DOUBLE award winner Will Spetch expects friend and defensive partner Michael Walker to remain at Poole Town – but would understand if he opted to leave. Spetch, 22, was handed the players’ player of the season gong by the Dolphins captain and also
CORFE Mullen maintained their strong start to the Dorset League season with a five-wicket win at Ferndown Wayfarers on Sunday. Peter Hoar’s side are one of two teams to claim victories in both of their opening matches and they trail leaders Dewlish
CHERRIES supporters can now buy tickets for Stephen Purches’s eagerly-awaited testimonial match against West Ham United. Tickets went on sale today for the showdown with the Premier League outfit, which will take place at Dean Court on Saturday
ONE of the men accused of murdering Reece James wept as he told a court the gun went off during a struggle. Wayne Stephenson, 34, of Byron Court, East Dulwich, said he broke into the flat in Roumelia Lane, Boscombe, in the early hours of July 25
ACTION has been taken against a Christchurch resident convicted of possessing cannabis. The Somerford resident risks eviction if he is found to be using or in possession of illegal drugs. Sovereign Housing Association was granted a suspended
POLICE have appealed for help to identify three people captured on CCTV at the time a car was damaged in Kinson. They are keen to speak to them about an incident during which two tyres were slashed at the Fernheath Adventure Playground in Verney
A WOMAN who was fighting for survival after a crash in Corfe Mullen is no longer in a life-threatening condition, police said yesterday. The car driver, who was on her way to work at the Windgreen Esso garage on April 23, suffered life-threatening
Twynham School headteacher Dr Terry Fish is blogging for the Echo about education. In his third post, he reflects on his school's latest Ofsted. Towards the end of April my school received ‘the call’ from Ofsted at about 12.30pm informing us that
TWO teams of staff from the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals (RBCH) have been named as NHS Winter Heroes. Patients and their families or the hospital workers’ colleagues put forward four members of staff and a whole ward team to be
BIRD lovers can once again follow the lives of a pair of goshawks as they bring up their family in the New Forest via a live nest cam - and there's already two new chicks to meet. The young goshawks were welcomed into the world on Thursday and
HUNDREDS of rail and real ale enthusiasts packed out Purbeck at the weekend for Swanage Railway’s annual Diesel Gala and associated Dorset Beer Festival. The three-day event, which started on Friday, included a poignant tribute to three soldiers
A BUNGLING burglar who was caught on camera stealing the till from a Bournemouth beauty salon has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Paul Kerrison and a male accomplice had been filmed entering the Joanna
LANDOWNER Charlotte Townshend has stepped down as the patron of Dorset Wildlife Trust after being targeted by animal rights activists. Militants focused on Mrs Townshend and the trust as they stepped up their fight against the badger cull in an
MORE than 500 children in Bournemouth and Poole live in homes with a high risk of domestic violence, a local charity has said. However, volunteers at the Butterfly Foundation, based in St Mary’s Road, Bournemouth, say that number is just “the tip
TO properly appreciate Poole’s rare heathland habitat you would need to be shrunk to the size of the mini-beasts and plants which inhabit it. However, Borough of Poole nature conservation officer Jez Martin’s vast knowledge of the microscopic habitat
TRANSPORT yourself to the beautiful Gaelic Outer Hebrides and enjoy These Shrinking Isles at Lighthouse in Poole on May 24. The show is the finale of a special music exchange which saw Dorset songwriter Alex Roberts travel to Scotland, and fiddler
FLAME-HAIRED singer Carol Decker returns to the area next week with the latest reincarnation of her chart-topping band T’Pau. The band, which formed in Shropshire in 1986, had a plethora of worldwide hits, including Heart & Soul and, of course
COULD this be the world’s smallest camper van? Who knows – but it is the latest creation in a long line of wacky automotive feats from Poole’s custom king Andy Saunders. Andy’s new project has seen him and his coachbuilder Martin Ford create
This photo of a duck slowly being strangled by a plastic can ring shows the shocking result of littering. The picture was taken by photographer Ian Kirk at Hatch Pond in Poole on Sunday and posted to the Echo's Flickr group. Mr Kirk, a plumber
STILT walking dragons and people in flowerpots entertained the crowds on Poole Quay on Bank Holiday Monday. The May Bank Holiday Street Arts Festival aimed to bring a touch of Covent Garden, London, to Poole Quay as the quirky entertainment acts
A SUCCESSFUL club for adults with learning disabilities has celebrated its first birthday with a party. The Tuesday Club was set up by volunteers who noticed many people were left isolated after cuts to day centres and social activities. The
AN inquest has opened into the death of a 29-year-old Bournemouth man who was found dead at his home on May 7. Nicholas Joseph Hughes’ body was discovered at his flat in Hinton Road on May 7. The cause of his death has not been ascertained.
