Bookings at Dorset and Hampshire holiday parks are booming as the falling pound makes breaks in many European destinations even more expensive. With sterling slumping to another new low against the Euro, the number of families choosing to holiday in
CHURCH leaders who have experienced first-hand the situation in Zimbabwe have spoken out in support of the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, in his call for president Robert Mugabe to be thrown out of office. Rev Graham Shaw, who pastors Methodist
THIRTY years ago the National Canine Defence League was desperate to do something to stem the heartbreaking tide of unwanted puppies ending up on its hands after Christmas. Then chief executive officer Clarissa Baldwin had a lightbulb moment
A LITTLE girl with a big smile defied her doctors’ gloomy prognosis after her dramatic entry into the world. Alicia Collins was not expected to survive the night when she was stillborn after being delivered by emergency caesarean section.
SPORTS-mad Tom Lanham has been through a few battles – and he has emerged from them all a hero to his family. The nine-year-old from Hamworthy in Poole is battling a rare and aggressive brain cancer and it is taking huge courage to face the gruelling
MY first task, after I joined a city council as a press officer 25 years ago, was to write a press release to alert the media that car parking charges were to go up. So I wrote a draft piece saying that parking charges were going up by an average
LOCAL councils have hit back at claims they are wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on “propaganda and spin doctors”. A report compiled by the TaxPayers’ Alliance showed that both Dorset County Council and Bournemouth Borough Council
A WOMAN who allowed her horse to suffer for at least three months with a painful hoof condition was banned from keeping horses for three years. June Margaret Curnow, 58, of Creekmoor Lane, Poole, failed to administer treatment to dun mare Missy
I DIDN’T watch the televised death of terminally ill Craig Ewart at a Swiss suicide clinic. But I’ve no problem with it being on our screens or with what he did. He said: “I have death. Or I have suffering and death. This way makes a
AMIE the donkey faced a lonely Christmas after her life-long horse companion died. So her owners handed her over to Margaret Green Animal Rescue so that she could be found a new friend. Twenty-seven-year-old Amie, who has proved a hit
HE died in the jungles of Asia five years after the end of the Second World War. Now nearly 60 years later, officials from the Ministry of Defence are searching for the relatives of the Royal Army Service Corps dispatcher from Bournemouth and
A POOLE man accused of causing thousands of pounds of damage by contaminating his sheltered housing flat with asbestos says he’d rather face prison than pay a £60 bill. Poole Housing Partnership (PHP) is charging 62-year-old Richard Freeman for a new
ONE of the heaviest flounders to be recorded from Poole Harbour in recent years has been landed by Jason Rothwell. Rothwell, a 38-year-old angler from Hamworthy, was targeting an undisclosed section of the harbour shoreline when a huge flounder that
STAR WARS: The Clone Wars overstretches a simple linear plot, which would fit snugly into a 30-minute TV episode, relying on technical wizardry to paper over the myriad cracks in the screenplay. Obi-Wan Kenobi visits Jabba the Hutt to broker a deal
VERNON Kay takes the chair in this latest interactive DVD version of the TV gameshow, inviting us to play for “single munn-eh”, “dubble munn-eh” and even “BIG munn-eh”. Two teams try to match the top answers given in random surveys of the public when
HELLBOY II: The Golden Army is every bit as fast and furious as its predecessor, melding dazzling production design with wry humour. Director Guillermo del Toro is given free reign to let his imagination run riot, concocting a dark and bloody fairy-tale
IF you can’t enjoy a healthy serving of leftovers at Christmas, when can you? This mini-album of extras from the sessions for Cat Power’s awesome Jukebox album would happily serve as a lesser talent’s main dish. Six tracks, all covers, that perfectly
NOW, Britney’s had her problems in recent years so what she could really do with is a few hits to remind us what she’s all about. And, to be fair, that’s pretty much what she’s done – the title track and current single Womanizer stand up and, erm, shake
