Tuesday 11th March

Tuesday, 11 March 2025 05:00

By Steve Haigh

The union representing workers at Somerset Council is warning of further job cuts at the council next year. Secondary school pupils in Somerset are being offered help to withstand peer pressure to vape or smoke. The bells of St George's Church in Hinton St George have been fully restored after becoming difficult to ring...and more

The union representing workers at Somerset Council is warning of further job cuts at the council next year. Somerset Council is making 550 people redundant this year, increasing its share of the Council Tax by seven-and-a-half percent and selling commercial investments, to help fill a budget gap of £103 million for the financial year 2025/26 starting in April. But speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Unison branch secretary, Micheal Duffy, said relying on receipts from selling properties to pay the day-to-day running costs is not sustainable and warns the Council will end up in the same position, making more job cuts, next year.

Secondary school pupils in Somerset are being offered help to withstand peer pressure to vape or smoke. The sessions focus on giving young people strategies to deal with situations when they feel pressured to join in.

Trains aren’t running between Yeovil Pen Mill and Castle Cary this week to allow for Network Rail to carry out repairs to the Heart of Wessex Line in the Yeovil area. Network Rail says the work is crucial to preventing the track bed from becoming flooded. A bus replacement service is running between Yeovil Pen Mill and Castle Cary to Sunday 16th March.

The six bells of St George's Church in Hinton St George have been restored after becoming difficult to ring. The bells, dating from 1628, were removed last year and overhauled with new headstocks, clappers, bearings, wheels, and ropes. A day of celebration will be held this Saturday with the bells rung formally for the first time.

An artist has painted a life-size image of a giraffe on the side of a house in a Somerset village. It's the latest in a series of animal murals commissioned by people living in Meare, near Glastonbury.

An exhibition of artwork with a difference has opened in Langport. The display called ‘Thinking Inside the Box’, in which artists are challenged to create a piece of work to fit within a metre-squared suspended cube, is on at the Undercroft in Bow St in Langport to the end of the month.

More from News

Friday 14th November

Yeovil Hospital has introduced a new system for handling patients at its A&E department aimed at cutting waiting times. It’s claimed that an Iron Age settlement preserved under Somerset's wetlands for 2,000 years is facing erosion due to climate change. Montacute Road in Tintinhull will be closed for five days next week for repairs to a gas main.
Thursday 13th November

Workers at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil are taking part in a second day of strike action in their dispute over pay. Lloyds Bank has closed its branch in Chard permanently. A week-long programme of tree planting will be held at Ham Hill later this month to mark National Tree Week...and more
Wednesday 12th November

Workers belonging to the Unite union at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil begin a two-day strike today. Yeovil MP, Adam Dance, has been speaking in a parliamentary debate on improving dyslexia support in schools. South Western Ambulance Service is inviting applications for positions on its governing council...and more
Tuesday 11th November

Somerset residents are being urged to get a flu jab as cases of flu continue to rise. Seven horse saddles have been stolen in a break-in at a riding school in Queen Camel. Donations of children’s toys are needed for this year’s Chard Christmas Present Appeal...and more
Monday 10th November

It’s claimed Somerset Council has lost nearly £5 million selling the Marks and Spencer building in Yeovil. A car has been set on fire in a suspected arson attack in Shepton Mallet. A Crewkerne man says night-time noise from the town's Waitrose store is causing him and his family "sleep disturbance" ... and more.
Friday 7th November

A man from Yeovil has been jailed for eight years after being convicted of three counts of rape. Smoking rates in Somerset remain higher than in many other parts of the UK. Students at three schools in Yeovil have created a new shoe design for Clarks.
Thursday 6th November

The Supreme Court has ruled that building thousands of homes in Somerset has been "unlawfully held up". The Head of Holyrood Academy in Chard has described the building of a new primary school in the town as an ‘incredible opportunity’. A pub near Chard has been named one of the best in Britain by The Good Food Guide...and more
Wednesday 5th November

Members of the Unite union at Leonardo in Yeovil have called off a planned strike for today. South Western Railway says trains on the West of England Line will start running normally again at the end of the month. A memorial post box has been placed at the entrance to Crewkerne cemetery...and more.