MISSING schoolboy Paris Austin Wells has been sighted in Parkstone. Police received a phone call from a member of the public saying that the teenager had been seen talking to a friend in the Penn Hill area. On Wednesday police officers checked an address
Poole's "gateway to the future" site has cleared its final hurdle and work could start on the £25 million scheme this year. Proposals including 200 homes and an Asda superstore on the 11-acre Dalgety site in West Quay Road were approved by Poole Council
A COUPLE have spoken of their miraculous escape after their Rolls-Royce plunged into the sea and began sinking. Alan Williams, 59, and fiancee, 74-year-old Joane Lake, had been taking in the views over Poole Harbour on Tuesday when the car shot forward
FERNDOWN Otters are celebrating the most successful senior national championships in their history after four of their swimmers found their way to the medal rostrum. As well as Karen Legg's two bronze medals, the British short course championships in
DORCHESTER'S back-up goal keeper David Elm is on the verge of joining Dr Martens Eastern Division promotion rivals Bashley for a five figure fee. Magpies' chairman Eddie Belt said today that the two clubs had agreed an undisclosed transfer fee - thought
UP TO 40 jobs could be lost at Weymouth College as bosses prepare a restructuring plan to save more than £1 million. Chiefs are confident a plan to bail out the cash-strapped college will see it on the road to success. Voluntary redundancy packages will
CURATOR Richard de Peyer has quit the Dorset County Museum after one of the most successful years in its recent history. He resigned from the top post exactly a decade and a week after taking over at the High West Street attraction from former curator
SEVENTIES teen idol Donny Osmond will play Bournemouth next year as part of a major new UK tour. The singer, who 30 years ago captured the hearts of millions of teenage fans with songs like Puppy Love and Too Young, will play the BIC on Friday March 14
DORSET education bosses today called for an independent inquiry to be held into claims the three main exam boards marked down A-level entries. With many students set to start university courses based on their original grades, there had been fears that
A CORONER has warned holidaymakers of the dangers in taking part in sporting activities abroad after a New Milton woman died in a tragic riding accident. Susan Misselbrook, 26, of Drake Close, was without a helmet when she was thrown from a horse in Egypt
CAMPAIGNERS battling to save a successful Dorset school from closure have been boosted by plans to hold a public meeting. The Schools Organisational Committee agreed to go on a site visit to King Alfred's Middle School (Kams) in Shaftesbury on December
FIRMS risk infringing copyright laws because workers accessing software online are unwittingly downloading pirate programs for use from overseas websites. Tough new penalties have been brought in under the new Copyright & Trade Marks Act - as the
WEST Dorset MP Oliver Letwin has launched a last minute bid to halt the Chideock roadworks which are set to bring misery to thousands of motorists for up to three months. The Shadow Home Secretary is urging road operators Connect to suspend the project
TWO sites for a taxi rank at Lyme Regis were being considered, town planners heard at their recent meeting. The information came in a letter from the county council's technical officer, Brian Beldham, who has identified an area at Cobb Gate Car Park,
LYME Regis Football Club, currently fund raising for new pitches and facilities at Strawberry Field, has no intention of giving up its lease on its present home at Davey Fort until it expires in 2018. The Seasiders will use the ground as a third pitch
NEGOTIATIONS for a skateboard park in the Charmouth Road car park at Lyme will be re-opened, if the council's recreations committee has its way. It made the recommendation for renewed talks with the district council, the landowner, at Wednesday night's
LYME Regis has been awarded a silver medal in the South West In Bloom competition - a grade given for an overall success rate of between 60 and 74 per cent in the section for towns with populations between 2,000 and 499. Winners of the Ayre Cup, with
TREE roots are invading graves in Lyme Regis cemetery, and there will be major problems in 20 or 30 years time if a policy of selective replacements is not pursued. The recreations committee was warned of the consequences of inaction on Wednesday night
DECLINING audiences and heavy losses on its last production has forced Lyme Regis Operatic Society to re-think its future plans. A worrying trend of declining ticket sales was outlined to the annual meeting by president Brian Manners last week. He told
CHERRIES are in for a mini-cash windfall after learning today (Sept 19) their Division Three clash with Hartlepool will be televised live on Sky Sports. The showdown, scheduled for Saturday, October 12, will now take place 24 hours later on the Sunday
DORSET Police are renewing their appeal for witnesses to a serious road crash near Bere Regis after an 81-year-old victim lost her fight for life. The Hampshire woman, who has not been named, was a passenger in a Ford Escort car involved in a collision
