A SALES assistant was threatened with a large knife held to his throat as a "cool and calm" robber stole hundreds of pounds from the safe. Simon Cojeen, 29, was left with scratches to his neck after his terrifying ordeal as he was closing up the Dreams
A WORLDWIDE trip-of-a-lifetime has turned to tragedy after a young Dorset man was found dead in Cambodia. Simon Wareham, aged 25, died on Wednesday (Nov 3), although details surrounding his death are unclear. A Foreign and Commonwealth office spokeswoman
TWO Bournemouth Second World War veterans will be hoping for a lorra, lorra votes when they join Cilla Black and Blue's Duncan James on Saturday, for the final of the National Lottery Helping Hand Awards. Ron Jones, of Bournemouth, and Christchurch-based
A MAN who wielded a knife in a Bournemouth post office while members of the public stood in a queue has been warned he could be sent to jail. Beau Beale, 19, held the four-inch kitchen knife in front of him as he hurled abuse at the staff of Southbourne
Kevin Nash travelled to Ethiopia to find out more about the work of the VSO. Richard Crease took the pictures SUDDENLY Ethiopia is back in the news. Twenty years after the terrible famine that appalled the planet and inspired Band Aid, Bob Geldof is assembling
LOVE them or hate them - one billion of us worldwide are now slaves to our mobile phones. But did you know that the creator of one of the most influential communication creations of the 20th century lives right here in Dorset? And now, thanks to an article
VILLAGERS at Wool reacted angrily to news that Winfrith could become the first site in Dorset to get a high-tech waste treatment centre. At a packed public meeting in Wool last night, Dorset County Council planners faced a barrage of questions from worried
Afterlife (15) UCI (Sun, Tues only) See preview Alfie (15) UCI, Odeon * Desperately poor remake finds Jude Law smoothing out all the rough and ready edges that made Michael Caine so memorable in the original. Alien vs Predator (15) UCI, Odeon ** Monster
CHRISTMAS is traditionally a time of giving. Eccentric indie filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, who made Crumb and Ghost World, has an early festive present for you here that won't be forgotten in a hurry. Bad Santa guzzles down the spirit of Christmas by the bottle
MORGAN Spurlock's witty and frightening documentary follows the first-time feature filmmaker as he agrees to spend 30 days eating nothing but three square meals of food available over the counter at McDonald's, ensuring he eats everything on the menu
ACCORDING to The Bible, evil begets evil. This notion, that from bad seeds blossom poisoned fruit, is at the core of the American remake of Takashi Shimizu's cult horror Ju-On: The Grudge. Interestingly, rather than transplant the original story to some
WHEN his mother May (Lindsay Duncan) falls ill, ambitious journalist Kenny (Kevin McKidd) returns home to a close-knit Scottish community to take care of his 21-year-old sister Roberta (Paula Sage), who has Down's Syndrome and has lived at home her entire
NOT long ago most thirteen-year-old girls would be happy with new clothes, glittery nail varnish and the latest boyband CD. Now all they want for Christmas is their very own, real-life 'ickle baby. In the deeply depressing Britain's Youngest Mums &
3 Wiltshire Road, Bransgore; 82919, extension to garage, (additional plan); New Forest Care and Repair, 65 Christchurch Road, Ringwood (for Ms Casey). HSBC Bank, 26 Brookley Road, Brockenhurst; 83038, lower height of ATM, install hand rails to front entrance
STANDING at the door of 10 Downing Street alongside pupils from Bournemouth School, teenage asylum seeker Andrei Bazanov was almost moved to tears. Sixth formers from the local grammar had travelled to London with the 19-year-old to present a 1,400 name
MOTORISTS who drive too fast along Bridport's West Bay Road are being warned to slow down by a flashing sign. The new speed indicator is the latest weapon in residents' on going fight to stop drivers using the road as a racetrack. Town Councillor Gill
BRIDPORT'S town crier was left speechless when a policeman told him off - for shouting in the street! "That's what I'm supposed to do," a bemused John Morey told the young community support officer after making a proclamation in Dorchester on Saturday
A FUTURISTIC harbourside housing development at West Bay has finally got the go ahead. Revised plans for 43 flats, two town houses, a restaurant and shops on the Old Shipyard site were approved by district councillors - despite continued opposition from
IT'S time to check out what music you're making, so here's a selection of some of the CD's you've been sending in. ALPHINO'S EP, Title Goes Here, offers four well-produced tracks. Opener L.M.B is catchy and angsty with singer Ian Crabb showcasing some
