Archive

  • Heavy cost of alcohol abuse

    A NEW report has revealed the shocking truth about the toll alcohol is taking on people's health - and on hospital services across the region. The South West Public Health Observatory says drink-related admissions to accident and emergency departments

  • 'We did listen on Townsend issue'

    BOURNEMOUTH'S education chief has defended the likely closure of Townsend School, insisting: "Our first priority is the children." In a video interview for the Daily Echo's website, Cllr Malcolm Davies justified the cabinet's controversial decision to

  • Protest meeting on 2,750 homes

    A LARGE public demonstration against proposals to build thousands of new homes in Purbeck was due to take place on Saturday, April 5. The Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)organised the protest meeting, which was due to take

  • No pride at prejudice in learning

    A RECENT survey has found that one in 10 Britons admitted cheating the system at school by watching film versions of classic novels instead of reading the original texts. The most frequently watched were Baz Luhrmann's Romeo And Juliet and the BBC's

  • Badg of honour

    IT WAS a fairly typical afternoon in the garden for Badg Champion. The hedge at his Sturminster Marshall home needed trimming, so he scaled his stepladder and got stuck in. As he turned to attack a different section of hedge, he went to put his foot

  • Buses bid to ‘change hop-in-the-car habits’

    IT'S all change on the buses in Burton next month when operators Wilts & Dorset terminates the More M2 high-frequency service linking the village with Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole. To step up the frequency of the M2 from every 10 minutes to every

  • Bournemouth is host to new Ryanair base

    PASSENGER numbers at Bournemouth Airport have taken off in the past year and now, thanks to their new arrival they are set to soar even higher. Now that low-cost airline, Ryanair has made the airport its 24th European base by stationing a new £35million

  • Firefighters’ plea after blast injury

    A FIREMAN was taken to hospital after being been blown off his feet by the blast from an aerosol canister dumped in a skip that had been deliberately set alight. The firefighter was thrown almost nine feet by the force of the blast after being called

  • Winners and losers in the rat race

    THEY are a remarkable species, much maligned by many. Including me. I am not a rat fan but have a grudging respect for the scuttling blighters, so long as they keep their distance. But is it really necessary to have a World Rat Day? To be fair, World

  • Close the roads and have a street party

    A TRANSPORT guru urged Bournemouth and Poole residents to close their roads and hold two-day street parties. That was just one of several radical suggestions from John Grimshaw. He gave an entertaining and outspoken speech that was the highlight of

  • Dismay as library cuts go ahead

    A LAST-ditch bid to save Poole's libraries from swingeing cuts failed when cabinet voted to implement its £176,000 saving. Disappointed staff and users will now face shorter opening hours at branch libraries and the scrapping of a whole floor of the

  • Heels ‘being dragged over Forest blueprint’

    NEW Forest figurehead Maldwin Drummond has accused the National Park Authority of dragging its heels over setting up a planning policy document for the area. The criticism comes on the second anniversary of the creation of the New Forest National Park

  • Poole plan move to Branksome Rec

    POOLE Town have unveiled plans for a £1 million redevelopment of Branksome Recreation Ground which would include a new home for the club. The high-riding Sydenhams Wessex League outfit have decided they need to move from their current Tatnam Farm ground

  • New season firsts for Luke and Mark

    BROADSTONE-based Luke Gray (Hargroves Cycles) and Mark Chadbourne (ride-bike.co.uk) secured their first mountain bike wins of the year in the youth and veterans races at the fourth round of the Gorrick Series at Deep Cut, Surrey. With the first round

  • Kevin's quickly into his stride

    DORSET'S Kevin Spurgeon has made his best start to the European Seniors Tour in his fourth season at the top level. The 2005 rookie of the year is currently 26th in the Order of Merit after the first two events in Barbados and the Azores. Spurgeon claimed

  • Charity needs a new home now

    A Poole-based charity which helps people with brain injuries rebuild their lives is being made homeless. Headway Dorset, based at the Fourways Centre, Constitution Hill Road, has been told by Borough of Poole to be out by October to allow a major redevelopment

  • Lecturers vote ‘no confidence’ in their boss

    THE lecturers union has passed a vote of no confidence in Bournemouth University vice chancellor Paul Curran. Members voted 93.4 per cent in favour of the motion because of their anger at the speed and scale of Prof Curran's over-haul of the university

