Thursday 9th January

Thursday, 9 January 2025 05:00

By Steve Haigh

Police say three children, missing from their home in Essex, have been found safe and well in Wincanton. Yeovil Hospital is asking visitors to A&E to wear facemasks to help avoid the spread of infection. Long traffic queues can be expected in Chard over the next nine months. A new arts and music performance space has opened in Crewkerne...and more.

Police say a boy and two girls, missing from their home in Essex, have been found safe and well in Wincanton. It follows a public appeal issued by the Police earlier in the week to help find the three children after reports that they could be in the Somerset area.

Somerset Council has extended its Severe Weather Emergency Provisions due to the icy temperatures the County is experiencing. The scheme aims to help rough sleepers, with welfare checks being made on people who haven't asked for help.

Yeovil Hospital is asking visitors to A&E to wear facemasks to help avoid the spread of infection. It follows a sharp rise in patients being admitted with flu and other respiratory illnesses.

Plans have been submitted to change a former residential care home in Yeovil into flats. Developers, Yeovil Promise Ltd, want to convert the Ferns Nursing Home on St Michaels Avenue into individual living spaces. The change of use will involve demolishing some walls and the roof, re-colouring the windows and doors and extending the vehicular access and parking areas. The trees on the site will not be disturbed. The application is still currently awaiting a decision from the Somerset Council.

Long traffic queues can be expected in Chard over the next nine months due to major roadworks taking place in the town. The first phase of roadworks lasting until September got underway this week with the junction of Furnham Road and Victoria Avenue closed to motorists. Traffic signals at the junction of Furnham Road and Coker Way were taken out of action, and replaced with temporary lights. The changes are to allow for Wales & West Utilities to upgrade a mains gas pipe along Furnham Road and for Wessex Water to carry out improvements to the sewage network near Furzehill and Glynswood.

Registration has opened for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Cycle Challenge, which starts at Watchet and ends 55 miles away in West Bay.

A new arts and music performance space has opened in Crewkerne. The South Somerset Music Centre in the Methodist School Room on South St plans to host concerts and run workshops with the aim of enriching the town’s cultural offerings.

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