News in Shepton Mallet

Firefighters from Shepton Mallet helped tackled a fire in a flat above a shop in Wells High Street in the early hours of this morning (October 9).

Just after 3.45am, occupants of flats above a shop noticed smoke residue and a smell of burning in a communal stairwell, coming from a first floor flat in Wells High Street.

A murder investigation has been launched following the death of a man in Oakhill.

Officers were called to a property on The Old Maltings at 12.21pm today (Thursday, October 8).

Bright Blue Bags will begin appearing on doorsteps in Shepton Mallet from Monday (October 12) as the roll-out of a new recycling scheme moves ever closer.

The Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) is preparing to launch Recycle More, which will see more items recycled weekly at the kerbside and refuse collections moving from fortnightly to once every three weeks.

The countdown is on - the 2020 virtual Wells Food Festival with Charlie Bigham's is going live over the weekend of October 10 and 11.

Just like the traditional festival, the the Artisan Market is the star, showcasing over 150 regional food and drink producers, separated into 'easy-to-shop' online sections.

Mendip's car drivers and businesses are being encouraged by the council to turn their engines off while stationary.

The reminder is to mark Clean Air Day today (October 8), but the council wants every day to be an "engines off" day.

A major scheme to repair a stretch of a busy road just outside of Shepton Mallet is due to start next week and involves a three-week closure.

Somerset County Council is resurfacing the A371 along Prestleigh Hill, as it is showing signs of deterioration with numerous cracks and potholes on the carriageway.

A raffle is being held in Shepton Mallet later this month to raise money for the children's charity NSPCC.

The Raiders Raffle is being held at Shepton Mallet Football Club on October 24, with tickets at £1, and it is for over-18s only.

A planning application to build a house on the edge of Holcombe has been turned down by Mendip District Council.

The application for the proposed building of a single-storey two-bedroom dwellinghouse and associated works on land south of Budds Croft, Brewery Lane, Holcombe, has been submitted by Mr A Durici.

I've had the pleasure of covering local government in Somerset for the last two-and-a-half years since the Local Democracy Reporting Service was created.

'Unprecedented' is a lazy buzzword that often gets thrown around for political capital whenever new funding is announced or a scandal breaks – but it's hard to find a better word to describe the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Mendip District Council is launching a Plant for Pollinators guide, encouraging people to plan ahead and plant some spring bulbs to help hungry bees and other pollinating insects next year.

Everyone can take part by planting bulbs this autumn, creating "nectar cafes" for the insects when they wake up after the winter.