A BATTLING pensioner is prepared to go to prison after refusing to pay his massive council tax rise. Defiant Pete Porter says he is making a stand for OAPs across the country. Mr Porter, who lives in Canford Heath, says he would rather go to jail than
CIVIC leaders have been accused of "killing" Bournemouth's tourism trade by allowing so many of the town's hotels to close. During a heated Planning Board debate on proposals to convert the Fiveways Hotel in Boscombe into flats, Councillor Mike Everingham
DRIVING a bull through the streets of Bournemouth might no longer make you liable to prosecution. Loitering at church doors could also be legalised, and there could be an end to the ban on "wilful jostling" or the throwing of orange peel. Councillors
CLOSE friends of the Townsend Estate stabbing victim have paid tribute to their "smashing mate". Residents were in a state of shock after waking to the news that the man found stabbed outside the One-Stop convenience store in Jewell Road on Monday had
THE DCCI AGM takes place on September 17. Okay, I accept that this is not the most exciting happening in Dorset this autumn - AGMs are rarely exciting - but this one will be different in one significant way. I have written previously about our intention
BUSINESSES which rent their commercial premises should "prepare for the worst" ahead of changes to the way that lease duty is calculated. Changes are due to come into effect on December 1 2003 despite a great deal of lobbying from businesses - notably
COMPANIES could be unfairly reported to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) because new moneylaundering legislation is too wide-ranging, it is feared. Chartered accountants warn that the new money-laundering rules are so severe that they
BENEFIT cheats in Purbeck beware - three district councils have teamed up to beat fraudsters. Resources and expertise has been pooled between Purbeck District Council, West Dorset and North Dorset district councils in a bid to tackle benefit fraud. Purbeck
THREE local youngsters from The Dorset Golf and Country Club are celebrating after putting their way on to one of the most famous golf courses in the country, The Belfry. Dean Paulley, Rob Crowe and Stephen Packer secured their spot in the national final
COACH Peter Grant insists Cherries will be the best prepared side in Division Two come the big kick-off after seeing his boys chalk up their fourth pre-season victory in five at Bashley. Grant, deputising for boss Sean O'Driscoll who was on a scouting
Weymouth boss Steve Claridge could not have hoped for a better return to his former stomping ground at Aldershot Town last night as his side gunned down the newly promoted Conference side in this pre-season friendly. Claridge made his long-awaited return
SPEEDWAY fans get their first chance to meet Weymouth Wildcats riders tomorrow night. Promoter Brian White is hosting a supporters forum at the Wessex Stadium when a number of stars due to turn out in Weymouth's famous race jacket will take part in a
PIRATES team manager Neil Middleditch is looking for his side to produce a winning final push in the run-in to the regular Elite League season to make sure they clinch a top-two title play-off place. Poole Meridian Lifts have a nine-point lead at the
AFTER their huge success at the Bournemouth International Centre in May boy band Blazin' Squad are set to make a return visit. They will take to the road once again this winter for a full-scale headline tour that will take in 13 major venues up and down
A MOB of youths rampaged through Dorchester last night carrying out a string of vicious assaults. The four-strong gang left nine victims in their wake as they ran riot from 7pm until 3am. The violence started in the Borough Gardens between 7pm and 8pm
WEYMOUTH policeman Robin Povall died when his pedal bike collided with a car which had turned across his path, an inquest heard. Father-of-three Mr Povall, 50, was involved in the crash with a Nissan Micra in March this year in Radipole Lane, Weymouth
A TRAILBLAZING new scheme in Weymouth to crack down on antisocial behaviour is paying off, a police chief said today. Inspector Tony Rudd said Operation Bridge, which extends from Portland to Preston and aims to deter people from following a life of crime
MORE than 30 jobs will go at a long-standing Horticultural Research International (HRI) station near Lymington when it closes in October. The axe has been poised over the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) centre at Efford - a internationally-acclaimed
