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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Monday 29th June

Somerset Council’s Executive is being asked to approve a major SEND investment package. Taunton Brewhouse has reached its twenty thousand pound fundraising target. A crash on the M5 northbound at the weekend caused 75 minute delays for drivers... and more
Friday 26th June

The hottest June day on record has been recorded in Somerset. A teenage boy has been found not guilty of killing a nine-year-old girl. Tatworth Primary School has been recognised for its success in science education... and more
Thursday 25th June

MP Sarah Dyke, has called for more money to help better equip schools in future heatwaves. The A361 near Glastonbury shut yesterday, after a gritter caught fire. A night at the opera is coming to Yeovil and Crewkerne... and more
Wednesday 24th June

Somerset Council has activated its ‘Severe Weather Emergency Protocol’. Many schools are closing their doors for 48 hours. Great Western Railway is advising essential travel only... and more
Tuesday 22nd June

Police have appealed for information following an incident in Yeovil. The Met Office has issued a rare red extreme heat warning. Somerset Council in inviting locals to have their say on how the county could change in the future... and more
Monday 21st June

Somerset Council is set to lose tens of millions of pounds from selling off properties. Hundreds of people gathered at Glastonbury Tor to mark the summer solstice. The police and crime commissioner has expressed her support for a social media ban for under 16s.... and more
Friday 19th June

An amber heat health alert has been issued for Somerset with high temperatures expected to continue into next week. Schools across Somerset are taking part in a pilot scheme teaching children about money laundering. Ham Hill Country Park has been recognised with a top award for its efforts to protect the countryside... and more
Thursday 18th June

Children in care in Somerset are not receiving a good enough service, according to inspectors. NHS Somerset says dental care in the county is improving for the first time since the pandemic. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is holding a topless open-water swim...and more