Archive

  • Is this the real thing?

    CYPHER Starring: Jeremy Northam, Lucy Liu, Nigel Bennett, Timothy Webber, David Hewlett, Matthew Sharp and Kari Matchett THRILLER/SCI FI Certificate: 15 Swearing, no sex, violence Imagine your entire existence was suddenly exposed as a carefully constructed

  • 'HITMAN' WAS A POLICEMAN

    A SPURNED husband paid £1,500 to have his wife's new lover beaten up - but the attack never took place because the "hitman" was an undercover police officer, a court heard. Car salesman Adrian Turner, 40, of Hinton St Mary, Sturminster Newton, was jailed

  • Concern for missing girl

    POLICE are "increasingly concerned" about a 13-year-old girl who has been missing since Monday. Relatives of Asata Budd, from Bournemouth, are distraught after she went to meet friends and did not return. The family, from Throop, had been on holiday abroad

  • Vicar to be quizzed after church's shamanism talk

    A BOURNEMOUTH vicar is to be questioned by senior officials in the Winchester diocese after Europe's first white priest of Haitian voodoo conducted a meeting in his church hall on Tuesday night. Ross Heaven, a healer based in East Sussex, was the guest

  • Hotels group deal tops resort record

    THE LARGEST hotel group in Bournemouth has been sold in a multi-million pound deal. Arthur Young Hotels, which comprises The Cliffside Hotel, The Queens Hotel, The Cumberland Hotel and The Trouville Hotel, has been sold to a private investment company

  • Colour and tradition at festival

    FOLK musicians and dancers from around the country are bringing colour and tradition to the streets of Swanage this weekend. A programme of concerts starts off with an appearance by the Bill Jones Trio supported by Legacy on Friday in the festival marquee

  • Camp (12A) ***

    CAMP Ovation, a performing arts summer camp, throws open its doors and welcomes its colourful coterie of adolescent misfits and outcasts. Michael (Robin De Jesus) is gay and he proudly flaunts his sexuality by donning drag for his high school prom. Best

  • Echo Film Club (5.9)

    THE Daily Echo Film Club in conjunction with UCI offers Echo readers the chance to enjoy top movies at a cut price every week at UCI. Membership is free to every Echo reader who applies and includes: Two tickets for the price of one on a selected every

  • Perfect and very Pink...

    DWAHLINGS, hello again, mwah mwah. I've been off work for a week, cultivating my luxuriant moustache hair and buffing my spats to a shine so refulgent that ships have been inadvertently lured on to the rocks. My path to work this morning was strewn with

  • Racists attack foreign student

    A LANGUAGE student from Dorset was left unconscious with injuries to his face and head after he was set upon in a racist attack. The 26-year-old Syrian man who lives in Chester Road, Poole, was visiting relatives on the Isle of Wight when at least six

  • Star of the future at Wessex

    WILDCATS fans will get the chance to see one of speedway's hottest young foreign imports in action at the Wessex Stadium tomorrow night. Wimbledon GMB Dons' heat leader Joel Parsons is being tipped for a big future in the sport after being discovered

  • Ruud makes point in Sweden victory

    THE two international sides in this four team tournament produced the most consistent form on the night as they shared the lead between them throughout with Scandinavia coming out on top. It was, Team GB who started the best, dropping just two points

  • Cartoons on view

    NEXT week offers the last chance to see an amazing display of original cartoon artwork at the Regent Centre in Christchurch. Peter Longden and Bill Mevin, two of the UK's most celebrated cartoonists and animators, are exhibiting samples of their work,

  • Orchestral events

    CELEBRITIES Martin Clunes and John Lill are lined up to take part in the new Dorset Chamber Orchestra season, which gets under way on Saturday, October 25, with a concert by Madalina Rusu and Abigail Leigh. The performance starts at 7.30pm and will include

  • Tributes for a 'brilliant' young guitarist pour in

    TRIBUTES have been pouring in for a brilliant young musician who died after he was in collision with a lorry. Talented guitarist Lee Henville Cole, 29, of Prince of Wales Road, Weymouth, was a 'gentle, beautiful person' who became a popular character

  • Record crowds are predicted for show

    THIS year's Dorchester Show is set to be the biggest ever. Organisers today revealed there has been a surge in ticket sales for this weekend's showpiece event at Cokers Frome showground. A record 50,000 people are predicted to flock through the gates

  • Gigs for the week starting Thursday, September 4

    TONIGHT (4) Adrian Byron Burns (White Swan, High Street, Swanage): This blues troubadour singer/guitarist has an impressive reputation, his work gracing two of Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings albums. Bad Reputation (Lulworth Cove Hotel, West Lulworth): Chris

