WIMBORNE 187-9 (19pts) beat DORCHESTER 179 (11pts) by eight runs A FINE half century from youngster Rob Waite just failed to see heavily-depleted Dorchester through to an opening day victory at Wimborne in the NSA Dorset Premier League. He looked to be
DORSET'S most famous one-hit wonder Gordon Haskell is among leading musicians appearing in Weymouth College School of Music's Midsummer Festival of Music which kicks off today and runs until Sunday. Singer-songwriter Gordon became an overnight success
ALMOST 10 years after they unintentionally stirred up a tempestuous storm in Dorset's tea cup, late '80s/early '90s hitmakers The Wonder Stuff are on their way back. Fronted by the charismatic Miles Hunt, the reformed band have announced they will open
DOZENS of volunteers gave up their Sunday to collect a mountain of rubbish on Clean Up Dorchester day. More than 50 litter-pickers united for the sake of civic pride in the county town. They covered the town centre and went as far as Manor Park and Fordington
VANDALS have damaged a tranquil garden of remembrance for mourners just three weeks after it was reopened. Dozens of blooming plants in the grounds of Portland Cemetery near Weston have been destroyed during what grievers have branded a "sickening" act
FJB HOTELS' £4.5 million refurbishment of Poole's Harbour Heights Hotel is due to be completed by the middle of this month. The official unveiling of the Harbour Heights is scheduled for next month but companies are already booking events. FJB - which
GIGG Lane specialist James Hayter admits he is relishing the prospect of a return visit to the scene of his greatest personal triumph. Supersub Hayter netted a late double at Carlisle on Saturday to book Cherries a Division Three play-off semi-final against
BASH boss Barry Blankley admitted he was delighted after in-demand defender Mat Jones put pen to paper on a new two-year contract. Jones, who joined Bash from Wessex League Eastleigh in October 2001, followed the example of team-mates Craig Davis and
WEYMOUTH were convincingly beaten by an in-form Crawley Town to wrap up a disappointing season for Geoff Butler's side. The first-half proved to be a typical end of season clash. The opening stages of the game were very stop-start with several tackles
DORCHESTER TOWN clinched the league championship in dramatic fashion. Chants of "We are the champions!" rang round The Avenue on Saturday as the Magpies secured the Dr Martens Eastern Division championship on the last day of the season. A single goal
VILLAGERS today vowed to step up their fight against a new housing estate at Crossways after developers lodged plans for more houses. Families packed a public meeting to protest against the scheme for 600 homes between Crossways and Moreton at Redbridge
TRAVELLERS could soon be allowed to set up more camps in Dorset. Gypsies will be invited to make use of new temporary stopping places as well as the permanent sites already provided at Piddlehinton, Thornicombe, Coldharbour near Wareham and Shaftesbury
GARY Emerson fired a final-round four-under-par 68 to complete a solid performance in the Italian Open, yesterday. The Broadstone touring professional finished in a tie for 44th place at Gardagolf, Brescia, after carding a four-under par four-round total
BASHLEY boss Barry Blankley hailed the performance of Michael Hookway following the rookie goalkeeper's debut clean sheet. Youngster Hookway was thrown in at the deep end at Rothwell after first choice stopper David Elm was injured in a car accident on
A TEENAGE diver had to be rushed ashore for specialist treatment after he developed symptons of diving sickness the bends. The 15-year-old became ill yesterday morning just off Swanage and a coastguard helicopter flew him and a colleague to Poole where
DORSET County Council has hit back at Government claims that it has withheld £4.3million of funding from schools. Education secretary Charles Clarke has said the majority of LEAs in the country have not passed on all the money they should to schools and
SPIRITS soared in Weymouth over the bank holiday weekend as thousands of kite fanatics flocked to the beach for the resort's International Kite Festival. The sky over Weymouth's sands came alive with colour as more than 500 kite-flyers and up to 40,000
THE National Health Service has its fair share of critics - but one patient is so impressed with the care she received in Dorset that she has written to the government. Personal assistant Lyn Allen-Rowlandson went to her GP last year after developing
WEYMOUTH 190-6 (19pts) beat POOLE 187-7 (7pts) by four wickets A BRAVE innings by Dave Pearce guided Weymouth to an impressive opening day victory over reigning Dorset Premier Division champions Poole at Redlands. Restricted by a thigh injury suffered
SHOW stealer Matty Holmes pledged to finish his playing days with Dorchester after guiding them to a memorable last day title success at The Avenue Stadium. The former West Ham star walked away with the man of the match award in the 1-0 victory over King's
MEMBERS of the Westbourne Orchestral Society are celebrating after receiving a grant of £1,205 from the National Lottery's Awards for All programme. The money will help finance a series of summer concerts which will include local schoolchildren in some
IT IS something that most Dorset folk have known for ages. But now a magazine survey has revealed Dorset as the perfect place for love, with the county featuring five times in a survey of Britain's top hot spots. Top of the pile in the county is the Blue
A MINIATURE pistol handed in to Weymouth police has turned out to be a widely-available novelty flare gun. The pistol's owner, Sheila Jackson, has come forward to tell the Dorset Echo the weapon was a present from three German students staying with her
X MARKS the spot for a new BusinessXchange networking group launched at Bournemouth's Streetwise Safety Centre by Business Link Wessex. "The success of the BusinessXchange as a networking group comes from its philosophy," said Laura McHarrie, broker for
