THIEVES are stealing tons of lead and copper worth thousands of pounds from Church of England sites in Dorset. The scale of the problem emerged after an insurance firm revealed it had already had to deal with more than £3.5 million worth of claims nationally
How is it that the railway connection between Dorchester and London, on a Saturday at least (I don't know about weekdays) is called a 'service' ? How can it dare to call itself so when it takes a half hour longer to complete than it takes one to fly
THE RIDERS for Dorset-based Team Frontrow GB have been clocking up the miles on the county's lanes after receiving their custom-made bikes for the Dakar Rally. The bikes arrived at the team's HQ at Rogers Hill, near Briantspuddle, in time for some local
CAMPAIGNERS who hoped to take legal action to stop a controversial Tetra mast planned for Dorchester's Keep, have given up the fight for fear of a massive bill. More than 500 people signed a petition opposing the antenna proposed by O2 Airwave and designed
A BODY recovered on the seabed off Swanage has been identified as a missing diver who disappeared two years ago. The coroner has identified the body as Mark James Steel, 22, from Daventry, Northamptonshire. He vanished seconds after surfacing whilst
A CRASH between a Wilts and Dorset bus and a car caused traffic queues outside the Weymouth Bay holiday park on Preston Road. (THURS) A spokesman for Dorset Police said that the collision involved a bus and a white Peugeot belonging to a Weymouth man
ONE of Dorset's major trunk routes has made a top 10 of roads which according to figures have the highest number of speed cameras yet are still the scene of many major accidents. The A35, which in Dorset runs from the Devon border to Christchurch, has
SUPERFAST racing in strong winds saw windsurfers reach speeds of 35 mph at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta. The event at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy boasted a record number of entries for its second year. More than 300 competitors
I refer to the letter from Roger Tipney (Use space and vote for good of the area', Echo August 27) regarding economic issues within the borough. I can assure him and other readers that the borough council is actively working on addressing economic problems
Of course Bill Bryson blasted the Relief Road! As president of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England he had no choice. Whatever his personal opinions, if he had expressed approval of the scheme the CPRE would have appointed a new President
PLANNERS have backed a new 76-bed hotel at Southwell Park on Portland. The scheme, which will convert and extend Portland House, will also include an altered front access, a canopied foyer entrance and a lift lobby. Park managing director Ray Bulpit
BUDDING documentary makers learned the tricks of the trade when a production company visited Portland to help the schoolchildren make a range of documentary films. A group of 10 Year 9 students at Royal Manor school, Portland, spent the day with the
ACTIVISTS planning a new eco-settlement in West Dorset claim council planners are refusing to recognise them and their plans. The eco-warriors took the unusual step in March of delivering their proposals for the environmentally friendly development to
SOLDIERS from Dorset's own regiment will exercise their right to march through Dorchester on Saturday. Members of The Rifles, which formed on February 1 this year following the amalgamation of The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry with The Light Infantry
WAR is going to break out in Maiden Newton... and the villagers cannot wait. A re-enactment is planned for next June with participants coming from as far afield as Holland, and organisers are keen to attract volunteers to help out. The event is being
A PUBLIC inquiry could be called after planners said they could support infilling a nationally important nature site. The Portland Stone scheme affecting an island gully designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest went before planners yesterday
Jon Bevan will fulfill the second of his season's goals tomorrow when he represents Great Britain and Ireland against America in the PGA Cup in Georgia. The Wessex Golf Centre professional, who booked his place in the team via a play-off at the Glenmuir
WEYMOUTH'S Carole Smith has won gold at the World Triathlon Championships in the over-50 age group. The Hamburg event consisted of a 750m swim, a 22km bike around the centre of the city, and a 5km run. There were huge crowds in Germany as the World
Dorset Senior League WITCHAMPTON UNITED 1 WEYMOUTH SPORTS 0 Sports suffered their second defeat in three games when they lost away to Witchampton. The visitors got off to a lively start and enjoyed the upper hand in the early exchanges, although scoring
Dorset Senior League Allendale 1 Easton United 1 Easton lost their 100 per cent start to the season but remain on top of the Dorset Senior League table. From the off the in-form islanders took the game to the home team and it looked only a matter of
Dorset Senior League CHICKERELL UNITED 4 AC MATRAVERS 0 CHICKERELL United kept up their unbeaten start to the season with a convincing 4-0 victory over visiting AC Matravers in the Dorset Senior League. Manager Dave Drage was delighted with the result
THOMAS Hardye Sixth Form student Ben Peach won three medals, including gold, at the EFSA European Line Class and Boat Fishing Champion-ships in Weymouth. Peach, the only junior representing the English team, won gold in the Junior Section of the Boat
WEYMOUTH-based sailor Paul Goodison finished sixth yesterday in the Laser class on the first day of the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy. The day started in difficult conditions with south-westerly winds gusting
DORCHESTER Citizens' Advice Bureau helped people deal with debts of more than £5 million last year. And debt adviser Keith Greening warned the problem could get worse. He said the high cost of renting property in the Dorchester area was one factor
WEST Dorset MP Oliver Letwin joined helpers for a beach clean at Abbotsbury. The work was being carried out as part of a nationwide operation by Marine Conservation Society volunteers. The clean-up was also used to highlight calls for a Marine Act to
A POSTAL worker who died after falling from a West Dorset cliff showed no signs of being suicidal, a coroner heard. Jack McDonnell, 27, of Jessops Avenue, Bridport, was found at the bottom of East Cliff, West Bay, on July 30. The inquest was told that
MILLIONS in cash for a Bere Regis bypass should be pledged by the leading waste company behind a major plan for a recycling depot at Binnegar south of the village, say Purbeck councillors. District and county councillor Captain Malcolm Shakesby said:
A VARIETY of events are lined up for the biggest and best Open4Business so far. The fortnight will launch on Monday, September 24, at Southwell Park on Portland with three events and end with Excellence Awards sponsored by Smart Group Recruitment Solutions
PART of a Weymouth housing estate was sealed off today after a man was found lying unconscious in the gutter. Police closed a section of Louviers Road, Littlemoor after the man was spotted on the roadside near the junction with Buddleia Close early this
SOUND and lighting kit worth £39,000 is not reaching the public despite being funded by tax payers' money, it has been warned. Some members of Dorchester Town Council are concerned that the money has been wasted after investment in sound and lighting
MOTORISTS face major disruption next month as workers tackle a main road that is breaking up in places. The A351 through Sandford is a main route linking Weymouth with the east of the county as well as taking traffic to and from Wareham, Swanage and
AMONG the latest group of Royal Navy recruits to successfully complete training at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall was 22-year-old Nathan Rodd from Portland. He joined the Royal Navy in June and took part in an eight-week intensive course designed to teach him
ACTOR and musician Mat Fraser is considering his prospects as a Shakespearian actor. They are, he decides, a rather more limited than for many of his fellow thespians. "I'm unlikely to be cast as Hamlet," he says. "I'd really screw up the sword fight
Wednesday After a day like today it is a night to compare swellings. A disturbed night’s sleep at Stockport’s Territorial Army barracks. We are surrounded by planes, trains and automobiles. At one point we started looking for Steve Martin and and John
POLICE are more likely to solve crime in Dorset than in many other places in the country, new figures out today reveal. Dorset Police has been placed 13th out of the 43 forces in England and Wales when it comes to sanction detections. This is when someone