  • SEASIDERS NET £50,000 GRANT

    WEYMOUTH is set to get the area's first top class nets after the town's cricket club qualified for a grant of up to £50,000 from the National Lottery. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) selected the Seasiders as one of only two sides in Dorset

  • Stars to come out at Poole

    A YEAR since it reopened following a multimillion-pound revamp, the Lighthouse Centre for the Arts in Poole continues to go from strength to strength. And as a reflection of its new look and growing status, the largest arts centre outside London has attracted

  • Twin town choirs unite with music

    LINKS between Dorchester and Lubbecke will be furthered this weekend when members of male voice choirs from both towns join together for a special concert on Saturday night. Members of the Lubbecke Mannergesangverien Male Voice Choir and their wives arrive

  • Athletes poised to take on Enduroman

    ONE of Britain's biggest endurance contests starts with a splash tomorrow. The tough Enduroman Chesil takes place over three days, during which competitors will undertake a 17-mile swim, a 150-mile cycle and a 52-mile run. The 219-mile total is 78 more

  • Trust sets Golden Cap at fundraising

    WALKERS are being invited to join a charity challenge along part of Dorset's beautiful world heritage coast. The National Trust's Golden Cap challenge walk is a sponsored event aimed at raising money for conservation work on the Golden Cap estate's unique

  • Hunting groups fight for survival

    HUNT supporters from across Dorset will turn the countryside red and green at the weekend as part of the ongoing campaign against a possible ban on hunting The Countryside Alliance has designated this Saturday and Sunday as National Action Weekend for

  • Restoring wetland areas under way

    ONE OF the most significant conservation projects to be carried out in the New Forest will focus on restoring the region's ancient wetlands. The four-year Life3 scheme aims to re-establish more than 600 acres of river and bog habitat. Forestry Commission

  • Map expert acquitted of pub attack

    AN ANTIQUARIAN map dealer told a court that Shaftesbury was prejudiced against him. Unfounded rumours that he was a homosexual and involved in the drug scene circulated in the town, a court heard. Son of the town's livestock auctioneer family, James Jeffrey

  • Fletch unfazed by screen test

    LEADING man Carl Fletcher believes Cherries' Millennium Stadium experience will "stand us in good stead" when the spotlight again falls on The O'Driscoll Players on Saturday. Sean O'Driscoll's troops take centre stage when they host Division Two rivals

  • Exhibition celebrates craftsman's life

    HIGHCLIFFE Castle is launching an exhibition on September 5 to celebrate the life and work of local craftsman David Ballantyne. A noted ceramist and artist, Mr Ballantyne lived in Walkford and was head of ceramics at the Bournemouth College of Arts from

  • Carrying on at camp

    CAMP (12A) Camp Ovation, a performing arts summer camp, throws open its doors and welcomes its colourful coterie of adolescent misfits and outcasts. Michael (Robin De Jesus) is gay and he proudly flaunts his sexuality. Best pal Ellen (Joanna Chilcoat)

  • Hardly bowled over

    BLACKBALL (15) Torquay provides the backdrop for this comedy based on the sport of lawn bowls. Reigning champ Ray Speight (James Cromwell) believes that tradition must be upheld at any cost and when flashy, arrogant and foul-mouthed newcomer Cliff Starkey

  • Concern for missing girl

    POLICE are "increasingly concerned" about a 13-year-old girl who has been missing since Monday. Relatives of Asata Budd, from Bournemouth, are distraught after she went to meet friends and did not return. The family, from Throop, had been on holiday abroad

  • Great wall of hearts

    DAILY Echo reporter Joanna Codd will be lacing up her walking boots to join a team of people travelling to the Great Wall of China next month to raise money for the Poole Hospital Valentine Fund. The trekkers will be spending five days exploring sections

  • Residents call for survey of gas site

    WORRIED residents are calling for an independent survey of the polluted former gas works site in Poole. At a public meeting held last night, around 70 Baiter Park and Poole town centre residents expressed their fears over Crest Nicholson's plans to develop

  • EAST DORSET PLANS

    75 Locksley Drive, Ferndown; 03/1110, single storey lounge extension; Terence A Wiffen. 192 Victoria Road, Ferndown; 03/1111, single storey side extension and replacement garage; Sheerin Bettle & Associates, 78 Christchurch Road, Ringwood. Field Off

  • Drama and jazz at the arts centre

    THE FIRST offering of drama from the autumn season at Dorchester Arts Centre takes place next Wednesday when The Lions Part stages Lilies on the Land, a tale of the work and experiences of the Land Girls during the Second World War. Drawn from the recollections

  • Arts events for the week starting Thursday, September 4

    THURSDAY (4) Midge Ure: Legends Concert, Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis Cartoon Art exhibition, Regent Centre, Christchurch FRIDAY (5) The Animals, Susan Maughan, The Tornados, Weymouth Pavilion Theatre Great Gig in the Sky, Ocean Room, Weymouth Pavilion

  • Who could be so cruel?

