A "COLD-BLOODED" killer, who insisted he had been sleepwalking when he repeatedly stabbed his former partner to death as she slept, has been jailed for life. Samantha Vines' heartbroken mother walked out of Winchester Crown Court on Monday because she
THEY'VE performed daredevil wartime stunts and taken part in the Last Crusade. Planes at Compton Abbas have featured in such movies as Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, High Road to China, The Eagle Has Landed, Blue Max and 28 Days Later
CONCERNS have been raised over plans to create a sawmill in the middle of a wood in Lytchett Matravers. A planning application has been submitted to Purbeck District Council to build the facility, along with a forestry building, in Luscombe Wood in Poole
WHEN Ronnie Barker died the BBC resurrected a brilliant sketch on the subject of class from an old comedy programme called The Frost Report. It featured the 6ft 5in tall John Cleese, 5ft 8in Ronnie Barker and 5ft 1in Ronnie Corbett standing in a line,
A WEYMOUTH man has died in a hit-and-run accident. Mark Jonathan Gerrish, 33, was riding his bike in Bath when he was in collision with a car. Mr Gerrish was taken to the city's Royal United Hospital where he died later. The white Vauxhall Vectra involved
ARCHITECTS working for Prince Charles' architects are hoping to get the seal of approval for plans that have already been rejected twice. Plans for the Jubilee Court development in Bridport Road are due to be resubmitted to West Dorset District Council
MAYOR of Christchurch Josephine Spencer bagged the best seat in the house when she ceremonially added the last of 450 plush new theatre seats to be installed as part of a £250,000 revamp of the Regent Centre. Along with council chief executive Mike Turvey
DRIVERS of gas-guzzling 4x4 cars were warned yesterday that the government is considering imposing tough measures on them. Energy minister Malcolm Wicks, government minister with a responsibility for cutting Britain's carbon emissions, accused 4x4 drivers
A 21-YEAR-OLD man who broke into a fast food restaurant and stole £3,000 from the safe has been sentenced to a year in prison. Craig Trott worked in conjunction with KFC assistant manager Robert Kerslake-Smith and another unnamed person to raid the Winton
LOCAL MPs are being urged to back a bid to change the law and give councils greater powers to reject mobile phone masts. A bill due to come before Parliament on Friday would force phone operators to get planning permission for all masts and remove "permitted
FEARS about the long-term future of a community hospital have been allayed with the publication of plans for its future. A furore broke out last summer at the news of the closure of a ward at St Leonard's Hospital in East Dorset. MP Christopher Chope
WHEN I heard Joan Collins would be doing a stand-up tour in the UK entitled An Evening With Joan Collins, I was bemused. Could it really be the Joan Collins who played the power-dressing ber-bitch Alexis Carrington, who famously on her fifth marriage
HOSPITAL workers in Dorchester may be asked to park their cars at pubs to ease Dorset County Hospital's parking nightmare. Hospital chiefs are investigating the possibility of setting up new car parks on the edge of the county town to encourage staff
PROPOSALS to give schools the power to haul in misbehaving pupils for weekend detentions have caused howls of disbelief among head teachers, pupils and parents locally. The government plans to stamp out bad behaviour in class are part of a package contained
ANGRY Portland residents last night claimed a developer would devalue their homes with his affordable property scheme. But David Stevens, who wants to build 15 homes off Grove Road, hit back and branded his attackers 'selfish'. Mr Stevens, director of
BOSSES at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy are aiming to build wind turbines and solar panels to boost its green power production. Sailing academy chairman Bill Ludlow said talks were being held with power provider Southern Electric
A KEEP-FIT class for elderly swimmers could be sunk because the group 'doesn't fit in with a company's corporate image,' it was claimed today. Aqua-Fit could lose its home at Weymouth Swimming Pool after the bombshell was dropped by new centre managers
RESIDENTS in North Dorset look set to see the district's share of the council tax raise by 4.7 per cent next year. But funding of some services - including tourist information centres and refuse sacks - has been slashed to keep the increase down. The
TWO environmentally-friendly Dorset entrepreneurs have seen their company grow to be the largest of its kind in the UK in just five years. Christchurch husband and wife team Julian and Joanne Spector launched Natural Collection in 1999, selling recycled
TRADERS are demanding a meeting with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to clarify their concerns over the Pavilion site development. Members of Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism backed a call at their annual meeting to
PUBLIC toilets in a New Milton car park are to be closed at night because of the odious and illegal activities carried out there. The Spencer Road car park loos have become notorious at night with gangs of youths hanging around and evidence of drug abuse
