CASTLEPOINT bosses have revealed details of the reopening plan which could see the entire shopping centre back in use this month. But experts have not yet hit on a permanent solution to the structural problems with the car park which forced the closure
FAMILIES are borrowing less money against the value of their homes - despite the revival in the property market. Homeowners withdrew £8.28 billion from their properties in the three months to the end of September, according to latest Bank of England data
CAMPAIGNERS today called for action to be stepped up for a homeless shelter in Weymouth after pinpointing a site in the Park District. Councillors Ian and Christine James said former garages in Victoria Street would be ideal as a centre to help combat
NEW calls have been made for a telephone box at Poundbury. Members of Dorchester Town Council asked BT to install a public phone on Prince Charles' dream development last year. But bosses from BT ruled out the proposal in a letter to the council. The
READING the small print can help would-be New Year slimmers shed the pounds. Dorset Trading Standards Service officers say that people who want to eat sensibly and lose some weight can get a lot of help by making a New Year's resolution to look at food
A FORDINGBRIDGE woman has returned home after finding out first-hand about the harsh realities of life in a Ugandan orphanage. Sarah Westlake, 34, spent a month working at the Sanyu Babies' Home in Kampala. The orphanage takes in children aged from birth
VILLAGERS are overjoyed at the prospect of a new school - but some fear parking problems will be even worse than they are now. Pimperne's school - currently bursting at the seams - has been changed from a first to a primary school as part of the Blandford
IT'S a joke - a taxi driver was slapped with a £170 parking ticket for waiting for a fare in a deserted car park at 6am. Ashley Miller, chairman of Bournemouth Taxi Trade Association, was filmed in Aldi car park, Holdenhurst Road, from 5.57am to 6.07am
TWO young American missionaries say the people who set upon them in an unprovoked attack are just the sort of people they are trying to help. Timothy Price and Daryl Woodfield, both 20, were left with cuts, bruises and a broken nose after the incident
A 63-year-old grandmother was beaten up and repeatedly raped at knifepoint in a terrifying ordeal in her own home, a court heard yesterday. Married carpet fitter Peter Jarvis, 31, then demanded the terrified woman's cash card and her PIN number before
A WAREHAM pensioner told of his shock when he could not report seeing vermin creep into his garden because Purbeck District Council was on holiday. Peter Dorey was concerned about the health risk to his neighbours when he saw the rat, but to his amazement
A "PLAGUE" of flies on a scale seen in Third World countries descended on parts of East Dorset and ruined the summer for hundreds of residents. Now work is under way to stop the same thing happening again. The infestation has been blamed on highly fertile
CARERS have paid tribute to a woman who died in a house fire but say it was an accident waiting to happen. Doris Owen, 80, was killed in a fire at the St Leonards mobile home she shared with her brother Harold Bennett. He remains on an acute ward at the
THE number of people found to be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs at Christmas rocketed by almost 40 per cent, police revealed today. Dorset Police's campaign to tackle drunk and drugged drivers in December resulted in 204 motorists being
THIEVES have stolen a £600 sunshine recorder for the second time in a fortnight. The Campbell-Stokes Mark III sunshine recorder was set up on a building in Wyke Regis, Weymouth, by borough meteorologist Bob Poots. He said: "We had one stolen just before
RETIRED Peter Edwards has praised a supermarket boss for saving his Christmas food after his freezer broke down. Mr Edwards, 64, took his shopping to Morrisons, Dorchester Road, Weymouth after discovering the problem. Gary Coombes, a manager at the supermarket
ANOTHER twist has emerged in the case of the Earl of Shaftesbury in the form of allegations his death was a planned assassination. Investigators in France, where the aristocrat disappeared in November 2004, now claim his estranged wife Jamila Ben M'Barek
SHUTTERS that came down suddenly on the historic Kings Arms last autumn are likely to stay up for a little longer while talks continue between owners and council planning chiefs to thrash out a deal to secure the refurbishment and reopening of the town-centre
