SEVEN post offices are to close in Bournemouth, along with one in Poole, despite public lobbying to save them. But campaigners have managed to rescue three branches, while the fate of another three remains undecided. Protests in Poole have saved the Rossmore
BOURNEMOUTH and Christchurch hospitals are facing their worst-ever budget crisis after overspending by almost £1 million this financial year. The trust's success in fighting Aids and HIV with expensive drugs accounted for around a quarter of that deficit
THERE'S nothing worse than having to do a 10-point parallel park while a huge queue of impatient motorists line up behind sounding their horns. And if that wasn't enough pressure now the government is planning to give traffic wardens the power to slap
GHOSTLY goings-on have greeted the new bosses of the oldest pub in Poole. As one of the town's most famous haunted buildings, The King Charles, just off the quay, has been living up to its reputation. In their first three weeks, Sally Lambert and Andy
CHIEF Constable of Dorset Jane Stichbury has been ordered to pay damages for wrongful seizure and detention of property from a man who had been accused of drug offences. James Hewitson applied to the Queen's Bench Divisional Court following his arrest
POLICE are warning householders to be wary of bogus roofing contractors after a 90-year-old woman in East Dorset was almost duped. A quick-thinking cashier at the pensioner's bank prevented the Colehill woman handing over £800 for work, which it later
FIVE of Weymouth's post offices are to close - one just four weeks from today and the rest within two months. People campaigning against the closures declared it a 'very sad day' as Post Office Limited announced that the town is to lose a third of its
AN AVID bingo player who died after winning £300 at Winton's Gala Club has been buried with his board, pen and membership card. Retired milkman George Grace from Westwoods mobile home park, Bashley, died of a heart attack at the age of 67 after the excitement
TWO QUICK goals just after the break by Gareth O'Connor, from the penalty spot, and Steve Fletcher turned the tables on Port Vale at the Fitness First Stadium on Saturday (Jan 10). Cherries had set about getting their form back on the road with a bright
DISMAYED traders and shoppers have slammed the prospect of a doubling of parking fees in Christchurch town centre. A storm of protest greeted the decision of the council's community services committee to press ahead with plans to increase income from
AN EXTENSION to a jetty in the River Stour could sink Christchurch Regatta, borough councillors have been warned. Christchurch Rowing Club spokesman Peter Staddon told the council's regulatory committee that giving planning permission for the 42 metre
IS IT me, or is Britain turning into a nation of wimps, nitwits and nincompoops? I returned from my skiing holiday to be confronted with a blizzard of stories about some Al Quaeda terrorist woman, who was supposed to be trying to sneak a load of explosives
A TAXI driver was sent two speeding tickets claiming he had broken the limit in spots three miles apart - at exactly the same moment. Gary Mackenzie, of Leamington Road, Weymouth, was left dumbfounded when he received two letters telling him his car had
LOW GRANTS WON'T BE SOLVED BY A NEW TAX RECENT correspondence in the Echo letters columns has referred to the anticipated increase in council tax. There has been reference to 'mandarins' at County Hall and to a surfeit of administrative staff, together
CHRISTCHURCH'S most anti-social resident has been sent to jail after notching up one crime too many. Mark Bown was convicted at Bournemouth magistrates court on Friday of criminal damage to a police vehicle. His latest offence meant he breached an anti-social
A SALE has been agreed on a historic town-centre hotel in Christchurch, with the new owner rumoured to be local football agent Dennis Roach. Thought to be worth around £1.5 million, the deal involving the 200-year-old Kings Arms in Castle Street has yet
IT'S A simple pleasure we all take for granted - going out as a family for outings or simply popping down to the shops. But with Chris Wills dependent on his wheelchair and his baby son still in a pushchair, wife Heather couldn't push both of them at
DORSET'S athletes and sportsmen have reiterated their support for random drug tests after it was revealed British tennis star Greg Rusedski had tested positive for a banned drug. The Canadian-born 30-year-old British number two sent shock waves around
CLARE Southern of Poole is through to the final of the Channel 4 reality show Shattered on Saturday night. Her parent's David and Celia Southern have been cheering their daughter on from their home in Canford Heath. They said: "She's done really well
A SWANAGE woman faces the terrifying prospect of being deported to Zimbabwe. Shelley Manning, 32, who grew up in Zimbabwe and South Africa, has lived in Swanage for the past nine years and built up a settled life with her partner Mary Shanks. But despite
A MOBILE library could be forced off the road at the same time that £60,000 is splashed on a replacement car for the town mayor. Spiralling costs have put the future of Poole's mobile library under a cloud that is unlikely to lift unless upwards of £100,000
IF you are feeling fatter than usual after celebrating Christmas and the New Year, you are not alone, because the average adult gains around 5lbs at this time of year. It is not just Christmas Day that does the damage, when most of us eat - and drink
ATKINS, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, Rosemary Conley, Beverly Hills, South Beach, F-Plan, Slimming World ... the choice for any would-be dieter is bewildering. While some seem able to lose weight by simply eating less and exercising more, others prefer
TREE felling has wrecked a picturesque wood in the heart of Weymouth. At least a dozen trees have been sawn down, some of them more than 12 inches thick, as well as numerous smaller trees and saplings. More than half the site off Courtauld Drive which
HEALTH workers have denied that a 'postcode lottery' determines whether people in Dorset get treatment for Alzheimer's disease on the NHS. A new survey by pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer placed the county among regions that spend up to 50 per cent below
Morant Arms, Brookley Road, Brockenhurst; 79910, convert existing listed building and out buildings to 11 dwellings (affordable housing), construction of 3 storey block of 21 sheltered flats, 4 sheltered cottages and associated parking. (Amended Plans
CHERRIES hitman Warren Feeney is urging the Dean Court faithful to give the side a boost and help them turn the Fitness First Stadium into "a fortress again". And the Ulsterman believes that the team will soon be giving the fans something to shout about
A LOCAL priest has spoken of his frustration at Christchurch council's decision to block plans to demolish a disused church in Purewell. Planning councillors turned a deaf ear to the prayers of the local Catholic community who wanted to replace the crumbling