IT is little more than two years since Joseph Shabalala, the visionary leader of African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, faced one of the biggest nightmares of his life. His wife of 30 years Nellie was murdered, gunned down as she walked to church
PLANS to build a £30m waste processing plant and power station have been condemned. More than 250 villagers from Wool and the surrounding area vowed to fight the proposed new 'mechanical biological treatment' complex at Winfrith after hearing it explained
CONTROVERSIAL cutbacks at Weymouth Pavilion will mean the loss of six jobs and the cancellation of shows. Councillors have voted to reduce services in order to save around £120,000 a year from the loss-making complex. The council's head of financial services
AN 83-YEAR-OLD man who is missing from his Lancashire home may have travelled to Dorset, say police. Fears are mounting for the safety of Lewis Thomas Peeke, of Bridge Close, Lostock Hall, near Preston, who was last seen at 9am on Tuesday. Lancashire
HUNDREDS of civil servants in Dorset today downed tools to protest against proposals to axe more than 100,000 public service jobs across the UK. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union organised a national one-day strike for people who work in
BRIDPORT'S town crier was left speechless when a policeman told him off - for shouting in the street. "That's what I'm supposed to do," a bemused John Morey told the young community support officer after making a proclamation in Dorchester. The colourful
BOSCOMBE beach could become a flagship attraction for wheelchair users, if ambitious plans to improve access for disabled people go ahead. Seafront bosses and wheelchair users gathered at the Russell Cotes Museum on November 4 to look at ways of making
TEENAGE boozers have been feeling the full force of the law in New Milton as police crack down on juvenile drinking in the town. In the last two weekends of October officers confiscated 147 beers and five bottles of spirits from under-age drinkers. "In
A DISABLED man is furious after being turned down for a parking bay outside his house. Don Byrom has been fighting Blandford Town Council for nearly two years for the right to park outside his Highfields bungalow. The 59-year-old, who uses crutches, is
"IS THE vicar thicker?" asked notorious quiz show host Anne Robinson, but Blandford's Tim Storey proved he's no weak link when he stole the show last night. The rector of the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul endured a grilling from the icy host of
POLICE in Lyme Regis and Charmouth have pledged to deliver a first class, high performing and cost effective service to the community, and to make the area a safer place. In a leaflet published this week which outlines changes to the local service, Inspector
A MOTORCYCLIST who died in a collision in Ilminster on Wednesday afternoon is believed to have been a former Lyme Regis man who was living in Taunton. As the News went to press, police were yet to confirm the identity of the driver. Two people died in
A PLUCKY Lyme Regis woman has won a silver medal for Great Britain in an international Tae Kwon Do competition. Sharon Ward, 29, from Raymond's Hill, scooped the prestigious prize at the Korean Tae Kwon Do American Association international championships
THERE is something deeply moving about the men - and it's mostly men - who have appeared on TV in the last 24 hours, to talk about the suicide bomb murder of the three Black Watch soldiers. Tough, 50-something blokes with gruff, Scottish voices, most
BLAME it on the West Wing if you must, but I am fascinated by American politics, and the Presidential election in particular. I'm hooked by pundits who can use words like "gubernatorial" and "bipartisan" in casual conversation. I'm entranced by the unnecessarily
20 years after the famine that shocked the world, volunteer Michela Norman is helping Ethiopia build a brighter future AT Poole High School, she was simply Miss Norman, the physics teacher. But in Awassa, a town 200 miles south of Addis Ababa, she's something
THERE were lumps in the throats of many members of the audience when two-year-old Casey-Jade Vines joined in a Bournemouth University awards ceremony. She and her grandmother were there to collect a diploma on behalf of Casey's mother Samantha, whose
HE may have been branded a liar, taken a battering over Iraq and been the subject of intense speculation over the state of his health, especially after Friday's heart operation. But even in their worst nightmares Labour party activists can't see Tony
NICOLE Kidman would probably rather forget this year's Venice Film Festival where her controversial new feature, the metaphysical love story Birth, received its world premiere. Firstly, a number of critics voiced their disapproval during a packed press
