OUTGOING Pirate Jason Doyle has warned Somerset fans "I'm no Zorro, I'm my own man". The former Poole Castle Cover asset has been forced to drop down to the Premier League after failing to secure a Wimborne Road team place. But the 22-year-old still
THE sights and smells at Johanna Price's puppy factory were horrific, but it is claimed that an even more "macabre" spectacle was found during her years as an illegal dog breeder. Price, 71, was this week banned from keeping animals for life after a
DOGS could soon be banned from Sandbanks beach all year round. Poole council is to hold informal consultation on the issue but have stressed discussions are still at a very early stage. They say the ban would only apply to the beach in front of the
IT'S the beginning of a new term but parents don't seem to have made safer parking a New Year's resolution. Outside Elmrise Primary School on Holloway Avenue, Bournemouth, we saw several parents parked on double yellow lines and the yellow zigzag outside
HALF the nation - the male half that is, is probably mourning the loss of one of our most iconic figures. Yes, the woman whose 32ff assets have graced the front cover of OK Magazine for as long as I can remember has finally had them surgically removed
NEW Forest communities are set to lose vital post office services after managers rubber-stamped closure proposals on Wednesday. Post offices at Ashley, New Milton, Tiptoe and Emery Down near Lyndhurst are all set to close following the results of a
NEXT month hundreds of people will don fancy dress and a smile to run or walk in memory of popular sports fanatic Steve Bernard. The former Bournemouth School pupil, killed in a tragic road crash in November 2005, would have been 21 in February and friends
Volunteers are needed to help a North Dorset swimming pool re-open with a splash. The project to restore Shaftesbury swimming pool is now in its final stages, with the scheduled reopening just over two months away. The closure of neighbouring facilities
RESIDENTS are being urged to have their final say on the future of the Upton Heath Estate, neighbouring woodland, footpaths, roads and cycleways. Last October 74 people took part in a consultation project, held by Purbeck Housing Trust to shape the future
POLICE have released CCTV images of people they would like to speak to in connection with a series of break-ins and fires at beach huts in Southbourne. They are hoping members of the public might help identify the two men, thought to be aged in their
AUTISTISM care pioneer Betty Peters, the founder principal of the Wessex Autistic Society's Portfield School in Christchurch, has died, aged 88. Born in London where she was educated at a convent school, Mrs Peters had considered a career in medicine
IF SOCCER boss Harry Redknapp was to sell his waterfront mansion in Sandbanks, he could buy the equivalent of 60 houses or a whole street in some parts of the north-east, according to local property experts. Redknapp's mock Tudor three-storey house which
THE most vulnerable members of society are to be hit by a shameful whammy of "stealth taxes" in East Dorset at a time when the council still spends more than £80,000 a year on supplying employees with leased company cars, a councillor has said. East
A TOP-level conference to discuss ways of reducing the harmful effects of alcohol will take place in Bournemouth. Health professionals, licensees, police and students will be among the delegates at the Bournemouth and Poole Alcohol Harm Reduction Conference
THIS is a grim day for Dorset. Not only has bird flu broken out at Abbotsbury Swannery, one of the most beautiful spots in the county, but plans have also been revealed to build thousands of homes on green belt land. Bird flu at the swannery is a truly
THE confirmation of a bird flu outbreak in Dorset has sent shock-waves through local communities. News that three dead swans at Abbotsbury had been found carrying the deadly H5N1 strain, is the last thing farmers, tourist chiefs and poultry owners wanted
STEVE Bendall will be back in the spotlight when he challenges Darren Barker for the Commonwealth middleweight title on February 22 at Bethnal Green. The Poole-based southpaw has been repaid for winning his last three contests with a crack at Barker,
A CAT was force fed anti-freeze and died a "pitiful, lingering death". It was attacked in Creekmoor, Poole - the scene of two cat knife attacks last October. The five-year-old black cat died on Wednesday and is believed to have been poisoned on Friday
CONSUMERS' finances are coming under increasing strain with millions of bills going unpaid and four out of 10 people admitting they are now reliant on credit, research has showed. A quarter of credit cardholders said they had started 2008 more dependent
