CHERRIES player Steve Cook said he thought it was a joke when police first arrested him on charges of sexual assault and voyeurism, a court heard. Cook took to the stand at the Old Bailey and said he was "shocked" when officers first arrested him
THOMAS H Jonasson and Andrzej Lebedevs have replaced Dawid Stachyra and Kyle Howarth as Poole Pirates promoter Matt Ford completed his early season shake-up. Twenty-four-year-old Jonasson, who helped Pirates to their 2011 Elite League title success
CHRISTCHURCH Quay plays host to a traditional English fete this weekend as the Great Christchurch Bake Weekend gets underway. The grand finale of the Christchurch Food and Wine festival will see white marquees hosting baking demonstrations galore
A CAMPSITE owner has blasted a Purbeck District Council consultation he says could force scores of sites out of business, costing local economies thousands in lost revenue. Andy Kirkwood, of Swanage Bijou Camping, Victoria Avenue, describes the
THE re-trial of Cherries player Steve Cook and three former teammates, accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman, is on its ninth day. Earlier this year an Old Bailey jury failed to reach verdicts on whether Cook and Brighton and Hove
A REFURBISHED X-ray facility has opened in the New Forest, after relocating from the former workhouse building at Fordingbridge hospital. The new facility is now in The Arch Clinic in Bartons Road, Fordingbridge, on the same site as the GP practice
AN EAST Dorset headmaster will bid a fond farewell to his students this summer before starting a new life in China. Andy Puttock, who has been at QE School in Wimborne for 12 years, has taken on a new role as the principal of the British School
A NEW monthly event celebrating cultural diversity in Boscombe is being launched on Sunday. The ‘It’s all about Culture’ project will see people from different ethnic backgrounds living in the area meet to explore music, dance, cuisine and other
A BOURNEMOUTH coastguard was laid to rest on Tuesday surrounded by his friends and former colleagues. Robin ‘Tommy’ Tucker, 73, passed away on April 30, following a long and successful career, including 14 years in the Royal Navy, before joining
SEVERAL Bournemouth youngsters are off to the regional finals of a national talent competition. They impressed judges at the recent heats of the TeenStar talent competition in Bournemouth and are through to the regional finals in Portsmouth on
KEEN fisherman Robin Guy was treated to a spectacular show in the water thanks to a friendly pod of dolphins. He spotted the group of 8-10 around 500 feet from the shore at Old Harry Rocks on Thursday afternoon and followed them for around 20 minutes
A WOMAN who was once told she may never walk again is walking more than 60 miles for charity. Bev Allertson, 33, was left with a severe head injury, multiple breaks to her lower right leg and a cervical spine fracture when she was hit by a car
BIG discounts are up for grabs with a new Poole Pass offering deals at local attractions, shops and restaurants. Twenty-four participants across the town are taking part in the deals, developed by Poole Tourism and its Attraction Group Partners
URGENT action is being taken to improve the quality of Lymington’s famous seawater baths amid fears that bathers could sue if they became ill. Extra chlorine is being added to the water on the advice of experts from the University of Southampton
A LARGE tree fell across a road near Wareham this morning, completely blocking the highway for around two-and-a-half hours. The tree was reported down in Bere Road shortly before 9am. Police attended the scene, close to the Silent Woman Inn
Harry Styles spent the night with Rod Stewart's daughter Kimberly. The One Direction heartthrob was rumoured to have shared a romantic tryst with the 33-year-old blonde after he joined Kimberly, her singer father and his wife Penny Lancaster for
Samantha Womack is returning to 'EastEnders'. The 40-year-old actress - who quit the soap two years ago - is to reprise her role as Ronnie Mitchell for at least six months in a storyline which sees her alter ego released from prison, where she has
Miranda Kerr's underwear was stolen by The Bling Ring. The former Victoria's Secret model's enviable lingerie collection was specifically targeted by the notorious gang of celebrity-obsessed teen burglars, it has been revealed. Nancy Jo Sales
BROADSTONE’S Kyra Horlock beat close friend and last year’s champion Sophie Keech to land the Dorset Ladies’ County Championship at Lyme Regis. The 17-year-old registered a three and two victory and emerged triumphant following a titanic battle
