ENTREPRENEUR Richard Carr has said he plans to turn a Poole hotel into residential property. Mr Carr and business partner James Dean bought the Sea Witch Hotel in Haven Road, Canford Cliffs, last year and closed it immediately, saying the state of the
A MAN who assaulted a church worker and stormed into a ceremony led by the Bishop of Sherborne has been jailed for three months. Christopher Moors, 41, of French Road, Poole, was sentenced to two months for common assault and a further month for indecent
I MUST have been about 16 when I realised my mother was the biggest pedant in the world. Every time a bald female Irish singer blubbed about comparisons, she used to turn red and wobble with rage. "It's nothing compares WITH you! WITH you! What's wrong
Paul Baker previews the new season THE 2004 Wessex point-to-point gets underway this Sunday when the flag goes down at Larkhill near Amesbury in Wiltshire. A total of 26 meetings will be held in the region between then and the end of May with Dorset hosting
White off? BRIDPORT youngster Warren White is expected to join Portland United soon. The 18-year-old, who was dropped from the Bees' first team last weekend, has been training with the Blues this week and is likely to link up with former St Mary's Field
With the world back to normal after the Christmas break, I thought I would preview the year ahead by looking at some of the odds on offer for the year's sporting events. FOOTBALL Evens - Sven Goran Eriksson to give up England manager's job 4-1 - Michael
EASTENDERS star Steve McFadden is launching Poole luxury boatbuilder Sunseeker's new Manhattan 50 at day one of the Schroders London International Boat Show (Jan 8). The 50th London Boat Show is being held at the ExCel centre, Docklands after moving from
THE forthcoming production of Fame at the Pavilion looked under threat after local drama school Swish of the Curtain was left with no set. With just a few weeks until the opening night, producer Chris Witham said they were faced with a "disaster". He
RELATIONS BETWEEN CLUBS AT ALL-TIME LOW SO, the Dorchester versus Weymouth debate continues. As a steward at the controversial game, I feel there are a few points I ought to add. I was the supervising steward outside the west turnstiles and on the home
DAVID Martin challenges the purists who look down on digital photography. Currently exhibiting at Swans Yard Gallery in Shaftesbury, his work is attracting a lot of attention. Gallery manager Paul Shilling said people were flocking to see the works. "
IT seemed a good idea at the time but now that January is here, and the weather is at its most iffy, I'm not so sure we should have booked a week in a cottage in Yorkshire. Had we any sense at all, we would have learned from our last venture into the
HER hull alone weighs more than the total weight of a school of 330 blue whales. She has 2,000 bath-rooms, 5,000 stairs and 280,000 square yards of fitted carpets. Reading the literature on Queen Mary 2 is awe-inspiring enough. But only when you are stood
COUNCIL tax will rise this year due to a change in the format behind the fire service funding - but chiefs insist it is value for money. For the first time the contribution of each taxpayer to Dorset Fire and Rescue Service will be clearly shown on council
Pomeroy scrapes through PAUL POMEROY won a high-quality battle of two Middleton Cup teammates when he squeezed past Steve Gait to reach the Area 19 southern zone semi-finals of the English Indoor BA singles championship. Dorchester's Gait, playing with
THE behaviour of the Buckingham Town players has been cited as the reason why their controversial FA Vase tie with Lymington and New Milton was abandoned, it was revealed at an FA hearing on Wednesday. Linnets will learn whether they will have to replay
THE poor weather over the festive season curtailed several of the planned sailing events, the first casualty being the Commodore's Challenge. This annual contest, between the under 18s of the Poole and Parkstone clubs, should have taken place on January
POOLE club captain Chris Wilson led a feast of record-breaking at the club championships in the Rossmore Leisure Centre pool. The 16-year-old toppled one of Tom Cunningham's club records as well as six championship best times. He also added a dozen trophies
TOTTON RES 2 WEYMOUTH RES 0 WEYMOUTH'S climb away from the bottom of the Sydenhams Wessex Combina-tion League was halted at Totton last night. The Terras were beaten by two first half goal at Testwood Park in a contest boss Dave Kiteley described as '
