SO this is Christmas, and what have we sung? According to a poll by music and entertainment channel VH1, Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl is the nation's favourite Christmas song. In the Daily Echo's mini survey, Dorset South MP
AT FIRST they were hesitant, wondering, perhaps, what it was all about. But once the sixth-formers of Bournemouth School - manning their stall outside Debenhams - had explained the situation that their former classmate Andrei Bazanov faced deportation
FOR every drink-driver caught on Dorset roads this Christmas there could be another 50 getting away with it. Experts believe thousands of offenders may be going undetected as drivers ignore warnings and police struggle to put enough officers on the streets
THE Daily Echo can reveal that a teenage terror, whose four-year rein of intimidation in Swanage was exposed this week, is the sister of a lout banned from the town for 10 years. When Chantelle Driver, 17, attacked and abused residents in the small Purbeck
WHY do the wrong people always seem to win the lottery? I've never heard of a dedicated charity worker with a penchant for vintage Armagnac and Ozwald Boateng suits scooping the big one. More often than not it's some dodgy geezer with a taste for mock
JULIET and Andy Wyevale own a second-hand car dealership in South London and are finding the going tough. Unfortunately their relationship is going downhill too. Andy works too hard and doesn't make time for Juliet and their children and he has started
CLEMMIE Colshannon's life appears to be on a fast track to nowhere - having lost her job and her boyfriend on the same day, she's retreated to the bosom of her family in Cornwall, where life is never dull. Her sister Holly, who is a reporter for the Bristol
POLICE in Poole are hoping to nip drink spiking in the bud over Christmas by giving out thousands of devices designed to keep bottled drinks safe. Poole Safe officers will be giving licensees in the town 5,000 brightly-coloured Spikeys, which seal the
THE disputed Vodafone mast at the Hyde Plantation in Bothenhampton went up over the weekend to a mixed reaction from villagers. Those who attended Monday's parish council meeting had no objections to raise said chairman Mrs Joan Regan. She said: "The
PLANS to convert Bridport's only nightclub into a housing development have been greeted with dismay. Owners of DeVinchies in West Bay Road are seeking outline consent to build 14 flats and offices on the site. But civic chiefs say it would cost jobs and
BRIDPORT'S hard-pressed traders are facing a bleak New Year with the prospect of another hike in car park charges. West Dorset District Council intends to raise some fees by 10p per visit at short and long stay parks in the town and impose Sunday charging
WEYMOUTH have gone continental by swooping to sign an Angolan international. Bernado Cariata has penned a deal until the end of the season at the Wessex Stadium and could make his debut when the Terras host struggling Margate in Conference South tomorrow
ESTABLISHED in 2000 and celebrating four successful years of trading in Bournemouth town centre, Morgan Recruitment specialises in IT, technical, sales and marketing positions, and offers a bespoke service for all Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire-based
LOCAL chartered accountants Princecroft Redman and Willis Parsons are to merge with effect from March 1, 2005. The merged firm - to be called Princecroft Willis - will comprise 15 partners, 62 other fee-earners and 22 support staff with plans to expand
Jack and The Beanstalk: Bournemouth Pavilion Fe Fi Fo Fum... it's that time of year again! And sure enough there are pantos to the right of us and pantos to the left of us including Bournemouth's own version of Jack and the Beanstalk. This particular
Jack and The Beanstalk: Bournemouth Pavilion Fe Fi Fo Fum... it's that time of year again! And sure enough there are pantos to the right of us and pantos to the left of us including Bournemouth's own version of Jack and the Beanstalk. This particular
A COUNCIL meeting was suspended for 15 minutes last night after a volley of shouts came from two men in the public gallery during a heated debate on harbour charges. Weymouth and Portland Mayor Councillor Lynne Herbert, who was chairing of the borough
WORK to refurbish Victorian buildings at the Portland Young Offender Institution has been criticised by prison watchdogs. In what is an otherwise positive report, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) says lessons need to be learned from work at the
THERE are only three days left to contribute to our Toy Appeal. We are still eager to get more gifts for older children - we are happy to accept vouchers for high street stores or cash, which we will use to buy presents. Please only leave money with staff
Dorchester market stallholder is switching off his alarm clock after a quarter of a century of very early starts Bob Lennox-Gordon has missed just one working Wednesday at the market in the last 25 years, but has finally decided enough is enough. Mr Lennox-Gordon
A MASSIVE show of support for London's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games is planned for Monday. Campaigners are organising an action day on Monday - the date being 2012 - involving dressing up and raising awareness of Weymouth and Portland's role in the
AN ELDERLY woman could not pay her gas bill at Christmas - because no one would admit they supply her. Jose Payne, 72, who recently moved from Littlemoor into a new apartment at College Heights in Weymouth, said she has no idea how to pay for her gas,
DOZENS OF pensioners suffering from mental illnesses were spared the indignity of eviction when their nursing home won its three-year battle to build a desperately needed extension. Woodside Lodge, in Burley Road, Bransgore, is one of the only residential
A ROW broke out at Lyme Regis Town Council's meeting on Wednesday when two district councillors accused other council lors of bad-mouthing a district council offi cer and suggested they made an apology. Ken Meech and Owen Lovell told town council lors
