HOME buyers in Bournemouth need to earn £37,000 a year to buy an average property in the town. And that's nearly double the town's average salary, a report has revealed. Experts are now warning of severe housing shortages and social problems in the future
RESIDENTS who fear that Southbourne's beaches may be covered with shingle have been told no work will begin until at least 2003. In a letter to councillors, Director of Leisure and Tourism, Stephen Godsall, says: "The council is concerned that Bournemouth's
Shaking up church practices to give the vulnerable more protection from abuse and exploitation is going to be an "enormous task", said a leading Bournemouth Roman Catholic. Canon Terence Healey's Bournemouth parish is just one of thousands coming to terms
RELATIVES of a New York financial trader with links to Swanage have flown out to attend his memorial service in New Jersey this weekend. Richard Cudina, 46, is among the thousands of missing presumed dead following last week's terrorist attack on the
ONE of Bournemouth's top tennis coaches has been rewarded for his efforts by being named as Dorset's coach of the year. Allan Orchard, head coach at Southborne Tennis Club, was picked ahead of coaches from as many as 30 other local clubs. In a week of
FED up Oakdale residents are desperate for a good night's sleep and have vowed to keep fighting until the noise volume at a nearby factory has been turned down. People living near Dolphin Packaging in Fleets Lane, Poole, claim they are regularly woken
A PROJECT that gives young people a fresh chance to set themselves up in life is celebrating its second anniversary. And it is looking for new helpers willing to give something back to the community to guide young people on the path to responsibility
It's not often a 25-mile time trial finishes without any Bournemouth Jubilee Wheeler beating the hour, but it happened in Poole Wheelers' race on Sunday and their leading three - Steve Pye, Steve Clark and Martin Lefevre - still won the team classification
WESSEX'S pre-season preparations have been rocked by news that new signing Torbjon Wrange has returned to Scandinavia. The Swedish playmaker has gone back to his homeland because of a family illness leaving Wessex a player short just days before their
WITH the 2001/02 rugby season only three weeks old the league's fixture computer has paired Dorset's two senior clubs together tomorrow. Swanage and Wareham play hosts to Dorchester with both clubs still searching for their first South-west Division One
PORTLAND United want Pete Conning to boost their Jewson Wessex League challenge. The Blues, who entertain Amesbury Town in the second qualifying round of the FA Carlsberg Vase at Grove Corner tomorrow (ko 3pm), are hoping to entice the former Weymouth
AN open day at an electricity sub-station in East Dorset resulted in some hair raising experiments being conducted on visitors. Around 1,400 residents and schoolchildren were expected to visit the sub-station at Mannington near Wimborne over two days
A BRIGHT idea by a young Dorset businessman is helping to tackle equestrian crime in rural areas. Mark Drury, aged 19, of Verwood, is manufacturing and selling a personalised branding iron that can easily mark most types of equestrian tack such as leather
A MOTHER is celebrating victory after a year-long battle to keep a memorial at her daughter's grave. Officials at Salisbury Diocese have told Margaret Read she is allowed to retain the white marble angel at the graveside of her daughter, Sharon, who died
Musical concerts to see this week Harmonious voices THERE will be a harmonious meeting of voices at Pelhams Hall at Kinson tomorrow when the Southern Union Chorus present a Barbershop extravaganza. Special guests will be ladies barbershop chorus The Wessex
PRESIDENT George Bush today named Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in last week's terror attacks and warned: "The hour is coming when America will act." In the speech of his political life, delivered to Congress as Prime Minister Tony Blair watched
A Weymouth student has designs on The Front skatepark. Talented Charlotte Pearce, 26, from Weymouth was picked as the lucky winner of a competition to create a logo for the new skatepark. Her design was inspired by the distinctive shape of the skatepark
DORCHESTER'S youth and community centre has been hailed a huge success after attracting double the number of youngsters than other youth groups in Britain. The average turnout of children to youth clubs nationwide is 20 per cent of the children in the
DORSET voluntary groups are set to share in an annual £800,000 cash boost thanks to the launch of a new foundation today. The South West Foundation has been set up by the South Western Co-operative Housing Society to allocate grants to voluntary and community
IT'S hard to imagine it now but when rock 'n' roll exploded on a completely unsuspecting public back in the mid 1950s, people barely knew what had hit them. Suddenly an entire new popular culture arrived on the scene, changing forever the face of the
YOU'VE read the book, seen the film, talked about it endlessly at dinner parties, maybe even booked a holiday on Cephalonia. But even if it's still all Greek to you there's a chance to get another, singularly different view of Louis de Berniere's tale
HAS she or hasn't she? Speculation continues over whether superstar Madonna and her country-sports-loving husband Guy Ritchie have chosen to bring up their children locally. Top estate agents FPDSavills are sticking to their story that the £9 million
A COUNCIL chief executive has denied that redundancy costs have spiralled up to a million pounds more than was planned. North Dorset District Council has got permission to use up to £1,648,000 of its capital budget to fund restructuring - that's one-and-a-half
BROCKENHURST'S Rod Jolley went from zero to hero in the space of 24 hours at last weekend's Goodwood Revival Meeting. Having started second on the grid for Saturday's opening Goodwood Trophy Race, Jolley then blotted his copybook by putting his borrowed
