Wednesday 15th April

Wednesday, 15 April 2026 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Yeovil College has been upgraded to a Defence Technical Excellence College. Somerset Council is taking legal action against a housing developer that owes £35,000 in contributions towards local services in Broadway. An Ilminster couple have covered the first 400 miles of their epic walk around the coastline of mainland Britain... and more

Yeovil College has been upgraded to a Defence Technical Excellence College. The government has announced £175 million of investment for technical training at nineteen colleges, including Yeovil, where apprentices from Leonardo already undergo training.

Somerset Council is taking legal action against a housing developer that owes £35,000 in contributions towards local services in Ilminster. Higdon Homes Ltd secured planning permission to build 16 homes on St James Close in Broadway in 2016. As part of the permission, the developer was required to contribute towards facilities within the village, including the village hall and the pitch at Broadway Cricket Club. Somerset Council says the £34,982 that Higdon Homes Ltd promised to pay is still owed.

Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke says rising house prices, high rents and a lack of homes in Somerset have led to people living in vans in her constituency. The government says it is committed to building one and a half million new homes during the lifetime of this Parliament. But speaking in the Commons, Sarah Dyke said that for many people, buying or renting a home is unaffordable.

An Ilminster couple have covered the first 400 miles of their epic walk around the coastline of mainland Britain. Mike and Zoe Langley-Wathen are taking on the One Coast Any Age challenge, walking 7,300 miles around the British coastline for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. So far, the couple, who are both in their 70s, have covered 435 miles along the Sussex coast, raising £4,000 towards their target of £10,000.

Members of a local production of Calendar Girls have stripped off for a real-life photoshoot to help promote the show. Glastonbury and Street Musical Comedy Society are performing the musical at Strode Theatre in Street next week, with money raised going to Blood Cancer UK.

More from News

Tuesday 14th April

Avon and Somerset Police has launched a new five-year plan to tackle anti-social behaviour. Additional GP appointments will soon be available at three local surgeries, following a £1 million investment to upgrade NHS facilities in Somerset. A Stoke-sub-Hamdon couple whose daughter died of cancer have raised £128,000 in her memory... and more
Monday 13th April

Yeovil MP Adam Dance is calling for better support for survivors of domestic abuse living in rural communities. The RSPB in Somerset is urging people to stop feeding birds to prevent the spread of disease. Yeovil Town Football Club says an issue that had threatened it with removal from the register at Companies House has been resolved... and more
Friday 10th April

Maternity services at Yeovil Hospital will reopen on Tuesday April 21st. A Somerset woman, who relies on a wheelchair for mobility, has criticised changes to the Motor Motability scheme. Somerset Freemasons have presented a cheque for forty-three thousand pounds to Young Somerset, a charity that supports young people in the county... and more
Thursday 9th April

Yeovil Town Football Club has received a warning that it could be struck off the register at Companies House. Somerset Council has been given £22 million to provide assistance to people facing cost of living pressures. Members of 1st Ilminster Scout Group have spent a night sleeping outdoors to experience the challenges faced by homeless military veterans... and more
Wednesday 8th April

A Yeovil school teacher has been banned from teaching for sharing inappropriate details about her private life with pupils. A Stoke-sub-Hamdon woman has been given a 17-month driving ban. A Yeovil woman who survived bone cancer is raising is running the London Marathon... and more
Tuesday 7th April

Somerset Council has set aside three hundred and seventy thousand pounds to keep open five leisure centres in the Mendip area. Watercombe Lane in Yeovil is set to close for thirty-one days for gas mains replacement works. It’s been announced that Martock will stage a Pride event in June...and more
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