A NEW Forest district councillor says she will have to shut her hairdressing salon if she is forced to pay British Gas an outstanding bill of £10,500. British Gas phoned Cllr Penny Lovelace at her Hordle salon asking her to read the meter. She did
THE FINANCIAL crisis will not stop the controversial £36.5 million shake-up of Purbeck schools, say county chiefs. Dorset County Council’s cabinet agreed to forge ahead with plans to change the school system from three to two tiers, despite concerns
CUTS of up to £40 million to County Hall budgets will be discussed at a meeting of Dorset County Council today – 24 hours after cabinet chiefs slashed nearly £1.5 million to services for children, vulnerable adults and the environment. Senior
STARS of American wrestling are limbering up to compete in Ferndown on Tuesday, July 27. Life was on the ropes for professional James Riley, 23, until he started the project, which will see the Barrington Centre turned into a show ring. He can’t wait
A stunning Ofsted report has awarded a Poole school a complete set of “outstanding” grades and made only one recommendation – better buildings. The irony is that this is Montacute Special School at Canford Heath, which has just had its £12.7 million
HOSPITAL bosses and planners are discussing whether to ease the limit on parking spaces at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. As the Daily Echo revealed in January, cars are not allowed to use 170 empty spaces at the new staff multi-storey because of a planning
THERE are celebrations being held at Pokesdown Primary School this week as the school marks two awards of excellence, the Healthy Schools Plus Award and The Artsmark Gold Award. It is one of the first schools in Bournemouth to be awarded The Healthy
IT caused controversy when it was first launched with critics claiming it was a “Mickey Mouse” course and a waste of taxpayers’ money. But students from the Watersports and Surf Academy at Bournemouth and Poole College have proved them wrong by winning
THIRTEEN Bournemouth Dolphins, eight Ferndown Otters, three Poole swimmers and one Christchurch and New Milton Seagull head north over the next month for the annual summer festival of championship swimming. They represent the cream of the area’s swimming
BROADSTONE member Kyra Horlock is the new South West Ladies Champion after toppling Dorset’s Melissa McMahon 7 and 6 in the final. At 14-years-old, she is one of the youngest winners of the championship. This year’s competition was held at
GARY Emerson has been finding it difficult to regain the form that earned him a lengthy career on the European Tour and a victory in the 2004 Russian Open since returning to the West Region where he was once captain. But the Dorset professional, who
IT was a morning of mixed emotions for football legend Paul Gascoigne. Yesterday Gazza received a certificate congratulating him for staying “clean and sober” after successfully completing his “detox”; the first stage in an alcohol rehabilitation
SITTING on Bournemouth beach, four mums united by a tragic bond make a joint appeal. Each of them lost a son in Afghanistan. Now they are urging people to line the streets for Sunday’s freedom parade through the town by The Rifles. The
A PRIMARY school has been warned it must improve after failing to address concerns identified by inspectors last year. Bournemouth council has issued a “Formal Notice of Required Improvements” to Winton Primary School, which is already under
IT’S barely three weeks since she had pioneering life-saving cardiac treatment, but Penny Brion is already back dancing the light fantastic. The fleet-footed octogenarian took to the dance floor with ballroom world champion Warren Boyce at
CHERRIES have today completed the permanent signing of former Dean Court loan star Rhoys Wiggins. The 22-year-old has penned a two-year contract, with a 12-month option, and has joined Cherries from Norwich City for a nominal fee. Wiggins
A CAR smashing through a Verwood shop wall has caused an estimated £25,000 of damage. The crash at Baileys, in Ringwood Road, took out two bollards, fractured the gas main and knocked over 10 televisions plus DVD players and cinema systems off the shelves
WE all know reducing food miles and eating organic help keep our carbon footprints down, but Jamie Grainger-Smith reckons we could do better. The restaurateur is an ambassador for eco-friendly food and he’s teamed up with Team Green Britain and EDF
IT was a morning of mixed emotions for football legend Paul Gascoigne. Yesterday Gazza received a certificate congratulating him for staying “clean and sober” after successfully completing his “detox”; the first stage in an alcohol rehabilitation
THERE are two iconic images of Paul Gascoigne. One shows his tears in that 1990 World Cup semi-final when he knew that his yellow card meant, whatever happened, he’d miss the final. That day he was a hero. On others, such as when he beat up his wife
A “small but amazing” charity music festival will return to Spetisbury in August. Villager Tim Wood first staged the Music and Merriment jamboree last year to raise money for hospice charity Weldmar. “I grew up at the foot of the festival
ALTHOUGH English wine is silencing critics now, it had endured something of an image problem until recent years. Similarly, a generation ago Australasian wine was also seen as a young pretender. But after decades of hard work, Australia and New
This huge dose of Dahl madness is just what the doctor ordered for children in the run up to the summer holidays. Explosions, potions, giant chickens and a sinister expanding grandma combine into the perfect tonic for school-weary youngsters
THIS was the stunning effect produced by a “halo” around the sun. The rare phenomenon called a “sun dog” occurs when the sun shines through ice crystals. This picture was taken from Bournemouth beach by photographer Chris Skone-Roberts
As I wander down to the bottom of my garden, where my veg patch and greenhouse is, I have to brush past a row of lavender. These bushes were only put in last year and for once I planted the small plants at the recommended distance. I am so
DEEP-rooted mental problems caused nurse Susan Toop to kill her own parents, Winchester Crown Court heard yesterday. Christopher Donnellan QC, defending, said the issues had developed throughout Toop’s life and been a major factor in the attacks
A POOLE teenager who woke up because he was feeling too hot in his bed found his duvet cover had caught fire. Jack Dunford, 14, had left a small citronella candle alight on his windowsill in Ponsonby Road, Parkstone, to keep mosquitoes at bay after being
