NEW “no cycling” signs are proving their worth in a bid to keep cyclists off the pavements in New Milton Town Centre. Residents and shoppers raised concerns that someone could be knocked over or injured by thoughtless cyclists using the pavements
A CHRISTCHURCH mum will be taking the plunge for charity next week by swimming for more than 15 hours. Claire Smith, 37, will attempt to swim the length of the English Channel on Friday to raise money for Sport Relief in the swimming pool at The Village
CONTROVERSIAL plans to build new houses over playing fields were debated at a public meeting on Saturday. Bournemouth Council plans to use Duck Lane’s fields for 49 new council houses to ease pressure on the waiting list. However more
VERWOOD has chosen its new Carnival Queen. Naomi Larry, 19, has won the 2012 title and will now get to choose her own dress for the big carnival day on Saturday, June 30. She grew up in Verwood and also works there. Naomi will be joined by princesses
A TEENAGE girl who witnessed the horror of her father collapsing and dying has paid tribute to the friends that are helping her recover. Georgia Couling, 14, was in the car with her father Nick last September when he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage
A DISABLED campaigner from Lymington travelled to Westminster to join a mass lobby of Parliament and express her concerns about the future of social care. Gillian Stancer, 72, an active campaigner for Leonard Cheshire Disability, regularly advises the
PUPILS at a Colehill school have helped create a timeline of the last 2,000 years to stretch along their corridor. Youngsters at St Michael’s Middle School came up with concepts and ideas for the 17 metre by two-metre timeline, which is divided into
A SCHOOL has apologised after incurring the wrath of Bournemouth planners by felling several mature trees in its grounds. Oakmead College of Technology at Duck Lane came under fire after seven oak trees, two hollies and a hawthorn tree were chopped down
The law “SARAH’S Law” was proposed after the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne by a convicted sex offender more than 11 years ago. Officially called the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, it allows parents to check if someone with
THE detective who led the inquiry into Sarah Payne’s murder has revealed single mothers are the group most vulnerable to predatory paedophiles. Martyn Underhill, who now lives in Poole, spoke out after Dorset Police disclosed that the majority
BEACH huts tenants in Poole who are outraged about proposed new restrictions to their tenancies, will be able to tell the council exactly what they think. Borough of Poole has launched six weeks’ public consultation on unpopular plans to restrict
A GROUP of sea cadets have been left devastated after vandals broke in and slashed one of their boats “to pieces”. The safety boat, which cost £7,000 and took Christchurch Sea Cadets a year to fundraise for, was slashed five times after the fence at
BE prepared for some very scary encounters of the third kind this summer when Ridley Scott’s Prometheus hits our screens. A new trailer arrived online yesterday and while we’re not experts, we’re sensing only bad things can come from touching
THIEVES have cut around a dozen roses from flowers left at a Corfe Mullen grave, just days after the funeral. A grieving Poole woman, who buried her mother at the Newtown Lane cemetery on Tuesday, says the large lemon blooms went missing between 5pm
Trains between Wareham and Bournemouth are running up to 45 minutes late this morning. An electrical supply problem between Branksome and Bournemouth is causing the delays, according to South West Trains. Services from Pokesdown and
LONG-held hopes for a Bournemouth ice rink have been dashed after the council failed to find a developer willing to take the scheme on. The tendering process for developers interesting in operating an Olympic-sized rink at Kings Park ended
POETRY-loving centenarian Dorothy Legge has celebrated her milestone 100th birthday with a party attended by civic dignitaries – and no doubt a few lines of verse. Mrs Legge spent the afternoon surrounded by family and friends at her Poole nursing home
POLICE are appealing for witnesses following an early morning assault at Walkabout in Bournemouth. Officers have released images of a man they want to trace after a 21-year-old Poole man was punched in the face at about 1 am on Saturday, February
CONCERNED parents are fighting plans to increase pupil numbers at Bourne-mouth’s second biggest primary school – a move that will mean the loss of the school library. The controversial plan to accommodate a further 30 pupils in the library of Hill View
Youngsters will have the chance to try dinghy sailing, kayaking, windsurfing and other watersports free when Rockley launches its season at Poole Park. On Sunday March 25 from 11am to 3pm there will be opportunities to try out a host of watersports at
THE developers of the controversial housing plan for Boscombe Centre Community Arts have released a “tackling myths” leaflet. Bournemouth 2026 is a Community Interest Company behind the plan to build 11 affordable new homes on the BCCA site in Haviland
THE system works. According to Martyn Underhill, the sex offenders disclosure scheme is doing exactly what it was set up to do. As a serving police officer, he was part of the inquiry team that dealt with the Sarah Payne investigation. Our
