AS Bette Midler once said: "Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world!" Even women who couldn't care less about fashion can appreciate the line of a finely turned heel, according to fashion journalist Karen Homer who has penned a new
A LEADING supermarket chain will stop serving alcohol to anyone between midnight and 6am despite having 24-hour licences to do so. Asda says its new package is aimed at tackling both underage drinking and the effects on communities of late-night alcohol-related
A CORONER has requested a meeting between the Ministry of Defence and the families of 14 servicemen killed in an air crash in Afghanistan to allay their fears over a body parts mix-up. Some remains of the troops who died when the Nimrod spy plane came
BOURNEMOUTH council is facing accusations that it "misled" the public by saying tourism officials had received no complaints about the state of Southbourne beach. The borough's head of tourism, Mark Smith, told the Daily Echo last year that his department
You could be forgiven for thinking that in between getting grass stains out of football kits and making sure that homework is being completed, mothers don't have time for getting with the musical programme. You would, however, be wrong. According to
SO, the government's great idea to tackle problem drinkers is what, exactly? Are they going to: a) put more coppers on the beat to confiscate booze off teens and prosecute the stores who sell it to them? b) Abandon the absurd 24-hour drinking culture
THE closure of Canford Bridge will be a "real disaster" for trade and visitors and could cause a 44-week impact, Wimborne Town Council meeting heard. And the plan is liked so little that Colehill Parish Council separately this week called for the bridge
PRINCE Harry's "first class training" at Bovington Camp was the best possible preparation for war torn Afghanistan, says the armoured centre's chief of staff. The decision to immediately withdraw the 23-year-old Household Cavalry officer was taken after
CORFE Castle's 1,000-year heritage is to be preserved thanks to a huge grant. The Sita Trust has handed over £250,000 to help fund the remaining repairs of the iconic Purbeck monument. The money will meet half the £500,000 cost of the second phase of
MY family, I like to think, are like the Mitchells in EastEnders. You take on one of us and you take on us all. (Oy! You at the back, going on about big words from a wimp. Shuttit! Gerroutta my pub! Oh. Gulp. All right, sir. You're probably absolutely
A FORMER anorexia sufferer has launched a poster campaign to try and reach those with eating disorders. Jess Griffiths, of Bournemouth, placed 50 posters offering advice and contact details for support group Somerset and Wessex Eating Disorders Association
SMOKERS in Bournemouth and Poole are kicking the habit in their thousands as the NHS steps up its help and advice campaign. Latest figures show 10,000 people in the area stopped smoking since April 1 last year - but an estimated 55,000 are still hooked
STOPPING on zigzag lines outside schools will not be tolerated by Christchurch council wardens under a new parking enforcement policy which comes into force on April 1. The 45-page document is expected to be adopted by the borough's community services
THE ban the bag campaign in Wimborne is taking further steps forward. Campaigners in the town called Reduce The Use will hand out new long-handled purple bags and short-handled black campaign bags to those making a donation at two events. The first
TWELVE-year-old Callum Graham has been selected to represent England in the World Junior Shore Angling Championships in Spain later this year. The Christchurch and District member was the toast of the evening during the club's annu al dinner and presentation
THE Spitfire may have been the leading lady of the RAF's fighting corps during World War II. But Ferndown man Kenneth Kneen believes it's high time the plane that he flew got the recognition it deserved. He says the Typhoon, built by Hawker, played
Much-needed protection has finally been awarded to a Dorset animal that is the UK's fastest-declining native mammal. The diminutive water vole's numbers have crashed from seven million in 1990 to less than a million in 1998 and have continued to fall
AT a time when boxing, particularly in Britain, is enjoying something of a renaissance, it's disappointing that two old timers from America have gone and spoiled it. Two old timers, as it happens, who are two of the best heavyweights the world has seen
AN ICE rink operator has asked Bournemouth councillors for help opening in town - but there is scepticism over whether it would make enough money. Simon Maddock from Cascade Ice, which runs the temporary ice rink at the BIC, asked for help creating a
WOMEN are being urged to sign up to the Daily Echo-backed Lewis Manning Hospice Starlight Stroll and help raise funds. One person who knows just how important the hospice is to people is Juliette Murphy. The 46-year-old from Kinson is currently in remission
NEIL Middleditch has quit as speedway's national team boss after eight years at the helm. The Castle Cover Pirates team manager has cited excessive work demands in the family business as the reason for standing down. The 51-year old said: "This has
YOU won't be surprised - though, Joan, my regular reader from Wallisdown might well be - to learn that I have never won an award for this column. But it doesn't bother me in the slightest. No honestly, it really doesn't. I was genuinely happy for that
DICK Clement and Ian Le Frenais, the writing partnership behind The Likely Lads, Porridge and Auf Wiedersehen Pet, pen this dramatisation of true-life crime on the streets of 1971 London. The Bank Job pilfers all of the essential ingredients for a heist
ONE-HIT wonder Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) uses the profits from "Love Me Sexy" to buy his own basketball team, the Flint Michigan Tropics, part of the maverick ABA league. In his capacity as owner, coach, player and promoter, Jackie keeps the community
WHEN it comes to falling in love, radio host Dr Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman) - author of the self-help tome R.E.A.L. Love - knows best. Dispensing words of wisdom her unhappy, unsatisfied and desperate listeners, Emma encourages total strangers to pursue
