POLICE are hunting an escaped paedophile who could be at large in Dorset. John McCormack, 23, is deemed so dangerous he was recently banned from having contact with any child. He has been on the run from a Surrey clinic for a week and police believe he
WEYMOUTH clash with rivals Havant and Waterlooville in a tinderbox south coast derby at the Wessex Stadium tomorrow. It is the sides' first match since Terras skipper Alex Browne suffered horrific facial injuries in an X-rated challenge in last season's
MIDFIELD maestro Matty Holmes is back as Dorchester return to Dr Martens Premier League action against high-flying Worcester City tomorrow. The former West Ham man missed last Saturday's 2-1 FA Trophy win over Boreham Wood at the Avenue. But he will be
TOP class bone-bending action returns to Weymouth next week and Echosport has once again tag-teamed up with the Wrestling Alliance to offer local grapple fans the chance of pinning down their seats to the spectacular show. The entertaining event, which
CHERRIES manager Sean O'Driscoll is today hoping to extend the loan spells of Jermaine Defoe and Warren Cummings, the Daily Echo can exclusively reveal. O'Driscoll spoke to both players about signing new agreements yesterday and is now waiting for their
I never wanted to be in a boy band because of the stigma and people's cynical views on it" Blimey. This is the last thing I would have expected from Ben Adama, 18-year-old singer and songwriter with, er, boy band a1. For a group that has had a slew of
TEEN heart-throb Chesney Hawkes hit the right note with a group of Weymouth students. The 29-year-old rock star dropped in on a music lesson at Budmouth Technology College to show that he is still 'The One and Only'. Performing with his band Manna, former
WREN Vicky Gingell will be flying the flag for Portland when she joins HMS Portland at Plymouth next week. A former pupil at the Royal Manor School, Vicky, 17, joined the Royal Navy a year ago to train as a communications technician and is currently stationed
ENVIRONMENT Agency experts are warning of further flood threats to Dorset and Hampshire in the next 48 hours. More heavy rain is forecast with the worst downpours expected to sweep across the south of England. The agency's floodline last night issued
BOURNEMOUTH'S beauties can pack away the swimsuits and stilettos and hang up their evening dresses, as town hall bosses drag themselves kicking and screaming into the 21st century. In the millennium year, the resort has finally dropped the competition
THREE good citizens have been praised by police for saving the life of a man who fell into a swollen river in Wimborne. The victim, who had been drinking, was pinned down by weeds and was almost totally submerged in the River Allen in the town centre
ANGRY lecturers are to protest outside the VIP opening of a prestigious college art gallery tonight. Staff at Bournemouth and Poole College will take a pay dispute to the launch of its £2.4 million Study Gallery, which they have likened to the Millennium
NURSE BETTY (18) **** FOR put-upon waitress Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger) the idealised world of her favourite soap opera offers a brief respite from the life she finds herself mired in with witless, faithless husband Del. So when she witnesses his
WEYMOUTH clash with rivals Havant and Waterlooville in a tinderbox south coast derby at the Wessex Stadium tomorrow. It is the sides' first match since Terras skipper Alex Browne suffered horrific facial injuries in an X-rated challenge in last season's
THE new learning and resource centre at Wallisdown Arts Institute has won the prestigious Poole Pride of Place Award 2000. The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Joyce Jones, presented the prize, a triangular Poole Pottery plaque to the principal, Stuart Bartholomew
BASHLEY go into tomorrow's Dr Martens Eastern Division home clash with Hastings Town buoyed by news that Craig Davis has signed a new two-year contract. The 19-year-old defender, already a Hampshire senior squad representative, is held in very high regard
WIMBORNE have been rewarded with a home tie against Taunton in the Intermediate Cup fourth round on Saturday, December 2. The Leigh Park-based outfit, who came through a nail-biting 13-5 win over Bicester in the previous round, now face another tough
WORRIED postal staff are fighting plans for a mobile phone mast close to their offices. Almost 30 employees at the Royal Mail Sorting Office in Ferndown have signed a petition objecting to a plan for a 17.5m tall mast at the adjoining automated telephone