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Amsterdam. The career of visual DJ duo Comix, aka Harry Bird and Sam Hodgkiss, has certainly gone from strength to strength since graduating from the Arts University College Bournemouth. Having provided visuals for Annie Mac’s
The Pet Shop Boys ticked all the right boxes with a spectacular show at the BIC, last night. (Tues July 20). Pop supremos Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe began by wearing boxes on their heads. The dancers occasionally wore boxes. And a wall
STOWAWAYS – including a man found clinging to the axle of a lorry – have been removed from the country after being uncovered at the port of Poole. Three would-be illegal immigrants were discovered by UK Border Agency officers in Poole over
PAUL Weller, who plays Summer Madness at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight on August 29 and the BIC on November 28, has just seen a good year get even better with the announcement yesterday that his Wake Up the Nation album has been shortlisted
WHEN Oscar Wilde said youth was wasted on the young, no pair could have fitted the bill more than Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This impetuous pair storm through a roller coaster romance that, in their case, is not merely wasted but doomed
With reference to the controversy regarding bus passes (Daily Echo, July 17), let’s put you in the picture. I am very nearly 71 and have worked for 55 years, but since I was 60 I have had access to a bus pass, and during that 10 years I have used it
I READ with interest the suggestion by Cllr Michael Griffiths that Bournemouth should be twinned with Liverpool – an excellent idea! (Daily Echo, July 16) For years I had the wrong idea about the city of Liverpool because like many folk, I had never
In response to my Daily Echo featured call to twin with Liverpool, I just want to reassure some concerned residents that this would be more of a partnership arrangement than one of traditional twinning. We are currently twinned with the overseas towns
It’s all very well for Faith on Saturday to round on us baby boomers (July 17) but please don't tar us all with the same brush. I was born in 1952 to a working class family. None of my family or neighbours went to university. I had a Saturday
ALLOTMENT holders in Christchurch are appealing for wheelchair-bound people with an interest in gardening to take on part of their new plot built specifically for their needs. Members of the Roeshot Hill Allotment Association have been busy building
A TUNISIAN bazaar will arrive in Christchurch creating a traditional North African shopping experience next weekend. Visitors to Saxon Square on Friday July 30, Saturday July 31 and August 1 will be able to browse the traditional Tunisian Souk Market
I GREW up with Todd Carty. Not literally, we weren’t neighbours, but he played Tucker Jenkins, TV’s coolest pupil and teen crush of every schoolgirl in the land, in my favourite after-school show, the legendary Grange Hill. Then he was Mark
Being lucky enough to have a bus pass, I do use this quite a bit to go to the centre of Poole – it could not be more convenient as the bus stops right outside the Dolphin Centre entrance. However, in today’s climate, and with the need to make savings
I don’t use buses. I can still afford a car but it does seem strange that some men who started work at the age of 15 and who worked for 50 years until 65 and now live on the most miserable, lowest pension payable to a human being living in a G7 country
Your correspondent (Have Your Say, July 16) demonstrates a very one sided, if not to say ageist, view of drivers at various times in their lives. A quick look at the premiums demanded by insurance companies will indicate the risks posed by drivers in
I was interested to read the Daily Echo article last Friday about an idea for Bournemouth to twin with Liverpool, headlined North Star, as although I come from Bournemouth, I started University in Liverpool in September. I’ve always thought
IT’S all change on the buses for residents of Christchurch as a new route for residents of Highcliffe and Hurn is launched next week. Three of the borough’s bus services are being merged by Dorset County Council to create a new route, the 111 that will
A CHRISTCHURCH repairs man has been ordered to pay compensation to customers following an investigation by Dorset Trading Standards officers. Neil Vare from Lights Close in Christchurch pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Magist-rates Court to seven offences
THE Christchurch Dial-a-Bus service has been re-launched to accommodate more residents in the borough. Dial-a-Bus, which was launched five years ago, operates a wheelchair-accessible service from the homes of disabled or older people who find
NEWS that only one in 10 police officers is available to the public at any one time comes as little surprise to the British public. They have become accustomed to the paperwork, antiquated shift patterns and red tape which leave many areas
STEPHEN Fry is rather partial to “bundle” and I particularly like “showboat”, but “scunner” (annoying person – think Piers Morgan or James Corden) and “sleekit” (sly) are extremely satisfying, too. Ask anyone what their favourite word is and they’re
LYLE Taylor is determined to make it second time lucky with Cherries – once he resumes his trial spell at Dean Court. Taylor has been a frustrated spectator since sustaining an ankle injury in the early stages of Cherries’ opening friendly against Spurs
TRAVEL-weary Kevin Spurgeon brings to an end a hectic eight-week run of tournaments that began with a major event and will finish with another at Carnoustie tomorrow. Spurgeon, who tees up in his fourth Senior Open Championship at (12.40pm), began his
MICK Holder has labelled superstar son Chris a “machine”. The Pirates spearhead’s father has just returned to Australia after a four-week tour tracking Chris’s speedway commitments around Europe. And after a jaunt that took in Holder junior’s rides
ACE spinner Jack Leach shrugged off his dynamic 13-wicket debut haul for Dorset by praising the poise of wicketkeeper-batsman Chris Park instead. The 19-year-old left arm slow bowler plundered seven for 70 as Herefordshire, resuming on their overnight
DANNY Hollands has suffered a setback in his quest to be fit for the start of the new season. The midfielder, who is awaiting surgery to cure a double hernia, was hoping to be in contention for Cherries’ League One opener at Charlton on