The Lexus GS range has been revised for 2008 with the changes being led by the introduction of a powerful 4.6-litre V8 engine in the new GS 460. Delivering a maximum 342bhp matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission the new unit benefits from Lexus's
SOUTH Korean minnow SsangYong is hoping to emerge from its recent period of obscurity in the UK with a completely refreshed model line-up. The SUV, 4x4 and MPV manufacturer is being re-launched by Koelliker UK Ltd, a new company that has taken over importation
IT'S hard to imagine a major studio making a film like Cruising these days. Although essentially a tensely-plotted murder thriller where victims and killers are (literally) interchangeable, being set against the backdrop of New York's underground leather
WHAT'S the Russian for "shut it, you mug"? Well, if anyone would know, it's Danny Dyer. After the success of both The Football Factory and The Real Football Factories, cockney hero Dyer takes his investigations' to to foreign shores. And you thought
HAILED as the next big British comedy after Four Weddings, the only thing this film has got in common with the Richard Curtis blockbuster is the word funeral in the title. To be fair there are one or two inspired moments, but in between the humour is
THOSE who bemoan David Cronenberg's move towards the movie mainstream are surely missing the point. The veteran Canadian has a unique way with the language of cinema and by operating with conventional narratives he is pushing the boundaries of genre and
SAY what you will about The Numan, but Are Friends Electric? sounded like nothing on earth when it went to number one in 1979. We'd heard Devo, even Suicide, but this was pure robotics... with bleached blond hair. That it gave rise to prissy Blitz Kids
WITH the kooky quirky factor ramped up to 11, Tegan & Sara may sound like hard work over the course of an album, but taken in isolation tracks like Hop A Plane, I Was Married and Soil Soil are quite splendid. It's a strange effect. The two girls swap
IF you're not moving like a thing possessed by the time you get to the end of Hold On Now, Youngster you need to check your head, heart and feet are still your own. With youthful enthusiasm as infectious as ebola, Los Campesinos! canter out of the traps
FOLLOWING Grinderman's wanton howl from the basement, Nick Cave returns to cogitate the human condition from a somewhat loftier nest. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! conjures humanity is all its flawed glory, with the title character hosting Biblical miracles in
FANTASTIC Phil Taylor responded to his poor form in emphatic fashion as he inflicted only the second 8-0 whitewash in Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts history on Wayne Mardle. Defending champion Taylor was unbeaten in the previous three years of the
A CONVICTED sex attacker who stalked Bournemouth's streets during a three-month reign of terror has been locked up indefinitely for public protection. Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Neil Metcalfe had "sought out" women of all ages to molest near his
ESCAPOLOGIST expert Danny Hollands believes Cherries' mission improbable is "easier" than his previous assignment. Hollands played a starring role to help Torquay preserve their Football League status during a loan spell in Devon two years ago. The
GERALD Krasner has scotched suggestions that Jeff Mostyn's bid to take Cherries out of administration is already a done deal. Mostyn is one of three parties to have registered an interest in buying the club, but has also said he would "willingly step
IN Southern Counties South, Oakmeadians welcome North Dorset to Meyrick Park (2.30pm) knowing only a victory will keep their slim hopes of a play-off place alive, while Wimborne, already out of the play-off reckoning, travel to Ivel Barbarians. Prop
SWANAGE and Wareham will be aiming to keep pace with league leaders Chippenham when they face Tadley at Bestwall tomorrow (2.30pm). With Chippenham having lost the past two South West Two East encounters, Swans have made up ground with victories over
GARY Langrish could make his Bournemouth Poppies return against Brading after rejoining the club from Wimborne Town. Langrish, who has struggled to establish himself at Cuthbury this season, has been snapped up by James Wood and will be involved at Victoria
TOM Killick believes his Poole Town squad owe it to the club to fight for the title after enduring a terrible Tuesday in knockout action. Dolphins were shocked in the Dorset Senior Cup semi-finals as they tumbled to a poor 3-2 defeat at the hands of
PRINCE Harry, who has been fighting the Taliban on the front line in Afghanistan for 10 weeks, has won the support of local MPs. The 23-year-old Household Cavalry officer has been secretly serving in war-ravaged Helmand Province. Click to see footage
A CO-OP store has apologised after telling a customer his shorts were "indecent". A security guard told 56-year-old Victor Barthram not to come back unless he was dressed properly. "I said, Are you kidding?' This is a holiday resort'," said Mr Barthram
DAVID Dunn has demanded his Lions stars topple South West One big-guns Cleve for injured hooker Richard Brokenshire. The Lions front row was forced to call time on his rugby career after fracturing and dislocating his ankle against the Bristol-based
CHRISTER Warren is sweating over the fitness of striker James Stokoe ahead of Wimborne Town's trip to Bemerton Heath Harlequins tomorrow. The forward injured his ankle last weekend and Magpies player-boss Warren is unsure if he will be available. Cuthbury
BASHLEY'S Mr Versatile Chris Knowles admits he is just happy to be back playing after being employed in a number of roles since his return from injury. Knowles, who missed a large chunk of the season after breaking a metatarsal in his left foot, is enjoying
I AM still rather proud of the only time I have ever been banned from entering an establishment. Granted, it was a good 30 years ago and the landlord of the pub who threw me out for removing my flip-flops in his beloved lounge one summer's day was renowned