OTHER bands demand private jets and monkeys in return for selling their souls to major record companies. Not so Glasvegas. All they wanted to do was record a Christmas album – in a church in Transylvania! And here, at last, are the results
GOOD gravy, if Christian Bale growls any deeper for Bruce Wayne’s disturbed little crime fighter, he’s going to need larynx surgery pronto. But that’s the worst thing about Christopher Nolen’s second and pulsating Bat-effort, which is otherwise quite
HAVING stretched their two songs (the fast one and the slow one) to breaking point on their first album, The Killers then pitched for Springsteen territory and tried to play it moody on Sam’s Town with some success. It’s no surprise then to find Brandon
Tonight the moon will be closer to the Earth than it has been for the past 15 years. Each month the Moon orbits the Earth in an oval-shaped path, and tonight it will move past it around 28,000km closer than average. it will also cooincide
CHRISTCHURCH Borough Council says local taxpayers will be footing the bill after bus fares in west Christchurch were increased to £4 for a single journey. From December 1, passengers using the C1 and C2 services have had to pay £4 for a single
CHERRIES' match against Rochdale on Saturday could stand or fall on the Lancashire club’s burning bins. A number of bins have been strategically positioned to help thaw the frozen pitch. Premier League referee Lee Mason has carried out
JACKSONS Group Limited is planning to buck the shrinking automotive industry trend by opening up a new dealership in Christchurch. Throughout December the company is preparing its new site at Iford Bridge near Christchurch for the official
FORD has added the sporty Zetec S badge to its Focus line-up for the first time in the UK. The new addition is based on the existing Zetec model but with the addition of a full sports styling kit, of front and rear spoilers with lower sill extensions
A TERRIFIED shop assistant was attacked as a Poole newsagent was targeted by robbers in a daring late-night raid on Thursday. Two men threatened the 24-year-old woman as she swept rubbish in an alleyway at the rear of McColl’s on Blandford
CHILDMINDERS say they are being forced out of their jobs by the so-called “nappy curriculum”. The Corfe Mullen Childminding Group, representing workers from across Poole, says new regulations and bureaucracy are causing a nightmare. As the number of
As the priest at a Catholic funeral mass brings the chalice to his lips, he falls over dead. When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained potassium cyanide, she's determined to solve the murder of Father Miguel
Terri Raines met and fell in love with Steve Irwin when she was on holiday in Australia. Within a year she had left her wildlife rescue work in the United States, married Steve and joined him in his conservation work. Terri recounts the unforgettable
Anne Perry has cornered the market in feelgood literature for the festive season with her atmospheric whodunnits set in Victorian times. This is arguably the best, and certainly the most vividly detailed, with the west coast of Ireland providing a picturesque
WELSH operatic star Katherine Jenkins blotted her apparently spotless copybook recently with confessions that a number of years ago she’d taken cocaine. Despite the sensational headlines – “I could have been like Amy Winehouse” – it was apparent
DORSET-based scribes have been even busier than usual in the run-up to Christmas, so we thought we’d round up the fruits of their labours... David Edelstein – Last Dorset Diaries (Halsgrove, £12.99). The third – and apparently final – instalment of
Shhhhhhh! The ‘Keep Quiet’ notices at Rossmore library, Poole were ignored as hip hop band Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip put on a blistering live performance. The unusual setting for the evening was part of the bands Christmas Library Tour - Word Up.
SIX years is like several lifetimes in the music business, which makes it all the more remarkable that Will Young came to prominence through TV’s Pop Idol in 2002. Back at the BIC with a stunning new album, Let It Go, he delivered a performance
BEFORE everyone gets into a frenzy of excitement over the fact that it’s The X Factor Final (ITV1, 7pm) on Saturday night and you’re all sitting with those texting and phoning fingers a-twitching, there’s something we really need to talk about.
