BORED with making enemies of complete strangers, the reality TV show Wife Swap now appears to want to tear loving families and friends apart. Introducing a twist on the normal show rules - wives with diametrically opposed lifestyles, homes, morals and
A POPULAR East Dorset tourist attraction is on the verge of being sold. Stapehill Abbey, near Ferndown, which was put up for sale in June with a price tag of £2.75 million, is "under offer" following widespread interest. David Pardoe, from Savills,
BJARNE Pedersen and Antonio Lindback were left hoping for permanent wild cards into next year's Grand Prix after finishing outside the automatic re-qualification places. The Pirates duo suffered heartache in the final round of this season's competition
A SEX offender who assaulted a girl in her bedroom while her dad was downstairs has been jailed for 31 months. Floydd Ettridge, 34, admitted 10 sample counts of sexual assault on four girls aged 10 and 11, and a further 19 offences of downloading indecent
A SPRINKLER system which destroyed a large quantity of computer equipment during a fire at a Poole store has been credited with preventing the whole building going up in smoke. Firefighters from Poole, Hamworthy, Westbourne and Redhill Park were called
YOUNG swans are swallowing fish hooks and getting caught up in lines at a popular New Forest beauty spot. The dry summer has led to lower water levels at Hatchet Pond, near Beaulieu, and the long-necked cygnets have been able to feed off the bottom,
AN ORGANISATION that carries out repairs to needy people's homes in the New Forest will have to close at the end of October unless it receives funding. Based in Ringwood, Repair With Care was set up three years ago by the Council for Voluntary Service's
JUST how old is old? When does your dotage begin? Is it when you retire, when the kids have left home or when the body starts to, ahem, head south? A survey by private health company Bupa says for those aged between 16 and 24, old age begins at 61
AN area of Bournemouth turned the clock back hundreds of years when it hosted its first-ever Medieval Banquet and Fayre. Wenches, knights, archers, jugglers and jesters rubbed shoulders on the back fields of Townsend Community Centre for the event which
RESIDENTS in Wareham say they have been left in tears after the council ripped out dozens of trees and left a field looking like a "bombed out landscape". Hauses Field in the Northmoor Estate has long been due for a clean-up but locals did not expect
A CHRISTCHURCH couple keen to protect rare otters in the River Avon have criticised the borough council for giving the go-ahead for more riverside public open space. Trevor Rule and his partner Jan Twining swore affidavits saying they had seen otters
NEW Poole-based over-50s insurer Castle Cover has been named sponsor for this month's Daily Echo Recruitment Exhibition. A dozen companies and organisations have signed up for the Wednesday and Thursday Recruitment Exhibition, which has this year expanded
A NORTH Dorset action group has scooped a cash boost to help support rural communities in the county. The Dorset Chalk and Cheese initiative has been given £100,000 towards creating employment opportunities and improving the quality of life for people
CHERRIES 1 SCUNTHORPE 1 "SURELY he's not going to shoot from there?" But he did. And how! Darren Anderton's first-half cracker was worth the entrance fee alone - and possibly even the season ticket money as well. Unquestionably one of the most memorable
SCUNTHORPE boss Brian Laws believes Darren Anderton will do Cherries and League One "a world of good". Laws looked on as the former England star set Dean Court alight when he netted a world class goal to earn Cherries a 1-1 draw against the Iron on Saturday
DARREN Clarke's face crumpled, his shoulders heaved and he grabbed caddie Billy Foster and hung on as the tears flowed and the emotion shuddered through his body. The Ryder Cup was won and if fate had denied Irishman Clarke the honour of sinking the
THOUSANDS of Poole motorists could have received illegal parking tickets, the council has discovered. A new judicial review judgement could mean that their tickets are invalid because they do not have both the dates of issue and contravention on them
IT'S a far cry from Walford, but members of the EastEnders cast paid a visit to Worth Matravers last week to film a new storyline for the show. Actors Matt Di Angelo, who plays Deano Wicks, Kelli Shirley, AKA Carley Wicks, and Tiana Benjamin, Chelsea
CASH-strapped Police forces battling with falling budgets to combat rising crime are spending millions on multilingual mediators to break down language barriers between cops and foreign felons. The £20 million cost of providing interpreters for visiting
