TEAM Great Britain boss Neil Middleditch has admitted he is delighted to have avoided Speedway World Cup holders Denmark in the draw. And Middleditch, who doubles up as Poole's team manager, is also happy that the Australians aren't in the same meeting
PIRATES team manager Neil Middleditch has given his firm backing to struggling Sergey Darkin. But at the same time he has warned that Poole Castle Cover won't be afraid to make changes when necessary this term. Pirates chiefs were heavily criticised
EAST Dorset coach Stu Wilson hailed his players' "mentality" after their 33-0 Dorset and Wilts Plate demolition of Marlborough at North Dorset. East have already sealed the Hampshire Two title and made it a double success for Wilson with Saturday's easy
Swanage and Wareham continued their dominance of the Dorset and Wiltshire Cup as the holders won 17-0 away at Salisbury to see them into the final. John Sheldrake claimed the first of three tries on 13 minutes following a catch-and-drive from the line-out
OAKMEADIANS went down 41-19 at home to Chippenham in the other Dorset and Wiltshire Cup semi-final. Despite the two leagues separating the teams, Oaks gave a good account of themselves and it was only in the final stages of the game that the Wiltshire
CAMPAIGNERS fighting for better services for kidney patients say they're "over the moon" after Poole councillors gave the go-ahead to a new special care unit. Volunteers from the Dorset Kidney Fund had feared the proposed centre at Manning's Heath was
CAMPAIGNERS attempting to save Boscombe's Community Arts Centre have been out and about gathering support for their cause. The future of the Boscombe Centre for Community Arts is under threat with the Haviland Road building considered surplus to council
THEY have been separated by over four decades and thousands of miles, but a bizarre coincidence has led to a remarkable reunion in Boscombe. The last time Carole Cooper saw her, Nicola Youseman was just 18 months old. Yesterday afternoon, 44 years later
A STATE-of-the-art library and community resource centre could be on the horizon for Blandford. Dorset County Council has applied for around £1.9 million from the Big Lottery Fund. If granted, the cash from the Community Libraries Programme would go
There were tears of joy when a couple were finally allowed to take home their son, who was born 13 weeks premature. Zack Sturgess weighed 2lbs 2oz when he was born at Poole Hospital on January 11. And it was only on Sunday that proud mum Debbie Sturgess
CAR CRIME has nearly halved at Purbeck's beauty spots in the last three years. Purbeck police claim the dramatic 41 per cent fall is thanks to growing public awareness and the impact of high-visibility policing. As a result Purbeck Police is repeating
THE tragic and unexpected death of a young Bournemouth finance assistant has prompted calls for research into a little known form of epilepsy. Sharon Golledge was just 25 when an electrical seizure claimed her life to the shock of her friends and family
A DEVOTED former teacher who has died at the age of 96 inspired thousands of schoolchildren in Wimborne and Ferndown in a career that spanned 35 years. Wilf Houlton, who died at Poole Hospital on March 21, was deputy headteacher at the then Ferndown
FURTHER interest rate rises cannot be ruled out, Bank of England governor Mervyn King has warned. The next six to nine months would be "very important" for interest rates, he told the Commons Treasury Committee. The Bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy
SOME years ago Christopher Tolkien told me how as a child in the 1930s his father asked him to read the manuscript of a then unpublished book. It was called The Hobbit. Young Christopher was enchanted. He wasn't to be alone. Over the ensuing decades
A PLANNING inquiry next month (April) will decide whether a 100-bed hotel should be removed from a multi-million pound riverside development plan at Lymington. Applicant Paxton Holdings want to replace the hotel plan at the former Webbs chicken processing
A DRIVER was almost twice over the legal drink-drive alcohol limit and travelling at up to 80mph when he lost control of his car in Boscombe on September 20 last year. Polish national Jacek Myskow, 21, who had bought the silver Vauxhall Vectra just three
The word "rocker" tends to conjure up images of unruly long hair, heavy make-up and electric guitars rather than someone who cares about the environment and goes supermarket shopping - much like Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson. "I'm supposed to help
AS chief Officer at Bournemouth Age Concern, Hazel Walker cheerfully admits that she tends to see the least positive aspects of growing old. "It's about an attitude of mind, really. "The people we see are perhaps those who haven't got such good health
I THOUGHT I was normal until I watched a TV programme earlier this month. That programme was The Truth About Size Zero. The idea seemed commendable enough: TV personality Louise Redknapp does a bit of investigative journalism about the horrors of the
PLANS for a long-awaited town centre community building to replace the ageing Druitt Hall are being unveiled at the weekend. The proposal to replace and relocate the 50-year-old hall adjoining the jealously-guarded Druitt Gardens is one of the main thrusts
JASON Crump suffered a bittersweet return to Belle Vue on Monday night, scorching to the first league maximum by a visiting rider there since 2001 but still ending up on a well-beaten side. Pirates had travelled to Kirky Lane with high expectations,
FIAT has relaunched one of the motor industry's legendary performance and sporting car brands with the unveiling of the new Grande Punto Abarth. This is set to be the first of a new range of high performance and sporting Fiats featuring the famed Scorpion
AFTER spending the winter in the garage, thousands of south coast bikers will be taking the wraps off their machines this weekend in preparation for the return of bike night on Poole Quay. The first Condor Ferries Dream Machines meeting of 2007 takes
A FIRE at a Bournemouth church was tackled by about 60 fire fighters. The roof of St Mark's Church in Talbot Village caught fire after a car parked near the church was set on fire during the night. Springbourne Fire Station manager Louis Minchella said
BOURNEMOUTH could be the new home of Barclays House as the firm prepares to move out of Poole after 30 years. Cotlands Road car park, near the Lansdowne, has been identified as a possible site for relocation. Bournemouth council will enter into negotiations
Plans for the Winter Gardens site have been thrown into turmoil after councillors refused permission for the £20 million scheme. Following five hours of heated debate on Monday night, the council's planning board rejected proposals for an arts and education
A POSTER campaign aimed at shocking irresponsible dog owners into cleaning up after their pets hit the buffers when two people complained the pictures were too graphic. Council street wardens and police in the Boscombe area of Bournemouth decided to
