Archive

  • Fire at Belle Vue Crescent, Southbourne, "started deliberately"

    A FIRE which broke out in the ground floor a house in Southbourne is believed to have been started deliberately. Firefighters were called after smoke was seen coming from the home in Belle Vue Crescent at 2.20pm on Tuesday, July 5. The first floor bedrooms

  • Through to the petite finals in Sweden

    Today has been a tricky and frustrating day for us. We started off with very shifty conditions and short courses, we had 3 races of the round robin 1 which we lost against Tunnicliffe, won against Souter and unfortunately were given a black flag

  • Cherries seal Barrett deal

    Cherries have this afternoon completed the signing of Crystal Palace defender Adam Barrett. Barrett completed his move to the Seward Stadium on a two-year contract after the two clubs agreed an undisclosed fee. The 31-year-old, who played

  • Dorset Sunday: Robbie's in a hurry for Ferndown

    MAN-on-a-mission Robbie Stammas wasted no time in inspiring Ferndown Wayfarers to victory – so he could dash off to a romantic rendezvous. Stammas claimed five wickets to help his team climb to second position in the closely contested Dorset Sunday League

  • B&D Men's League: Cliff keep rivals at bay

    BOSCOMBE Cliff extended their lead over Knyveton Gardens in Section One with a clinical performance at Meyrick Park, defeating Bourne-mouth on all four rinks. The main contributors to Cliff’s 97-50 triumph were Graham Matthew, Brian Frith

  • Campaigners unite to fight Wool village library closure

    ANGRY protesters have gathered in Wool in a bid to sway county chiefs from axing their village library. Wool is one of 20 rural libraries threatened with closure as Dorset County Council seeks to claw back £724,000 from its library service budget. Tomorrow

  • Travellers show off talents for Sky TV show

    TALENTED travellers converged in Christchurch at the weekend with their sights firmly set on performing at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Twenty-seven contestants took to the stage at East Christchurch Social Club on Grange Road for the final

  • Has little swimmer Tae set a British record?

    LIVING so close to the sea seems to have rubbed off on Poole four-year-old Tae Smith. She’s swum 2,000 metres in less than two hours, leaving her parents and swimming coach speechless. They’re convinced her achievement, after just five

  • Firm fined as worker hurt in fall

    A POOLE construction company has been fined £4,000 after a carpenter received serious injuries when he fell three metres from scaffolding. Michael McCarthy, 60, from Verwood, was working on a house extension when he fell and was left with serious

  • West Region: Bevan's best in latest old pals' act

    FORMER PGA Cup player Jon Bevan and West Region captain Michael Watson are the best of pals, working together at Wessex Golf Centre at Weymouth and usually travelling together to tournaments. But on the course that friendship between the Bournemouth

  • 11,000 children living in poverty in Bournemouth and Poole

    NEARLY 11,000 children in Bournemouth and Poole are living in poverty, the latest figures for Dorset have shown. The new annual Health Profiles, published for each local authority area in England, show that while deprivation is lower than the

  • Badger and Bumble highly commended in Deli of the Year 2011

    NEXT time you call into Badger and Bumble, you may notice a certificate taking pride of place on the counter. For the Westbourne deli has been highly commended in the Deli of the Year 2011 competition. Badger and Bumble was one of over 400 fine

  • Top Tories back plan to keep Dorset libraries open

    THE campaign to save Dorset’s threatened libraries has been backed by two high profile local Tories. Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, a Conservative peer, has given his support to the Ad Lib (Association of Friends of Dorset Libraries) campaign

  • Who shot Barney the cat in the spine?

    OFFICERS are probing a series of sick pet attacks that have caused misery for cat lovers across the area. One of the latest, the shooting of Barney – a rare pedigree cat – almost left him crippled for life. Now police are eager to hear

  • Hope you have to pay for damage

    I AM writing to say (via the Daily Echo), thank you to the vandals who set fire to my greenhouse, garden furniture and other garden items before setting fire to the rear of Burger King in Poole. I hope that you are found because CCTV cameras are in this

  • Dual carriageway needed to Exeter

    THE Oxbridge types in Whitehall are keen to spend £36 billion on the HS2 superfast railway from London to the North. They have no plans for a dual carriageway from Poole to Honiton, or from Ringwood to Salisbury. Poole to Exeter is an important national

  • Join up thoughts on cycle route

    WHAT great news about the proposed Cycle West route for Dorset and northern France (“£7.6m route to explore by bike”, Echo July 4). But can I suggest that we need a bit of joined-up thinking here – largely between the councils in Poole and Dorset – to