  • Who goes there

    WEIRD and intimidating monsters will invade the nation's living rooms once again when Doctor Who returns to BBC1. This time new sidekick Donna Noble, played by comedienne Catherine Tate, joins the time-travelling hero in the Tardis. The Doctor and Tate

  • British workers skim £1billion in bogus expenses

    MPs might be in hot water over their elaborate expenses at the moment but new research has revealed they aren't the only ones living the high life on other people's money. Cheeky British workers are swindling their bosses by over a £1 billion a year

  • Forum launch

    THE launch of the Swanage Area Senior Forum takes place this Saturday from 11.00am at the Catholic Hall in Rempstone Road. The town band will kick off the event before the official ceremony at 11.30am when Coronation Street actress Thelma Barlow will

  • CHERRIES BIDDING REPOENS

    LIVE updates from 11.30am... Gerald Krasner confirms breakdown of Mostyn consortium. Mostyn's consortium in breach of regulations and Krasner confirms Mostyn's exclusivity deal does no longer exist. Last instalment of administrator funds will

  • Taken for Granted

    REGGAE legend Eddy Grant is to play the Bournemouth in June as part of his first UK tour for 15 years. The Electric Avenue hitmaker's three-date jaunt takes in the Opera House on June 30. Born in Guyana but brought up in London, Grant's first brush

  • Locals to fight over travellers’ fair field

    VILLAGERS have vowed to speak out against continued use of a field for travellers during the Great Dorset Steam Fair at a County Hall planning meeting in April. The pledge came at the end of a packed two-hour meeting in Tarrant Monkton, where villagers

  • Put yourself in their shoes...

    MY colleagues do not refer to me for advice on what to wear. For the record, I favour a suit but don't exactly set the pace in the Echo style stakes. Only the other day I was listening to Radio Five when they were discussing how many pairs of shoes a

  • The best book ever written? You decide!

    Lord of the Flies. War and Peace. The Lord of the Rings. To Kill a Mockingbird. What IS the best book ever written? We’re on a mission to find out. We want you to tell us your favourites – and why you think they are a contender for the

  • BACK TO HIS BEST

    DAVEY Watt hailed Bjarne Pedersen as being "back to his old self" as Pirates' captain stormed to a scintillating paid maximum at Wimborne Road last night. The Dane, who has been woefully out of form for Poole Castle Cover so far this term, bagged 13

  • Krasner 'fuming' over latest woes

    GERALD Krasner was this morning expected to comment on Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly's split with former consortium member Marc Jackson. Krasner was due to address the press at Dean Court at 11.30am following this week's revelations, which saw current chairman

  • CLUB’S DEBT TO PUBLIC

    LOCAL taxpayers are counting the cost of AFC Bournemouth's financial crisis, which has left debts to Bournemouth council and Dorset Police unpaid. The football club went into administration owing £5.8 million to a total of 320 creditors. And these

  • Firms unite to help Kaitlin get around

    A BUBBLY little girl from Corfe Mullen with muscular dystrophy has inspired local businesses to raise funds for a special wheelchair. Kaitlin Moors, aged three, has Central Core Disease (CCD), a condition which has left her almost too weak to move her

  • The naked truth

    STUDLAND Beach is a treasured Purbeck beauty spot marred by tensions and unwelcome controversy. Every year its rolling dunes and white sands attract more than one million visitors, and for decades naturists have been among that number. The National

  • Ireland in the sun

    WHEN Daniel O'Donnell plays the first of three consecutive Bournemouth concerts at the BIC on April 4 it will be his first concert anywhere this year. The heartthrob singer has been relaxing in his Tenerife home since January 1 with wife Majella escaping

  • Sportacus arrives in time to save town

    LazyTown Live, Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth IT'S the children's TV phenomenon that's had aud- iences in 100 countries glued - yet teaches wholesome messages about healthy eating and exercise. But with its mix of upbeat music, movement and comedy it

  • Pirates double up on woeful Wolves

    IF football is a game of two halves, then Pirates' thumping of Wolves last night is surely a telling tale of 48 hours. After enduring a nightmare Elite League opener at Monmore on Monday, crashing to a demoralising 54-36 reverse in the Midlands, Poole