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

Friday 17th May

A new website has been launched to support people in Somerset with mental health issues. One of Yeovil’s oldest pubs has been sold. Artwork on the theme of aviation produced by students at Yeovil College has gone on display at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil.A pupil at Tatworth Primary School near Chard has won a prize in a national competition for writing a book review...and more
Thursday 16th May

Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.
Wednesday 15th May

Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Tuesday 14th May

Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Monday 13th May

Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
Friday 10th May

The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Thursday 9th May

Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
Wednesday 8th May

A woman driver has been told she faces a prison term for causing the deaths of two people in a crash on the A303. The AA says there are more potholes than ever on Somerset’s motorway network, leading to an increase in damage to vehicles. The new cancer treatment unit at Yeovil Hospital should be open before the end of the year...and more.