It's a peculiar crowd here tonight, especially for a band who seven years ago would have packed venues such as this on the strength of the track Bohemian Like You, which back then was sitting pretty in a mobile phone advertisement on heavy television
ONE of the country’s leading civil servants has been appointed to investigate claims of “irregularities” in the planning process in the Borough of Poole, the Daily Echo can reveal. The move has been prompted by widespread and persistent rumours
THE public inquiry into the accident revealed a catalogue of errors contributed to the tragedy. Faulty signalling was believed to be the main cause of the crash – old live wiring had not been removed from a Clapham signalling box as part of
THE Clapham rail disaster killed 35 people and injured more than 100 others. But it could have been so much worse. A British Rail engineer at the Rayner’s Park traction control centre saw the circuit breakers trip out, turning off power
BOSS Jimmy Quinn wants Cherries to keep the heat on their relegation rivals as they prepare to embark on a challenging festive campaign. Cherries meet League Two high-fliers Rochdale, Bury and Brentford in the space of the next 14 days before bringing
WIMBORNE Town director Paul Miller is still hoping for promotion into the Southern League – despite the Cuthbury club being well off the Wessex Premier pace. Magpies made a faltering start to the campaign and the prospect of catching Poole Town and VT
IN-FORM Bashley striker Dave Allen is getting a taste for scoring important cup goals. The Hamworthy-based forward, recently recruited from Winchester City, netted a second-half hat-trick as Bash ran out 7-0 winners over United Services Portsmouth in
NOTICED a distinct lack of vampires in Poole recently? There’s a good reason – a pungent smell of garlic has been causing a stink in a wide area of the town. The whiff has been lingering around the area north of Ashley Road, Parkstone, for
ONE of the country’s leading civil servants has been appointed to investigate claims of “irregularities” in the planning process in the Borough of Poole, the Daily Echo can reveal. The move has been prompted by widespread and persistent rumours over
UNDER-fire Poole Council is back in the spotlight. The dust has not yet settled on the furore which broke out after the Daily Echo revealed that Borough of Poole was using legislation to tackle terrorism to spy on families suspected of abusing school
A VISIT to Poole’s Lighthouse to track down the stars of Dick Whittington and His Cat – which opens tonight – found me wading through performers from all points of the entertainment spectrum. In the theatre I encountered men in stockings, corsets, high
JAMES Croker has placed special emphasis on his senior charges ahead of tomorrow’s big test against Trowbridge in the Dorset & Wilts Cup. The Oakmeadians coach welcomes back Army Sevens Fijian flier Malakai Magnus for the quarter-final
CAPTAIN Robert Elford admits Swanage & Wareham are feeling the pinch of a colossal injury crisis ahead of their home Dorset & Wilts Cup quarter-final against Chippenham tomorrow (2.30pm). Elford revealed the club has no fewer than 21 of its first and
FROM the scars on her wrist and ankle, Alison Clark knows she was badly trapped in one of the trains involved in the Clapham rail disaster. But 20 years on she’s still not entirely sure what happened in the horrific accident which killed 35
THE solicitor representing a company that is petitioning to have Cherries wound up has said his client has taken action as an “absolute last resort”. Details of the petition, which was presented to the High Court on November 21, were published
SHWAN Jalal says he is desperate to help Cherries find a quick cure for their travel sickness and admits he is “hurting” at shipping goals on the road. Jalal has yet to keep a clean sheet in the league away from Dean Court and has conceded
HAMWORTHY United manager Phil Simkin admits he feels sorry for striker Tom Jeffes after both Stuart Cannie and Warren Byerley hit form to keep him on the bench. The former Bournemouth Pop-pies frontman looked set for a key role alongside in-form Byerley
NON-LEAGUE legend Taffy Richardson has tipped Charlie Austin for a bright future – but only if he continues to put in the necessary work. Veteran Richardson has been impressed with the form of his young Poole Town team-mate so far this term. Since joining
WHY is it important to remember the anniversary of the Clapham rail disaster 20 years ago? It is a day I will never forget. The train that crashed was one I used to travel on every day to work at Southampton. But the day before, if my memory serves
POLITICIANS in North Dorset are backing a clergyman’s decision to ban a carol from Christmas services at four churches in the district. The Rev Stephen Coulter, the rector of Bryanston, Durweston, Pimperne and Stourpaine, has removed the carol
THE credit crunch has claimed many victims with businesses folding and workers losing their jobs. Over recent months we have all watched as shops have closed their doors and a wide variety of traders have gone out of business. So why
