Three local primary schools have been named on a list of England's top five hundred primary schools. A new co-working space for businesswomen has opened in Wincanton. Urgent repairs are being carried out to Ilminster's new public clock after it started showing the wrong time...and more
Three primary schools in South Somerset have been named in The Times newspaper's top 500 primary schools in England. The schools are Preston Primary in Yeovil, which is ranked in 25th place. Kingsbury Episcopi Primary, near Langport, was ranked 447th. The Countess Gytha Primary School, in Queen Camel, was ranked 47th. The schools were judged on the percentage of pupils who achieved their expected grades in the 2023 SATS tests.
Parents in Somerset have been told what primary schools their child will be attending next year. Somerset Council says 95% or 4,894 children have been offered their first choice primary school. 153 children have been offered their second choice and 28 their third choice primary school.
A new co-working space for businesswomen has opened in Wincanton. The SEED Hub is designed for remote workers to collaborate, exchange ideas and take part in business skills workshops.
Avon and Somerset Police are staging a ‘Walk and Talk’ event in the café at Ninesprings in Yeovil starting at 6 pm tonight. The event is being held for women and young girls to discuss their safety concerns with female police officers.
A Chard hair salon has won a top local hairdressing award. Residents and customers voted Styles Hair Salon in Commercial Row as the winner of the Chard and Ilminster Hairdresser of the Year competition. Bertiful Hair and Beauty in Chard, and the Ben Russell Salon in Ilminster came runners-up.
Repairs are being carried out to the new public clock in Ilminster that was unveiled only two months ago in memory of the late Queen Elizabeth. Locals say it has been very confusing with the clock in Silver Street not showing the correct time.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
A wildcat helicopter belonging 815 Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton has been in action tracking two Russian ships in the English Channel. People living in Somerset will have to pay to use Dorset’s household waste recycling centres from today. A road in Ilminster has closed to traffic today and will stay shut for the next ten days... and more