THE mayor of Swanage has warned that the town is reaching "crisis" point after two holidaymakers were violently attacked by a gang of teenagers at the weekend. The vicious assault is the latest in a spate of incidents and mayor Gary Suttle said residents
Super hero Paul James came to the rescue of a trapped 81-year-old war veteran - by LIFTING a car off him. Paul sprang into action after pensioner Alan Harding had sat on the back seat of his Ford Fiesta with the handbrake off, rolled down his sloping
SOUTH Dorset candidates have clashed in a general election row over hand gun laws. Tory MP Ian Bruce has thrown his support behind the Sportsman's Association, a group founded to protect pistol shooters, and says gun clubs should have a greater say in
STROLL along the golden beaches of Swanage or between the quaint stone houses of Corfe and you could be forgiven for thinking you had stepped into a scene from a postcard. Full of history and steeped in tradition, the Purbeck towns and villages in the
RISING star Emma Bennett has qualified for the under-15 National Championships - despite being two years out of the age group. The 13-year-old will pit her wits against older opposition in the finals at West Hants in August after coming through qualifying
Dorset's award-winning beaches are at risk as more dog owners, forced off footpaths by the foot-and-mouth crisis, exercise their pets on the sea front. The warning comes after three beaches in Bournemouth, two in Poole and one in Swanage scooped the prestigious
FOR the first time in its 53-year history, a Dorchester angling club will soon be offering its county town members somewhere to fish that is right on their doorsteps. From June 16, members of the Dorchester and District Angling Society will be able to
MARNHULL 172-8 (20pts) beat DORCHESTER II 110 (6pts) by 62 runs For the second week running Dorchester Seconds fielded a weakened side in the NSA Division One and were soundly beaten by an experienced Marnhull team which included ex-Dorset captain Barry
GETTING young people off the streets in Ringwood has reaped a huge reward - a massive drop in crime. Since New Forest District Council launched a Friday fun night for the town's youngsters in January petty crime, vandalism, illegal drinking and disorder
WEYMOUTH has defended its approach to beach water quality recognition after refusing to enter the 2001 Blue Flag beach awards which were announced today. Twelve South West sites received the coveted Blue Flag award with six of them in Dorset including
ORGANISERS are entering skips in Dorchester Carnival for crowds to throw money in - and stop participants being hit by flying coins. Dorchester Round Table has taken the precaution to step up safety measures at the science fiction themed event on June
A DORSET hotelier was filmed walking through his rival's premises at 3am - seconds before a fire started in a thatched roof. A jury at Dorchester Crown Court watched CCTV footage showing Christopher Sydney Hilary Poole, 45, strolling through the grounds
PIRATES co-promoter Matt Ford believes Grzegorz Walasek could make a big name for himself in the British Grand Prix at Cardiff. The young Pole began well in his first full season at Poole before suffering a slight dip in form and then recovering a bit
INLAND Revenue inspectors are set to crack down even harder on companies they investigate to meet stringent new targets, it is feared. New Inland Revenue targets agreed with Treasury ministers include a new requirement to identify non-compliance in three
The former Ampress Works in Lymington, which covers a 30-acre site, has been acquired by UBS Asset Management's Triton Property Fund, in conjunction with Hampshire-based Frobisher Limited. The new owners are planning a comprehensive development under
Despite the headline-grabbing statements about the internet conquering the world, most organisations are still using local and national newspapers to attract new recruits. This is revealed in the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's annual
SWANAGE & Wareham rugby club are holding summer training sessions on Tuesday nights at the club at Bestwall, Wareham, starting from 7pm. All current and any new players are invited to join in the fun of touch rugby and five-a-side football as the
PURBECK Badminton Club are running their summer club on Thursday evenings at Purbeck sports centre in Wareham, from 7.45pm-10pm. Players of all abilities are welcome with a small nightly charge made to cover the court costs. The club would also welcome
BOOKMAKERS Ladbrokes have revealed the odds for South Dorset's election candidates as they battle for the knife-edge seat. With a margin of just 77 votes, it is one of the most hotly contested seats in the country and one of just a handful that punters
CONSERVATIVE Parliamentary candidate for North Dorset, Robert Walter, temporarily suspended campaigning after the death of his father, aged 77. Richard Walter died two weeks after a triple bypass heart operation. Mr Walter was spending time with his mother
NSA Sunday Division 3 Old Blandfordians 165 - 6 Swanage First XI 98 - 9 RON BARKER and Ryan Norman reduced Old Blandfordians to 15 - 3 but the change bowlers were unable to press home the advantage. As the bowlers lost their line and the fielders put
WEYMOUTH FC Supporters' Club today announced plans for the creation of an official club mascot and Dorset Echo readers have been given the chance to design and name it. Organisers hope budding artists will get their pens and paper and design a new mascot
PLAYERS and officials of the New Inn Football Club have been celebrating their success in Dorset Sunday League Division Five. The Littlemoor Road-based outfit cruised to the championship title, in what was the club's first ever season in the competition
Test match receipts Like most cricket lovers I was engrossed in the Old Trafford Test match between England and Pakistan which was full of exciting cricket from start to finish. With the Test running for the full five days, although not as well attended