A NORTH Dorset lorry driver has been convicted of causing cruelty to a dog which later had to have a leg amputated. Magistrates sitting at Weymouth heard Michael Taylor, of West Bourton, near Gillingham did not seek veterinary treatment quickly enough
CHERRIES number two Peter Grant is set to pen a new Dean Court deal in the next few days that will see him gain the official title of assistant manager. Grant has been employed as player-coach since joining Cherries on a free transfer from Reading in
A PORTUGESE family has adopted the cleft palate baby boy who was abandoned there by his Bournemouth parents. Charles was dumped near Faro airport by parents Katherine Penny and Mark Beddoes on January 13 last year, when he was just three months old. Now
KEN Penny was transported back to the 1960s when he was having a clear-up at home, in Glenmoor Road, West Parley, and came across a Poole speedway souvenir programme. "It was dated 1969 and cost three shillings and sixpence," said Ken, 75. "That was a
LOAN sharks and irresponsible lenders are to face a crackdown in a radical overhaul of the UK's 32-year-old credit laws. Rules which often penalise consumers who pay back loans early will be scrapped and fairer rules put in their place. Consumer Affairs
DORSET tennis stars Jack Hartman and Emma Smith compete on tennis' biggest stage from August 18-23 after qualifying for the national finals of the Road to Wimbledon Under-14s Championship. Hartman, who triumphed in the Dorset boys' competition last year
SIMON Gale's tap-in just before half-time was all that separated Bridport and Dorchester United. In a game of few chances, Gale - last season's Bees top scorer - stroked the ball home from close range after Jason Thoday's free-kick was spilled by goalkeeper
CRAIG Boyce's whistle-stop tour of seemingly all of the clubs in this year's Elite League continues after he signed for struggling Ipswich until the end of the season. The 35-year-old replaces Paul Hurry, who has been dropped, in the Witches team and
MODERNISATION of the old building at Victoria Hospital, Wimborne, was given a major boost thanks to the announcement of two grants totalling £225,000 from the Friends of Victoria Hospital. And the community hospital has been praised as more efficient
Thursday 24 July: Rubber Soul: Northern Lights + Juice + Duende - Bartonka; Dino Baptiste & Darby Todd - Mr Kyps; Lewis sings the sound of the suburbs - The Woodman, Branksome; QED - Plough Inn, Tiptoe; Sludge Feast - Mr Smiths; Phil Clark Quartet
A COUNCIL worker accused of spanking two female work colleagues spoke of his relief after he was acquitted of the offence. Family and friends in the public gallery of Bournemouth Magistrates' Court cheered yesterday after Stephen Michael Mounce, 43, was
A 59-YEAR-OLD woman has been bound over to keep the peace by Weymouth magistrates after pushing another woman to the floor during a row in a supermarket queue. Magistrates heard how Nikki Evans, of Main Street in Broadmayne, was in a queue at the till
A GREEN energy plant could be sited at Poundbury to provide electricity for the Dorchester estate. A biomass power station would use waste, such as the by-products of sawmills and plant material or, more frequently, specially grown trees from a fast-growing
A DESCENDANT of the Tolpuddle Martyrs has hit out at the annual rally organised in honour of the working class heroes. Villager Nigel Pitman is the great-great nephew of James Hammett, one of six labourers transported to Australia in 1834 after forming
WEEK ENDING JULY 18 Land adjacent Cemetery Cottage, 86 Salisbury Road, Blandford; 2/2003/0688, Develop land by erection of 1 No dwelling and garage, create vehicular access; Blandford Forum Town Council. Gorcombe Farm, Thornicombe, Charlton Marshall;
MORE than 1,000 children took part in a day of sport at the Dorset Youth Games in Blandford. Schoolchildren aged nine to 15 from around the county were given the opportunity to take part in athletics, cricket, football, rugby, hockey, swimming, tennis
KEY defender Warren Cummings has handed Sean O'Driscoll a timely boost by declaring himself fit for the rest of pre-season. It was feared that Cummings could be ruled out until the start of the new campaign after suffering a reaction to the hernia operation
LAST Thursday there was an incident on Radio 4 which surely qualifies as one of those great broadcasting moments. Patrick Muirhead was reading the eight o'clock news when he was interrupted by an electronic rendition of Auld Lang Syne. He continued unflustered