JOSH Moores, Harry Pritchard and Mitchell Pocklington all swept the board in their categories at the 2013 MCF Merdian National Motocross event. The Ringwood Motocross Club’s showpiece occasion, which took place at the Tincleton circuit in Puddletown
WORKERS at a mail depot where goods were thrown and kicked around are angry after records of their disciplinary interviews were shared around. Staff at the UK Mail depot in Poole were called in by bosses after the Channel 4 Dispatches programme
CASTLE Court Prep School is teaming up with West Hants Tennis Club to provide a tennis academy for pupils at the Corfe Mullen school. This joint project formalises a programme that has already been running at Castle Court and is unique in the local
ADAM Nicholass’s equaliser five minutes from time snatched the title for Rossgarth Youth under-16s in their last-day showdown with Dexter Sports. Rossgarth gained the point they needed to lift the BYFL Under-16 Division Two championship when Nicholass
POLICE are appealing for information after two cars were broken into in the Queens Park area of Bournemouth. The incidents took place between 5pm on Friday May 10 and 9am on Saturday May 11 along Cecil Avenue. Entry was gained to BMW X5 and
THEY may have formed in 1985 “just for fun” but 28 years on and sixteen albums later Galahad have proven they're pretty serious about progressive rock. The outfit, who recently returned from a stint performing at Mexico’s Baja Prog Festival, released
IF you like your rock no nonsense, stuffed with huge riffs and even bigger choruses, then this debut by Voodoo Vegas is for you. Produced by Pedro Ferreira, who worked with The Darkness on their breakthrough album Permission To Land, the Bournemouth
BEHOLD, Dorset indie-folk-pop band Beartown Zodiac release their debut EP, Karaoke Bites today. Written during Wareham frontman David Bird-Hawkins’ travels to 12 countries in 12 months, the EP is released on Woodenhouse Records and can be downloaded
Fire and rescue services in England could save up to £200 million a year if they were operated more efficiently, according to a report. In the last decade there has been a 40% reduction in call outs and incidents, and accidental deaths from fires
The RAF's Red Arrows air display team has been cleared by the Chief of the Air Staff to fly in displays this year, the RAF said. The team, based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, has been awarded its public display authority (PDA) for 2013 by Sir
POOLE man Edwin West, known as Ted, had three loves; golf, football and speedway, with golf his greatest passion. For many years Ted was greenkeeper at Broadstone Golf Club and, at his peak, played off a four handicap. A life-long golfer, he
A BROADSTONE couple, who were married for more than half a century, have died within a fortnight of each other. Jack Deeks was born in Bermondsey and trained as a gardener with the London parks department. He lost an eye in a childhood accident
GOLDEN voiced pop star Leona Lewis is all set to perform at the BIC tonight. The exhaustive UK tour is her first for three years and Leona assures 24Seven that the Bournemouth audience is in for a surprise. “It’s my first visit to Bournemouth
FOR three years in the 1970s, a young Neal Butterworth was a budding football star on the books of Manchester City. Even Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton was among those who reckoned the strapping centre-back could make it in the big time
A CAMPAIGN to encourage people to pick-up after their dogs will begin in Christchurch and East Dorset on Monday. The move has been sparked by areas where the amount of dog fouling is still “unacceptably high”, according to the Christchurch and
BROWNSEA Island is hosting a weekend of activities this Saturday and Sunday to celebrate 50 years since it was opened to the public. From den building to trails, a menagerie of events and fun is waiting to be had on the island off Poole Harbour
CUTBACKS have affected numerous libraries. Some have shut, some have lost services, while communities are running others once under the auspices of the local authority. So it’s welcome news that Dorset County Council has invested £2m on improving
AT last, a proposal to slow the traffic down to 50mph through Ringwood. Will there be signage placed halfway down Poulner Hill advising motorists to move over into the outside lane if they want to travel on to Poole, Dorchester and the West?
