SPEEDING motorists who slam on the brakes just before passing a speed camera are in for a nasty shock in Dorset from next month. The county will be one of the first in Britain to use state-of-the-art new mobile cameras which can spot a speeding vehicle
A LONG-term drug abuser has admitted that he was responsible for a crash on the A35 earlier this year in which his wife died. Michael Trent, 48, of Cunningham Crescent, Bournemouth, pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court to causing the death of Karen
NEARLY one in four Dorset motorists who were breath- tested were over the legal drink-drive limit, shocking new statistics have shown. Out of 7,622 drivers breath-tested on the county's roads between April 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004, 1,729 gave positive
PENSIONER Sheila Jones has hit out at Bournemouth council for failing to protect the public from the notorious Blandford fly. Mrs Jones suffered a swollen leg and severe pain after being bitten in her garden. But when she contacted Bournemouth council
BOURNEMOUTH will be caught up in carnival fever this August with a week-long festival of family fun. Following the success of last year's event, organisers are confident that this year's celebrations will be bigger and better than ever. Displays of disco
MARK Twain once described rural England as "grass, and trees and shrubs, and roads, and hedges, and gardens, and houses, and vines and churches, and castles and here and there a ruin - and over it all a mellow dream haze of history". Rodney Legg captures
A COLOURFUL ceremony dating from medieval times will be relived in Poole this summer as the town reminds its neighbours of its borough boundaries. During a four-hour, 32-mile perambulation on Saturday, June 12, bailiff Ray Knight and six boundsmen will
MILITARY might from the past seven decades thundered into action over the Purbeck landscape on Sunday as Bovington's giant tank festival got under way. (June 3) Thousands of visitors flocked to the tank museum's third Tankfest to see some of the world's
DURING the 1980s The Brat Pack ruled cinema screens and young audiences. Everyone had their favourite, whether it was Demi Moore or Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe or Emilio Estevez, to name just a handful. Two decades on and a few have dropped off the radar
19-25a Purewell (Purewell Conservation Area); 8/04/0287, demolition of existing hall and commercial buildings, conversion and alterations to frontage parade to provide four flats. Erection of additional two houses and covered access to frontage. Erection
A GROUP of schoolchildren voiced their fears about road safety at a meeting with local councillors. The eight and nine-year-olds, from Springdale First School in Broadstone, Poole, gave a presentation at the Bearwood, Merley and Broadstone area committee
DISAPPOINTED residents of Hamworthy in Poole have lost a battle to safeguard their cherished park within a £2 million flood defence scheme. The Environment Agency's proposal to build earth mounds, walls and access ramps at the rear of popular Hamworthy
DORSET skipper Sean Walbridge will have more eye surgery tomorrow - dashing his hopes of being fit to play for the county against Wales this weekend. The former Dorchester off-spinner was rushed into Southampton General at the end of April after complaining
HAVEN Wildcats hopes of a top six Conference League finish this summer have been boosted by the arrival of British under-21 star Dan Giffard. The Sussex-based teenager joins Weymouth from Stoke Spitfires and will make his debut in Monday's four-team challenge
THERE were few more depressing business stories last week than the account of the 23-year-old laundry worker who died after being trapped inside a giant washing machine at Sunlight Service Group, Winton. The Health & Safety Executive accused Sunlight
MAY 25: Customer Service Seminar. Dorchester. 6pm-7.30pm. Details, 08454 588557, www.businesslinkwessex.co.uk 25: Rural Dorset Business Club. Gillingham. 6.30pm-9.30pm. Details, Val Pothecary 01747 821761. 26: Dorset Business Advice Clinic. Poole. 9am
LOCAL businesses and charities employing fewer than 100 staff and with no full time health and safety advisor can improve their health and safety awareness, procedures and management by winning free professional RoSPA Health and Safety Training. The Esso
BOURNEMOUTH-based washroom hygiene specialists, Swisher has won the The HSBC Award for Enterprise 2004 at the Franchisor of the Year Awards held at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The awards, organised by the British Franchise Association and sponsored
ANDRE Compton has been called up for Pirates to ride in four meetings out of their next six, starting on Friday (May 28) at Peterborough. The experienced Yorkshire-based rider is the second of Poole RIAS' two doubling up men in their nine-man Elite League
COUNCILLORS have voted against plans for a temporary site for gypsies and travellers in East Dorset. Members of East Dorset District Council's policy and resources committee said that a proposed site at Avon Castle Chipping Store near Ringwood was "inappropriate
A SELF-TAUGHT artist has beaten off international competition to scoop a top award. Duff Pearce, 61, of Trinity Terrace, Weymouth, won the Purchase Prize from the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol. Over 320 pieces were entered in the competition
SKATEBOARDERS in Lymington are giving a headache to a handful of residents - and the town council. Fed up with the bash and crash and of landing skateboards, the unhappy residents got environmental health officers on their side. Now the town council has
SKILLS sharpened by a lifetime working in the New Forest around his home at Frogham near Fordingbridge were demonstrated by retired Forestry Commission craftsman Peter Brown at the annual Hampshire Wood Fair at Sparsholt Acrigultural College, Near Winchester
A CONTROVERSIAL plan to add new hangar space at Compton Abbas airfield has been given the green light by North Dorset district councillors. Airfield owner Clive Hughes wants to fill in space between two existing hangars to boost security for light aircraft
A CHRISTCHURCH man has appeared at Crown Court charged with the murder of Darren Britton (pictured). Andrew Peter Hiscock, 18, of Amethyst Road, Christchurch, spoke only to confirm his name in the hearing at Winchester Crown Court on Monday (May 24).
