one is an Engineer in the Highways Department. A block on accessing Council’s computers from outside the UK has been lifted to allow the five staff members to work from overseas.

A heritage railway in Somerset is looking for new volunteers. The East Somerset Railway, near Shepton Mallet, is holding an open day this weekend in the hope of signing up new recruits.

Ilminster and District Men's Skittles League has presented a cheque for £555 to the Beacon Cancer Centre at Musgrove Park Hospital. Last year, the league donated over £2,000 to the Beacon Centre and Cancer Research UK.

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