A DORCHESTER charity supporting older people has received a bumper donation. Age UK Dorchester was awarded a grant of £5,000 from the Nationwide Foundation, which will be used to support the staffing of its welfare benefits coordinator, who runs a team
BRIDPORT will be flying the flag when the Olympic torch relay heads through town on July 12. The Spirit of Bridport aims to stage a good show with flags and bunting for the procession but also to keep it up for a host of events being held throughout
THERE is now only one week to go to get your entry submitted for the Echo’s photo competition. As the closing date fast approaches, the Echo has been inundated with readers ‘favourite snapshots of Dorset. It’s still not too late however and readers
A MAN who attacked his ex-partner’s new boyfriend after finding him in her bed has been jailed for eight months. Joseph Michael Sutton, 24, admitted assaulting Jonathan Threadgold and causing him actual bodily harm after going after him with a wooden
DORCHESTER will be in fine voice at the premier performance of a song for the county town. The project called ‘A Song for Dorchester’ is the brain child of Dorchester Mayor Tess James and musicians Geof Edge and Kathie Prince. The idea was to ask people
A SERIES of events to celebrate the life of local hero TE Lawrence will take place in March. Lawrence (1888-1935), is famed for his exploits leading the Arab revolt against the Turks during the First World War. On March 4 and 11, Lawrence of Arabia
JOB candidates proved that they have talent during two recruitment days with a difference. The job seekers were vying for positions at the Riviera Hotel in Weymouth and set out to impress during the recuitment days at the Spyglass Inn. Final talent
A GROUP of friends who raised £33,000 for charity by shaving their heads have put their success down to the support of people in Weymouth. The friends, known as the Baldies, raised the money for the Dorset County Hospital’s Digital Mammography Appeal
A CORONER has ruled that a popular Dorchester student died from natural causes. Thomas Hardye School pupil Georgina Brunt was found unresponsive at her home in Upwey, Weymouth on January 10 and was rushed to hospital, where she was declared dead. At
A PORTLAND man who owes his life to the coastguard helicopter spoke out today against plans to axe the service. Steve Forder, who was airlifted to hospital after a horrific accident with an angle grinder, said the decision to get rid of the helicopter
THE newest-addition to Weymouth nightlife will feature scantily-clad barmaids serving drinks to customers. Club Vision, which is promoting its opening night next week featuring the ‘best dressed bikini barmaids in town’, has been met with a
STAFF at Peacocks stores in Weymouth, Dorchester and Bridport have been told they will keep their jobs. The fashion chain, which went into administration in January, has been sold to Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which announced closures of 338 Peacocks stores
A PENSIONER has been ordered to pay £7,515 for ‘butchering’ trees in an Area of Outstanding Nat-ural Beauty. Albert King, of Weymouth Bay Avenue, Weymouth was found guilty of permitting the wilful destruction of protected trees following a trial at Dorchester
WEYMOUTH and Portland Borough Council is to freeze its share of the council tax for the second year in a row. Councillors approved the 2012-13 budget, including council tax levels, at a full council meeting last night. Members heard
NINE vehicles were ordered off the road in Dorset following an operation focusing on HGVs by police and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA). In total, 49 goods vehicles were stopped at the checkpoint on the A31 near Ashley Heath and were
A NEWSPAPER delivery boy has been praised for his quick thinking after he alerted a gas company to a potential leak in Dorchester. Sam White, 14, was doing his rounds in Sandringham Court when he noticed the smell of gas. As it was early in the morning
HALLELUJAH – 90s music legends Happy Mondays have been named as the Sunday night headline act at this year’s Camp Bestival. Featuring their original and definitive line-up, back together for the first time in 19 years, the ‘Madchester’ trailblazers will
WEYMOUTH and Portland has the highest level of asbestos related death in Dorset, according to a new study. The survey by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), found the death rate from inhaling deadly asbestos dust is higher than the national
UPWEY artist Fiona Robinson opens her latest exhibition, Parallel Lines of Enquiry, at Bridport Arts Centre tomorrow. The stark, simple and stunning display in a range of media including graphite, pencil, white chalk, charcoal, wax and oil paint, arose
BIG bands are continuing to come to Weymouth and the next one onstage in the Ocean Room are InMe, veteran guitar rockers from Essex who have toured Europe and shared a stage with the likes of Nickelback, Limp Bizkit, Pendulum, Deftones, Serj Tankian,
They say that if you can remember the 90s, you obviously weren’t there. So if you were in a field somewhere in Hampshire 20 years ago, getting sorted for Es and whizz, but have since regained consciousness, it must feel like you’ve never been away. For
THE great British tradition of panto is alive and well and living in Cattistock. Those local residents who took themselves along to the Savill Hall last week will have witnessed a treat. A bunch of amateurs were doing what the professionals might do
The Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has been involved in the restoration project of The Osmington White Horse. James Hamilton (1748-1829), the architect responsible for many of Weymouth’s Georgian Buildings, designed the figure.
