BBC Somerset

Enhanced Games: Max McCusker becomes second Irish swimmer to join controversial event

Enhanced Games: Max McCusker becomes second Irish swimmer to join controversial event

Max McCusker has become the second Irish Olympic swimmer to join the controversial Enhanced Games. In October, three-time Olympian Shane Ryan confirmed he had signed up after announcing his retirement from swimming, a move which was condemned by Swim Ireland.McCusker, who represented Ireland at the 2024 Paris Games, has followed Ryan's decision to join a competition that will allow athletes to use performance-enhancing substances without being subject to drug tests.Team GB Olympic swimmer Ben Proud, four-time Greece Olympian…

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Special needs school in Street will expand in 2026

Special needs school in Street will expand in 2026

A school that supports children with complex emotional and mental health needs is set to expand.Inaura School has been operating one of its four Somerset sites at Leigh Road in Street since 2023.Somerset Council has now approved plans for the school to extend into a neighbouring building on Leigh Road, creating places for four additional pupils. The project is scheduled to be completed by summer 2026.A school spokesperson said: "We are proud to have found this additional building…

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‘Chaotic’ Glastonbury Red Brick factory project given more funds

‘Chaotic’ Glastonbury Red Brick factory project given more funds

Daniel Mumby,Local Democracy Reporting Service,Michelle RuminskiandRuth Bradley,Somerset politics reportersBBC NewsThe current state of the Life Factory building on Morland Road in Glastonbury after worked stopped in January 2024A £2.89m government-funded renovation project continued to receive payments months after the local authority overseeing the cash had put it on hold, according to financial experts.Somerset Council officially 'paused' funding for the Life Factory project in Glastonbury in January 2024 amid serious concerns about its management.Auditors have now revealed payments totalling…

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New website launched for young people in Somerset with disabilities

New website launched for young people in Somerset with disabilities

A new website for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) has launched to give people a space to share their experiences.The Unstoppables, a Yeovil-based group, began as a monthly in-person meet-up. They have since launched an online platform so members can share their experiences more often.Eve is registered blind and is one of the Unstoppables, she said: "It's made a huge difference and changed my life completely. I feel listened to."Unstoppables is open to all…

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F1 champion Lando Norris honoured with street in Somerset shopping centre

F1 champion Lando Norris honoured with street in Somerset shopping centre

Joe SkirkowskiWest of EnglandPA MediaLando Norris became the 11th Briton to win the F1 World ChampionshipsLando Norris may have only just been crowned Formula 1 world champion but he is already being immortalised in his home county of Somerset.The 26-year-old won the F1 title after a third place finish in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix gave him the points needed to make the triumph possible.He was honoured with a pedestrianised street called Lando Lane named after him at…

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Lando Norris on family sacrifices, proving himself wrong and how Monaco lap made him cry

Lando Norris on family sacrifices, proving himself wrong and how Monaco lap made him cry

Norris says he's "seen a lot of photos over the last 12 hours; a lot of little me".One of them is of him doing donuts in a kart when he was still a small boy. What would he tell little Lando if he could talk to him now?"Probably just to have a bit more belief in myself," he says, "because it's something I never really had when I was younger. It's something I always lacked."In that video, I…

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Protesters hope to save ‘precious farmland’ amid food security fears

Protesters hope to save ‘precious farmland’ amid food security fears

Plans to double the number of homes in a village by building on "precious farmland" have been opposed by some residents.Protesters gathered earlier to object to North Somerset Council's local plan, which proposes 1,800 new homes in Backwell by 2041. Residents have said farmland, earmarked for about 1,000 houses, is crucial for future food security.Resident Loraine Hopkinson said: "We're a village of under 2,000 houses so another almost 2,000 houses is doubling the size of the village and…

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Lando Norris is ‘only just getting going’ after winning F1 title – and rank British world champions

Lando Norris is ‘only just getting going’ after winning F1 title – and rank British world champions

Jenson Button – 2009A British Williams protege, Button entered F1 aged only 20 in 2000.However, a unenvied ability to seemingly jump into the wrong car in the wrong team at the wrong time seemed to stunt his ability to show the world his ability to full effect.That was until he jumped into the right car at exactly the right time, just as Honda left a whole factory in the lurch, and team boss Ross Brawn steered the independent…

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Former Frome councillor jailed for Just Stop Oil protest

Former Frome councillor jailed for Just Stop Oil protest

A former councillor has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for his role in a Just Stop Oil protest.Michael Dunk was elected to represent the Green Party in the Frome West division of Somerset in May 2022.Southwark Crown Court was told Dunk climbed gantries on the M25 on 8 November 2022, to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects. Police had to close the motorway as a result of the action.Under government rules elected…

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Craig Overton: Somerset all-rounder signs new three-year contract

Craig Overton: Somerset all-rounder signs new three-year contract

Somerset Director for Cricket, Andy Hurry said: ""His approach, work ethic, competitive mindset and will to succeed have taken him to the very top of his profession, and we very much look forward to him continuing to positively influence matches for Somerset."Overton has spent his entire career in England with Somerset since making his debut for the club in 2012 and has won two T20 Blast titles as well as the fifty-over One Day Cup in 2019.He was…

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Will Stuart: Bath prop a doubt for England’s Six Nations campaign

Will Stuart: Bath prop a doubt for England’s Six Nations campaign

Joe Heyes, who started ahead of British and Irish Lions tourist Stuart at tighthead, was one of England's star performers last month.However, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, another option at three, is currently out of action with an elbow injury that will keep him sidelined until early to mid January.Gloucester's Afolabi Fasogbon and Stuart's Bath team-mate Billy Sela featured for England A over the autumn, while Northampton's Trevor Davison, who won his first cap in almost four years against the United…

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