MORE than 12,000 businesses across Dorset and the New Forest will next month see a major overhaul of their banking arrangements in a £113 million project by LloydsTSB. The bank's small and medium-sized business clients are part of what is said to be the
CHERRIES' star Richard Hughes says he may consider a move abroad if he is not offered a new deal when his contract expires in January. The highly-rated midfielder has revealed he has still not been approached to discuss terms despite the fact his current
DRUG-abusing parents are the reason more children in Bournemouth are at risk from harm in their own homes than other towns and cities. The number of children on the borough's child protection register shot up by 40 per cent this year, most due to physical
STUDENTS in nearly all of Bournemouth's secondary schools received better GCSE results than in previous years, borough education bosses have been told. At their Town Hall meeting, members of the local education authority discussed this summer's GCSE results
DORSET firemen will be mingling with shoppers in Bournemouth tomorrow to collect money to help the families of the New York firemen lost in the terrorist outrage last week. The officers had planned to use money donated to fund the Fire Brigade Benevolent
SOUTH West Trains has welcomed a report calling for an independent watchdog to boost safety on Britain's fragmented rail network. The report, compiled by Lord Cullen, wants the safety body to take a lead in developing railway standards, sponsor research
A RUNDOWN road in Boscombe could be transformed into an artistic-style Brighton lane with open-front workshops, under plans about to be drawn up. Ward councillors have been campaigning for some time for the regeneration of Roumelia Lane and are delighted
RODNEY Davis has regained his thirst for tournament golf and could be the player to follow in the West Region PGA Championship being held for the first time at East Dorset next week. After almost three months of playing ineffectively, the 32-year-old
THE rich and the famous have had a love affair with Sandbanks for a long time now and there is no evidence of it cooling. Prices of property on that tadpole's tail strip of real estate hanging by a thread to mainland Poole dwarf those of mighty Manhattan
THE king of pop Michael Jackson visited Poole after a remarkable eleventh-hour phone call to arrange a concert. It seems the stuff of legend now - but those involved still vividly recall the moment when the young American singer turned up at Poole Arts
BRIDPORT will be hoping to find their traditional FA Carlsberg Vase form when they visit Bournemouth Poppies in a second qualifying round tie tomorrow, writes Terry Collin. The Bees have enjoyed some excellent Vase campaigns over the years and even in
DORCHESTER are raring to go tomorrow at home to Grantham Town in the Dr Martens Eastern Division (ko 3pm) after their enforced ten-day break. Mark Morris' men had a blank weekend last week following their shock FA Cup defeat at Bournemouth Poppies. But
Bands playing the Bournemouth region this weekend Maine attraction MAINE Street take their attitude-ridden performance to Mister Smiths on Friday. After winning ten days recording at SWAG Recording Studios in London through the Studland Country Fair the
A BRIDPORT couple whose daughter is missing after the terrorist attack on New York spoke today of their heartfelt thanks for the many messages of sympathy and support. Sonia and Peter Hopwood, of West Bay, realised soon after last Tuesday's attack that
Freddie Dunn, six, has been left heartbroken after revellers stole his bicycle. His family, who lives in Alexandra Terrace, Dorchester, says the theft is the latest in a string of incidents as pub and club-goers cut through the old hospital site. Freddie's
STEEP ramps have ruined a seaside holiday for Alan Byford by making his visit to Weymouth an uphill struggle. Fifty-three-year-old Alan claims that his week-long break in the resort with his disabled father, Bill, has been spoiled because of street ramps
EXPANDING firm the Buckinghamshire Fastener Company is recruiting extra staff in Dorset after securing more work. BFC is handling contacts worth up to £250,000 each at its new larger premises at Somerford Business Park. BFC - which specialises in fasteners
WEYMOUTH Sports boss Barry Lawley has urged Mike Flann to go out with a bang at Holt United tomorrow, kick off 3pm. The livewire striker is playing his last game for the club before returning to university in Wolverhampton next week. Lawley said: "Mike
WEYMOUTH face a giant task when they take on Hednesford in the Dr Martens Premier Division at Keys Park tomorrow, ko 3pm. Leading the Pitmen's frontline will be 6ft 7in former Derby County, Stockport County and Birmingham City centre forward, Kevin Francis
Great nights to be had on the clubbing scene this weekend All too rare treat The Opera House is a guaranteed sell-out tonight as the Boscombe superclub night Slinky welcomes house and trance supremo Paul van Dyk. Paul received critical acclaim for debut
A rare clock once given to settle a bad debt was sold for a record £112,700 at an auction in Dorchester, The walnut longcase timepiece by renowned maker George Graham came from an owner in the north of Dorset and went to a West Country collector. The
CAMPAIGNERS in Weymouth say they doubt a new blueprint to cut roadworks chaos will make any difference. The National Joint Utilities Group, which represents a range of utility companies, is introducing the charter, Streetwise, in a bid to reduce the problems
SEA CADETS stood to attention during their annual inspection watched by Weymouth and Portland Mayor Joy Stanley. Proud parents packed the Weymouth unit's headquarters as 40 youngsters performed a number of seafaring tasks including the inspection, which
ONLY two riders recorded maximum scores on a fresh, fast track at Millbourne St Andrew. The meeting attracted 130 young riders from local clubs and for the first half of the day the course caused few problems, apart from the inevitable dust, but as the