I refer to the article ‘Safety concern as Condor moves out’ (Echo, Feb 16). There has been a problem caused by the downward thrust from both variable controlled pitch propellers and waterjet action for many years, not only here in Weymouth, but in other
A UNION leader says his organisation wants to see all officer pay at Dorset County Council capped at £50,000 during the period of public sector cutbacks. Gary Pattison, Dorset branch secretary for the GMB union, described the current senior
THE HUGE salaries paid to senior council officers have been described as ‘horrendous’. Dorset County Council has released figures that show it spends nearly £2.5million on the salaries of 30 management staff, who earn between £50,022 and
FEARS are growing for the future of Weymouth port after Condor Ferries sailings were postponed for at least another month. Condor re-routed its cross-Channel sailings to Poole last week after safety concerns were raised about the structure
Sticker news WEYMOUTH resident Simon Wilkins is supporting next summer’s Olympic and Paralympic sailing events. The 53-year-old from The Esplanade has claimed one of the latest batch of 10,000 Bring on the Games window stickers produced by the Dorset
WORK to repair the Condor Ferry berth on Weymouth harbourside will take at least a month to complete. The Condor ferry will stay using Poole for journeys until the end of March. Weymouth and Portland Borough Council said that work to
GEORGE Rolls has promised vice-chairman Mark Coleman that he will leave Weymouth FC debt free and in positive hands the day his family decides to call time at the Bob Lucas Stadium. Rolls is currently looking into a possible takeover of Kettering Town
PAUL Cocks has instructed solicitors to take legal action against George Rolls over the majority shareholding his family possesses in Weymouth FC. The former director is adamant the Cambridge-based businessman reneged on an agreement when he
TREVOR Senior believes tomorrow’s encounter has taken on greater significance in the wake of midweek results. Fellow strugglers Radstock Town moved out of the Toolstation Western Premier Division drop-zone with a 2-1 win over Wells City on Tuesday night
CHRIS Hicks insists his Weymouth Sports side can only get better following last week’s drab draw with Chickerell United Reserves. The joint-boss was left frustrated by the below-par display after his men had earned an impressive 4-3 win over rivals Upwey
ALAN Knight insists the Magpies cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to keep their play-off hopes alive. Following almost five weeks without a Blue Square Bet South fixture, results elsewhere have left Dorch-ester Town nine points adrift of the top
GARY Bailey believes last week’s setback will become a distant memory with victory at home to Holt United tomorrow (2pm). Portland United were held to a 1-1 draw at struggling Cranborne last time out, thus inflicting a minor dent in their title ambitions
ALTHOUGH wary of tomorrow’s opponents, Paul Harding reckons Swanage & Wareham Seconds could be forced to field a weakened line-up at Bestwall (2.30pm). The reason being that the Swans’ first team face a must-win encounter as they look to ease their relegation
AN EXCITING year ‘like no other’ is forecast for the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA). In addition to hosting the Olympic and Paralympic sailing events at the end of July, the world-class venue has an action-packed diary that encompasses
