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.

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Wednesday 14th January

The union representing workers at Leonardo in Yeovil says it needs a clear answer from the government on whether the Yeovil factory will be awarded a contract to build new medium-lift helicopters for the RAF. Somerset Council says more support will be provided to foster carers. A bird flu surveillance zone remains in place over the Somerset Levels...and more
Tuesday 13th January

The Government says it won’t bring forward a decision on buying new helicopters from Leonardo in Yeovil. A bird flu surveillance zone remains in place over the Somerset Levels. Yeovil’s temporary police station on Horsey Lane is to close at the end of the month....and more
Monday 12th January

Leonardo is threatening to shut its Yeovil factory. Somerset Community Foundation says there's still time to donate money to its Surviving Winter Appeal. The Swan Theatre in Yeovil is staging a number of special performances to mark its 50th anniversary...and more.
Friday 9th January

A Yeovil man has been arrested and then de-arrested after a collision in Dorset. A Somerset food manufacturer could be expanding its Wincanton base. A new dementia-friendly choir has been launched in Yeovil...and more.
Thursday 8th January

Adam Dance MP is welcoming developments in his campaign to support neurodivergent schoolchildren. Somerset was the star of the small screen last night, thanks to BBC comedy ‘Can You Keep A Secret’. A Yeovil gymnastics club has hosted a VIP guest...and more.
Wednesday 7th January

Somerset's Lib Dem MPs have described a one per cent rise in Council funding as 'profoundly disappointing'. A new independent cinema will open next month in Wincanton. We’re facing the chance of heavy snow with Storm Goretti hitting the region on Thursday...and more.
Tuesday 6th January

The Poundland chain has confirmed its store closures, including one of the Yeovil branches next Friday. Yeovil's Marlie Packer has been awarded an OBE for her outstanding contribution to rugby. Nearly one hundred new low-cost homes could be coming to South Chard...and more.
Monday 5th January

A woman has been cut free from her car after a four-vehicle collision in Montacute. Devon and Somerset fire crews have been praised for their bravery, following the summer wildfires. More new homes are set to be built in Martock, following approval from Somerset Council...and more.