  • Time off for hip replacements

    I HAVE no problem with teachers working to 68 years of age providing they are allowed leave during term time for hip replacements and the fitting of pacemakers etc GRAHAM CRIBB, Branksome Wood Road, Bournemouth

  • Thatcherism back and I blame Clegg

    FIRSTLY, introduce £9,000 for university tuition fees, then abolish Education Maintenance Allowance and now Dorset County Council charge £400 for sixth formers to travel from Swanage to the Purbeck School for the academic year. Thatcherism back with

  • Teachers have lost my respect

    AS a father of two children whose schools were closed today, the teachers who have taken part in strike action have lost my respect. As a profession, you would expect teachers to be intelligent but they cannot see that public final salary pensions are

  • I applaud plan for squatters

    I WAS absolutely appalled to read John Coulston’s thoughts on the Government’s much-awaited response to squatting, making it illegal as it used to be so many years ago. How would he feel if he had just come out of hospital to find squatters

  • School slammed for its handling of a pupil protest

    ANGRY parents have slammed a secondary school’s handling of a student protest, which took place amid accusations of heavy-handed enforcement of uniform regulations. Pupils of Lytchett Minster School said they were threatened with police action

  • Art exhibition is still flourishing

    I AM responding as an outraged artist to the letter published in the Echo (July 2) concerning the Pine Walk Summer Exhibition in Westover Road, Bournemouth. I have been exhibiting at Pine Walk for over 10 years and can assure you that the quality

  • Change rules to hit all the MPs too

    PUBLIC sector workers should be not allowed to strike unless they hit the 50% support line of their work force. If this is to be the current media or public take on the matter then by the same token an MP should not be elected until he or she hits 50%

  • Kids join the band for safe beach fun

    A SUCCESSFUL annual scheme which helps keep hundreds of children playing on Bournemouth beach safe during the busy summer months has been launched for 2011. KidZone, which covers a four-and-a-half mile stretch of the seven-mile beach and is free for

  • The burning issue

    WITH the plethora of great fake tanning products on the shelves, you’d have thought the days of roasting too long in the sun would be over. Not so, according to research which reveals that we are still a nation of sun worshippers, and it’s the younger

  • Get tough on mile-high mayhem

    IT MAY come as a bit of a shock to learn that alcohol is the cause of only a quarter of air rage incidents. This is surprising considering the amount of money some budget airlines charge for the stuff, but the antics of Andrew Wiseman are less common

  • Air terror as drunk rages on packed Cyprus flight

    A DRUNKEN passenger who caused terror on a packed flight from Cyprus to Bournemouth airport has escaped being sent to prison. Bournemouth Crown Court heard how violence had flared 40 minutes before the Thomson plane was due to land on May 9

  • Coconut Ceviche

    Coconut Ceviche (Serves 4) 2-3 plum tomatoes 225g sea bass, skinned and diced into 1cm cubes Juice of 5-6 limes 4tbsp coconut milk 1tbsp olive oil A pinch of sea salt ½ small red onion, finely diced 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped 1 habanero

  • Can you help uncover inn's history?

    A DEVELOPER is appealing for information after becoming fascinated by the history of a Bournemouth pub. Richard Gale took over the troubled Ragged Cat on Christchurch Road in Boscombe and has just finished turning it into five flats, three houses and

  • Social care costs 'should be capped at £35,000'

    A REPORT by an independent body has suggested that people should pay no more than £35,000 towards their long-term care costs. The Commission on Funding Care and Support, set up by the government last July, had been asked to recommend a fairer

  • Police hunt student’s summer ball attacker

    DETECTIVES are searching for a man who violently assaulted a Bournemouth student at an end of term fancy dress ball near Christchurch last month. The victim was celebrating at the annual Bournemouth University Summer Ball, at Bournemouth Sports

  • Cherries: Second bid likely for Addicks defender Francis

    Cherries today look set to revive their interest in Simon Francis after having an initial bid rejected for the Charlton Athletic defender. Boss Lee Bradbury is keen to add his former Southend team-mate to his squad and Cherries are likely

  • Cherries: Parts set for spell on sidelines

    LUCKLESS Cherries star Joe Partington looks set to miss the first two months of the season after undergoing surgery to cure a hip injury. Partington was initially struck down by the problem during a reserve team friendly against the Glenn Hoddle Academy

  • Pirates: Poole overcome power of Troy to bag a point

    NEIL Middleditch was probably wishing he had left Troy Batchelor’s engine in Chandlers Ford. According to Sky’s commentary team, the Pirates team manager picked up the Peterborough star’s equipment from Craig Boyce’s workshop, after the Pirates legend