EX-NAVY man Rob Sims will fly the flag for the Daily Echo in Portugal next month after cruising to victory in the Sunshine Challenge match play final. The 54-year-old Bulbury Woods player beat Meyrick Park's Simon Scott 6 and 4 at the prestigious Remedy
BRITISH champion Melissa Courtney spoke of her pride after she added a world Biathle title to her impressive CV. The World Biathle Champion-ships took place at Larvotto Beach in Monaco and Courtney was among 12 athletes from the Dorset Pentathletes Club
IT MIGHT cheer up her male fans but Kelly Brook can pose for the tabloids in stockings and suspenders all she likes - it won't make the blindest bit of difference as to whether she wins Strictly Come Dancing or not. And thank goodness. Unlike the vile
The evening started with a surprised Melanie coming on to the stage to a seated Kyps crowd - she wanted to party as this was the last night of her UK tour but after an initial awkward period her natural banter and storytelling soon had the audience eating
IN the age of instant sell-out reunions, away from the big event with its often awful sound, there are thankfully those musicians and songwriters who tread the less-hyped path. Playing venues where you can almost smell the songs and definitely touch
A SOFA is supposed to be a place of relaxation, so a Dorset couple were horrified to discover theirs may have caused them months of painful and irritating skin problems. Joyce and Trevor Stickley, of Charminster, developed itching and blistering after
IF Gordon Brown calls a snap election for November, an estimated one million people across the UK may be unable to vote. And around 15,000 of those could be in Poole, fears Paul Morris, the borough's electoral registration and returning officer. He
ONE of the best-kept secrets can now finally be revealed. The Daily Echo cannot reveal whether Gordon Brown will be calling a snap election this autumn. But as the countdown starts to the launch of the new Bournemouth & Poole edition of Monopoly game
THREATS to withdraw the Lymington to Isle of Wight ferry service if the operator is not allowed to introduce bigger vessels have been branded "bullying tactics". Wightlink chief executive Andrew Willson has warned that if the company's new 1,496-ton
POLICE have named the two men killed on a Dorset road this week as Simon Lord from Wimborne and Matthew Russell from Ferndown. As reported in the Echo yesterday, the pair were in a Hyndai Accent driven by Mr Russell when it collided with a tree and burst
SWANAGE minor injuries unit will not be closing at night following a passionate campaign by residents. Plans to close the service at Swanage Hospital from 10pm at night to 8am provoked widespread condemnation in the town where it is seen as a vital lifeline
Former Conservative Home Secretary Douglas Hurd will be in Poole on Monday, October 8, to talk about policing. Nothing particularly unusual in that perhaps - except that the subject will be the very origins of the modern police force and more specifically
OF all the jobs in all the world, Nikolaus Pevsner's is the one I'd most like to have had. Imagine spending your days toodling from church to tithe barn, timbered cottage to granite cenotaph and then getting paid to write about it. Bliss. Especially
FIRE and ambulance crews plucked to safety a fisherman trapped in a river at the foot of a 15 -foot-bank less than half-a-mile from a watermill in Sturminster Newton. Emergency crews were alerted by a passing dog walker who saw the stranded man and rushed
PIRATES' hopes of retaining the Craven Shield have been boosted by a BSPA decision ordering Peterborough to "fulfil" all their fixtures in the competition. Poole Castle Cover, who won the trophy last year, and Reading, are due to go to the Showground
PAINTINGS from the collection of a Bournemouth landowner doubled their expected asking price at auction yesterday. They belonged to the late Sylvia Bowditch who was the last direct descendant of one of Bournemouth's founding families, the Cooper-Deans
A RESISTANCE fighter who helped two surviving Cockleshell Heroes escape Nazi occupied France has spoken about his role in the daring operation. Jean Mariaud, 94, broke his 65-year public silence to speak to the Times. The news was welcomed by Poole
EVEN though the World Championship is wrapped up -and my genuine congratulations go to Nicki Pedersen who has been the best rider in the world by a mile this season - there is big interest in the final Grand Prix next Saturday in Germany. This is due
MEASURES have been put in place to try to minimise disruption caused by having a main route through Purbeck closed for two weeks. Road works lasting six weeks are due to start on Monday on the A351 between Wareham and Holton Heath, with a "stop and go
FOLLOWING the kidnapping of a rich man's son, an assassin is brought in to find the abductor by interrogating and ultimately killing all those involved. While this may sound like a simple enough plot, this is one of the most puzzling, convoluted entries
FLYBOYS is an odd fish in many ways. A desperate attempt to re-enact the exploits of the Lafayette Escadrille - a French squadron in the First World War comprising mostly American pilots - the film will irritate to the point of madness those who cling
POLICE have released pictures of two men they want to talk to in connection with a serious sexual assault. Two teenage girls told police they were sexually assaulted outside Beales in Bournemouth and in Albert Road between 2.10am and 2.20am on Tuesday
DRUGS, booze, a home-made weapon and a tattoo gun - these are just some of the items that have been removed from cells at two Dorset prisons over the past 18 months, the Daily Echo can reveal. Using the Freedom of Information Act, we discovered that
SIGNING to a major label and bringing in a producer (Stephen Street) that just doesn't fail, there's a lot riding on this album - not least this year's arena tour. Given the background, you'd have got pretty long odds on Babyshambles actually delivering
THERE'S some excitement in Mick Jones' first new album in more than a decade. That he's linked up with pre-Clash ally Tony James (who went on to form Generation X) only makes it more so. Employing the just-this-side-of-tight, rough-hewn economy that
SUBARU'S radically different, all-new, five-door only Impreza has gone on sale in the UK. First into the showrooms are the new 1.5 and 2.0 litre models aimed at a much wider audience, while performance fans will have to wait until early next year for
IT'S rare these days to be able to talk about a new car that is genuinely different - but I have just been driving one. The Mitsubishi i may not be a name that is instantly recognisable but see one and I can guarantee you will certainly remember it.
