EVER been bored and fed up with five weeks of a general election in this country? If so, spare a thought for the Americans. The process of choosing a president takes around two years - give or take a month or two. There's been frenzied excitement in
AN ELDERLY man who pulled his 94-year-old neighbour from a blazing cottage has told the Daily Echo he acted instinctively. Heroic Dougie Fay, 76, rescued neighbour Stan Duke from the divided cottage they shared at Moor Crichel, near Wimborne, on Thursday
A POOLE woman has told how she suffered 10 minutes of "abuse" at the hands of electoral canvassers sent to her home by the council. Donna Blanche, 41, of Canford Heath, was visited by two men on November 17 who demanded she fill in an electoral register
A Poole man has received a stranger's bank statement in the post complete with account details and itemised transactions. John Raven opened a letter from Abbey on Christmas Eve which had his full address on it. The name was not visible through the envelope
THE RSPCA says it is unlikely to ever recover the huge costs of prosecuting a Bournemouth puppy farmer who was fined just £100 for keeping dozens of dogs in hellish conditions. Despite the overwhelming evidence against her from the time her Boscombe
LEGENDARY mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, who has died aged 88, has been remembered by a retired Royal Navy seaman from Burton who helped save him from an Antarctic misadventure. After conquering Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, in May 1953,
THE winter vomiting bug Norovirus is spreading like wildfire. Millions of people are off work with it. And I am not surprised. Because 2008 is only 12 days old but already I have felt like chucking up, most times I flick on the news or open a paper.
BATTLING Lee James swept aside an atrocious start to the Joburg Open to secure his second successive European Tour pay day in South Africa this season. The 34-year-old Parkstone-based professional followed up a creditable first-round 72 on the demanding
ALTHOUGH Jon Sharkey and Karen aus der Fuenten won the individual titles in the 2007 Dorset Road-Race League, neither could prevent a clean sweep by Poole Runners in the team awards. Bournemouth AC club captain Sharkey did not win a League race all season
DEADLOCK between Wilts and Dorset bosses and the bus drivers' union looks likely to mean more strikes and more misery for travellers. The two sides have not met for talks since Wednesday and both describe the situation as deadlock. Yesterday no further
BOURNEMOUTH teenager Joseph Sale has been selected as part of England Fencing's "Tomorrow's Achievers" team to attend an international competition in Paris for the second year running. Fourteen-year-old Sale, who started fencing when he was eight, was
STEVE Bendall has warned Dazzling' Darren Barker not to write him off just yet. The Poole-based southpaw may be 34 and Barker still only a babe at 25. But looking ahead to their mouth-watering Commonwealth middleweight title clash next month, Bendall
IT WAS with more than a hint of sadness that I scanned through the England rugby squad for this year's Six Nations. Brian Ashton named a fairly bold 32, from which he will select a team to begin the campaign against Wales at Twickenham on February 2.
CHERRIES boss Kevin Bond has re-signed loan star Max Gradel until the end of the season. The winger, who enjoyed a successful spell at Dean Court before returning to parent club Leicester City earlier this month, has been snapped up for the remainder
STRUGGLING to manage a heavy workload? Not a problem, simply offer to show someone in the office your knickers and they'll do it all for you. Well, that's what Siobhan did in the first episode of new drama Mistresses (BBC One, 9pm, Tuesday) and it worked
CHRIS Holder has won the Australian Championship title after winning the final round at Sydney today. The Pirates star beat former Wimborne Road favourite Troy Batchelor from the back in the climax to the fifth round to take the overall title with a
CHRIS Holder has won the Australian Championship title after winning the final round at Sydney today. The Pirates star beat former Wimborne Road favourite Troy Batchelor from the back in the climax to the fifth round to take the overall title with a
ALTHOUGH high profile live music events have never been more popular, Alistair Wilkinson, chief executive at Poole's Lighthouse fears concert goers are missing out on quality shows at the grass roots. While major tours - both classical and pop - sell
A CCTV image has been release by police hunting for a man in connection with a £500 cash raid on a Purbeck store. A man in a hooded top wearing a scarf pulled up to his nose snatched a handful of cash from the till of Lookout Stores, Corfe Road, Stobrough
SPECIAL forces based in Poole have won the right to anonymity even after death, it has emerged. The head of Special Forces has intervened so SAS and SBS soldiers are not named over fears it was damaging the units' morale. The soldiers will not now be
AUDI It's going to be yet another busy year for Audi with a replacement for its highly regarded A4. Using the same basic platform as the A5 Coupe the saloon A4 arrives in the spring with the Avant (estate) scheduled for September. Entering a new segment
HALF-HOUR episodes of The Simpsons are pretty special things - frequently hilarious and incredibly quick-witted, particularly considering they come from our American friends. A feature-length film, on the other hand, is a little bit much. Political
FROM the pen of Taxi Driver/ Raging Bull writer Paul Schrader, this absorbing whodunnit takes place in Washington DC, right in the heart of America's political elite. Carter Paige III (Woody Harrelson in eye-catching form) is a Southern gent who earns
IT'S hard not to mention Hermione Granger when discussing Emma Watson, but with her impressive performance in this inspirational film, there's really no need to. This charming tale, set in 1930s London, follows the lives of orphans Petrova, Posy and
SO, HALF of the infamous Grindhouse double feature and Tarantino's sixth film. It's a funky little pastiche that skips along to the scuzzy beat of cheap '70s flicks with all their respective flaws. Well, the first half is anyway. And that's the strange
IF ever a sound was created for the morning after the all-night before, it was Morcheeba's. Their scratchy beats, laidback funk and trippy-blues never gnawed at the soul like Portishead, or tried to get you back on your feet like St Etienne. No, they
