Wednesday 18th September

Tuesday, 17 September 2024 21:09

By Steve Haigh

BT is reassuring customers in Somerset who are worried about the upcoming digital switchover for landline phones. Somerset Council could lose 13 percent of its elected members as part of an upcoming boundary review. Castle Cary has been named as the best place to live in the UK in an online poll...and more.

BT is reassuring customers in Somerset who are worried about the upcoming digital switchover for landline phones. Copper phone lines are being decommissioned and all landlines will connect through the internet and electricity sockets. BT senior engagement manager, Vicky Hicks say the change to digital is needed to improve the way phones work.

Somerset Council could lose 13 percent of its elected members as part of an upcoming boundary review. The council has 110 elected members, two for each of the 55 divisions on boundaries inherited from Somerset County Council. However, this number could go down to 96 as part of a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission ahead of the next local elections in Somerset in May 2027. The commission is expected to hold two rounds of public consultation on the proposals before the summer of 2025.

Chard Town FC celebrated 100 years of playing at Zembard Lane last night. The milestone was marked with a Somerset Senior League fixture against Worle FC. Chard Town first played at Zembard Lane on September 17th, 1924, after being formed in March 1921, and initially playing at Bonfire Close.

Somerset Council has launched a new consultation asking people for their views on where they live and the services the council provides. The Council says it will use the results of the 2024 Resident Survey to measure progress against Somerset’s priorities and shape future council services. The survey is open now on the Somerset County Council website and closes on Monday, October 21st.

A sign that hung in the reception area of the Pittards factory in Yeovil is being auctioned off. Anyone who visited the Pittard's on Sherborne Road will have seen the carved wood emblem reading 'Established 1840'. The sign is being auctioned by Charterhouse in Sherborne on September 25th with a guide price of £2,500.

Castle Cary has been named as the best place to live in the UK in an online survey. In a poll of readers of the Muddy Stilettos’ website, Castle Cary came top of a list of the best villages, towns and cities to live in the UK.

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Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
Thursday 30th July

The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Wednesday 29th July

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
Tuesday 28th July

The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Monday 27th July

Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Friday 24th July

Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
Thursday 23rd July

The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Wednesday 22nd July

Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more