CIVIC chiefs at Christchurch breathed a sigh of relief on Monday (May 24) when travellers who camped in the council offices car park over the weekend moved out before today's pomp and circumstance of the annual mayor-making. The convoy of some 10 caravans
GANGS are regularly terrorising the Dorset countryside, trespassing on large estates and taking part in savage hare coursing. As the National Farmers Union (NFU) presses the government to take urgent action to give police more powers of arrest for hare
A SECOND trader prosecuted for displaying an A-board outside his shop has hit out at Bournemouth council's "double standards." Kevin Old, franchise owner of Cash Generators in Christchurch Road, was forced to admit defeat after losing a year-long battle
PART-TIME Bournemouth taxi driver Lee Thompson joins many of the world's golfing stars this week with a burning desire to make the halfway cut at Wentworth. The Dudsbury touring player is still haunted by his previous appearance in the Volvo PGA Championship
DAVID Cook announced his recent return to the Dorset golf scene in the most emphatic way by winning the county championship for the first time. The tall, powerful Parkstone left-hander annihilated the opposition on his home course in high temperatures
SPEEDING motorists who slam on the brakes just before passing a speed camera are in for a nasty shock in Dorset from June. The county will be one of the first in Britain to use state-of-the-art new mobile cameras which can spot a speeding vehicle from
GREAT-grandmother Valerie Kerley spent her 70th birthday enjoying life in the fast lane, on the back of a Harley Davidson - or a Hog to its fans. The pensioner was treated to a whistle-stop tour of Bournemouth and Poole on the back of the classic bike
DORCHESTER'S new mayor fired a broadside at West Dorset District Council last night for failing to deliver promises and wasting money on consultants. Coun Tim Harries launched the attack in his maiden speech as the county town's first citizen and harked
TOP Tory Oliver Letwin is used to tough questioning in his role of shadow chancellor. But the West Dorset MP faced a grilling from unexpected quarters when he visited a school. Pupils at Stickland School held a Question Time session with Mr Letwin when
A WARRANT has been issued for the arrest of the man - apparently a dog dealer - who left nine puppies in a sweltering car in Weymouth last week. The man, who lives in the north of England, is said to have left the nine animals in a car parked by the Condor
SO, did you enjoy the FA Cup final then? Nah, me neither. In fact, I didn't even watch it. Why not? Well, it was sunny, for a start, a good day to be out and about. Plus there's too much punditry and not enough of the really entertaining stuff, like Cup
WEYMOUTH'S glamour clash with Premiership giants Liverpool is almost certainly off following yesterday's sacking of Reds boss Gerard Houllier. Hopes were high that stars like Michael Owen, Harry Kewell and Steven Gerrard would grace the Wessex Stadium
THE summer season of corporate hospitality and staff entertainment could lead to extra tax bills. That's the warning from Rowena Marsh, Tax Partner with Grant Thornton's Poole office, who says; "Companies need to be aware of the tax bill they may face
Alanis Morissette - So-Called Chaos (Maverick) Heaven save us from the petty outbursts of pampered superstars hell bent on visiting their neuroses upon us from the safety of their multi-million dollar lifestyles. Alanis returns with a new album that's
DORSET'S speeding motorists face a new hi-tech enemy on the county's roads. New mobile speed cameras which can detect drivers travelling too fast from as far away as two kilometres will come into use in the next few days. Hi-tech ProLaser III devices
LEWIS Buxton admits he would "jump at the chance" to come back to Dean Court for a third loan spell next season. The Portsmouth defender, who was a regular for Cherries this term during his season-long loan, is expected to be told he will be allowed to