ALL things being equal, Amy Winehouse would be grubbing around for bar gigs and Sam Brown would be a superstar and a healthy role model to boot. But they're not and Ms Brown is best known as Jools Holland's lead female voice with a few hits of her own
AFTER fronting a series of scratchy Peel-fave bands, including the current Whole Sky Monitor, John Parkes knows his way around. But this second solo album isn't simply indie without the beef, it's a finely-honed set of urban British folk, only nowhere
HAVING dazed, phased and amazed us, BSP have pulled their strands into a granite-solid formation that'll stand the test of time. Drawing on the eccentric rush of their debut and the lush tones of its follow up, this is the sound of a band girding their
SINGLE, love-starved characters in Hollywood romantic comedies should count their blessings. Despite all the misfortunes and humiliations that litter the path to enduring happiness - catching extremities in a zip, falling for their comatose fiance's
ALTHOUGH it stops tantalisingly short of drawing explicit links between American involvement in Afghanistan during the early '80s and the rise of Osama bin Laden and al Qaida, Mike Nichols' starry political satire draws a trickle of blood with its timely
BOXING club members who found themselves homeless after a devastating fire are attempting to rebuild their clubhouse. Members of the Bournemouth Amateur Boxing Club, which was started over 50 years ago, saw years of hard work go up in smoke when the
Cancellation of this month's Dakar Rally has come as a bitter blow for Verwood's Paul Green who has spent the last two years preparing for the famous event. A rally raid specialist, Green had devoted much of the last 24 months building a new Desert Warrior
MORE than 20 firefighters were called to the Shorefields holiday park between New Milton and Milford-on-Sea on Thursday (Jan10) evening when a chemical spillage led to a release of chlorine gas in the swimming pool plant room. One member of staff was
THE controversial pyramid scheme for Poole has been scrapped - what would you like to see in its place? Give us your suggestions. On Thursday night council bosses announced they would no longer be supporting the proposal and would stop discussions with
PIRATES chief Matt Ford has sent out a New Year message to Sky Sports executives: "We want speedway commentating legend Dave Lanning back". Both Lilliput-based Lanning and his flamboyant Geordie commentatary sidekick Sid Waddell won lifetime achievement
AN ELDERLY man in his 90s was rescued from his blazing house in Moor Crichel near Witchampton on Thursday afternoon, by a neighbour believed to be in his 80s. Heroic Douglas Fay plucked Stan Duke, 94, to safety from the burning building. Mr Duke's condition
THE south coast's most prestigious food event, the Christchurch Food & Wine Festival, returns to Christchurch from Friday May 9 - Saturday May 17 2008. The festival has grown in size and attracts top-class chefs, food and wine connoisseurs and those
ACRES of green belt land across the conurbation are set to be concreted over and sacrificed for housing. That's the controversial recommendation of a major report that claims 48,100 new properties need to be built across south east Dorset between now
WIMBORNE boss Christer Warren has admitted he would look to strengthen his squad if they secured promotion to the Southern League. But the Cuthbury chief immediately put that statement into context by stressing they were always looking for better players
A TERRIFIED woman was marched into a back room at gunpoint and forced to hand over £400 during a dawn raid on a Poole newsagents. The shop assistant, in her early 30s, is recovering at home following yesterday's shock raid at the McColl's store in Alder
CHERRIES boss Kevin Bond has revealed he is facing competition for the services of Max Gradel. The flying winger returned to parent club Leicester following the end of his loan spell at Dean Court on New Year's Day. And although Bond is still hoping
CHERRIES boss Kevin Bond wants his players to stop shipping late goals and has challenged them to discover a "winning mentality" - and quickly. Bond saw Cherries sacrifice crucial points over the festive period and was heavily critical of his charges
BASHLEY boss Steve Riley is praying for better weather before a fixture pile bogs down his promotion-chasing side. They have slipped to 11th, 11 points behind leaders King's Lynn, in the chase for Southern League Premier Division elevation. But the
TOM Killick says it would be "a great achievement" for Poole Town to regain their Southern League status. But the Dolphins manager has acknowledged it will be "tough" for the Wessex Premier leaders to match the stringent ground criteria standards required
CENTURION-in-waiting Shaun Cooper believes the arrival of Jo Tessem will provide a "calming influence" in the heat of Cherries' relegation battle. Cooper could make his 100th appearance for the club alongside Tessem when Cherries lock horns with fellow
LUKE Gray (Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Next/Specialized) won the under-16 youth title on day one of the British Cycling National Cyclo-Cross Championships at Sutton Park, Birmingham. After finishing second four times this year in the four rounds of the National
ROBERT Elford can draw on Wimborne's experience of Wootton Bassett as Swanage and Wareham continue their quest for a 12th Dorset and Wiltshire Cup in 13 years at Rylands Field tomorrow (2pm). The All Blacks crashed to a 19-8 defeat against the Southern
DAVID Dunn says Lions have a "point to prove" to the Dorset and Wiltshire RFU after last season's county cup fiasco. Lions were forced to pull out of last year's competition at the quarter-final stage after the Twin Counties RFU insisted they play their
CHERRIES goalkeeper Neil Moss has welcomed the signing of his former Southampton team-mate Jo Tessem. Moss spent three years at Saints with the Norwegian international and believes his arrival at Dean Court will provide Cherries with a major boost.
TWO more dead swans have been found along the Fleet after the bird flu outbreak. But staff at Abbotsbury Swannery say there is no cause for alarm. Meanwhile the discovery of the deadly bird flu virus in Dorset will hit the local economy, according to