A SALES assistant was threatened with a large knife held to his throat as a "cool and calm" robber stole hundreds of pounds from the safe. Simon Cojeen, 29, was left with scratches to his neck after his terrifying ordeal as he was closing up the Dreams
WEST Dorset MP Oliver Letwin is backing calls for Miles Cross to be considered as a possible site for Bridport's waste transfer station. The shadow chancellor has thrown his weight behind the idea after hearing concerns that the county's chosen location
OBJECTORS will determine which of Bridport's two main primary schools is the first to get long-awaited road safety improvements. New 20mph speed limits along with road humps and pinch points are planned for outside both St Mary's, in Skilling Hill Road
OFSTED inspectors have confirmed what parents already knew - that Mountjoy special school in Bridport provides quality education for their children. The positive report comes at a time when the school is facing up to proposals to close Mountjoy and replace
FINDING quality permanent staff to help manage its 4,500 homes is no problem for Signpost Housing Group in Blandford, who have chosen to enlist the help ofJobshop UK. The Poole based Recruitment Company, which also supplies temporary staff to Signpost
AGAINST the background of a cooling housing market, Dorset retirement home specialist McCarthy & Stone has reported a 27 per cent rise in its profits for the past year. Its preliminary results show that during the 12 month accounting period the award
"ALWAYS look on the bright side of life," sang Eric Idle from the cross in the closing scenes of Monty Python's Life of Brian. The scene raised a laugh because it seemed to sum up the ludicrousness and folly of false optimism. But research suggests that
STAFF at a warehouse on the Ferndown Industrial Estate were examining the wreckage of a dramatic fire on Thursday. A male employee discovered a large fire had taken hold of the building in Haviland Road when he opened the doors of the main warehouse at
Laughing Gravy: Lighthouse, Poole. AN intriguing exploration of one of the legends of the silent screen is on offer in Zenith Theatre's latest play Laughing Gravy which investigates Stan Laurel, his inexhaustible quest for the next joke and of course
RAW but refined, rugged and in pure voice with their world-renowned harmonies, Ladysmith Black Mambazo left an audience at Poole's Lighthouse theatre enthralled. The nine-strong vocal group sang favourites such as Raise your Spirit High, Rain, Rain Beautiful
A DORCHESTER-based charity which helps people on the breadline is urging the better-off to think of others this Christmas. Dorchester Poverty Action Group was set up by Dorchester Churches Together 15 years ago, to tackle poverty in the county town. It
ARMED raiders held a Ringwood man hostage in his own bedroom while they burgled his home in a terrifying broad-daylight attack on Tuesday (November 2). The man in his late 40s was at home in Bishops Court between 1pm and 1.30pm when he went to answer
"MOST adults would not know where to get information on learning. "Most learning providers do not take in to account the needs of shift workers and parents. "It is difficult for people in rural areas to find further education courses and work-related
A LYME Regis woman whose son died of bone cancer has hit out at the vandals who litter the town gardens and light fires in the gazebo. Hazel Read described the people who had recently sprayed graffiti on the walls and trampled on the flowerbeds as 'mindless
WORK to improve the Heritage Coast Centre in Charmouth is on schedule and should be finished by April next year. Staff at the centre this week told the News that although last week's storms had slowed things down slightly, the contractors were already
A LYME REGIS woman who suffers from the debilitating Lyme dis ease went to Downing Street yesterday to fight for better treatment of the illness. Aimee Fay, 36, from Pine Walk, went with other suf ferers from across the UK to present the health secretary
PERHAPS it's one of Nature's design faults, but for some reason or other I look daft in a hat. Any hat. If I go out shopping with my wife (which is something I avoid wherever possible because I'm not very good company on such expeditions) and we find
A JEWEL in the crown of Christchurch has been sullied by overflowing litter bins and piles of unsightly and unhealthy rubbish left to blow around the Mudeford Quay tourist trap. That's the claim of the Stanpit and Mudeford residents association which
CHERRIES star Jason Tindall is hoping he can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel in his painstaking battle to regain full fitness. Tindall has endured three minor operations in the space of 12 months in an attempt to cure a persistent knee