MEGGITT PLC, the Bournemouth based international aerospace, defence and performance sensors group, has announced the acquisition of Ferroperm, a world leader in the manufacture of advanced piezo-electric ceramic materials for specialist sensor applications
THE hunt for a buyer to rescue stricken bank Northern Rock could see cash-rich Middle Eastern governments approached as the bid deadline looms. The government is understood to have given Goldman Sachs, the investment bank charged with finding financing
PARENTS can protect their children from the dangers of the internet by teaching them to use it safely. This is the message from Dorset Police following another BBC investigation highlighting the dangers of internet grooming. In Tuesday's Echo, we told
CRIME figures in New Milton and district were low during during the Christmas and New Year period, police sergeant Dave Tanner told town councillors. On Monday he described the previous 40 days as "peaceful and quiet". There were just five house burglaries
DORSET'S Gary Emerson chalked up the third best score of the day on the East Course, but had to settle for a share of 30th place after a wet-and-windy first day at the Joburg Open. Emerson carded a two-under-par 69 today on the much tougher of two courses
THREE dead swans at Abbotsbury were today found to have been carrying the deadly strain of bird flu. The birds were found by a member of staff at Abbotsbury Swannery, near Weymouth. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed
TONY Blair, who stood down as UK prime minister last June, has taken a part-time post with US investment bank JP Morgan Chase which has offices in Bournemouth. He has been employed "in a senior advisory capacity," the bank said. Mr Blair has said that
THE interest rate has remained unchanged at 5.5 per cent following the Bank of England's latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday. This will come as a blow to many who are mortgaged up to the hilt.
VETERAN rocker Shakin' Stevens, who made a surprise re-visit to the UK singles chart over Christmas, will be heading for Dorset this summer when he rocks Lulworth Castle for a fourth of July special. Tickets for the show, plus a performance the previous
STURMINSTER Newton Amateur Dramatic Society will be performing that traditional rags to riches favourite Dick Whittington as their annual pantomime next month. The first panto ever performed at the town's new Exchange, it tells the time honoured story
THE Circus of Horrors is back bringing its blood-thirsty and burlesque performances to two Dorset theatres in the next few weeks. This spectacle of glorious Gothic grotesquerie plays the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne on January 12 and will be back for a
THE latest figures show considerable variation in the schools across our area. In some, all students achieved five good GCSEs including English and maths - a measure broadly employed as the gold standard - but in others just 15 per cent of the pupils
A WOMAN shop assistant is recovering from shock after an armed man robbed her at gunpoint this morning. The 6ft gunman, wearing a workman's jacket and balaclava, burst into McColl's convenience store, Alder Road, Branksome, around 6.15 am, shortly after
A FORMER Olympic diving star has appeared in court accused of a catalogue of child sex abuse offences. Brian Phelps, who won six gold medals, two silver and one bronze accolade at Olympic, Commonwealth and European Games, returned from his retirement
FIVE day centres across Dorset remain under threat despite a government windfall of £4 million to cash-strapped council care chiefs. Placard-waving protesters on the steps of County Hall greeted senior officers and councillors at a media briefing to
JASON Doyle has admitted he is getting "sick of finishing fourth" after narrowly failing to get on the podium in the fourth round of the Australian Championship. The outgoing Pirate shrugged off a suspected broken ankle by reeling off three wins, a second
PIRATES star Chris Holder admits he already has one hand on the Australian Championship trophy but insists he needs to remain "focused" to finish the job. The Sydneysider won his fourth consecutive round at Newcastle yesterday, beating Troy Batchelor
NEIL Moss has declared himself "100 per cent fit and raring to go" as the gloves prepare to come off in the battle for Cherries' number one spot. Moss is ready to renew rivalry with his close pal Gareth Stewart after hitting the comeback trail following
CHERRIES' new recruit Jo Tessem is vowing to take nothing for granted as he prepares to step into uncharted territory. The 35-year-old could be given his first taste of League One action when Cherries meet fellow strugglers Cheltenham on Saturday. Tessem
