EFFORTS to get people sharing cars have taken a step forward with the help of a phone line and the internet. Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset councils are promoting the idea in the hope that it will take off for social and shopping trips as well as among
A FRONT seat is being taken by the Echo and its readers as the debate on whether to ban smoking in public places sees the conurbation thrust into a trailblazing role. A number of UK cities are considering outlawing smoking in pubs, restaurants and shopping
HOTEL bosses have denied claims that over-inflated room rates may have helped Bournemouth lose the 2005 Labour conference. Conference organisers said some hotels substantially increased their rates when the party came to the resort last year. But hoteliers
WHERE have all the single men gone? That's what some lovelorn ladies are wondering after a speed date dinner had to be cancelled twice after 10 times the number of women responded than men. Vaughn Hartman, owner of Coast Restaurant on Poole Quay, said
A LOLLIPOP lady is at the end of her tether after vandals wrecked her fifth stick in five years. Broadstone lollipop lady Susan Jones, 57, was forced to shepherd youngsters across the road stickless after she found her latest one dumped, twisted and smashed
IF you suffer from acne, have unsightly age spots, scars, thread veins or stretch marks, a new laser treatment which has just arrived in Bournemouth is being hailed as the perfect solution. National Cosmetic Centres in Old Christchurch Road is the first
THE recent news that a woman was discharged from hospital just 27 hours after undergoing a hip replacement will have gladdened the hearts of anyone facing such an operation. But it is likely to be at least two years before such surgery is available in
PRACTICE nurse Morag Day takes care of her health - all the more so since she was diagnosed with cancer four-and-a-half years ago. But far from sitting at home feeling sorry for herself, the 47-year-old has joined forces with chemotherapy sister Abi Sanders
WHEN we asked you to come up with a name for Bournemouth's newest road you responded in your hundreds. The names of local dignitaries, doctors and football stars were all put forward as deserving the honour of having the road named after them. More amusing
HAVING a baby is supposed to be a happy experience, but a recent study by a psychologist revealed that as many as one in 20 women are left mentally disturbed by the experience of giving birth. They develop post traumatic stress disorder, suffering anxiety
SUPPORTERS of Colehill library have welcomed the news the community facility is unlikely to close. However many said they would only start celebrating after a meeting of full council at Dorset on February 12 had backed the cabinet's recommendations. Some
PLANS to drill for oil on a site of special scientific interest between Affpuddle and Moreton have been put on hold due to nesting birds. Mark Abbott, joint managing director of Egdon Resources, said operations had to be postponed after the firm negotiated
DORCHESTER drinkers lost no time in toasting the annual beer festival at the town's Corn Exchange. Beerex 2004 was officially opened by town Mayor, Councillor Molly Rennie, who was busy pulling pints and sipping a beverage named Bitter and Twisted, and
CARPENTER Colin Amor today told how he suffered nine-months of hell after being branded a rapist. The former Thomas Hardye pupil was cleared of rape when a jury at Taunton Crown Court returned a not guilty verdict on the grounds of insufficient evidence
TO: Your Queries, Annabelle Farquarson-Smythe, Etiquette Expert, Posh Living Magazine. Dear Annabelle: Could you please tell me what is the proper procedure in the following situation? We had some friends for the evening, during which my wife was going
DEPRAVED Graham Coutts spent his days playing the part of the devoted boyfriend and popular musician. He spent his nights logging on to vile porn websites, showing images of rape and torture and people having sex with dead bodies. After a short while,
BATTLING Bournemouth tethered top-dogs Plymouth Argyle, who missed a late penalty at Home Park this afternoon (Feb 7). Cherries made the first inroads after three minutes when a shot by Carl Fletcher was saved by Luke McCormick. But Plymouth replied with
A TEENAGER from Christchurch has been elected to represent Dorset youngsters in the national Youth Parliament. Alex Sachs, 15, who attends Highcliffe School, was one of only four young people chosen to be the voice of the county from a candidate list
IT was smiles of relief all round at the Juniper Centre in Christchurch when manager Neil Bunting told service users it is no longer under threat of closure. The reprieve came at county hall, Dorchester on Thursday. Dorset County Council cabinet members
MORE than 60 years since her husband's Spitfire was shot down over France, Alma Bostock has had a piece of the plane returned to her. Donald Bostock's story is the stuff movies are made of. The latest chapter of his remarkable tale, 19 years after his
A NEW kind of residential home for 115 elderly people is planned for a high-profile commercial site in Bournemouth. Sunrise Senior Living wants to build "assisted living accommodation" on the site of the former Westover Nissan dealership in Poole Road
MADNESS must have set in - I'm preparing to run the equivalent distance of Dover to Calais and back (well, almost). As our office boffin reliably informs me, I could run up and down the world's deepest cave, Jean Bernard, 14 times or run up and down Everest
