News, sport and entertainment from the Bournemouth Echo and Dorset Echo.

Stories for 15 July 2002

Bournemouth Cherries

Cherries cannot pay wages meeting told

CHERRIES shareholders have been told the club cannot pay next month's wages and is expecting a winding-up order from a supplier today (July 15).  more...

Bournemouth Leisure

Your chance to meet pop stars Liberty X

CHART-toppers Liberty X and 3SL will be in Bournemouth next week performing a special MTV Hits and Club Detention party.   more...

Bournemouth News

POLICE BUST COUNTY'S BIGGEST HEROIN RING

DORSET'S biggest heroin dealing ring has been smashed after key operators admitted their roles in the sophisticated £3million criminal enterprise.  more...

Bournemouth Sport

Young stars tie 'em up in Notts

WHOEVER proclaimed lightning never strikes twice clearly had not banked on the unwavering determination of Dorset's young athletes to prove them wrong when they said it.  more...

Decision time for improving Bendall

STEVE BENDALL must decide within the next few weeks whether he is now ready to step up to world title level.  more...

Irwin the brave takes first ITF crown

BOURNEMOUTH star Richard Irwin had to battle against injury before claiming his first International Tennis Federation junior title at the weekend.  more...

Pretenders must track down Tiger

AH MUIRFIELD! The Open returns to Scotland, the home of golf, and the players will need to be on the top of their game if they hope to win.  more...

Dorset Business

Scissors' crew is a cut above

BOURNEMOUTH-based Scissors Hair Design Group has been invited to become a member of the Fellowship for British Hairdressing - regarded as one of the top accolades in the hairdressing industry.   more...

Poole News

Devoted poppy seller Sid honoured by legion

WAR veteran Sid Cross already has an impressive collection of awards and medals for the service he has given King and Country.  more...

Purbeck News

Swanage homage to jazz

TOES were tapping and fingers clicking as the Swanage Jazz Festival swung into town.  more...

Children play chicken as tanks manoeuvre

ARMY chiefs at Bovington have released a series of shock photographs in a bid to warn youngsters never to play near moving tanks.  more...

Weymouth News

Sunshine carnival is voted best ever

EVENING sunshine bathed Puddletown in a warm glow as the village's best-ever carnival enjoyed a spectacular procession through the streets.  more...

County pleased with new parking scheme

MORE than 50 parking tickets were issued in Dorset on the first day of the new parking enforcement scheme.  more...

Town centre safe, police tell elderly

ELDERLY people are being reassured by police chiefs that Weymouth town centre is still a safe place to visit.  more...

Echo appeal pays twofold

A seven-year-old schoolboy who appealed for the safe return of his stolen scooter now has two of them to play with, thanks to the Echo. Little Michael White was inconsolable after a group of youths ran off with his £80 micro-scooter next to the Old Castle pub in Weymouth. But kind-hearted readers were so moved by the Holy Trinity Infant School pupil's tale that his original toy has been restored to him, and another donated. One couple discovered Michael's scooter, recognised it from the description in the Echo and called his parents And a special constable with Dorset Police, who has asked not to be named, also read of Michael's plight and gave him another scooter in lieu of the one he lost. Michael's dad, Peter White, who is a mortgage officer in Southampton, said: "We received a phone call on the day the Echo ran the story. "A lady and gentleman, who did not give us their names, had found it near the place that it was stolen. "We collected it from them, but they refused to take any reward. "The scooter is a bit battered and bedraggled, with the carry strap missing. "I can only assume that the kids who took it had their fill of fun, threw it around then discarded it when they got bored." Mr White, 40, added: "Ten minutes after we had brought it back, there was a knock at the door and a special constable stood there with a brand new scooter, which he handed over for Michael. "It is top quality and has a kick bar, so he can perform tricks on it. "I was a bit embarrassed, because Michael's original scooter was standing in the hall, but he insisted that we take it. "He also refused to take the reward from us, so we are donating it to a cancer charity at his request. "I want to thank these people for helping put the smile back on Michael's face, we really appreciate their gestures."   more...