A WOMAN, believed to be a jogger, suffered serious injuries when she was in collision with a car in Bournemouth on Thursday. Police closed off the roads around where Wentworth Avenue meets Beechwood Avenue, while specialist units took photos and studied
A 73-YEAR-OLD woman pedestrian has been left with serious facial and head injuries after a collision with a motorcycle. The pensioner from Poole was crossing Alder Road near the junction of Winston Avenue to reach shops on the other side when she was
AT a time when the involvement of British and American troops in the Middle East continues to make headlines, Peter Berg's frantically-paced thriller considers the vicious circle of bloodshed that links warring nations. Truth be told, The Kingdom is
WITH his stylish 2004 blockbuster Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor), the first instalment of a proposed trilogy adapted from the novel by Sergei Lukyanenko and Vladimir Vasiliev, Russian director Timur Bekmambetov shattered Western expectations about post-Soviet
THE course of true love never did run smoothly, especially in Bobby and Peter Farrelly's contemporary revamp of The Heartbreak Kid. Inspired by Neil Simon's 1972 romantic comedy pairing Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd, this soulless and humourless
"My father seemed to me infallible, invincible, immortal." So says Blake (Colin Firth), the narrator of And When Did You Last See Your Father?, as he sifts through fractured memories of his terminally ill old man, searching for a way to reconcile with
FOR those who aren't in the know, Incubus is a semi-mainstream alternative American band that mixes hard rock, light funk, deep lyrics and experimental scratch-rap into an individual array of sounds and songs, all worshipped by the 14-25 year old would
CHILDREN at Ferndown First School are getting themselves into a right old spin' but their teachers hope the activity will improve the youngsters' learning. The first school is believed to be the first locally to introduce a poi club for the children,
MOVING tributes were paid to Hampshire schoolgirl Rosemary Edwards on Thursday when more than 100 mourners gathered for her funeral. St Andrew's Church in Beaulieu Road, Dibden Purlieu, was packed for the one-hour service, which came exactly a month
JASON Doyle lamented a seized engine and a broken throttle as he narrowly missed out on a double-figure score for Pirates in their impressive victory last night. The young Aussie, who has made light of his step up from reserve to number four, scored
SWANS captain Robert Elford has stressed they must put thoughts of their mouth-watering National Cup clash against Rosslyn Park firmly to one side at Henley Wanderers tomorrow (3pm). The Bestwall boys have started their South West Division Two East season
JAMES Croker has drafted in highly rated coach Mark Mulcahy to work alongside him at Oakmeadians. The Meyrick Park club chief is delighted he has attracted the former London Irish Academy coach to the Southern Counties South outfit. Croker said: "Mark
CHERRIES are the bookies' hot favourites for relegation this season with Kevin Bond's side rated as odds-on chances for the dreaded drop across the board. A combination of one win in nine and successive home defeats by Brighton and Carlisle has seen
JEFF Mostyn has made under-fire Kevin Bond "fully aware" of the mounting pressure on his reign as Cherries boss. Chairman Mostyn held crisis talks with Bond on Wednesday after Cherries went down 2-0 to Brighton at Dean Court the previous evening - completing
NEW Milton Town boss Trevor Parker says people are "idiots" if they think his team can be expected to do any more than avoid relegation this season. There has been speculation that the jobs of Parker and his assistant Richie Phippard are in doubt after
TWO former Cherries look set to do battle tomorrow when Bashley host Halesowen Town in the Southern Premier Division (3pm). Ex-Dean Court forward Dave Town could make his first appearance at Bashley Road in the yellow jersey after signing from Bognor
TOM Killick has no fears over his Poole Town side's confidence, despite them losing their unbeaten tag in midweek. Brockenhurst beat Dolphins 2-1 on Tuesday night but Killick was pleased with the performance. His side's focus shifts rapidly to the FA
PIRATES chief Matt Ford has said he has a "gentleman's agreement" with Chris Holder for him to ride at Poole next year. Ford has spoken out after the Australian had missed Craig Boyce's tribute meeting on Wednesday because he was double-booked at King's
DAVID Dunn is targeting four points from Bournemouth's next three matches as they look to climb off the bottom of the table. The Lions have lost their opening four South West Division One games after being promoted at the end of last season. But the
JOSH Gowling admits Cherries' predicament at the foot of League One is "embarrassing" and claims airing a few home truths could help ease their plight. Gowling thinks the time has come for Kevin Bond's wounded troops to "get hold of each other by the
JY Taylor knows his first task as Ringwood Town manager is to instill some confidence into his beleaguered squad. Taylor took over from Bob Lane last week and suffered a 4-0 defeat against Moneyfields in his first game in charge. He is hoping to turn
Check latest traffic news in ChristchurchDRIVERS will be really up the junction from Monday when major roadworks at the Barrack Road/Stour Road crossroads in Christchurch put the squeeze on traffic for the next eight months. Traffic on the A35 Barrack
A DRIVER who tried in vain to rescue two men from a burning car has insisted: "I'm no hero." John Tucker, 32, was driving along Holt Road near Mannington when he found the car, which had crashed into a tree and burst into flames, setting the tree ablaze
