SOAP fans could share a cricket pitch with some of their favourite characters later this month by making a donation to charity. Stars from Emmerdale will be pitching their batting and bowling skills against stars from The Bill in a match at the Dean Park
THE unblinking eye of a hi-tech video camera is helping police crack down on antisocial behaviour in Swanage. Operation Paladin will be running throughout the summer targeting unruly behaviour and under-age drinking. Extra police officers will be out
A TEENAGE motorist who killed a 15-year-old Purbeck schoolboy last year - and only weeks later flouted a driving ban - has escaped jail again. South Dorset MP Jim Knight has criticised the court that dealt with James Boffey, saying the 19-year-old should
IN A bid to crack down on drink-fuelled trouble in Poole town centre, police and council officers are working out a bylaw. This would ban booze in named areas of the town and is aimed at youngsters drinking from cans and bottles and vagrants drinking
ANDRE Compton pulled off two superb overtaking manoeuvres in heat 13 as Pirates defeated Newport in a hard-fought cup battle on Wednesday. The Wasps from Wales went into the meeting protecting their top of the table Western Group place in the British
JUST two days after arriving in Bournemouth for their latest summer run, a team of dancers from Lord of the Dance is heading for the South of France. (Aug 31) Meanwhile a troupe of replacements have been jetted in from Las Vegas, swapping the surreal
Thursday 7 August: eden - Green Room, Portman Hotel; Tant - Ye Olde George; Jazz in Mind feat Tim Eyles - Longs of Lymington; DNA - Plough Inn, Tiptoe; All Stars - Go Live, Panorama Bar; Rubber Soul: Side Sweeper + Fever Tree + Preacher Joe - Bartonka
THE grieving family of schoolboy victim Antony Wakelin today spoke of their outrage after death crash driver James Boffey walked free from court for the second time. Boffey, 18, who defied a driving ban following a crash in Wool last October which killed
SPEEDWAY is set to roar back to Weymouth next week after an absence of almost 20 years. Work at the resort's new Radipole Lane circuit is nearing completion, with the first meeting scheduled for Friday, August 15. The track, situated behind the Terras
KINDHEARTED car dealer Alan Old has donated £1,000 to the Stefan Savic appeal - saying he won't be be outdone by comic Jim Davidson. Alan, of Olds Portesham, said he had been meaning to donate money since first seeing Bosnian four-year-old Stefan in the
MARKET stallholders who have held their central Dorchester pitches for decades have hit back at shopkeepers who say they are "unfair competition". Seven family businesses have reacted with amazement to complaints that their stalls selling flowers, fruit
KEEN adventurers are needed to join North Dorset explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell on two expeditions to remote areas of the world. Fit people with a sense of humour are invited to apply for either trip. The first is a three- week trip to Megha-laya
IT'S been all systems grow in sunny Sopley with the opening of a sunflower maze at the "pick your own" farm on Derritt Lane. Although relatively small in comparison to the maize maze at Stewarts Gardenlands in Christchurch, the Sopley site still covers
NEIL Young has been ruled out of Cherries' Division Two curtain-raiser at Port Vale on Saturday due to injury. The 29-year-old defender saw a specalist on Wednesday night after turning his left ankle during a training session at Canford School on Tuesday
NEIL Young faces an anxious wait to discover if he will be fit for Cherries' Division Two opener after injuring his ankle. The experienced full-back was due to have an MRI scan last night after hurting his left ankle in training on Tuesday. But boss Sean
IT WAS the hottest day of the year so far. And with Bournemouth famed for its seven miles of golden sand, it was bound to be busy on our beaches. But as sun-worshippers descended on the town's busiest beach on Wednesday morning, they found the Blue Flag
HOTELIERS are putting forward a compromise plan which they hope could save the BIC pool from closure. Bournemouth council has decided sacrificing the pool should be the preferred way of creating more exhibition space at the centre. But Bournemouth Area
MEYRICK Park will close permanently to through traffic on Monday (Aug 11), with local councillors predicting traffic chaos on the first day. Bournemouth council has been advised it is illegal for commuter traffic to use the park, which the authority runs
GOVERNMENT plans to protect workers' pensions could backfire by accelerating the exodus from final salary schemes, warn business leaders. CBI officials say the proposed pensions protection fund would further jeopardise defined benefits schemes, "destabilising
IT'S been the subject of furious political rows, budget wrangles and residents' protests. But Poole's park-and-ride scheme is now facing its toughest test of all - trying to win over the hearts and minds of the general public. The first four days of the
DETECTIVES investigating the murder of Poole masseuse Angela Chiu say they are "confident" of finding her killer. Det Chief Insp Neil Redstone also said they believe it was a man who repeatedly stabbed the mother-of-one in the chest. Mrs Chiu, 48, was
WITH his cheeky smile and sparkling brown eyes little James Rodgers won the heart of everyone he met. But tragically the Poole youngster's happy-go-lucky personality could not prevent his sudden death - aged just five years. One minute the Longfleet Combined
THIEVES managed to get through five different security devices to steal a caravan belonging to an East Dorset family - the day before they were due to go on holiday. Instead of enjoying two weeks in Devon and Cornwall the Tyler family of Woodside Road
THREE care homes are set to close, leaving major problems for families trying to place elderly relatives. The closures, all in Weymouth, follow three homes shutting down in Dorchester last year. Chief officer of Age Concern Dorchester, Wendy Hilton, said
CHICKERELL is to get a bit of its drinking history back after the reopening of the Lugger Inn. The pub closed in 1995 to call "last orders" on more than 150 years of village pub tradition. The following eight years saw villagers successfully fight plans
RUMBLING lorries are smashing into Sharon Harman's village business. She was forced to shut down Abbotsbury Tearooms in 2001 after her partner died and her health deteriorated. But her recovery from major stomach surgery and her wish to once again serve
ENTRIES might have been down but the quality was up at the St Andrews gardening club show in Preston. The show was held in St Andrew's church hall for the first time since the club was established there 32 years ago. One long-standing member remarked
ARTEFACTS belonging to a famous Dorset medic will come under the hammer at an auction in Dorchester later this month. Medical items belonging to Dr Giles Roberts who was famed for his 'cure-all' Poor Man's Friend ointment are being sold at Dorchester's
A CARE home's battle to solve the growing bed space crisis for elderly people in the New Forest is to be settled by a government inspector in what could become a landmark case. The owners of New Milton's Engleburn Rest Home have lodged a formal appeal
FROM the ill-fated 16th century King of Navarre to the present Queen's cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, five centuries of royal connections and visits to Highcliffe Castle are commemorated in a new exhibition. Under the heading of Crowns and Gowns, the
NEIL Moss has hailed Cherries' training facilities as some of the best outside of the Premiership. And the former Southampton goalkeeper believes that the club's attractive Canford School base has played an instrumental role in Cherries being able to