MORE than 2,000 people have thrown their weight behind a Bournemouth schoolboy’s campaign to save one of the town’s most iconic buildings. Throop Mill, on the banks of the River Stour, ceased operating in 1972. Despite being listed, it is no
DRUG users have been alerted after contaminated heroin killed two people and hospitalised three more in the Hampshire and Portsmouth areas. A rogue batch of the drug – a sample of which is currently undergoing testing – presents “a significant
Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy. The 37-year-old actress - whose mother Marcheline Bertrand died in 2007 after battling ovarian cancer - took the decision to have both of her breasts removed despite being healthy, as she has been
Kim Kardashian has banned hospital staff members from having mobile phones when she has her baby. The 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' star and boyfriend Kanye West will welcome their first child into the world in July, and the brunette beauty
Charlie Brooks is reportedly planning to quit 'EastEnders' again. The 32-year-old actress - who only recently reprised her role as Janine Butcher following a six-month hiatus - is said to have told friends she wants to travel to America to seek
AT last there appears to be some good news for those campaigning for safety improvements on the A31. Yesterday, Roads Minister Stephen Hammond saw a delegation of Ringwood and New Forest district councillors and MP Desmond Swayne and agreed to
ONCE again the medical service provided at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH) has come up trumps. On Bank Holiday Monday morning I was taken very ill. Within minutes of being called, paramedics arrived followed by an ambulance which whisked me
I WOULD like, through your pages, to answer the letter sent by Marilyn Warburton (‘No friends of the disabled’, May 8). As part of the Town Centre Vision, the council is looking at ways at improving the public realm and the way in which people
THE badger cull is not a mistake, it is long overdue. I speak as a keen naturalist. Lee Connor, in Friday’s Echo, gives a lot of space to an emotional rant against the government and claims a wealth of scientific evidence and brings forward a lot
LIKE most of the rest of Southern England, Bournemouth has always (and still has) a severe shortage of affordable homes for rent. The demand for council housing, whether from people unable to help us with their mortgages and private rents or completely
JONATHAN CHARLES WARDLE aged 50 of Clare Lodge Close, Bransgore. Admitted soliciting another for the purpose of obtaining their sexual services as a prostitute in a public place. Discharged conditionally for 18 months. To pay victim surcharge of £15
MICHAEL ROBERT VICARY aged 69 of Lynwood Drive, Wimborne. Admitted driving a Peugeot on High Howe Lane, Bournemouth, whilst disqualified. Fined £700. To pay victim surcharge of £70. Costs of £35. Licence endorsed with six points. Also admitted driving
PENELOPE RUTH ROWE aged 60 of Ropers Lane, Wareham. Admitted driving a Mazda through a red light on the A350 Holes Bay Road and Sterte Road, Poole. Fined £60. To pay victim surcharge of £20. Costs of £35. Licence endorsed with three points. CHRISTOPHER
JUSTIN CHAPPELL aged 29 of Egmont Road, Poole. Admitted failing to comply with a requirement made by an enforcement officer at Poole Harbour to stop his vessel and allow it to be boarded and inspected. Fined £150. To pay victim surcharge of £20. Costs
RUSSELL JOHN HICKS aged 42 of Normanhurst Avenue, Bournemouth. Admitted criminal damage to property at Plantation Drive, Christchurch. Discharged conditionally for six months. Restraining order made. To pay victim surcharge of £15. Costs of £150.
A CATALOGUE of errors and serious failings has been identified in a damning report which showed a Dorset pensioner was ‘emaciated’ while in the hands of home carers. The Serious Case Review comes after the death of 70-year-old Jill Tambling who
EXTRA clinics and a telephone hotline have been set up at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital for women who are worried about being recalled for breast cancer checks. It follows fears that a junior doctor, who no longer works at the hospital, may have
MOTORISTS were facing delays this morning as four days of drainage works got underway on the A338. The works have closed one lane of the southbound carriageway between the Ashley Heath roundabout and Blackwater Bridge. This morning traffic
RESIDENTS in a Dorset village were evacuated from their homes after a gas leak caused by a car crash. Emergency services were called to Charlton Marshall around 11.15pm on Monday night after a car was in collision with roadworks causing a gas leak
A MASKED bank robber who held-up a Poole bank manager at gunpoint and sparked a four-hour manhunt has been jailed for three and a half years. Louis Warwick threatened another female member of staff at the HSBC in Broadstone before pointing a fake
AN abnormal load making its way from Portland to Poole this morning could cause traffic delays. The 5.7 metre wide load will leave Sunseeker on Portland at 10 am and make its way to Sunseeker in Poole travelling along the A354, A35, Upton dual
ALUN Rossiter claims Pirates chiefs must be “brutal” to save their season but is warning the doubters: “Write off Matt Ford at your peril.” Legendary former Poole captain Rossiter – now manager of the club’s arch rivals Swindon – gave his verdict
CHERRIES star Brett Pitman says he will have nothing to prove when he locks horns with former club Bristol City in a pre-season friendly. Pitman, who left Ashton Gate in November, is set to face the relegated Robins at Dean Court on Saturday, July
ROAD safety campaigners are celebrating after winning backing from Roads Minister Stephen Hammond for a new 50mph speed limit on a notorious stretch of the A31. Yesterday Ringwood and New Forest district councillors travelled to London, along with
HOME Secretary Theresa May is being urged to boost Dorset Police funding on the eve of her visit to Bournemouth. She will address members of the Police Federation during their conference at the Bournemouth International Centre tomorrow. Chairman
