News in Frome

What a great idea for Frome up at the Livestock Market. If you are missing your Silent Night and Wise Men.

Drive in Carols under the baton of Neil Moore, a distinguished conductor, with a choir of twenty singers and soloists will be singing a variety of traditional carols and other solo instrumental pieces.

2020 has been a memorable year for all the wrong reasons, but it looks like the cosmos will ensure that it ends with an astronomical highlight on December 21.

This is, of course, the usual date of the winter solstice when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted furthest from the Sun and we have the shortest day. From this point, the days get longer as we head optimistically into 2021 and 2020 starts to fade into a surreal memory.

There were lines of floral tributes on the gates to Christ Church School in Frome today (December 19) to honour their teacher, who had been at the school for 12 years, and died in a road accident in Bath.

Diamond classes teacher Mrs Sarah-Jane L'Esteve, passed away at 4.30pm as she made her way home after school. She was just 48 years old.

Christchurch school in Frome has confirmed the loss of a much loved teacher in a traffic accident earlier this week in Bath.

On the school web site they wrote : " It is with great sadness that we confirm that Mrs Sarah-Jane L'Esteve, our Diamond Class (Reception/Year 1) teacher, passed away at 4.30pm as she made her way home after school."

Frome Medical Practice has been selected to take part in the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme and the first patients from Frome received their vaccines at the practice today (December 18).

GP practices across the country have been asked to prioritise vaccinating patients who are over 80 years old. An initial group of patients have been invited to attend the practice over the next two days for their first of two appointments to receive the vaccine. Patients are reassured that the practice will be in touch with all eligible patients as soon as vaccines are available for them to receive.

Avon and Somerset Police are dealing with 2,820 road traffic offences detected during Road Safety Week (16-23 November).

The week, when England was in lockdown, saw mostly wet roads, often with reduced or poor visibility and conditions which should naturally slow traffic down. Despite this, offences included a motorist driving at 154 mph on an A-road in poor weather, another travelling at 101 mph in fog and one person driving at 80 miles per hour with their hands behind their head. All of these motorists will now be summonsed to court.

Frome is, along with the rest of Mendip, remaining in Tier 2 of coronavirus restrictions, as just announced (December 17) by the UK' s Health Secretary.

One of the only lowering of Tiers is that for Bristol and North Somerset, which, due to falling numbers Matt Hancock announced will come out of Tier 3 and into Tier 2 from Saturday.

In planning news in and around Frome this week:

An application has been put in to convert a garage, store and home office (now consented as an annexe) to a self-build, one-bedroom live-work dwelling with an office at Park View, Dymotts Cottage access road Lullington in Frome BA11 2PG. Planning reference : 2020/2083/FUL

Avon and Somerset police have released a video clip of the shocking moment James Tallon put a knife to a woman's throat as he tried to escape.

The victim, who was working in Specsavers in Frome when she was threatened at knife point by him, has consented to its release.

The owner of Frome's Gingerbread House which is lighting up lives and raising money for cancer research is the latest person to get a secret Santa gift through the letter box.

Someone has been sending out little sweet Thank You's : This has now included Tony Hodges who says it has cheered his day.