Archive

  • Broken the law? Don’t hit the road

    THERE'S nowhere to hide. Police have just completed a two-day operation specifically targeted at catching criminals using one of Dorset and Hampshire's busiest roads. Operation Utah was staged by a team of officers from the two forces on Thursday and

  • Brett, 6, heartbroken after theft of BMX bike

    A SIX-year-old boy is devastated after thieves snatched his prized BMX, the first bike he's ever owned. Brett Rowland was playing at a friend's house in Broadstone, Poole, when the £179 cycle was stolen. Mum Kim, from Merley, said: "Brett was going

  • 'Street attack left me scared to go out'

    A GANG of 10 yobs kicked and punched a young man while he was walking on crutches in the street. Richard Brixey, 22, was set upon by a group wearing hoodies in what he says was an unprovoked attack. The father-of-one was kicked and punched in the face

  • Let there be light in Square!

    A PULSATING new light will be fitted in Bournemouth Square on Tuesday to replace the Millennium Flame and make it a meeting place once again. The Chromosphere will look like a two-foot wide pearl, changing gradually changing colour every five to 10 seconds

  • Charity cricket match in aid of injured Phil

    A CHARITY cricket match is to be held in aid of a cricketer left partially paralysed by a ball earlier this summer. Phil Williams suffered a fractured skull after he was struck on the head by a delivery while playing for Wayfarers 2nd XI in July. Wiltshire

  • Navy told: your boat's not safe

    THE navy was stopped from using their landing craft during the Bournemouth Air Festival because they didn't have the right certificate. They had to pay to charter civilian boats to do the job instead - and unlike on the navy craft, lifebelts were not

  • Police investigating attacks on pizza men

    TWO pizza delivery men were targeted and robbed of money in separate attacks in Poole. The first assault, on a 23-year-old from Bournemouth, took place on the Upton Heath estate between 1.55am and 2.10am on Saturday, August 23. Details have only just

  • Would you like to be my pal?

    ARE you football mad? Do you love computer games and have a great sense of humour? If so, you could be the perfect pal for 20-year-old Tom. The AFC Bournemouth fanatic, who lives in Parkstone, was born with his heart upside down and inside out and needs

  • School bus fare rise makes families fume

    PARENTS are furious at rises of up to 50 per cent in their children's school bus fares. One dad says he was shocked when his daughter's bus fare went up from £1 to £1.50 over the summer break. And other parents have decided it's cheaper to car share

  • Sarah Palin's strikes a chord

    MOOSE-burger munching, bear-trapping, sharp shootin' ass-kicking US Republican VP nominee and mom-of-five Sarah Palin ought to disgust me. I don't agree with hunting, shooting or killing things for fun. And I'm not keen on the fundamentalist creationism

  • Should she have been jailed?

    IT'S daft to jail a mum whose daughters keep missing school. But what's the alternative? What could have been done? When your son or daughter bunks off school there is only one loser. The child. If it is through illness, well, that's tough luck. But

  • Why WI?

    The Women's Institute was formed in 1915 with two clear aims: to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. More than 90 years on, the organisation has 205,000 members in 6,800

  • Jamiroquai ace back cancer appeal

    Jamiroquai keyboard player, Matt Johnson has put his name to the Echo backed Youth Cancer Trust Appeal 2008. Christchurch-born Matt has been a patron of the YCT for the past four years. He said: "The Youth Cancer Trust is a fantastic charity and I want

  • How to stop grieving for your dead plants

    THIS summer's wretched weather has hardly been a bed of roses for anyone. But for the green-fingered among us, the seemingly endless wind and rain has been a particularly thorny issue. Gardeners left withered with frustration as their plants take a

  • Oh my God they booked Kenny!

    Celebrating fifty years in the music business, legendary singer-songwriter, Kenny Rogers is heading for Bournemouth next spring on his 2009 UK tour. The BIC concert on April 4 is certain to include classic tracks such as Lady, Ruby Don't Take Your Love

  • Tragic death of rally champ

    A CHAMPION rally driver was nearly twice the drink-drive limit and speeding when he crashed into a tree and died, an inquest has heard. Paul Choat, 39, was killed instantly when the high -performance Mercedes convertible he was driving left the A338

  • Tributes to Paul Choat

    Paul Choat, a champion rally driver, was killed in an accident near Ringwood. Leave your tributes to Paul below.

  • Man finds bolt in pie

    A MAN has claimed he almost choked on a metal bolt he found in an Asda meat pie. Zac Skidmore, 19, from Charminster in Bournemouth, said he bought a pack of four pies from the St Paul's store in August and half-way through eating one a piece lodged in

  • Cry for help

    A cry is going out for the public to help set a new world record. No qualifications are required: All that's needed are a pair of lungs and a willing attitude and you could help Dorset gain a place in the Guinness Book of Records. An attempt to create

  • Traffic easing after A31 crash

    Check latest traffic news in Wimborne A CRASH on a busy roundabout at Wimborne caused huge tailbacks earlier today. The accident on the Canford Bottom roundabout, involved a motorbike and at least one car. It happened just before 12.30pm today

  • Callum's catch is Shingle highlight

    THE Milford Shingle Bank really came up trumps during a training session for the England junior team whose members will be heading off to Barcelona in a few weeks time for the World Junior Shore Angling Championships. Under the watchful eye of their

  • The Producers (PG) - Optimum ****

    DON'T confront evil with rhetoric, urges Mel Brooks in the documentary that accompanies this comedy classic from 1968. Ridicule it instead. It's a philosophy at the heart of a film that surely retains the crown for the most glorious celebration of tastelessness

  • Caramel (PG) - Momentum ****

    LIFE unfolds amid the familiar female rituals of a beauty salon for five Lebanese women. The caramel of the title is a traditional sugaring recipe used in the salon as the five well-drawn main characters fill the plot out nicely with their different

  • Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (XL Recordings) ***

    YOU had to seek it out, but there was a passable strain of new wave disco that managed to straddle the arty end of late-punk and the thinking end of the dancefloor. Tony Wilson knew it as Factory got over its first flush of credibility and he pushed New

  • Is Jimmy the right man for Cherries?

