POLICE have arrested three women in connection with the alleged murder of Poole nurse Rui Li. The women, who are all from Bournemouth, have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. A spokesman from Dorset Police said: “Today three
SEVENTY table-tennis players from across the area took part in this year’s Weymouth and District Schools Individual Tournament, held at All Saints, Wey Valley and Holy Trinity. As well as the three host schools, St John’s, Chickerell, Sunninghill
A 91-YEAR-OLD woman who went missing from her home in Dorset has been found safe and well. Police appealed for information after Dorothy Large, who is known as Dot, disappeared from her home in Panorama Road, Poole at around 1.40pm today. Her
WEYMOUTH Ladies overcame Surrey Orcas to retain their title at the national tournament hosted by Ashcombe School, Dorking. The Seasiders became only the second club in the event’s 15-year history to achieve the feat following their 3-0 success
PORTLAND will be the starting point for a kayaking challenge between England and France to commemorate D-Day and raise money for five charities. Starting tomorrow Ben Collins, Dwayne Cadwallader, Colin Richardson, Matt Allmond, Richard Bentley
CONCERNS have been raised for a missing woman and her baby from Dorset. Police have released images in the hope that someone may have seen Ali Zhao, 32 and her 11 month-old baby, Kiki. They were last seen leaving an address in Colehill, Wimborne
DORSET County Council's planning committee has unanimously objected to proposals for an offshore wind farm. The committee met today to discuss a report on the Navitus Bay application in order to help the council prepare a response that will go
THE death knell is sounding for the coastguard control room in Weymouth after it emerged the building was being put on the market. The Dorset Echo-backed Save Our Lifesavers campaign has tried to persuade government ministers to rethink a decision
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after two break-ins in Lyme Regis. Jewellery including a Durham Light Infantry Brooch and tie pin and a pair of Christian Dior earrings, silverware and a large bottle of whisky were stolen from a house on Woodmead
The Gamekeeper pub is holding a curry night today to raise funds for St Mary’s Church, which was hit by flooding earlier in the year. The event starts at 6.30pm and includes a raffle.
A Pentecost Songs of Praise and Cream Tea event is being held at St Andrew’s Church in West Stafford this Sunday. There will be tea from 3pm to celebrate the birthday of the church with some birthday cake followed by a service at 4.30pm.
JOIN the Community Crooners. The singing group for over 50s meets every Tuesday from 10am to 11.30am at the YMCA, Reforne, Easton. It costs £3 per person. For more information call 01305 823789.
Discover wildflowers and wildlife at a disused Portland quarry. Dorset Wildlife Trust will be holding the event at King Barrow Quarries on Portland on Wednesday June 11 from 11am to 1pm. Booking is essential and people should wear suitable
Get your hands on cakes, crafts and fine Dorset produce at a village market. Preston Village Market will take place on Saturday from 10am to 12.30pm at St Andrew’s Church Rooms on Church Road, Weymouth. Entry is free but donations to chosen
ENJOY a trip out for Sunday lunch. Island Community Action will be running a trip to The Lobster Pot at Portland Bill on June 29. The minibus costs £3 per person and food is paid for separately. For more information call the ICA office
THE Dorset flag has been raised in London as part of a government initiative to celebrate local communities and traditional ties. The ceremony was carried out by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles outside the Department for Communities and
Anderson Manor in Blandford Forum will be throwing its gates open as part of the National Garden Scheme on Thursday from 2pm to 5pm. Visit andersonmanor.co.uk
A Music and Marriage themed flower festival is being held at St Simon and St Jude Church at Winterborne Monkton. The flower arrangements will be on show on Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22.
MILBORNE Movies will be screening The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on Friday, June 13. The film is being screened from 7.30pm at Milborne St Andrew Village Hall.
OVER 55s – get help with your weekly shop. Island Community Action runs a shopping service on Thursday and Friday mornings to Tesco in Easton. Trips cost £2 return. To book call the ICA office on 01305 823789.
ENJOY roses and trees at an open garden event. Frankham Farm garden in Ryme Intrinseca will be open on Sunday from 2pm to 5pm. Admission is £3 and free for children. For more details call 01935 872819.