PIRATES spearhead Tony Rickardsson has admitted he feared for his team place with the Dorset club this year. The five-times world champion has been an inspiration for Poole since he joined them on loan in 2001. And he is set to lead their challenge to
MAJOR plans to improve a road junction with one of the worst accident records in Dorset have been given the thumbs down by Ferndown councillors. County highway chiefs are considering banning motorists in New Road from turning left at the notorious Penny's
A SCHOOLBOY suffered serious head injuries in a collision with a car near a Weymouth school which has been without a crossing patrol since the Christmas break. It emerged today that road safety officers interviewed a new lollipop lady for a vacancy outside
TRADERS in Dorchester are being urged to join an exclusive club and help boost funds to improve the town's Christmas lights display. Dorchester's Christmas lights were branded the worst in the country for the third year in a row last month by the Daily
A LASTING tribute to teenage cancer victim Karina Glynn has taken pride of place in a school library. Brave Karina, who died last year aged 17 after a long battle with the disease, was a keen artist who used bright colours and loved cartoons. A selection
A NORTH Dorset school has received a clean bill of health from government inspectors following a critical report four years ago. Shaftesbury School and Sports College was placed in special measures in January 2000 but was judged to no longer require them
ACCORDING to the soap theme tune "everybody needs good neighbours". But does the desirable type next door include celebrities? The answer, it seems, depends on who the star is. And if it's page three model Jordan, for instance, the answer for some people
A MOTHER has told of her shock at finding her five-year-old boy lifeless at the bottom of a friend's newly-installed swimming pool. Christine Grant had gone to the house on Queen's Park Avenue, Bournemouth, to collect her sons Aiden and Callum from a
A LIBERAL Democrat councillor has defected to the Tories in protest over policies on the Winter Gardens, the BIC pool and Shelley Manor. Cllr Mike Everingham - who has represented Boscombe East for the Lib Dems for almost 13 years - accused his group
IT'S not particularly unusual for drunk revellers to wake up and discover a strange collection of items in their bedrooms. Traffic cones, flashing lights and even the odd road sign have been known to disappear in the dark of night. But this time it seems
POOLE teenager Clare Southern is the only remaining female left in the Shattered House. The 19-year-old trainee police officer, along with the remaining four contestants, have stayed awake since 7am on Saturday. The prize fund now stands at £97,000. Shattered
A FOURTEEN-year-old boy, who ran away to Bournemouth from his north London home, has contacted his father to say he is safe. Deividas Sustikas, who is originally from Lithuania, sent his worried dad Romana a text message on Tuesday, after an Echo appeal
A BOSS has spoken out about the frustration and grief being caused to him and other businesses by power supply problems at an industrial estate. Since moving onto the Holton Heath trading park near Wareham two years ago Chris Green's mouldings firm has
GIVEN the Farrelly brothers' track record for embracing the unembraceable and making fun of it without being malicious, the prospect of the Dumb & Dumber/Kingpin/There's Something About Mary writer-directors focussing on conjoined twins sounds like
YOU can visit hotels in virtually any city in the world and recognise standard features such as plants and bubbling fountains. This is a guide to 21 hotels across the globe that the German-publishers tip will become architectural classics. Four are in
MELVYN Bragg traces the development of English from Anglo-Saxon to texting in this expanded book of his TV series. We learn that King Alfred spread the use of English in the face of Norse invasions and that Shakespeare had a personal vocabulary of more
MARY Shannon is an endearing and spirited heroine. We follow her through her rackety childhood and the bliss of her country holidays at her grandparents' home. She falls in love with a handsome cousin, an unsuitable Frenchman and finds true love with
Bees sunk by odd decision Bridport 1 Backwell Utd 2 BRIDPORT slipped into the bottom three after their sixth straight defeat at St Mary's Field on Saturday. A first half strike from Ian Linney had put the Bees ahead, a lead which they maintained until
Birdies the key for Lock DAVID LOCK reckons on winning one medal competition a year at Lyme. This year he only waited four days before registering his first trophy. On Sunday, he produced the lowest gross score of 67 off a handicap of five to win. He