POOLE-based Steve Bendall laid his cards firmly on the table today, stressing: "I want to fight Howard Eastman. I don't want to fight anyone else for the British title." The unbeaten Dorset middleweight's scheduled clash with the Battersea Bomber has
IF you have managed to get through the winter so far without picking up a cold, flu or something similar, congratulations. You may just be lucky enough to have avoided being in close contact with an infected person. But for the rest of us, sore throats
BERNARD Jones and his wife Kath have just celebrated an anniversary with a difference, for 30 years ago Bernard was given a fresh chance of life when he underwent a kidney transplant. The operation proved a complete success, enabling him to return to
TONY Rickardsson has admitted that Pirates' amazing comeback cup final win at Coventry ranks among his greatest nights in speedway. The Poole spearhead has enjoyed the thrill of winning the individual World Championship five times, lifted the World Team
OVER the course of a 41-year career in mental health nursing, Av Pestana - who has just retired - has seen some radical changes. He came to England from Portugal in 1962 to escape military service, at a time when his country was waging colonial wars in
DO you need advice, support or help about some aspect of the National Health Service? If so, you've got a friend. As from last year, every NHS trust in the country has had a Patient Advice and Liaison Service, or the chummier-sounding PALS. Their job
LEESON House is developing courses for gifted children as part of a programme of ideas aimed at safeguarding its long-term future. The popular field studies centre at Langton Matravers was saved from the axe by Dorset County Council's cabinet members
THERE is a theme running throughout Bee Klug's remarkable life, one of determination to tackle injustice. Now in her eighties, the dynamic retired businesswoman has been the driving force behind the setting up of two charities dedicated to breaking down
LUXURY house, swimming pool, executive car and the envy of all his friends - Mike Adcock really did have it all. Working in the high-pressured world of IT sales, he spent 20 years regularly working 65-hour weeks trying to achieve every-increasing targets
IMAGINE being bullied into performing endless, senseless rituals until they take up so much of your time and energy that normal life is no longer possible. That is what life was like for 50-year-old James*, who is now recovering from obsessive compulsive
A HOMELESS child covered with sores so touched a Bournemouth woman that she is giving up her comfortable life here to set up a centre for street children in Nepal. Former youth worker Sioux Talbot first trekked in the mountain kingdom two years ago and
CHILDREN who struggle with their school work may simply be suffering from an undiagnosed but often correctable vision problem, new research carried out in Dorset has shown. A study by Wareham optometrist Geoff Shayler and a local head teacher found strong
THESE are some of the shocking weapons seized by police at Dorset's biggest market. Knuckledusters, large-bladed knives with illegal handles and a lethal axe were all found on sale in Wimborne Market and could be bought by anyone for as little as £10.
HIS big brother might be the ultimate rock god but Chris Jagger seems to have forged an interesting career of his own. Even if it does mean playing the Moreton tearooms outside Dorchester rather than Madison Square Garden. Young Jagger, who last year
HE astounded people for years as one half of an amazing acrobatic double act. Now 94-year-old Reg Smith has been given a new lease of life after undergoing a ground-breaking operation - surgery he says that will give him the time to finally have his memoirs
A NEW care home for elderly people in Dorchester was given the green light by county planners despite objections that it was over-development Dorchester Town Council and the town's civic society both raised objections to the 60-bed home proposed for land
COUNCIL MUST SEEK TO FULFIL OBLIGATIONS TO ELECTORATE HAVING read with interest the two letters about the council tax problem published recently from two of my colleagues on West Dorset District Council, I felt that a further impartial independent view
A RENEWED appeal has been launched for intrepid contestants. Organisers of the five-day survival challenge 'I'm NOT a celebrity, and I HAVE to stay there' are hoping the current airing of its namesake television programme will encourage people to sign-up
YOUNG people across Weymouth have been finding out if they are Born to Win. Year Six pupils from St Augustine's Catholic Primary, Wyke Regis Junior, Holy Trinity Junior, Radipole Primary, St John's Primary, Bincombe Valley Primary and St Andrew's Primary
A PORTLAND policeman has been named Dorset's Community Beat Officer of the Year. PC Kevin Eames received the Michael Stannard Award from the trophy's namesake at the force's Winfrith headquarters. Senior officers hailed the constable as having 'broken
YOUNGSTERS in the Blandford area who have been terrorising the elderly and abusing shop staff are currently being targeted. Police have mounted Operation Apollo which mobilises extra officers and involves community groups to combat crime and antisocial
STEVE Cooke has been asked to return to Aston Villa to discover the extent of his troublesome ankle injury. The on-loan Cherries midfielder's current one-month agreement was set to expire after today's clash at Plymouth Argyle. Cooke agreed to extend
