AN old copy of the Bournemouth Echo found among family papers prompted a writer to paint a picture of what life was like in wartime days when, despite the international conflict, local people still focused on problems such as bus price rises and fears of meat rationing and still packed the local theatres to see the pantos.

The six-page broadsheet dated January 2, 1940 - when the Second World War was but a few months old - provided enough material for Trevor Hearle to write an essay for the 2005 edition of the Dorset Year Book, reflecting on the interests and needs of Daily Echo readers.

"This was the 'Phoney War'," he wrote when all was quiet on the Western Front. The front page banner headline told of the "grim toll" suffered by the "plucky Finns" against the crack Russian troops of the Soviet invaders.

But for most Echo readers, the optimistic tone of the second lead reporting on the "new German peace push" through diplomatic channels would have heralded some hope of an early end to the conflict.

The Echo leader column did not even feature the war but focused on the natural disaster of an earthquake and flood affecting Turkey.

On the Home Front, the Echo reported on how a German plane approaching the Shetlands made off when British fighters appeared, how a Whitehall civil servant had committed suicide rather than be evacuated to a Northern town, how two trams derailed in a blackout in Glasgow... and how a rise in bus fares was threatened in Bournemouth.

"Motorists grumbled that government pool petrol, rationed since October, spoiled their car's performance," Mr Hearle writes, "and car salesmen were alarmed by a slump in orders for new models."

Rumours of meat rationing prompted Ferndown Puck Farm to increase production because poultry was expected to be excluded and winter gales rewarded beachcombers with rich pickings.

And Beales, Brights, Bealesons and Butlers tempted bargain hunters a treat. Plummers' offer of Jaegar Spring Swagger Coats at 30 shillings (£1.50) must have been hard to beat, writes Mr Hearle.

"With the sales filling the shops by day, pantomimes packed the theatres at night, notwithstanding the blackout," he adds.

Babes in the Wood attracted more than 18,000 playgoers to the Pavilion in its first week and capacity audiences thronged to the Hippodrome to see Charley's Aunt and Robinson Crusoe.

Filmgoers still flocked to the 19 local cinemas and ballroom dances, tea dances and dinner dances.

Meanwhile, in the courts, the Echo of that day reported on a peeping tom being jailed for a month for prowling around some ATS billets and also on how blackout offences resulted in householders being fined five shillings (25p) for showing lights from windows.

And the costs of homes? New houses were on offer from £600.

The Dorset Year Book for 2005, edited by Peter Pitman, is now in its 96th year of issue. Costing £6, it contains numerous intriguing essays on various local themes. It is available from outlets including Ottakar's and WH Smith.

Society of Dorset Men membership inquiries to: Hayne Russell, 34 Brunel Drive, Preston. Weymouth, Dorset DT3 6NX. Tel 01305 833700