Wednesday 1st November

Wednesday, 1 November 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

A disability campaigner in Yeovil has welcomed the decision not to close rail ticket offices. Somerset Council is planning to drastically cut the number of buildings it owns. Yeovil Hospital says the new breast cancer unit,will make a huge difference in how people are treated. £422 has been raised towards this year’s Christmas lights in Ilminster with a coffee morning held in the town...and more.

A disability campaigner in Yeovil has welcomed the decision not to close rail ticket offices. The government has asked train operators to scrap the plan following fierce opposition from rail unions and disability groups. Kath Vickery from Yeovil is registered blind and campaigned to have the ticket offices at Yeovil Junction, Yeovil Pen Mill, and Sherborne stations kept open.

The Environment Agency is warning people to be prepared as flooding is possible in some areas of Somerset with the Met Office issuing a double-weather warning for rain and wind. Flood alerts are in place between Yeovil and Taunton, covering the Lower Tone and Parrett Moors, the River Yeo and River Parrett Moors around Muchelney and Thorney. The EA says flooding is possible in each area and advises people to avoid low-lying footpaths.

Yeovil Hospital says the new breast cancer unit, currently under construction on the hospital site, will make a huge difference in how people are treated. Consultant Surgeon Caroline Osborne says they've been overwhelmed by the support they had in raising the money to build the unit. The target of two-point-five-million pounds was reached following a collection held amongst Yeovil Town fans at Huish Park last Saturday.

£422 has been raised towards this year’s Christmas lights in Ilminster with a coffee morning held in the town. The lights will be switched on on Friday, November 24th at 7 pm. Earlier in the day, school choirs will perform outside the market house, and a Christmas Fair will be held in the parish hall.

A new manager has been appointed to run Ilminster Arts Centre. She’s Bryony Tidball, an accomplished artist in her own right with a background in the charity and community arts sectors, having worked for Bridport Museum and several historic houses.

Somerset Council is planning to drastically cut the number of buildings it owns. The Council that has taken over ownership of properties previously owned by Somerset’s former district councils and the County Council says it needs fewer buildings due to having too much-unused office space. One idea the Council is investigating is to move its customer services operation at Petters House in Petters Way into Yeovil Library in King George Street.

More from News

Monday 16th June

The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.
Friday 13th June

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.
Thursday 12th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.
Wednesday 11th June

People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 10th June

A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more
Monday 9th June

Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more
Friday 6th June

Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.
Thursday 5th June

Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.