The mating game

IT'S official - Dorchester is one of the worst places in the country to find a mate. The county town is bottom of the league in a newly-published Pulling Power Index and those on the lookout for love have been advised to go elsewhere. The index, put together by British Gas, lists the number of single 18 to 34 year-olds in towns around the country. Dorchester is number 268 on the list, eight from the bottom and the worst in the South West with an index score of 64 compared with the national average figure of 100. The results also show that Dorchester has just above half the national average young single people. However, one of the hottest hunting grounds is Boscombe, in Bournemouth, which boasts a score of 128. Young people agreed the town had little to offer the single members of the 18 to 34 crowd. Zoe George, 18, of Dorchester, who has a boyfriend, said: "You wouldn't want to meet any blokes from Dorchester anyway - they're all a bit strange." Zoe Hinley, 18, from Dorchester, who is single, said the new figures came as "no surprise." Babysitting She said: "You know everyone within about 20 minutes of being out on a Friday night here. I usually go over to Poole or Bournemouth. There's more choice." Rebecca Carnegie, 21, of Dorchester, said: "I don't go out in Dorchester because I don't want to see the people I was babysitting a few weeks ago. The people in Dorchester on Friday nights are the people who are too young to get into the clubs - but they get in anyway." Georgie Evans, 18, of Dorchester, said: "A lot of young people go out elsewhere on the weekend, but it depends when you go out. Compared to other towns there do seem to be fewer young people." But Peter Ball, 28, of Dorchester, said he had found love in the county town. He said: "It's true there aren't many people in that age group who go out in Dorchester, but I met my girlfriend in a pub here. It's always worth going out - it's got to be better than sitting in at home." Gavin Dennis, 23, of Dorchester, said: "I go out in Dorchester a lot and I never have any problem with finding women. Apparently there's a ratio of four women to one man."   more...

Roundhouse for Iron Age village

A REPRODUCTION Iron Age village near Dorchester is being given a boost with the building of a new roundhouse. The village, built ten years ago at New Barn Field Centre for visiting students and tourists, is being expanded and refurbished and the work is being carried out to research into ancient roundhouse design. New Barn ranger Graham Hardy said: "We are building this chieftain's roundhouse based on research that shows every bit of space would have been used to the full. It would have doubled up as a village meeting and storytelling hall." He added that the new facility, which is 10 metres across and six metres high, will be able to be visited by up to 70 schoolchildren at a time. "The original village structures were built in traditional materials and were biodegradable, so they are beginning to rot and we will gradually replace them all," said Mr Hardy. He said the main entrance to the roundhouse faces the morning sun because, traditionally, iron age residents would have risen at dawn. Ancient-style bunk beds and an open fire in the centre, used to bake bread, cook and keep the home warm, are some of the features in the roundhouse. Mr Hardy added that it should take around six weeks to build the roundhouse using ancient tools.   more...

Procession goes whole way after a rethink

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Anger at 'snub' to A37 safety priority

A LEADING councillor has outraged road safety campaigners by suggesting improvements to the A37 - which has seen five deaths in the past two months - are not a top priority. Dorset County Council cabinet member for the environment Hilary Cox spoke out after the Dorset Echo reported that campaigners were warning the death toll would mount unless urgent action was taken.  more...

Just how sick can these yobs get?

CHILDREN'S graves were among dozens of burial plots destroyed by vandals who rampaged through a cemetery. Distressed relatives today condemned the yobs who desecrated the graves and memorials at the Melcombe Regis graveyard in Weymouth. As well as the child graves being targeted, heads and wings were sheared off angels and heads were battered off statues of Christ and other figures in a trail of damage which also included urns, bowls and flower holders. The vandals also attempted to throw part of a broken statue through a chapel window. Among damaged graves was one containing the mother of retired carpenter Mark Monro, 74, of Chafeys Avenue, Weymouth, who said: "It is very distressing. "I always come in to look after the grave twice a week and make sure that everything is all right. As I walked in past the chapel I saw vandals had knocked over and smashed ornaments on some graves. "When I got to my mother's grave I saw that the angel had been ripped off the grave and its head and wings smashed. "I felt sick. These people are animals to do something like this in such a sacred place. "They should bring back the birch and really punish them instead of sending them away on holiday to encourage them to behave. "I cannot understand what enjoyment such people get out of smashing grave ornaments." Mike Fowler of Goldcroft Avenue, Weymouth, also hit out after the grave of his late wife Penelope, who died of cancer in 1998, was vandalised. He said: "The people who do this sort of thing are sick. I don't think they realise the grief they cause and I am just so sad." The borough council's Corporate Services Director Ian Locke, whose department is responsible for graveyards, said the authority would be working with police in an attempt to track down the vandals. He said: "We condemn any form of vandalism, but vandalism on this scale and to property in such a place as a cemetery is beyond contempt. "We will be working very closely with the police in finding out who is responsible for this terrible behaviour." Inspector Paul Gillott of Weymouth Police said: "The people who commit such vandalism are the lowest of the low. "We would appeal for anyone who saw anything or who may have any information about it to contact us on (01305) 251212 or talk in confidence to officers on (0800) 555111."   more...

Weymouth Sport

DISCIPLINED BOWLING GETS SEASIDERS BACK ON TRACK

WIMBORNE 104 ((3pts) lost to WEYMOUTH 95-5 (22pts) by 5 wickets (Weymouth set rain-reduced victory target of 95 off 61 overs)  more...