CHERRIES' gruelling Pontin's Holidays Combination programme finally caught up with them yesterday as they crashed to their heaviest defeat for 19 months. A fixture backlog, coupled with an injury crisis at first-team level, forced boss Kevin Bond to
BRIAN Le Boutillier will wave farewell to Christchurch once again following their trip to Horndean (3pm), but still remains perplexed over the reasons why his application for the manager's post was unsuccessful. Caretaker boss Le Boutillier was overlooked
PHIL Simkin has revealed he was invited to apply for the Wimborne Town job ahead of Hamworthy United's trip to Cuthbury. The Hammers will be the team to bring the curtain down on Paul Arnold's managerial career with the Magpies boss stepping down after
JAMES Hayter has described his former Cherries team-mate Ian Cox as "the type of defender you hate playing against". Hayter will come face to face with Cox when Cherries bring the curtain down on their home campaign against League One rivals Gillingham
BOSS Kevin Bond says it would be a "recipe for disaster" for Cherries to rely on results elsewhere securing their safety. Victory over Gillingham at Dean Court, in their penultimate game of the season, would guarantee Cherries' League One status. But
THE New Forest tug-of-war for James Stokoe appears to have already begun ahead of tomorrow's final games of the Southern League Division One South and West season. The Lymington and New Milton hitman - who is just one goal adrift of Bashley's Richard
EDWARD Kennett believes there will be more pressure on Lewis Bridger than him to win the British Under-21 title. Pirates' second string goes into the meeting at Eastbourne on Saturday (7.30pm) as one of the favourites alongside Bridger, Daniel King,
I'VE still got goose pimples after new Castle Cover Pirates' Piotr Swist brought Poole Speedway to its feet by beating top British rider Scott Nicholls on a double tactical ride in heat 11 on Monday. Twisty, as Piotr is affectionately known, has failed
A Poole leisure centre, which was saved from closure a year ago following a surge of public support, is run down and full of broken equipment, according to members. Poole Sports Centre, in the Dolphin Shopping Centre, was going to be shut down in March
POLICE are appealing for information after £1,500 of tools and equipment was stolen from the site of Bournemouth's Winter Gardens. Drilling work and research into the nature of the site's foundations were halted for two weeks after sections of brand
A TV psychic medium has offered to help locate the body of a missing woman on the anniversary of her disappearance. Joe Power has a reputation for using his abilities to help police and families in unsolved murder cases where the victim's body has never
BUS services that provide a lifeline to people in north Dorset have won a temporary reprieve. But there are still no guarantees they will continue in the longer term. Dorset County Council has stepped in with a one-off subsidy of £80,000 to keep key
CITIZEN advisers are being recruited in Christchurch to help the town's busy Citizens Advice Bureau keep pace with growing demand for its problem-solving services. Organisers of the CAB, which helps thousands of people every year, are now turning to
THE sad and unexpected news that World Cup winner Alan Ball died earlier this week made me realise just how long those 11 men have been heroes to a nation. I celebrated my 39th birthday a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't even born on that great day in
THE National Trust has assured people they will not be waking one morning to find the famous avenue of historic beech trees alongside the Badbury Rings have disappeared. The trust and the Daily Echo has received a flurry of calls from people who fear
SHE might be just 17, but when it comes to strutting her stuff for the cameras, the new Miss Bournemouth looks as though she has been doing it all her life. Mia Sweatland (pronounced Sweetland) hadn't realised she was going to take part in a photo shoot
THE success of fortnightly rubbish collections in areas of Dorset could mean the end of the weekly dustbin round. As landfill charges increase and plans for pay-as-you-throw schemes are being mooted by the government, councils are coming under increasing
A BID to keep 13 threatened libraries operating with council support has been called "premature". Councillor Clare Sutton put forward a motion asking for Dorset County Council on Thursday to agree to support 13 libraries - including those at Colehill
CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed moves to investigate "the myth" of free banking with the launch of a far-reaching study into current account pricing. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said its market study would examine the transparency and value of the service
A RECYCLING scheme in Purbeck has proved so successful that many residents can no longer fill their wheelie bins with rubbish. Since the start of the Recycle for Purbeck Scheme in October 2005 the recycling rate in the district has risen from just 16
MORE than 80 angry residents gathered to protest against plans for a block of 12 new flats in Bournemouth with only two parking spaces. The proposed develop-ment in Morley Road, Pokesdown, will see three houses knocked down and replaced with flats.
VOTING for our cutest kids gets under way in the Daily Echo all this week with readers having the chance to pick youngsters with that winning smile. Since 1998 the Echo has searched every year for children who shine like a star in front of the camera
A £12 MILLION landmark building that straddles the Bournemouth/Poole border is poised to take its first tenants after a major redevelopment. County Gates stands on the Frizzell roundabout at the site of what was once the dividing line between Dorset
THE 18-bedroom Best Western Waterford Lodge Hotel at Mudeford has just been sold for an asking price of £1.5 million. Colliers Robert Barry's Southampton office sold the three-star hotel on behalf of Mike and Vicky Harrison. New owner Martin Hooper
HOUSEHOLD Cavalry Regiment sources warned today that Harry would leave the Army if he is stopped from going to Iraq. Military bosses are assessing the Prince's role in the Gulf after one of the bloodiest months for British forces in the war-torn country
Taming Of The Shrew, Lighthouse, Poole It could have been the turn of the 16th century at the original Globe Theatre. Rarely have I heard a play receive such a riotously joyful reception. The whoops of appreciation and thundering applause that marked
BSO, Lighthouse, Poole We are fortunate in having the gifted principal oboe Edward Kay within the ranks of the BSO. There are probably too few oboe concerti to sustain a solo career, which is a pity when such wonderful works as that from Richard Strauss
Acoustic Ladyland, Mr Kyps, Lower Parkstone Acoustic Ladyland are wailing saxophone and frenetic vocals laid over melodic keyboard, base and drums to create contemporary rock 'n' roll jazz. This is an experiment that has come to fruition. Frontman Peter
A BOURNEMOUTH man has lost the £240,000 home he bought to share with the Brazilian bride who turned out to be already married. Father-of-one Andrew Mendal, 38, said he thought he had found the woman of his dreams when he met Miriam Santana and they exchanged
DOG owners could be in for a nasty shock if they allow their pets to foul on land at Hengistbury Head. Rangers at the site are so sick of being ignored and verbally abused that they are planning to embark on joint patrols with police. And those who
FORMER Hi-De-Hi star Barry Howard has told of his shock after a Second World War bomb dropped into the bedroom of his Poole home. Builders working on the veteran actor's flat in Hayden Road, Branksome Park, dislodged the unexploded device when they stripped
A BRAZILIAN woman at the centre of a bitter court battle was remaining tight-lipped over the case that led to a Bournemouth man losing the £240,000 home he had bought them. Father-of-one Andrew Mendal, 38, took his case to London's Appeal Court earlier
A MOTHER who started a charity after her only daughter died is marking a decade of helping young people with cancer. Brenda Clark decided to set up the Youth Cancer Trust to provide free holidays for young people suffering from cancer after her daughter
OUTLYING villages north of New Milton are to be given a regular bookable bus service to the new Lymington New Forest Hospital. It is the first time since the out-of-town hospital opened in January that the outlying villages of Wootton and Tiptoe have