SECOND home owners in Lyme Regis are to receive free winter parking permits like those given to residents. Councillors agreed at Wednesday's Town Council meeting that those with holiday homes in Lyme Regis, who pay 90 per cent of the full council tax
BRIAN Stock is among the thousands of Cherries fans keeping his fingers crossed that John Spicer will be staying at the club. Cherries are in ongoing negotiations over a deal to keep the dynamic Arsenal midfielder on a permanent basis after his successful
SO this is Christmas, and what have we sung? According to a poll by music and entertainment channel VH1, Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl is the nation's favourite Christmas song. In the Daily Echo's mini survey, Dorset South MP
BOURNEMOUTH has been accused of showing little interest in its links with Frankenstein author and literary radical Mary Shelley. Bournemouth Borough Council shut the town's Shelley Rooms museum more than three years ago to save money- and allowed its
THE Daily Echo can reveal that a teenage terror, whose four-year rein of intimidation in Swanage was exposed this week, is the sister of a lout banned from the town for 10 years. When Chantelle Driver, 17, attacked and abused residents in the small Purbeck
LARGE-scale redundancies and major cuts to services are on the cards if Bournemouth councillors sell off the town's buses, it is claimed. The warning comes from a coach operator who says Yellow Buses would be considered a "minuscule" operation by any
THE Devonshire and Dorset Regiment died yesterday lunch-time - aged 261. In sweeping reforms, defence secretary Geoff Hoon announced plans to abandon single-battalion famous-name regiments and amalgamate them into multi-battalion super regiments. The
AT FIRST they were hesitant, wondering, perhaps, what it was all about. But once the sixth-formers of Bournemouth School - manning their stall outside Debenhams - had explained the situation that their former classmate Andrei Bazanov faced deportation
THE wife of a disabled man will have to draw up a second bid to Purbeck District Council if she is to get a driveway outside her home in Wool. Concerns over traffic in Wool High Street led civic chiefs to turn down a proposal from Lesley Lock and two
IN 1987, Rob Reiner directed The Princess Bride, a family fantasy which gleefully subverted the conventions of the fairytale and made a star of Cary Elwes. The film is now a cult classic with its wicked sense of humour and crowd-pleasing blend of action
CHRISTMAS: a time of woe, man-eating leeches, attempted murder, terrible fires, giant snakes and Jim Carrey at his diabolical best. Such are the wicked delights of Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, a macabre adaptation of the first three
Bad Santa (15) Odeon Billy Bob Thornton is on fine form as a hard-drinking con man disguised as Santa. Wickedly original dark-edged comedy. Before Sunset (15) UCI, Sun and Tues only An author is on the French leg of a book tour and bumps into a woman
TRACEY Sullivan, working as a news writer, wants to get her first book published and she has a date with her fiance, Brian. All at once her world collapses when her book is rejected, her engagement is on the rocks and her father is killed in a bizarre
BAIT diggers scouring the mud flats of Poole harbour for ragworms have hit back at suggestions that they are doing anything wrong. It follows concerns about what appears to be commercial harvesting of Holes Bay by teams of diggers. The area is a site
BOURNEMOUTH'S bid for promotion out of Southern Counties South has received a big boost after they confirmed they had secured "a major sponsorship deal" for the remainder of the 2004-2005 season. Moors Glass and The Calotels Hotel Group have joined forces
THERE have been five accidents in three days this week on the Bridport to Beaminster A3066 road near Melplash. The extraordinary spate of accidents, involving collisions and cars overturning, prompted local police to contact Dorset County Council highways
FORMER Sporting Lisbon youth team defender David Santos becomes the second Portuguese player in Dorchester's Nationwide Conference South squad at Sutton United tomorrow (3pm). Magpies boss Mark Morris has called up the 20-year-old for the visit to Gander
PIRATES new boy Ricky Ashworth has admitted his surprise move to Poole is "something that dreams really are made of." The 22-year-old Manchester-based rider only rode speedway for the first time in 2001 after transferring from grasstrack. But he developed
A HIGH-profile Jack the Ripper suspect was innocent because he was too busy playing cricket in Bournemouth, a new book claims. And a startling new theory from the author links the manner of Montague Druitt's death with that of writer Virginia Woolf. Montague
TRADERS fear business and tourism in Weymouth and Portland could suffer if shops are axed when Brewers Quay is sold. The executive committee of Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce wants any new owners of the Hope Square complex to keep the stores
A GRANDFATHER is appealing to businesses to help keep homeless people fed during the dark winter nights. Weymouth's rough sleepers are in desperate need of warm food every night after they were evicted from their squats, according to former Air Force
THE future of one of North Dorset's biggest agricultural shows has finally been secured. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has announced he will not be calling in an application for a change of use from agricultural land to a show-ground at Gillingham
A DEVELOPER has hit out at Christchurch council's planning department after winning his seventh appeal in five years. "There is no common sense in their decision making and it is has cost me and the taxpayer a great deal of time and money," said Fred
SKATEBOARDERS in Lyme Regis have pledged to do a sponsored walk to raise funds for improve ments at the town skate park. Young people held the inaugural meeting of a skate-park forum on Monday and came up with the idea of a walk to Seaton after identifying
A LYME Regis town coun cillor has slammed out of hours health care in the town after his daughter fell ill and the nearest doc tor was 30 miles away. Coun Nigel Clarke, 49, said when his 16-year-old daugh ter came down with a mystery illness at 7pm on