AUSTRALIA'S legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne is to return to Hampshire next summer as captain after agreeing a two-year deal with the English county. Warne played for Hampshire in 2000, taking 70 championship wickets. He will take over from former England
A POOLE council "Search for the Mole" investigation has failed to uncover who leaked sensitive confidential information to the Daily Echo about financial miscalculations over the proposed Creekmoor park-and-ride project. Bob Harris, the head of democratic
LILLIPUT Sailing Club's Regatta resulted in wins for one of the club's most prominent and popular members, Steve Reynell. Sailing with his son Mark in the Magnum 27 Opus with another local helmsman, Poole's Mike Riley, they won four of their races at
It was semi-finals night at the Mercedes Benz Dorch-ester Ratings Tournament. First up were the two men's matches. Tom Adorian played Ed Francis, champion of nine previous matches, in the Section Three semi-final. Both men seemed to feel the pressure
DORCHESTER will be without skipper Matt Lonnon for the rest of the season after he suffered "the worst knee injury possible." Lonnon, who underwent micro-surgery on his left knee during the summer, will be back in the Winterbourne Hospital next Monday
INTREPID Francis Raven-Vause is preparing for a gruelling hike through the South American jungle to help people with cancer. Francis, 48, will join around 60 walkers from across the UK for the ten-day trek across around 60 miles of tough terrain in Costa
ASTRONOMER Bob Mizon helped launch a project with star-gazers at Ferndown First School. Year Four pupils went inside his travelling planetarium to learn about stars and planets. Two children Lianne Downs and Thomas Hall were the first to enter the huge
ROTTEN egg smells from a Dorset waste tip, prompting scores of complaints from nearby residents, have landed a landfill site operator a £12,500 bill in fines and costs. The odour was so strong it made Environment Agency officers feel nauseous, Bournemouth
TONY Rickardsson produced another memorable ride as he scorched to a sensational 18-point maximum at Wimborne Road last night. The Pirates spearhead, who has been suffering from a sinus infection, showed he had pushed that illness aside again by leading
DORCHESTER businessman Farzin Hakimi will be ordered to pay more than £170,000 after a judge decided that he had forced five people out of their homes using violence and intimidation. Hakimi, 47, was sued for damages after leaseholders claimed he had
THE race is on for Wey Valley School to find £10,000 by October 4 to gain sports college status. The school is just short of the £50,000 needed to gain recognition as a centre for sporting excellence, which will also land it an additional £100,000 windfall
MISSING Weymouth mum Susan Meecham is believed to be in Spain. Inquiries by Dorset Police have revealed that the 39-year-old Mrs Meecham, who has two children, may have boarded a ferry from Plymouth to Santander. Mrs Meecham, who owns the Take Two video
LABOUR MP Jim Knight met air-training cadets for the first time at a special presentation evening. Mr Knight spent two-and-a-half hours with the Weymouth cadets and watched a demonstration of the activities on offer, including drill instruction and shooting
A NEW action group behind a 21st century vision of Dorchester and nearby villages is to be launched at the Corn Exchange. Membership of the Dorchester area partnership will be introduced and a steering group nominated at the October 2 summit before they
CHILDREN at Chipmunks Day Nursery in Weymouth have enjoyed an off-to-school party. Nursery manager Pauline Lewington said: "They had great fun, saying goodbye to the friends they had made at Chipmunks as they set off to different schools in the area.
CHRISTIANS are to hold a peace vigil to oppose military action being taken against Iraq. Churches Together in Dorchester is calling for United Nations (UN) support before an attack is made on the grounds that Saddam Hussein may be building nuclear weapons
MANAGER Steve Martin-Harris told today how thieves fled with a pair of birds from a centre for people with mental health problems in Dorchester. He said the raiders escaped with a spectacular cockatiel and lovebird from an aviary at the Whitfield Rural
IT IS 2.30am and you wake up suddenly - your home is on fire. Thick smoke is everywhere, the lights won't work, it's pitch black and you can't find the door, let alone the children. It's a nightmare scenario but it could happen - and Dorset fire officers
PUPILS hit the road for a walk from Dorchester Middle School to Martinstown before camping out on the playing field. The 158-strong group of youngsters from year eight were led by staff on the tenth annual trek to the village and back again. Teacher Matt
AN ANTIQUE French desk is set to fetch up to £30,000 when it goes under the hammer at Dukes auctioneers in Dorchester. The 19th century bureau will be the climax of a specialised ceramic and furniture auction at the Weymouth Avenue salesroom on September