The champagne corks should be popping up at office of Cartel Records on Monday. Toploader's funky Dancing In The Moonlight has been gaining radio play all over the place over the last few weeks - and who else should be responsible for the irresistible
DURING the summer of 1996, Phil Aldridge found himself feverishly pacing the floor of his lounge, unable to believe that the concert he had seen the night before was part of the last tour The Eagles would ever do! There was only one thing for it. He'd
CONMAN Richard Cope was brought before a Crown Court judge...to receive an apology and a cut in his sentence. Mr Recorder Nigel Mylne QC admitted being too severe on Cope when he gave him a 30-month stretch for obtaining property by deception. Cope, 54
ORGANISERS are heralding this year's Victorian Shownight as the best ever - but say shops must give more money to assure its success. Weymouth's eighth late-night Christmas shopping extravaganza takes place on Thursday, December 14, with a host of festive
WEYMOUTH Royal British Legion is renewing calls for a change in council policy on war pensions as veterans prepare to honour the fallen heroes of past conflicts on Remembrance Sunday. Weymouth and Portland Borough Council is now the only one in Dorset
WEYMOUTH clash with rivals Havant and Waterlooville in a tinderbox south coast derby at the Wessex Stadium tomorrow. It is the sides' first match since Terras skipper Alex Browne suffered horrific facial injuries in an X-rated challenge in last season's
CHILDREN who go through operations at Dorset County Hospital's day surgery unit will be rewarded for their bravery thanks to a Dorchester printing firm. Whitefield Printing Services in Trinity Street has presented the unit with colourful certificates
THE recent hellish weather has left a rural Dorset vicar without a telephone for two weeks. The Reverend Graham Perryman, rector of Crossways, Moreton, Tincleton and Woodsford, has had no land line, no fax and no e-mail since the storms on October 29.
POOLE council was accused last night of letting down the women of the town by a member of a group fighting for a refuge to aid victims of domestic violence. Jean Sargent, treasurer of the Women's Refuge Action Group said: "The Borough of Poole has let
A VILLAGE is hoping a £98,500 appeal to restore their church bells and crumbling tower will ring true with fund-raisers. Vital repairs are needed to Witchampton parish church's 15th- century tower and several of its bells. The tenor bell dating from 1776
THE KEY to identifying the mystery body washed up in Poole Harbour nearly a year ago was yesterday unveiled by detectives. The young male was found floating near Parkstone Yacht Club in January - and investigating officers believe a clay reconstruction
A PLAN to "fast track" the area's most gifted pupils was welcomed by Bournemouth councillors on Wednesday evening. Members of the education committee were presented with papers outlining Bournemouth's response to government calls for talented pupils to
POPPIES will be seen on the front of buses, taxis, fire engines, police cars, ambulances and even pizza delivery vans across Bournemouth over the next few days. As a special initiative the emergency services, Bournemouth Transport and the town's taxis
WINTER storms lashing Sandbanks are washing away the beach, leaving one of Poole's greatest assets, and perhaps the entire exclusive peninsular, open to erosion. Since 1984 a total of 29 metres of sand has been lost from the width of the beach, but now
THE Daily Echo's Pot of Gold appeal was given a big boost when 350 people enjoyed an informal Italian food and wine tasting in Bournemouth. The event, at the Carrington House Hotel in Knyveton Road, was staged by Asda St Paul's, with staff giving up their
A DEVOTED Poole residential care home owner is appealing to the Government and social services chiefs to bring in urgent funding improvements before more establishments are forced to close. Kate Hickson, 48, and husband Peter, 64, have run the Aranlaw
DISNEY'S THE KID (pg) *** APART from the word "Disney's" in the title, you know what kind of ground you're on as soon as you see Bruce Willis with something other than a grade two shaved head. The Brooster's cheesy grin and sparkling eyes get a full run
