Fire traps three people on balconies of Minehead flats

FIRE crews mounted a major operation in Minehead to rescue three people trapped on the upper floors of a block of flats which caught fire in the early hours of Tuesday, July 24.
The residents were unable to escape from the property in The Parks, which comprised seven flats, after the blaze broke out in the ground floor rear area of the building.
They became trapped on balconies and were eventually led to safety down a 135-feet high ladder raised by fire crews.
Others did manage to flee the building and they raised the alarm by calling the emergency services, who responded by sending firefighters from four stations in Minehead, Porlock, Williton, and Taunton, a command support unit from Wiveliscombe, and an incident support unit from Taunton, as well as a number of ambulances.
The incident started at about 2 am on Tuesday, and two firemen wearing breathing apparatus entered the building to put out the blaze using a hose reel jet.
An investigation was started later in the day to decide on the cause of the fire.
Photo submitted.

Another heavy fine imposed for poor bus services from First

THE company which runs most of West Somerset’s public bus services, First, has been heavily fined for poor performance.
The Traffic Commissioners imposed a fine of nearly £52,000 on the company after monitoring 476 buses in parts of Somerset, including the Minehead to Taunton link.
The investigation revealed one-in-five First bus services failed to arrive on time or did not turn up at all.
First was fined £100 for each of its 517-strong fleet of buses, but it escaped the maximum penalty of more than £280,000 in fines because of efforts it had already made to improve.
The fine was handed down at a Traffic Commissioners hearing where it was staed First had a history of poor performance and being fined.
Only in 2005 it was fined nearly £100,000 for similar problems in Bristol, and in 2002 it had to pay more than £26,000 for failing to run services in Somerset properly.
Despite this, First said it was working to improve its performance and had put monitoring and disciplinary procedures in place which were starting to produce results.
The company admitted, however, there was still room for improvement.
First spokesman Tony Anthistle issued an apology to customers and said: “We assure you that we are working closely with local authorities to continuously improve the quality of the service we provide.”
The Traffic Commissioners are part of the Department for Transport and have responsibility for registration of local bus services.
The latest fine comes only weeks after it was announced bus services in West Somerset were being extended, improved, and reinstated in a major initiative backed by Somerset County Council.
The Somerset end of the route for passengers from Dulverton to Taunton has been reinstated by the county council after First Devon and Cornwall withdrew from the contract to provide service 307 from Barnstaple and Taunton.
In a major revision of timetables, the Minehead to Taunton service 28 has been doubled from hourly to run every 30 minutes throughout the year.
And a new shuttle service linking the West Somerset Railway Station to Taunton via the Silk Mills park and ride site has been introduced.

Time Team star's 50p launches public appeal for museum project

TV Time Team star, Professor Mick Aston, has helped to launch a public campaign to raise £250,000 towards the Museum of Somerset project.
The well-known personality, who is a passionate supporter of the Museum of Somerset project, made his own 50p donation to the fund to kick-start it.
The overall cost of the museum work in Taunton is £6.5 million, toward which the Heritage Lottery Fund has set aside £4.8 million.
The public fund-raising campaign wants to raise £250,000 of the remaining £1.7 million to complete the project, which aims to create a 21st century visitor attraction telling the story of Somerset.
Mr Aston (pictured) said: “The wonderful collections here in Somerset deserve a first-class home, so I have firmly supported the bid to create the Museum of Somerset from the beginning.
“It is amazing to consider that, if everyone in Somerset gave 50p, we would reach the fund-raising target.
“By working together we can help to secure the future of Somerset’s important heritage.
“The current museum possesses some truly world class exhibits, however, these precious artefacts need to be presented in a more user-friendly way.
“The Museum of Somerset project will achieve this and improve the whole visitor experience.
“I am pleased that the bid is progressing well and would encourage people to find a little bit of loose change to give to this worthy cause.”
County council adult and community services portfolio holder, Councillor Justin Robinson, said: “Somerset County Council is committed to conserving the history of the county and providing opportunities for people to learn about their heritage.
“We believe that this will be best achieved through the creation of the Museum of Somerset, and over 10,000 people have publicly backed our plans.
“We hope that people will now donate to the public fund-raising appeal.”
One of the ways in which donations can be made is by calling in to the County Museum, in Taunton, and putting money into a large replica castle keep which has been designed especially for the appeal.
Photo submitted.

£750 million project spin-off benefit for West Somerset Railway

THE West Somerset Railway is benefiting with the spin-off from a £750 million programme to improve the track on Network Rail’s Western Route.
Network Rail has created a specially-designed operations base in Taunton to house a high output track relaying system (HOTRS) and high output ballast cleaner (HOBC).
The world class, award-winning equipment equipment, worth more than £50 million, equipment works three times faster than conventional renewals systems and will bring major improvements to the Westcountry’s railway lines during the next few years.
It reduces the need for lengthy line closures during engineering work ands also improves passenger comfort by making the track smoother and preventing the need for speed restrictions in coming years.
As work progresses, Network Rail is providing used ballast to the West Somerset Railway as construction material for the building of additional WSR facilities near Taunton, avoiding the need for many lorry movements in the local area.
WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said: “We are delighted to be working with Network Rail in this unique partnership, re-using the ballast to construct the triangle for turning locomotives and coaches, enabling steam-hauled charter trains to visit Somerset as a new and exciting destination.”
Network Rail high output programme engineering manager Colin Ness said: “The HOTRS does the work of several machines simultaneously.
“One system removes old rail and old sleepers, levels the ballast bed, lays new sleepers, and installs new rail all as one continuous process.
“The other system deals with the ballast.
“This means that we can replace up to 500 metres of track, sleepers, and ballast each night.
“We successfully used the HOS in the recent three-week closure of the railway between Taunton and Highbridge and Burnham.”

• Our photographs show the Network Rail equipment in use in the Fairwater Yard, Taunton. Photos contributed.