    SO it's all change at Cherries again with Jimmy Quinn replacing Kevin Bond as boss this week. I wrote in this column in October 2006 after Bond had been appointed that it was a massive gamble putting someone who had not gained any Football League managerial

  • Top slide show

    IN the increasingly competitive compact people carrier sector, where economy and versatility are becoming more important, Mazda has revamped its seven-seat offering - the Mazda5. In comes new front and rear designs, rear light clusters, front grille

  • The Fair Way

    Five generations, 34 years and over 26 million vehicles after the original first went on sale, the sixth generation of the Golf has been unveiled. Volkswagen describes it as the safest, most technically advanced and most dynamic Golf yet, with the aim

  • A heli of a good show

    WEDNESDAY nights offer some of the worst TV of the week I find, however, I think I've discovered a little gem of a series that will be taking up half an hour of my life every Wednesday evening for the foreseeable future (or until the end of the series

  • RocknRolla (15) ***

    THREE years after the debacle of Revolver, writer-director Guy Ritchie returns to the mean streets of London, as captured in his iconic debut Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, for this serpentine gangland thriller. He needn't have bothered because RocknRolla

  • The Duchess (12A) ***

    DIRECTOR Saul Dibb (Bullet Boy) ventures confidently into the realms of lavish costume drama with this adaptation of Amanda Foreman's best-selling biography Georgiana, Duchess Of Devonshire. The Duchess is impeccably tailored, dazzling the eyes with

  • Bangkok Dangerous (18) **

    YOU can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, not that it has stopped brothers Oxide and Danny Pang trying. Nine years after they dazzled audiences with the stylish yet predictable thriller Bangkok Dangerous, the Hong Kong filmmakers take the bold

  • Disaster Movie (12A) *

    WHEN you've hit rock bottom and the last glimmer of hope has disappeared, the only way is up, isn't it? Apparently not, as Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer demonstrate so emphatically with their latest scattershot spoof, boasting a snappy title that

  • Workers call for paid time off to train

    SEVENTY per cent of workers in the south west would like to see a legal right to request paid time off for training. According to a YouGov survey released by the TUC and unionlearn its learning and skills organisation, 50 per cent would be likely to

  • Having a tough time bringing the harvest home

    TORRENTIAL rain is causing problems for farmers across the county as they try to gather their harvest. Farmers from Tarrant Rawston to West Lulwoth are battling the elements as they try to save crops of wheat, hay, and barley from the elements. Matthew

  • Is this the future of the caravan?

    THESE colourful domes are set to transform the "dated and old-fashioned" image of caravanning holidays. The idea is to shake off the "stigma" of a pursuit often associated with retired people and appeal to the young city professional looking for a "cool

  • Penryn poser for Hammers

    MANAGER Phil Simkin admits Hamworthy United will be taking a step into the unknown when they visit Penryn Athletic in the FA Vase first qualifying round tomorrow. Simkin's men may have thought they were finished with long journeys after making a 300-

  • Batchelor's boys focused

    ADAM Batchelor insists it's business as usual in Christer Warren's absence, as inconsistent Wimborne Town prepare to travel to Lymington tomorrow (3pm). With player-manager Warren on a period of leave until next weekend, assistant Batchelor is in charge

  • FRY: FANS ARE IN FOR A TREAT

    TOP boss Barry Fry has given his star pupil Jimmy Quinn a glowing reference and has told Cherries fans: "He'll get it right." Fry put Quinn back on the road to management when he appointed him as his assistant during his time in the hot-seat at Peterborough

  • Jordan still holds pro dream

    JORDAN Rose is still chasing his dream of becoming a professional footballer after getting his first taste of competitive senior action with Bashley. The 18-year-old Lymington-based utility man, who was released by Cherries at the end of last season,

  • Quinn culture will see no more blame

    NEWLY-appointed boss Jimmy Quinn will demand a "no blame, no excuse culture" from his Cherries squad. Quinn takes the reigns for the first time tomorrow when Cherries look to break their League Two duck at Notts County. He enjoyed a watching brief as

  • Hubbard's a hit with Poole

    POOLE Town new boy Micky Hubbard is loving life at Tatnam, having proved the doubters wrong following his summer move from Hamworthy United. A few eyebrows were raised when Dolphins boss Tom Killick signed the former Cherries trainee during the close-season

  • Sammy wants to be man in the middle

    SAMMY Igoe is keen to stake his claim to become Jimmy Quinn's new middleman. Igoe played a starring role during Cherries' Johnstone's Paint Trophy win over his former club Bristol Rovers in midweek. The 32-year-old capped an impressive individual display

  • Middlo backing Bjarne fence calls

    PIRATES boss Neil Middleditch is vigorously backing Bjarne Pedersen's call for mandatory safety air fences - not just in Sweden but at speedway tracks all across the world. Pedersen, Poole Castle Cover's captain, pleaded in the Echo for all Swedish tracks

  • YOBS BEAT UP DISABLED MAN

    A disabled man walking on crutches was set upon by a gang of youths in Bournemouth last night. The victim was verbally abused, then punched and kicked in the face say police. He was making his way along an alley behind Highlands Crescent when the assault

  • MORE TRAFFIC CHAOS ACROSS DORSET

    Just as schools go back after the summer break and traffic increases, Dorset motorists are to be hit with more roadside surveys. The third wave of traffic studies will affect routes in and out of the area and are likely to cause delays - but this should