Wednesday 22nd January

Wednesday, 22 January 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Somerset Council is to pay for fifty-bed spaces in nursing homes so that patients can be discharged from hospital quicker. Yeovil MP, Adam Dance, is calling for improved disabled access at Pen Mill and Yeovil Junction railway stations. Crewkerne could soon get a new farm shop...and more.

Somerset Council is to pay for fifty-bed spaces in nursing homes so that patients can be discharged from hospital quicker. NHS Somerset says two-thirds of patients in local hospitals who are medically fit for discharge are not being discharged because of a bed shortage. Somerset Council plans to spend £2 million a year on so-called ‘block beds’ in nursing homes to ease the shortage.

Yeovil MP, Adam Dance, is calling for improved disabled access at Yeovil’s two railway stations. Access for disabled people to the platforms at Yeovil Junction station is only available when a staff member is present to assist. At Pen Mill station, no accessible toilets are provided. Mr Dance has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament asking for the Access for All programme to be implemented at both stations.

Somerset cider maker, Thatchers, says it's thrilled to have won a Court of Appeal trademark battle against Aldi. Thatcher's lost a legal challenge against the supermarket chain last year after it said it had copied the labelling on its cloudy lemon cider. Now Judges at the Court of Appeal say Aldi has infringed Thatcher's trademark.

Councillors in Glastonbury have backed proposals to link the town with a new community bus service to Castle Cary. The initiative, led by the Somerset Bus Partnership, aims to make travel between the two towns easier, with improved access for rail passengers travelling to Castle Cary train station.

A public inquiry is to be held to decide the future of a Somerset shopping centre. Churchill Retirement Living wants to demolish the Crispin Shopping Centre in Street and build a retirement complex on the land. But Somerset Council is against the proposal. The refusal to grant planning permission will be the subject of an appeal hearing, starting on April 23rd.

Crewkerne could soon get a new farm shop. Plans have been submitted to open a farm shop and café at Lower Farm in Roundham, run by the A H Warren Trust. In their application, the Trust says the shop will specialise in selling locally grown and sourced goods, including meats from the farm's own livestock.

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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
Tuesday 31st March

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
Monday 30th March

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
Friday 27 March

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
Thursday 26th March

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.
Wednesday 25th March

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
Tuesday 24th March

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