The Somerset scout leader, who abused young boys over a 23-year period, has been jailed for 15 years.

David Burland worked for the scout movement in the Burnham on Sea and Highbridge areas.

The 54 year-old, from Burnham, was charged with 33 sexual offences against children.

He stood in the dock at Taunton Crown Court.

There's growing concern about a planned shake-up at Shepton Mallet community hospital.

In a recent spending review, the NHS trust which runs it has suggested reducing the number of beds on the wards by 17.

The league of friends of the hospital is concerned and has already had a meeting with local GPs about the idea and local MP Tessa Munt has described the suggestion as "absolutely barmy."

An official audit commission report has criticised Somerton Town Council over a land transaction it made.

In December 2010 four men were arrested in connection with the investigation.

The men were questioned over alleged fraud allegations surrounding the sale of some land in the centre of the town followed by the purchase of a site on Bancombe Road trading estate.

That building later became the Edgar Hall - an events venue and where the town council relocated to.

No charges were brought against the four but the audit commission has now issued its public interest report.

Its several findings include that some individuals made decisions at unofficial council meetings and that the town council failed to ensure certain members made declarations of interest.

A public meeting to discuss the audit report is to be held in Somerton on the 29th of this month.

It could take days to replace thousands of metres of telphone cable taken during a night time theft near Yeovil

The copper was stripped from the ground near the Cartgate junction of the A303 between midnight and one o' clock on Thursday.

Hundreds of homes and businesses have been affected.

Police say they're keen to talk to anyone who saw anything suspiscious.

Avon and Somerset Police have announced they're freezing their part of council tax bills from April.

It means the average band D property will again pay 168 pounds over the year to the force.

The money makes up a third of its total budget, the rest of which comes from central government.

The Police Authority's struggling to make ends meet in Somerset but opted to freeze its precept after 55% of people in an online survey said that's what they wanted.

A council-funded travelling handyman service for villages in South Somerset looks set to be the latest victim of spending cuts.

There are 3 schemes currently in operation whereby workers visit parishes in the Crewkerne, Langport and Yeovil areas and do things like path clearing and grass cutting.

But the county council's withdrawn its funding and the district council is now likely to follow suit.

Councillor Sylvia Seal's told the Western Gazette she believes parishes should fund the scheme by themselves.

A court's ordered South West Water, which supplies parts of Somerset, to pay £33,000 in fines and costs.

It's because the firm neglected maintenance work at 3  of its small sewage treatment plants.

Magistrates in Bodmin heard the company didn't rectify the problems despite being asked to do so.

Two of the sites were in Devon and Cornwall, the third was at Holcombe Rogus near Wellington.

Car parking charges won't go up across West Dorset in the next financial year.

The district council's decided to freeze them saying the fees aren't about raising money but about giving businesses in the area a hand.

A new scratch card system's also being introduced whereby 20 minutes of parking costs just 17p as opposed to 40p if using cash in the ticket machines.

The row's rumbling on at Longleat over new fees introduced for some local people.

For decades a handful of residents living on the edges of the house's grounds, in Wiltshire, have been able to wander freely across its 100,000 acres.

But in recent months they've been approached by security staff who've demanded they pay the £27.50 day pass other visitors have to.

Critics of the new rule blame Lord Bath's son who' now controls Longleat's day to day running.