SPLASH out this World Oceans Day with a scavenger hunt. The hunt for washed up signs of marine life will take place along Chesil Beach from 11am to 1pm on Sunday. Then the findings will be taken back to the Chesil Beach Centre and turned into
BURGLARS stole cash and jewellery after breaking into a house on Portland. Police are now appealing for witnesses and anyone with information to come forward after the burglary and a separate attempted burglary on the island. The burglary
POLICE received a report this afternoon that sheep were loose on the A356 between Frampton and Maiden Newton. Officers are on their way to move them back into their field and police advised motorists to drive with care if they are traveling in
AN ANIMAL park in Dorchester has announced two new arrivals of a rare breed of goat. Kingston Maurward presented twin Bagot goats Tinker Belle and Tyson, inset, at its animal park. The pedigree kids add to the national population of around
A FAIR celebrating oak, timber and the countryside will mark its 10th anniversary later this year. The Stock Gaylard Oak Fair will take place near Sherborne and return on the weekend beginning August 23. The fair will bring together a mixture
FORMER Bridport News editorial assistant Kelly Stone got the wedding of her dreams when she married groom Mark Heath with their son Rafferty as best man. She was given away by her brother Matthew Stone, with her maid of honour her sister Dionne
CHAMPAGNE, tea and cake were the order of the day when Evelyn Booker celebrated her 100th birthday. Mrs Booker celebrated the milestone birthday surrounded by family and friends at Whitway House nursing home in Winterbourne Abbas. Family travelled
THERE was a family feel as people of all ages discovered more about the Roma, gypsy and traveller way of life at an event in Dorchester. The rain held off as crowds flocked to the town’s Borough Gardens to learn about life on the road and enjoy
DOZENS of classic cars rallied to Weymouth to raise money for Weldmar Hospicecare Trust. As the sunshine blazed down on the town, 84 vintage and classic cars, ranging from the 1920s to the mid-80s filed into the car park at Weymouth Pavilion.
St John Ambulance is offering a free first aid course on Portland. The course will be held in the evenings but is dependent on sufficient people showing interest in taking part. To register or for more information contact Terry Shakespeare
Hundreds of warships made of matchsticks will be sailing into Nothe Fort. The Matchstick Fleet Exhibition of hundreds of warships made entirely from matchsticks and matchboxes, by Phil Warren, will run until Sunday June 15 at the fort on Barrack
Butts Cottage at Plush near Dorchester will be opening its garden to the public this weekend. The garden will be open from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday with admission costing £3.50 for adults and free for children.
THE Dorset History Centre has shared some memories with us of the last German emperor’s medicinal visit to Dorset. In 1907, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia was feted by the English aristocracy during a visit to England
A DORCHESTER resident had a surprise when she opened up the Dorset Echo to come face to face with her 12-year-old self. The 90-year-old then became the star guest at the Friends of Crossways Library’s re-launch of the local history group, which
There will be cash and prizes to be won as Weymouth Football Club holds a bingo night this Friday. Doors open at 6.30pm with eyes down for 7.30pm.
The ‘Race to the Bill’ triathlon at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy takes place on Sunday, June 15. The race consists of a 1500m open water swim in Portland Harbour, 40k cycle around the island and a 10k run along the Rodwell Trail
DISABLED ramblers will be able to enjoy the stunning Purbeck scenery thanks to an initiative to open up the countryside for everyone. National Trust rangers have been working with members of the Disabled Ramblers group, to identify routes suitable
THE DORSET Lupus Group has welcomed the arrival of a Lupus Specialist Nurse in the county. Carol Brumpton will be working with rheumatology and rehabilitation consultant Dr Neil Hopkinson and his team and will be based at the Royal Bournemouth
THOUSANDS of visitors are expected to flock to Sutton Poyntz for a taste of Victorian life. The biennial Sutton Poyntz Street Fayre has been running since 1994 and in that time it has raised a staggering £75,000 for local and national charities
A WEYMOUTH couple have celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary surrounded by family. Roy Hunt, 94, and Mary Hunt, 92, met during the Second World War in 1940 and married two years later. Mrs Hunt said: “Roy proposed to me on the old Stone Pier
I was driving along the Preston Beach Road, when a bee alighted on the edge of the partly open window and clung there long enough for me to see that, instead of the golden/orange stripes you would expect, it had pure white furry ones, and looked like
For those of us who were looking forward to the viewing of Broadchurch I now discover with great disappointment that you can only view it if you are a Sky customer. Shame on you ITV. Put it on a free channel. Of course in Weymouth you may still
We thought that Scotland’s preoccupation on whether or not to go independent from the United Kingdom could be contagious. For just before going on a holiday to Somerset, our suspicions were raised when our travel company advised us in a letter
Over 63% of local electors refusing to vote is by far and away the most significant fact of the Borough and European elections on May 22. If you’re a citizen of this country, pay taxes, receive benefits of any kind and are in any shape or form
A classic car display is coming to Weymouth seafront on June 15. Vintage and classic vehicles will be displayed at the Jubilee Clock from 10am to 4pm, in support of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.
