Tuesday 18th February

Tuesday, 18 February 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Conservationists are celebrating after two barn owls have returned for a third year to their nestbox on the Blackdown Hills. DEFRA is urging farmers to stay vigilant as the restriction zone for the virus Bluetongue has been extended to South Somerset. Rail travellers are being advised that no services will run on the West of England Line between Yeovil Junction and Salisbury this coming weekend...and more.

Conservationists are celebrating after two barn owls have returned for a third year to their nestbox on the Blackdown Hills in South Somerset. The owls Finn and Trude are being monitored by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. You can watch them live on Owl Cam via the Trust's website.

A man has been arrested for exposing himself in Yeovil. He was seen acting suspiciously in Ninesprings Country Park on Sunday at around 3.30 pm. Police were called and he was arrested for outraging public decency and resisting arrest. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has phone footage is asked to please call the non-emergency number 101.

DEFRA is urging farmers to stay vigilant as the restriction zone for the virus Bluetongue has been extended to South Somerset. The virus spreads amongst cattle and sheep and can cause skin problems, mouth ulcers and complications in pregnancy. It rarely affects dogs and isn't a risk to human health or food safety.

Rail travellers are being advised that no services will run on the West of England Line between Yeovil Junction and Salisbury this coming weekend. A replacement bus service will operate between the stations on Saturday and Sunday. The closure is to allow Network Rail to complete repairs to the line.

Sixty children in Somerset have been taught by unaccredited online schools in the last year, costing Somerset Council more than £400,000. Online teaching is provided to children with special needs who can't manage in mainstream schools. The government says local authorities should only use accredited online schools but Somerset Council says it has to use unaccredited providers to cope with the numbers of children needing online teaching.

A member of 40 Commando in Somerset has been speaking after taking part in the first ever winter Invictus Games in Canada. Major John Whiteman, who suffers from PTSD, was competing in rowing, swimming, skiing, and sitting volleyball for Team UK. He said he had an amazing experience.

More from News

Monday 16th June

The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.