MURDER squad detectives believe Bournemouth shopkeeper Jimmy Riggs, whose body was found inside a blazing house, was the victim of a violent robbery. The 66-year-old's body, and that of another mystery man, was found inside the smoke-filled property in
A PURBECK teenager has died in a head-on car crash on the A31 Ferndown bypass. The 19-year-old driver suffered fatal injuries after being involved in a collision with a car driven by a 40-year-old Wimborne man near the Canford Bottom roundabout. Firefighters
CHERRIES must still be wondering how their name never went into the third round draw after dominating this tie from start to finish, but still ended up losing. Sean O'Driscoll's boys had created four good chances before Peterborough's patched up side
STEVE Bendall overcame a damaged left eye to pound out a unanimous decision over Walsall's thoroughly awkward Jason Collins and take the vacant World Boxing Union Continental middleweight title at Dagenham on Saturday. Roared on by a large contingent
DORCHESTER'S Dorset Combination League title hopes took a sizeable knock following this shock defeat against struggling Allendale at Redcott's Rec. On paper, the high-flying Magpies only had to turn up to collect all three points from their third-from-bottom
WEYMOUTH Sports slipped to their second consecutive Dorset Combination League defeat at Redlands. Adie Chance's outfit, who went down last week against Bridport Reserves, fell to a disappointing home reversal against fellow mid-table side Cobham Sports
WEYMOUTH Reserves remained in top spot in the Jewson Wessex Combination after they saw off high-flying Eastleigh to chalk up their latest win. John Lamb proved to be the hero for the Terras second string - notching early on to keep Dave Kitely's side
THE Blues left the Gang Warily Recreation Ground pointless after being hit by a double whammy involving a controversial penalty and sending off early in the second-half. On their first ever visit to the home team's ground on Southampton's waterside, the
FORMER landlady Jan Griffin today ruled out the reopening of The Oak at Dewlish after a television programme about the pub. The BBC2 show Blood on the Village Green stirred up a long-running saga surrounding the closure of the village's only pub and campaigns
CHARITY Christmas lights are shining on in Preston - even though the plug has been pulled on their audience. A road closure means potential donors will not be able to drive past the display in Coombe Valley Road - dimming hopes of reaching charity targets
WEYMOUTH Police have announced a complete re-organisation of the way they look after the Weymouth and Portland area. There will be changes to policing in the town and villages with Abbotsbury, Portesham and Osmington now under the control of Dorchester
A VIEW of life behind the scenes at Dorchester Prison is on offer to new members of the jail's independent watchdog. The prison's board of visitors is hoping for an injection of new blood to help it keep watch on the North Square institution. Commander
FURIOUS Wimborne boss Alex Pike had to be restrained by his management team after a controversial late penalty dashed any hopes he had of a final stab at Vase glory. The outspoken Cuthbury chief launched a scathing verbal attack on referee Adrian Faulkner
PUBLIC toilets in Christchurch and Lymington are enjoying the sweet smell of success after coming up trumps in the national Loo of the Year Awards. Conveniences at Sea Corner, Highcliffe, Highcliffe Castle and the River Way Recreation Ground in Jumpers
STRUGGLING Swanage Town and Herston came back from 2-0 down to grab a share of the spoils away at league-leaders Fleet Town. The Hampshire side seemed to be cruising to their 15th win of the season after an Ian Macey double had given them a 2-0 half-time
DORSET farmer Sir Richard Trehane, who became a world leader in the dairy industry, has died at home at the age of 88. Internationally-known Sir Richard from Hampreston, Ferndown, dedicated his life to agricultural politics and science during which time
CHARITY worker Sue Woodbury fears a Christmas party for stroke victims may be ruined after thieves stole presents from her car. The raiders who broke into her Renault Espace at West Bexington escaped with 40 presents and vital equipment to help the recovery
SOME of Dorset's most popular pubs feature in a new real ale guide. Nearly 50 pubs from 40 towns and villages in Dorset are detailed in the newly-released 2002 Real Ale Pub Guide. The guide claims to be a celebration of the rejuvenated art of brewing
EVERY picture tells a story in a new needlework exhibition which has opened at the Dorset County Museum. Patterns, intricate designs and depictions of life stretching back to the 17th century are on show in the historic Point of the Needle display at
BROCKENHURST crashed out of the FA Vase in dramatic fashion, going down 5-2 at Croydon Athletic on a day when nothing seemed to go in the Badgers' favour whatsoever. The New Foresters' team coach left Grigg Lane at 10.30 on Saturday morning and arrived