Author and historian Brian Bates will be giving a talk to the Stratton and District Home and Gardens Club on Thursday. The talk, entitled Dorchester Remembers the Great War, will be held at Stratton Village Hall from 7.30pm. Members and non-members
More than 80 quilts will be on display as St Nicholas Church in Abbotsbury hosts a Quilt and Flower Festival on Saturday, July 12 and Sunday, July 13. Ladies of the church will be arranging the flowers and Project Linus Quilters will be displaying
Enjoy a day out exploring the hidden delights of the gardens in Netherbury. An array of gardens in the village will be open for charity as part of the National Garden Scheme this weekend. Gardens will be open from 1pm-5pm and homemade lunches
THE ENCHANTING Sculpture by the Lakes has been fully embracing Dorset Art Weeks. After a launch event that saw people witness artists creating a piece of art in 90 minutes, the sculpture park at Pallington, near Dorchester, has been holding a series
A SUMMER show is taking place at Dewlish Chapel, near Dorchester, on Saturday at 7.30pm. The show features music from baroque to contemporary by The Wandering Winds. It features Katy Ashman on flute and bassoon, Miles Nipper on bassoon and
MADE IN Chelsea star Francis Boulle is set to return to Dorset to show his support for wind farm campaigners again. He will open an event at Waterston Manor to celebrate its birthday weekend and 140 years since the publication of Hardy’s Far from
A GOAT was savaged in a dog attack on a family farm on Portland. Dave was the first goat Jon and Su Illsley brought that set them off on the path to creating Fancy’s Farm on the island. They are urging dog walkers to keep their pets on a lead
A FIRE which destroyed four vehicles and a barn was started deliberately, police believe. Dorset Police and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service are investigating the cause of the blaze at Lower Ash Farm at Dottery, near Bridport, on Sunday. More
Friday marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Ten years ago we spoke to many of the heroes of D-Day to mark the 60th anniversary celebrations. Many have sadly passed away in the intervening years. But their legacy lives on. Without exception,
FOXY capers are occurring at St Mary’s Church in Frampton on Sunday, July 6 as part of the village fete. Following a programme of major repair, the church, in Dorchester Road, will be joining in the fun of the Frampton Village Fete with a day-long
RACING at the Sail for Gold Regatta 2014 got underway yesterday as a south-westerly eight to 12 knots greeted the sailors competing at this third stage of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup in Weymouth and Portland. Sailors contesting eight
PROPERTY owners are hoping to get the stamp of approval for a new restaurant venture earmarked for Weymouth’s old post office site. Change of use plans have been lodged with the borough council to give the former general post office in St Thomas
A MOTHER has warned students not to repeat her son’s mistake after he almost died from taking a hallucinogenic drug bought off the internet. The 18-year-old, from Dorchester, who is recovering at home after being treated in hospital, is now waiting
PHIL Simkin is eager for a return to a more hands-on approach as Dorchester Town boss next season. The Magpies’ manager is close to adding a new face to his coaching team in a move he hopes will allow him time on the training ground that he wasn
TERRAS’ player-manager Jason Matthews expressed his pride at making the squad for the Non-League Paper’s team of the year. The stopper was pipped to a starting spot by Hemel Hemp-stead’s Laurie Walker, but was thrilled to be named among the Southern
WEYMOUTH St Paul’s Harriers celebrated the 60th anniversary of Roger Bannister famously breaking the four-minute mile by having a special mile relay event at the Marsh. The athletes were split into teams of between four and five to see how fast
HEALTH campaigners say they are concerned pathology services could be moved away from Dorset County Hospital. The recently formed Dorset Health Campaign say they are concerned a current tendering project for the Dorchester hospital could lead to
THE producer of Broadchurch has described the show’s setting as “unique” ahead of filming for the second series of the BAFTA-award winning show. Filming for the second series is now well underway in Bristol and will return to West Bay over the
LOOKING Back sparked a series of letters, emails and phone calls when we recently asked for more information on the Mark Frowde Cup, a football tournament often won by Weymouth Central Boys’ School in Westham. And we now have a picture of Mark