    A NEGLECTED dog was cruelly imprisoned and left to die in a recycling skip. Workers at a household waste site on Portland were in total disbelief when they saw an animal's nose poking through the opening of a container. They levered the back off the huge

  • Orange mast on A37 refused

    PHONE firm Orange has lost an appeal to place a mast in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The mobile phone company had hoped to install the mast on land at Grimstone Dairy, Grimstone, near Dorchester and appealed after West Dorset District Council

  • Could there be oil in those hills?

    PLANS are in the pipeline to drill for oil in the heart of a Dorset wildlife haven. Members of Dorset County Council's planning committee meet on Friday to consider a proposal to drill on land on the edge of Oakers Wood at Waddock Cross, between Affpuddle

  • Travel to the show early to avoid traffic, police warn

    DORCHESTER Show visitors are being urged to arrive early to avoid holiday traffic. Thousands of people are due to converge on the county town on Saturday and Sunday for the popular agriculture show. Police chiefs have put together a package of measures

  • Water bills set to rise under new plans

    WATER bills could go up by 10 per cent or more in one year under plans put forward by the industry. Wessex Water wants to raise bills by 6.25 per cent plus inflation in 2005, with further increases of between 1.5 per cent and 2.75 per cent until 2010.

  • Initiative launched to combat school bullies

    BEHAVIOUR and attendance consultants are to become the latest weapon to stop Dorset schoolchildren from 'bunking lessons' or picking on their classmates. The specialised consultants are being hired by county education chiefs as part of a new government

  • Man is charged with millionaire's murder

    A MAN from Bournemouth has been charged with the murder of millionaire businessman Amarjit Chohan and four members of his family. Former accountant William Horncy, 51, was accused of murdering Mr Chohan, his wife Nancy, 25, their young sons Ravinder and

  • Couple horrified by attack on pet

    A JACK Russell is lucky to be alive after being savagely attacked by a Rottweiler in Winton. Irene Rizzo, 67, and her husband watched in horror as the Rottweiler ran across Wimborne Road and began to attack their dog Joe at around 4.30pm on Saturday.

  • Great wall of hearts

    DAILY Echo reporter Joanna Codd will be lacing up her walking boots to join a team of people travelling to the Great Wall of China next month to raise money for the Poole Hospital Valentine Fund. The trekkers will be spending five days exploring sections

  • Blackball (15) **

    IN the sleepy seaside town of Torquay, lawn bowls is the sport of kings. The local geriatric populace takes the pastime very seriously, almost like a religion - and no one more so than the area's reigning champion Ray Speight (James Cromwell), who believes

  • Boss Claridge puts assistant on hold

    STEVE Claridge today ruled out appointing a new assistant manager in the next fortnight. The Weymouth boss is hunting for a replacement for Neil McNab left to take up a coaching post in America last week. But while Claridge knows who he wants as his right

  • Positive response as CCTV goes live

    LONG-AWAITED CCTV cameras in Wimborne have gone live to the delight of civic chiefs and shopkeepers. The first spy-in-the-sky cameras are already up and running with the remainder being switched on over the coming weeks. Town mayor Cllr Alan Flint said

  • Requiem singers rehearse

    DORCHESTER Choral Society will begin rehearsals next week for one of its greatest challenges yet - a performance of Britten's War Requiem in Poole's Wessex Hall next February. This massive undertaking will be performed n conjunction with Dorchester Thomas

  • Safety barriers are agreed for school

    A HEADTEACHER has won a campaign for pedestrian barriers near his school after a parent was hit by a bus. Christopher Pring, who runs Sunninghill Preparatory School in Dorchester, made the call after a pupil's mother was clipped by the vehicle as it turned

  • It's a real dog's life at Poundbury

    DOG lovers from Dorset have written to Prince Charles to tell how their new group has become a howling success in Dorchester. Dr Dinah Parums, who has a dog called Jigger, formed the social club for owners and their pets at the Poundbury development.