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

Tuesday 17th March

The government is being asked to help fund Somerset's carnivals. Bridgwater Town Council wants more trains to stop at the town’s railway station. A fund raising pie throwing event is taking place for Red Nose Day in Chard... and more
Monday 16th March

Drivers are being told that it could take several more weeks yet before Hendford Hill in Yeovil reopens to traffic. A new bus service between Glastonbury and Castle Cary railway station is to start on a trial basis. Children in Chard are being given free reading books as part of a scheme founded by Dolly Parton... and more
Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more