WE take a look back at the events of 2012 in the Chard, Ilminster and Crewkerne area. Here is what happened in December 2012.

STAFF at Ferne Animal Sanctuary at Wambrook were dismayed that tins of pet food donated at a Chard supermarket were being stolen.

CHARD Town Council’s planning and highways committee voted unanimously to block controversial plans to build 450 homes on the outskirts of the town. The matter will be discussed again by South Somerset District Council in early 2013.

JOHN Jeffery announced he was to leave Greenfylde First School in Ilminster at the end of the 2012-13 academic year after 13 years at the school; while Manor Court Primary School in Chard head, Sarah Wellman, said she was retiring at the end of the current term.

CHARD Town FC officially switched-on its new floodlights. The plunger was pressed by young Isaac Flory, son of first-team manager Nick Flory, who has been recovering from leukaemia.

CHILDREN across the Chard, Ilminster and Crewkerne area enjoyed parties, nativity plays and visits from Father Christmas as the countdown to the festive season got into full swing.

FAMILY and friends of 19-year-old Liam Taylor, of Chard, were left devastated when he died as a result of injuries he sustained in a car crash in Station Road, Ilminster.

STAFF at the McColls store in Ilminster were threatened during an armed robbery just two days before Christmas.

THE annual Boxing Day hunts took place with the traditional gatherings of horses and hounds in the centres of Ilminster, Chard and Crewkerne.