A DORSET hotelier was filmed walking through his rival's premises at 3am - seconds before a fire started in a thatched roof. A jury at Dorchester Crown Court watched CCTV footage showing Christopher Sydney Hilary Poole, 45, strolling through the grounds
PRINCE Charles made a flying visit to Poundbury to check up on the second phase of development work at the controversial village. Arriving unannounced by helicopter, the Prince toured the village before viewing the proposed pub building and shops in Pummery
NSA Saturday Division 1 CRAIG Wells and Anton Howse produced an superb opening stand but it was not enough to give Swanage victory over Beaminster in Dorset Saturday League Division One. The duo saw off an aggressive opening spell by C Burger and N Hansford
CANDIDATES for the South Dorset seat were put through their paces at a special question-time session. Conservative Ian Bruce narrowly defeated Labour's Jim Knight in 1997. And the pair locked horns again at a public debate at the Emmanuel Baptist Church
AIR show disaster victim Jonathon Kerr only boarded the doomed Vampire plane following a last-minute offer from its pilot. Mr Kerr, 32, who recently moved to Bournemouth from Wales, was given a passenger's berth in the two-seater 1950s De Havilland jet
STROLL along the golden beaches of Swanage or between the quaint stone houses of Corfe and you could be forgiven for thinking you had stepped into a scene from a postcard. Full of history and steeped in tradition, the Purbeck towns and villages in the
A FLEET of classic motorcycles swooped to Poole to personally deliver more than £2,000 to the Lifeboat Station. Around 170 bikes from Bath Classic Motorcycle Club congregated at Baiter Park to hand a cheque for £2,256 to chairman of the Poole Lifeboat
RESIDENTS of Mudeford and motor-ists out for a leisurely drive were forced to take cover on Saturday as the local cricket team launched an aerial assault on the quaint Dorset village. Householders in Ledbury Road and Pauntley Road had their gardens peppered
PORTLAND RT 211-8 lost to WAYFARERS 212-8 by 2 wkts PORTLAND Red Triangle suffered a last over defeat, as they went down by two wickets against Wayfarers in a close encounter at Reforne. The visitors edged past the home total of 211 in the final over,
PRINCE Charles has dubbed Poundbury's pub The Poet Laureate, in memory of the late Ted Hughes. The new name was unexpectedly unveiled when the Prince made a surprise visit to his controversial village. Developers Morrish Builders say that the prince chose
YOUNGSTERS at an Owermoigne school donned tights and carried bows and arrows for their production of Robin Hood. The pupils at Owermoigne Church of England First School performed at venues in both Owermoigne and Crossways. Robin Hood was played by Ross
One of Portland's best loved teachers and 'man of music'Alan Upward, has died aged 86. Mr Upward moved to Wigan some time ago to be close to his daughter Valerie and he died in the town's hospital last week. Alan came to live in Weymouth in 1915 when
TEENAGE middle distance sensation Charlotte Moore has no qualms about missing out on a European Juniors' qualifying time last weekend after admitting her season is firmly geared for the Worlds. Sixteen-year-old Moore, running at the South of England Championships
TOURISM bosses are hoping to put West Dorset on the map as the area gears up for a media frenzy on election night. Twelve national newspapers, radio stations, television programmes and a news agency are to descend on Dorchester for the count on June 7
TORY politician Francis Maude bolstered West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin's election campaign when the pair walked through Dorchester town centre. Mr Maude, who is shadow Foreign Secretary, rallied the party faithful before urging shoppers in South Street
A FURIOUS new 'dirty tricks' row has erupted over a controversial letter urging Liberal Democrats to vote Labour in the South Dorset general election contest. The letter, claiming to represent the views of two Liberal Democrats, has been printed and promoted
A COMBINED team of athletes from the Dorchester and Weymouth clubs came third behind Wimborne and Aylesbury in a Southern Women's League match at the Ashdown track in Poole. In the senior ladies event, Pippa Alford won the 300m hurdles A race and came
A TOP channel swimming coach from Weymouth is bowing out after 50 years in the job. But Tom Watch, 73, of St Leonards Road, is training one final swimmer to mark the golden anniversary of his time involved in the gruelling challenge. He's hoping the anniversary
DORCHESTER faced its coldest May day for 40 years amid one of the wettest springs on records more than a century old. Town weatherman John Oliver said the temperature of 8.3 degrees Centigrade at the start of last month was the lowest recorded since 1961
NEWLY-elected Bridport Mayor David Tett assembled with civic leaders from the county on Sunday to make the walk from East Street to St Mary's Church, South Street, for his Sunday parade. Rev Trevor Stubbs led the annual civic ceremony which was attended
AEA Technology, which has a site at Winfrith, has terminated talks which could have led to a takeover of the company. The engineering and science business - which revealed in April it had received takeover approaches - has now said it thought none of
Only the best will do if we are to make Dorset the best place to do business in the UK. A general election manifesto from the British Chambers of Commerce aims to encourage the next government to create a better climate for business across the whole of
TRAVELLERS in around 50 caravans decamped from Littledown and descended on land beside Christ-church bypass at Stony Lane late on Sunday afternoon. They have been given a stay of execution by the police, the landowner and Christchurch Borough Council