More cup woe for Seasiders Perry Street 2 Lyme Regis 1 UNDER achieving Lyme were bitten by the underdogs in a cup-tie for the second game on the trot. The Seasiders, who threatened only once in the first half, dictated after a dreadful opening 30 minutes
Hawks warm up nicely Bridport Hawks 7 Chard 1 BRIDPORT Hawks warmed up for the second half of the season in some style at Sir John Colfox School. Captain Matt Walkden has already predicted a much happier 2004 for his side with several players coming back
ENTREPRENEUR Richard Carr has said he plans to turn a Poole hotel into residential property. Mr Carr and business partner James Dean bought the Sea Witch Hotel in Haven Road, Canford Cliffs, last year and closed it immediately, saying the state of the
DORCHESTER'S FA Trophy opponents Margate have their own disciplinary problems ahead of Saturday's clash at the Avenue Stadium. While the Magpies will be missing midfielder Jamie Brown as a result of his dismissal for two cautions in the Boxing Day clash
Thursday 8 January: Rubber Soul Opening Night: Lostaura + Philtre + Precious Mackenzie - Gander; Aubrey Lemmon + Candlefire - Mister Smiths; Lady Winwood's Maggot + Crosscut Saw - Plough Inn, Tiptoe; Ian Parker Band - Mr Kyps; The Lillettes + Lovechild
EVER done something that you wished you hadn't? My colleague Darren Slade asked that question yesterday in his column in the Daily Echo. Darren had an embarrassing conversation about Bagpuss, but I bet his embarrassment was nothing compared with Britney
Bees recruit Royston BRIDPORT Reserves have recruited former Dorchester Town stalwart Royston Davies. He makes the switch form Perry Street League Division One neighbours Beaminster, where he has been helping out player manager Shaun Annetts. Davies takes
CAMPAIGNERS hoping to save a redundant Poole church may have to wait another year for a decision on its future. St Osmund's Church in Parkstone, which has been described as Dorset's finest 20th century church, was formally closed three years ago after
MARK Hargreaves retained the Dorset Cross-Country Championships at Canford School. Despite making most of the pace, the Bournemouth AC veteran, over-40 winner in the Masters Home International at Cardiff six weeks ago, had to dig deep in a final dash
LEWES striker Marc Whiteman is relishing the prospect of facing old club Weymouth in the FA Trophy this weekend. The Jersey-born frontman spent a frustrating season at the Wessex Stadium under former manager Geoff Butler and quit the club last April when
2 Down Lodge Close, Alderholt, Fordingbridge; 3/03/1524/FUL, front garage extension, Mr & Mrs Wood, Westwood, 2 Down Lodge Close. Fair Acre, Furzehill, Wimborne; 3/03/1555/FUL, new front boundary wall; Mr Baxter. 14 Field Way, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne
FERNDOWN'S premier hotel is to be sold off as part of a move to standardise Britain's biggest five-star lodge operator. The Dormy is one of four hotels De Vere is letting go - the others are in Buckinghamshire, Greater Manchester and Swindon. A De Vere
TWO of Britain's top jazz performers and composers play the first concert of the new year at Southampton's Turner Sims concert hall on Saturday with a show specially devised for the venue. Pianist Huw Warren and saxophonist John Surman will perform two
A 92-YEAR-OLD woman in a wheelchair had to discuss personal finances in a freezing street because her bank's new disabled access wasn't yet open. And to add to her embarrassment the pensioner was mistaken for a beggar by a passing pedestrian who handed
VETERANS are poised to win their long fight to end benefits discrimination against war pensioners in Weymouth and Portland. The borough council is the only local authority in Dorset that counts war pensions when working out how much housing benefit and
THEY called it puppy love, but romance has been rekindled between great danes Daphnee and Bruce. The pair, who first met more than a year ago when they were both just a few months old, have reunited at the same spot - Weymouth's Pier Bandstand. Daphnee's
COUNCIL chiefs in the New Forest have vowed to crack down on motorists who refuse to pay new parking charges. New Forest Council issued the "pay up or else" warning after unveiling 57 pay and display meters in car parks across the district. The introduction
CHERRIES have received a boost with the news that associate director Abdul Jaffer will be joining the board of directors. Jaffer, the managing director of Fleet Personnel, who recently agreed to sponsor the Fitness First Stadium's North Stand, has proved
