PICTURE perfect or impossible ideal? As Madonna celebrates her half century with a photoshoot for Vanity Fair the size zero debate gathers ever more momentum. It seems either celebrities have a bit of the chameleon in them, able to change their shape
POOLE'S town centre manager has been suspended from her job pending an internal investigation. Gaynor Forryan has not worked at her office in the High Street since the end of January. However, a meeting between the parties is due to be held this week
BOURNEMOUTH landlords are experiencing a buoyant market. Nationally, until the credit crunch, buy-to-let was seen by many as a sure-fire way of making money, according to a recent Channel 4 investigation. However, repossessions across the UK are now
WITH a raft of new regulations on the way, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) is helping smaller firms to understand how their businesses will be affected. Government departments issue all their changes in business regulations twice a year, on April
I VERY nearly choked to death on my cornflakes when I heard the news. It must have been an April fool, I thought, but sadly, on checking the calendar, I realised it was no practical joke. No, Harriet Harman, our Women and Equalities Minister, was deadly
MOTORCYCLISTS are being warned to take extra care at a "dangerous time of year" after a spate of collisions which left three dead and another seriously injured. And the same day a 47-year-old motorcyclist from Bournemouth was in collision with a car
THE UK'S longest-serving chief constable, Hampshire Constabulary's Paul Kernaghan, is to retire in October. Ulsterman Mr Kernaghan took up his seven-year appointment in Hampshire in 1999 after serving as assistant chief constable with North Yorkshire
TOWNSEND School is just two council meetings away from closure after emotional appeals to save it fell on deaf ears at a cabinet meeting. Members voted unanimously to close the Bournemouth school in July despite claims that standards are improving and
A MOTHER whose son was killed in Afghanistan wept as she recalled lines from a letter he wrote in the event of his death. Lieutenant John Thornton, 22, of 40 Commando Royal Marines, was conducting a patrol near Kajaki, in Helmand Providence, shortly
Someone Else's Husband, Lighthouse, Poole THIS new play written, directed and performed by Poole talent Sasha Paul, packed a powerful punch. Someone Else's Husband may only have lasted an hour but the tension was ratcheted up minute by minute. It was
Ian Siegal + Andrea Soler + Matt Cameron + Soler, CuRioSiTy, Mr Kyps, Lower Parkstone THIS CuRioSiTy line-up was possibly one of the most varied so far, but that's just how headliner Ian Siegal liked it. It opened with a gentle, upbeat delivery
POLICE have named the motorcyclist who died following a road traffic collision on the B3078 near Brook in the New Forest on Sunday. Regan James Wilson, 22, of Hampreston, near Wimborne, died when his green Kawasaki motorcycle left the road and collided
THIS is the book of condolence for Regan James Wilson, 22, of Hampreston, who died following a road traffic collision. Place your tributes below.
SOME 150 people packed a public meeting to hear about a wind farm at East Stoke - a "thorny issue" which is dividing the Purbeck community. The crowd heard arguments for and against the plans for six 125m turbines up at Masters Pit quarry from Infinergy
PUBLIC open spaces in Ferndown town centre could have an alcohol ban under a new scheme currently being considered. The town council has backed the proposed ban on drinking alcohol in the town centre, in Penny's Walk by Tesco supermarket and the King
ENTENTE cordiale was on the agenda as well as medals when Poole Swimming Club headed across the Channel to compete in their twin town's Arena Open Meet at Cherbourg. "The reception we got was out of this world which gave great encouragement to our swimmers
NEW Milton have won the Hampshire League Division Two championship by the difference of a solitary goal from Gosport. The two finished with an identical playing record - 13 wins from 18 games and 42 points banked. Although they scored one less goal,
BEN Paulley - runner-up in the Dorset indoor singles final last year - attempts to go one better in this season's final at Bournemouth on Sunday (10am). Last year the junior international lost 21-13 to Andrew Voss and this time he meets the other Voss
BROADSTONE teenager Ashley Craig made a steady start to his first full season of circuit racing when he contested the Ginetta Junior Championship at Brands Hatch in front of the television cameras. After qualifying in a respectable 12th for his two races
BOURNEMOUTH is making good progress in reducing its rate of teenage pregnancies - once one of the highest in the region. In eight years, the number of teenage pregnancies has fallen by a third and the council is hopeful it will meet its ambitious target
VILLAGERS have vowed to speak out against continued use of a field for travellers during the Great Dorset Steam Fair at a County Hall planning meeting in April. The pledge came at the end of a packed two-hour meeting in Tarrant Monkton, where villagers
DID you spot it? Our story about Eurocrats demanding health and safety training for anyone hiring a deckchair was an April Fool.
BOURNEMOUTH'S very own chart act, Air Traffic play a hastily arranged show in the impossibly intimate surroundings of Bournemouth's iBar on Thursday. The band booked and arranged the gig themselves as a special treat for their core fans in their home
WHEN 13-year-old musician Adam Tuffrey takes centre stage at a charity jazz concert it'll be the high note of his young life in more ways than one. Seven years ago the Bournemouth School pupil nearly died after contracting the deadliest strain of meningitis
THE widow of the late entertainer Roy Castle cut a ribbon to officially open the Royal Bournemouth Hospital's new acute lung unit. Former dancer and singer Fiona Castle was also the inaugural speaker at a meeting of the new Inspire Support group for
GAY people still fear discrimination despite legislation to promote equality, according to a comprehensive poll. The survey carried out by YouGov for charity Stonewall, which promotes gay rights, found many of Britain's 3.6 million gay people fear discrimination
IT'S a cold, dark, rainy evening on an industrial estate in Poole. Just a few hours earlier this place was a hive of activity, but now it lies silent and deserted. However, this silence won't last. At a carpet and flooring warehouse in a far corner of
ASK any of this new generation of smokers - and indeed a few of their parents - what part Roy Castle has played in modern British society and they probably won't have a clue. Indeed, ask any teenager who Roy Castle was and you'll be greeted with a blank
BASHLEY goal-getter Richard Gillespie was again the star turn as his hat-trick stole the show on a night of high drama at the Recreation Ground. Gillespie was in sensational form as he guided Steve Riley's side to victory after an absorbing seven-goal
MATT Ford has admitted spearhead Bjarne Pedersen's early season form is "a worry". The Poole Castle Cover Pirates chief watched as Pedersen notched just seven points from five rides as the Dorset club crumpled to a 54-36 Elite League defeat at Wolverhampton
SPRING is in the air - finally! In a welcome break from the recent wet, wild and windy weather, the sun actually managed to struggle through the clouds on Tuesday. And that rare event was enough to send people flocking to gardens, parks and beaches across
CHERRIES defender Ryan Garry has vowed to play himself back into Kevin Bond's plans after making his long-awaited comeback yesterday. Former Arsenal trainee Garry turned in an assured 90-minute performance for Cherries' reserves in their 2-1 Pontin's
MORE than 100 drivers were pulled over by police in Dorset on Tuesday in a large-scale operation aimed at denying criminals the use of the roads. Using sophisticated Automatic Number Plate Recognition Technology (ANPR), officers from seven police forces
ONE person died and a second is critical after another black day on local roads on Tuesday. Traffic jams built up as major link roads in Bournemouth and Poole were closed for hours to deal with two major accidents and several more crashes during the
