A Somerset head teacher is calling for tighter regulation on vaping after seeing a significant rise in pupils vaping on school premises. Somerset Council says it's facing significantly higher costs with the planned upgrade of Yeovil's Octagon Theatre. Avon and Somerset Police will soon start deploying a drone in the fight against rural crime...and more.
A Somerset head teacher is calling for tighter regulation on vaping after seeing a significant rise in the number of his pupils vaping on school premises. Figures show that around one in five secondary school pupils have tried vaping. Mark Woodlock, Head of the Blue School in Wells, has sent an email to parents urging them to have conversations with their children about the dangers of vaping.
Somerset Council is seeking further financial support to pay for the planned upgrade of Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The Council plans to spend twenty-nine million pounds on the upgrade that would see the Octagon virtually rebuilt with three hundred extra seats, a bigger stage, and two boutique cinemas. But with higher interest rates and increased building costs, it’s thought the final bill for the works will be significantly more than twenty-nine million. Somerset Council, which is facing a twenty-six million pound overspend in the current financial year, is reviewing all spending, including capital projects. Executive Members at the Council are due to discuss the Octagon project at a meeting on Wednesday, October 4th.
People in Somerset are being asked about their experiences of accessing NHS dental care in a new survey. Healthwatch Somerset has launched the questionnaire in response to the shortage of NHS dentists in Somerset, and the high cost of obtaining private dental treatment. The survey is available on the Healthwatch Somerset website.
Avon and Somerset Police will soon start deploying a drone in the fight against rural crime. It follows Wildlife Crime Officer, PC Stefan Edwards, gaining an Aeriel Vehicle Operators licence. PC Edwards is now able to pilot a drone to search for stolen machinery and equipment, while on patrol in the countryside.
An Ilminster woman, Ingrid Bloomfield, is appealing for some free warehouse space to use for filling shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for sending to children in Ukraine. Ingrid is asking for someone to loan her between two and four thousand square feet of floor space within a ten-mile radius of Ilminster for her charity work.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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