Bedazzled (12) *** PETER Cook and Dudley Moore's diabolically- lame take on the Faust legend may not seem the most obvious stuff for the writer-director of Groundhog Day and Analyze This to work with. That Harold Ramis has made it a relatively fulfilling
MIDFIELD maestro Matty Holmes is back as Dorchester return to Dr Martens Premier League action against high-flying Worcester City tomorrow. The former West Ham man missed last Saturday's 2-1 FA Trophy win over Boreham Wood at the Avenue. But he will be
JOE Topp doubled his year's mileage in Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers' first reliability ride of the winter. Topp, a partially-sighted newcomer who depends entirely on the back seat of a tandem for a ride, joined the Wheelers after meeting Steve Brown recently
OLD RIVALS MEET IN DERBY CLASH WEYMOUTH clash with rivals Havant and Waterlooville in a tinderbox south coast derby at the Wessex Stadium tomorrow. It is the sides' first match since Terras skipper Alex Browne suffered horrific facial injuries in an X-rated
FURIOUS Mel Machin has rubbished reports suggesting Cherries have not made contact with West Ham about keeping Jermaine Defoe at Dean Court as "absolute nonsense". Machin was angry after reading a story on regional Ceefax yesterday which claimed "both
A CLAMPDOWN on illegal parking in parts of Bridport's East Street has triggered calls for residents' permits. And a petition is now being drawn up by Steve Wheeler, David Churchill and Gretchen Bolton, who all live in East Street. Their move follows a
TEEN heart-throb Chesney Hawkes hit the right note with a group of Weymouth students. The 29-year-old rock star dropped in on a music lesson at Budmouth Technology College to show that he is still 'The One and Only'. Performing with his band Manna, former
LOLLIPOP, the puppy that survived against all the odds, is looking for a home. When mum Daisy had nine pups, only five survived and Lollipop wasn't expected to live. At two to three days old, the puppy broke her leg, then she got an eye infection and
POLICE have warned parents about the dangers of darkness after a child was knocked over on Chickerell Road, Weymouth. PC John Withers said the boy was injured after running out between parked cars. He added: "This youngster could have been killed and
THE FAMOUS Regent ghost, which has appeared off and on since the centre re-opened in its present form in 1983, will have company next week, when the award-winning Arena Theatre presents Scrooge, the musical version of Charles Dickens' celebrated festive
AN OFFICIAL guide says tourists are put off visiting Dorchester because of the poor facilities in the county town. Blue badge guide Ann Martin, who is employed by West Country Tourism, shows hundreds of people round the town's historic sites every year
Poole's John Hardy and Danny Duffy survived a massive 50 mile an hour impact with a tree during Sunday's Tempest 2000 Stages Rally in Surrey. The pair were taken to Frimley Park hospital for check-ups and x-rays after being rescued from the severely damaged
DORSET engineering firms are reporting a rise in total output volume in the third quarter of 2000. Some 42 per cent of firms saw their total output rise, according to EEF South, the engineering employers' association. Less than a quarter of the engineering
MIDFIELD maestro Matty Holmes is back as Dorchester return to Dr Martens Premier League action against high-flying Worcester City tomorrow. The former West Ham man missed last Saturday's 2-1 FA Trophy win over Boreham Wood at the Avenue. But he will be
A SIGHTING of a large cat sparked a police alert on Portland. Officers swooped on Church Ope Cove late yesterday morning after a call from a worried member of the public. The caller told police he had seen a black cat "about the size of an Alsatian" near
FAMILIES and councillors have welcomed news that the development of Dorchester's old St John Ambulance site is to be scaled down. Plans put forward last year by Signpost Housing Association were slammed as 'overcrowded, overbearing and claustrophobic'
BUILDING society members are likely to get better value over coming years as competition drives down net margins. Societies are having to increase their savings rates while simultaneously reducing their mortgage rates. Consequently their net margins -
A NEW Forest sand and gravel quarry has won a top award in a national health and safety competition. Hanson's quarry at Ibsley near Ringwood has been named as a runner-up in the small quarries' section of the event, run by the Quarry Products Association
