News in Shepton Mallet

The Mid-Somerset Agricultural Society has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Mid-Somerset Show in Shepton Mallet due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

The society's chairman, Ian Harvey, confirmed the cancellation in a statement issued today (May 12).

Following updated guidance from the Government, the Dobbies Garden Centre in Shepton Mallet will reopen tomorrow (May 13).

The safety of team members and customers remains Dobbies' number one priority and social distancing measures have been implemented to allow the store to operate safely.

A car was badly damaged by fire this morning (May 12) at the bottom of Long Hill, near Shepton Mallet.

One fire appliance from Shepton Mallet attended a report just before 7.30am of a vehicle on fire at the bottom of Long Hill.

Shepton Mallet and beyond has been told to cover up "in some settings" to prevent the spread of coronavirus in future.

The nation should wear face masks in enclosed spaces where social distancing isn't possible, the Government has said as it published its "road map" which could include people being able to link up with one other household in a "bubble".

The Shepton Mallet-based maker of the big tents at the Glastonbury Festival has diversified during the coronavirus crisis to help the NHS and small, local businesses.

Albion Woods Show Tents is run by Hazel Hirst at Cannard's Grave, and in a normal year she would be flat out at this time preparing the six big tents for the Glastonbury Festival, such as the Cabaret Tent.

Villagers in Leigh-on-Mendip celebrated the 75th anniversary of VE Day with a number of activities, while observing social distancing.

The day consisted of a parade for 11am, when two minutes' silence was observed with six ex-servicemen and the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force represented.

A school in Shepton Mallet is lending its iPads to local care homes during the coronavirus crisis to help residents stay in touch with loved ones.

St Paul's Junior School approached three care homes to see if residents might take advantage of the devices while children are home-schooling.

An 11-year-old is walking her socks off around Shepton Mallet to help raise hundreds of pounds for the Guide Dogs charity.

Sienna Elliott, who lives near to the town but does a lot of her walking in Shepton Mallet, is aiming to walk 100,000 steps this week as part of the charity's Walk Your Socks Off challenge.

Shepton Mallet musician Al Cosnett has joined with other talented artists to remotely perform a song for the NHS.

Boasting horn lines from the HM Forces Band of the Scots Guards, an ARIA no1 selling artist, a former member of Noah and the Whale - plus the lead singer of Brand New Zeroes (and little brother of Elvis Costello) - Al is among 24 singers and musicians from the South West who all gave their time freely.

Figures for coronavirus cases by district have been released for the first time by Public Health England, and they show that Shepton Mallet's district, Mendip, has had 49 confirmed cases so far.

As of 5pm last night (May 7), Mendip's 49 cases meant it had one of the lowest levels of coronavirus cases at a district level in the country.