THERE is a water shortage every year. My idea would give a lot of people a job. The idea is, why not use sea water for ablutions? It would keep a lot of bugs at bay and keep the pipes clean, after all, there’s plenty of it out there. We are surrounded
REFERENCE the article in Snapshots of the Past, Echo February 28 on the recent book by Philip Horton regarding the Beeching Report of 1963. In 1964 I was working a continental boat train from Dover Marina to Victoria. A gentleman came up to the cab window
JUST a little disappointed to notice, in your columns, how that old lack of ambition once again pervades the citizens of this beautiful borough. Whereas one may sympathise with those who look at the proposals for the future of the now gone Winter Gardens
THE repairs and reconstruction of Tuckton Bridge are no doubt needed in the interest of good traffic management. However, the inevitable inconvenience, frustration and delays caused to users could have been mitigated had Bournemouth Council shown a sense
SYLVIA Hinves’ letter has prompted me to write as we seem to be suffering in silence in Ferndown. I work in retail and since the works at Canford Bottom Roundabout sales have dropped dramatically, so much so that all our hours have been cut. We are
YOU have recently had several articles in the Echo about dog fouling. I live in Old Town Poole in a town house. I have a small cobbled area at the front of my property and over the last two weeks irresponsible dog owners have let their dogs foul on
SOME schools are illegally excluding pupils without going through the proper process, says the Children's Commissioner for England. In a report, Children's Commisioner Dr Maggie Atkinson welcomed the falling number of exclusions in English schools
A FOLK singer dubbed ‘the Welsh Bruce Springsteen’ will join music’s brightest young stars this month to prove that folk music is entering an exciting new era. Ambitious prog-folk quintet The Moulettes, BBC Young Folk Award winner Megan Henwood and
A VETERAN marathon runner, a disabled footballer and a woman who uses an assistance dog to cope with a rare disorder are among the hundreds of people who will carry the Olympic torch through Dorset. Around 115 torchbearers a day will carry
THE roads and streets that the Olympic Flame will travel along in advance of the London 2012 Games are revealed today. The London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay will visit Purbeck, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch on Friday, July 13 and Saturday
A 21-year-old woman is fighting for her life after being involved in an early morning accident just yards from where she works. Her 17-year-old male companion is also receiving hospital treatment for injuries he sustained after they were allegedly
I am aware of the need to ‘sell’ a programme of music, but unconvinced that composers from Germany, Poland and Norway should grace this ‘Irish’ celebration despite presenter Petroc Trelawny’s citing of the worldwide ‘Irish Pub’ phenomenon. Indeed the
PIRATES rookie Todd Kurtz insists he will be going full throttle to seize his chance in the big time. The Australian teenager is set to make his Poole Coastal Aluminium debut in tonight’s Elite Shield first leg clash at Wolverhampton (7.30pm). Kurtz
MILES Addison revealed he had earned a cash windfall from boss Lee Bradbury after banking his first goal for Cherries. The Derby loan man immediately headed to the dugout to celebrate with Bradbury after netting Cherries’ late equaliser against Carlisle
CARLISLE boss Greg Abbott pointed an accusing finger at Cherries management duo Lee Bradbury and Russ Wilcox after he had been banished to the stand at Seward Stadium on Saturday. Abbott was sent from the dugout by referee Phil Gibbs after tempers had
MANAGER Steve Riley claimed a controversial opening goal had helped St Albans City finally overcome his battling Bashley team. Depleted Bash looked set to claim a draw against the play-off hopefuls until the hosts struck twice in the closing stages to
MANAGER Glenn Burnett watched the finale of New Milton Town’s defeat among the crowd after being dismissed from the technical area. The Linnets boss confirmed he had been sent from the dugout in the 88th minute for disputing a refereeing decision. To
LEE Bradbury defended his tactics after Carlisle boss Greg Abbott claimed Cherries had adopted a long-ball approach due to their “desperation for a result”. Miles Addison’s 83rd-minute equaliser earned Cherries a 1-1 draw against the high-flying
IT was like listening to a couple of politicians. Lee Bradbury described this as “a good performance” by Cherries, while opposite number Greg Abbott hailed “a fantastic point” for the visitors. In the grand scheme of things, both managers probably had
TOM Killick has urged Poole Town to maintain their play-off pace in a bid to dodge any late-season drama. The Dolphins boss is desperate for his men to seal their top-five spot with time to spare in an attempt to avoid a nervy finale to the campaign.
WIMBORNE boss Steve Cuss praised Micky Hubbard’s wonder strike that lit the blue touch paper in a vital 4-1 win over backmarkers Stourport Swifts. The victory handed Magpies a 12-point cushion over the only Division One South & West relegation place.
BOSS Adie Arnold hailed the performance of match-winner Charlie Gajic after Verwood Town edged a step closer to promotion. The Wessex One leaders secured a 1-0 home victory over Whitchurch thanks to a second-minute strike from Gajic. Gajic’s ninth league
