Wednesday 11th February

Wednesday, 11 February 2026 05:00

By Steve Haigh

Somerset Council has been told it can’t raise council tax by more than 5 percent. Businesses in Somerset are being warned to watch out for fake £20 notes. A Martock man has successfully completed a parachute-ski jump off the top of Mount Snowdon.

Somerset Council has been told it can’t raise council tax by more than 5 percent. The government had been asked to give Somerset Council permission to go above the 5 percent cap, but it has refused. Somerset Council had wanted to increase Council Tax by 11 percent and will now have to address how to continue funding core services, including libraries and roads. The Leader of the Conservative opposition group on Somerset Council, Councillor Diogo Rodrigues, has welcomed the government's decision. He says it has prevented a potential annual increase of more than £200 in council tax for the average household in Somerset.

Businesses in Somerset are being warned to watch out for fake £20 notes. Police say counterfeit £20 notes were used to pay for transactions at a filling station on Priory Bridge Road in Taunton on January 29th and a shop on East Reach in the town on March 5th.

CCTV footage has been issued after a woman stole £2,000 worth of goods from the Boots store at Babylon Hill near Yeovil. It happened at around 3:30pm on Sunday, February 1st, with beauty products and baby clothes being taken. Images of the woman can be viewed on the Dorset Police website. If you can help identify the woman you’re asked to please call the non-emergency number 101.

The M5 will be closed in both directions between junctions 25 at Taunton and 27 at Tiverton on several nights this month. It's to allow work to be carried out to alleviate flooding on the motorway. From Saturday, February 14 to Sunday, February 15th the M5 will be shut southbound between junctions 25 and 27 from 9pm to 6am. And then again from Thursday, February 19th to Monday, February 23rd northbound between junctions 25 and 27 from 9pm to 6am.

A Martock man has successfully completed a parachute-ski jump off Mount Snowdon in North Wales. Tim Howell, who has been BASE jumping for 15 years, claims he’s the first to perform a parachute-ski jump from the top of the 1100 meter high Mount Snowdon.

More from News

Thursday 2nd April

The joint master of a hunt in Somerset has criticised the decision to hold a public consultation on banning trail hunting. Images of two men police want to speak to in connection with an arson attack on a barber’s shop in Wincanton have been released. The company that runs four leisure centres in the Mendip area has gone into administration... and more
Wednesday 1st April

No money has been committed to major new road projects in Somerset. A road linking Chard and Clayhanger has been closed after it collapsed due to badgers burrowing under the surface. The Bishop of Bath and Wells is on day-2 of his pilgrimage across Somerset to mark the holy week of Easter... and more
Tuesday 31st March

Somerset Council says it doesn’t have the money to install solar panels on the roof of the Octagon Theatre. Three men have been charged in connection with an investigation into a hunt in Somerset. Changes have been announced to the times of waste collections in Somerset over the Easter holidays... and more
Monday 30th March

Avon and Somerset Police say its armed officers attended 2,700 incidents in Somerset last year. Plans have been submitted to build 40 new homes in Curry Rivel. South Western Ambulance is offering free CPR and defibrillator training to help improve cardiac arrest survival rates...and more
Friday 27 March

There's been a big improvement in ambulance response times in Somerset. Three local people have been charged with offences linked to the theft and supply of prescription-only drugs. A fragment of a jawbone found in a cave in Cheddar Gorge appears to show that humans kept dogs as pets as far back as 5,000 years ago... and more
Thursday 26th March

Somerset Council is offering food vouchers during the school easter holidays to families whose children receive free school meals. A local man has been charged in connection with an incident involving a firearm in Yeovil. The Environment Agency says it could take up to 10 years to protect homes at Holway House Park and Home Farm Park in Ilminster from flooding...and more.
Wednesday 25th March

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has raised concerns in the House of Commons about the planned closure of Yeovil Hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Police in Yeovil are appealing for information after a man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm. A 13-year-old terrier named Mole has been rescued after becoming trapped underground...and more
Tuesday 24th March

Yeovil College has received a glowing report following an Ofsted inspection. The main road between Chard and Ilminster is to be better protected from flooding. A six-thousand-year-old wooden walkway has been uncovered on the Somerset Levels... and more