PLEASE can I urge anyone with concerns about the planning application put in for The Cedars in Recreation Road in Poole to put them in writing to the planning department by May 22? The application is for 20 houses to be built in place of the existing
IN reply to your reader Tom Godman’s question “When is a bank holiday not a bank holiday?” (Letters, May 13), the answer is when it’s a public holiday. In England there are only four bank holidays – they are Boxing Day, Easter Monday, the old
ON reading Tom Godman’s letter in the Daily Echo (May 13), I just wanted to say I was also asked to pay on Yellow Buses on Monday bank holiday, on the 1C at 8.40am from Sea View. I also questioned it with the driver. Having paid, the next day I
HOW can Cllr Roger West of Bournemouth council say that charging for garden waste would be fairer and more efficient (Daily Echo, May 11), when the experience of Poole is exactly the opposite? Due to the charge Poole council are now collecting
LEE Connor (Letters, May 10) is absolutely correct about the badger cull. This government has spent and wasted £50million of taxpayers’ money on research, the findings of which they are now choosing to deliberately ignore in order to curry favour
POOLE Accident Repair has gained manufacturer approval for Honda vehicles after passing a demanding audit set by the manufacturer, making it an official Honda Approved Body Repair Centre. As well as being a Porsche Centre Approved Body Repairer
PARTICIPANTS at this year’s Simply Ford event, held in the grounds of the National Motor Museum in the New Forest on May 5, enjoyed the first hot weekend of the year with clear blue skies and day-long sunshine. The event is now in its fourth year and
CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe believes his League One manager-of-the-month award is deserved recognition for his players and the way they finished the season. Howe, who masterminded Cherries’ promotion to the Championship, saw off Doncaster’s Brian
EDEN Vauxhall is inviting van drivers and business owners in Christchurch to take advantage of a range of offers and savings on its commercial vehicles at the Vauxhall ‘Big Van Event’. Between today and May 27, the dealership at Bailey Drive is
HI-DE-HI actor Paul Shane - who has died at the age of 72 - fell in love with Bournemouth and talked of buying a hotel there. Shane made his name playing entertainer Ted Bovis in the 1980s long-running TV series set in a holiday camp. He died
CHRISTCHURCH residents face the renewed prospect of on-street parking charges despite objections from the borough’s Chamber of Trade. The Chamber has warned the controversial plans, which could see parking meters installed on some town centre streets
FOLLOWING the success of the 208, Peugeot has unveiled its challenger in the sector above. Somewhat predictably called the 308, looks-wise it builds on the new design language seen in its little brother, while a new cockpit-style cabin design is
A SEX shop has opened in the middle of Poole’s High Street opposite a school uniform outlet. Purrfectly Discreet, which opened on Thursday, has an over 18s warning on the door, and two large images of models in lingerie in the windows. Yesterday
AN ultra-rare slice of motoring history is on sale at Car-Link of Bournemouth. The dealership in Christchurch Road has this Lotus Esprit Sport 350 for sale. This example is number 27 of only 46 cars that were built and represents a chance to
A MEMORIAL to the scores of casualties who died in Bournemouth’s worst wartime bombing raid will be unveiled next Thursday. The memorial at the site of the former Metropole Hotel at the Lansdowne will honour those who were killed when a squadron
The 69-year-old killed in a head-on smash on a North Dorset road on Wednesday night is the eleventh to lose his life on Dorset's roads this year. Among the deaths in the area was that of 16-year-old Jade Clark from Ringwood, who died on the A31
TOYOTA was the pioneer of hybrid technology and now it has spread to most of its range. It’s in the little Yaris and continues in the revamped mid-size Auris. Yet I still can’t quite be convinced by it. In the Auris, the electric motor
BOURNEMOUTH skipper Martin Miller described tomorrow’s clash with Alton as a “must-win game” – to prove his men can compete in the Southern Premier League. Despite starting his captaincy with a brace of defeats, Miller insists his new-look team
CAPTAIN Ryan Beck hopes brotherly love can play its part as he plans to name three pairs of siblings in New Milton’s line-up tomorrow. Joe Prodomo, a goalkeeper with Wessex League club Fawley during the football season, joins twin Tom for the trip
CHERRIES are set to erect a temporary stand at Dean Court – with attendances determining whether the club will build a new permanent facility. Chairman Eddie Mitchell confirmed the proposal had been discussed and rubber-stamped at a board meeting