LEIGH Phillips hit the magic 100 goals mark for Lymington and New Milton in just 82 games for the club and then went on to complete his hat-trick as the Linnets thrashed Fareham Town away 4-0, writes Andy Starmore. The New Forest outfit were outstanding
CHERRIES manager Sean O'Driscoll has stressed his players must put their disappointing 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Peterborough firmly behind them straight away. His side face a hectic run of six league games inside 22 days, starting at Northampton on Saturday
A SUCCESSFUL scheme working to reduce the number of homeless and poorly-housed people in Poole has secured funding for the next three years. The Poole Accommodation and Support Scheme (PASS) were set up three years ago to find homes for people who somehow
POLICE are concerned for the welfare of a 74-year-old man who has gone missing from St Ann's Hospital, Poole. The man, from the Swanage area, was last seen on his ward at 6.30pm yesterday. He is described as being white, 5ft 8ins, of medium build with
BRIDPORT player-manager Derek Walkey offered the perfect summing up to a game that ended his side's three-match unbeaten run. "You could not fault us for effort, but we are lacking a bit of quality," he said, after watching the Bees slide to their eleventh
THE Pirates want a team of seven Tony Rickardssons! Do you think I'm daft or some-thing? Well ponder this. No doubt that most people would have seen the recent news about advances in science regarding human cloning. Maybe, just maybe, the day is not too
MORE than 100 people attended an exhibition to air their views on one of the county's busiest roads. Safety concerns about the A31 Wimborne Bypass - which has claimed a number of lives in recent years - was one of the main issues raised. The Highways
CONCERN is mounting over controversial plans for a gypsy transit site in the East Dorset countryside. Around a dozen residents have protested at a landowner's proposal to allow travellers to stay on his land at Twin Acres, Horton, near Wimborne. Travellers
CONSERVATIONIST and environmentalist David Bellamy officially opened the doors to a new community learning centre in Wimborne. The £450,000 project, based in the historic Allendale House in the town, has been called the Berners-Lee Centre after Tim Berners-Lee
A DORSET pub singer is poised to be this year's Christmas number one with his first single. And Gordon Haskell could be celebrating the remarkable achievement with a gig in Weymouth. Middle-aged Gordon has clinched a £2.8m recording deal after recording
PLANNERS are poised to agree a scheme to demolish the old British Rail club in Weymouth so it can make way for a new KFC fast-food restaurant and drive-through outlet. The club is relocating to a different part of the Jubilee Sidings site and members
A TEAM of school pupils narrowly missed a podium finish in a national wildlife conservation competition. Teenagers from Milton Abbey School, near Milton Abbas, finished fourth in the Food, Farming and Countryside Challenge. Entrants had to meet a challenge
TAKE a walk around the Earth galleries of the Natural History Museum and you may be surprised, as I was, at the vast amount of reference made to the Dorset coast. Even if you are one of those who has to admit to having lost interest in geography at school
YOUNGSTERS enjoyed a special saxophone workshop with professional player Sarah Field. Ms Field gave Thomas Hardye School pupils a workshop in technique while she was in Dorchester to perform at the county museum. Music teacher Pam Davey said: "We have
WORRIED pensioners living on a caravan park set to be sold off by New Forest Council will have a chance to voice their fears before Christmas. Around 100 residents at the Stillwater Park mobile home site in Ringwood are facing an uncertain future after
VERWOOD Town were once again left to rue a hatful of missed chances in their Division One visit to Fleet Spurs. Club stalwart Adie Arnold came the closest to breaking the deadlock for Verwood when his 25-yard shot rebounded back off the upright after
BASHLEY secured their first away Dr Martens League Eastlern Division victory of the season with an excellent performance at ninth-placed Rothwell Town. With Stuart Hussey unavailable and Andy Darnton injured, the caretaker management team of Jenner Brown
TWO young players shone for Ringwood Town as they helped to overcome visitors Andover on Saturday. Seventeen-year-old debutant goalkeeper Lewis Morgan made two fine saves and defender Simon Kerley cleared off the line twice to prevent visitors Andover
BOURNEMOUTH promenade restaurant West Beach has seen its turnover double to £1 million compared with its opening summer season in 2000. It has just won planning approval and a drinks licence for a decking area on the beach in front of its premises. West
MIDFIELDER Richard Hughes has spoken of Cherries "bitter disappointment" of bowing out of the FA Cup. But he stressed they would have to bounce back immediately and make an impact in the "bread and butter" of league football again. Hughes, whose side
