IF you have ever sat in church and wondered if you caught the end of England footy anthem Vindaloo, then it was probably Philip Blake on the organ. Philip, organist at St Andrew's church in Kinson and at Child Okeford, is well known for slipping in snippets
JOIN the Daily Echo campaign to Save the Juniper Centre in Christchurch. Juniper provides day care for 100 adults with learning disabilities and could be closed by Dorset County Council to save money. Normally in the Juniper Centre you would find a lot
THE FUTURE of Leeson House has been raised directly with Tony Blair. The proposed closure has been the subject of a Daily Echo-backed campaign and thousands of local residents have made calls to save it. Dorset County Council cabinet members meet today
TRIBUTES are pouring in today following the death of one of Dorset's first female news journalists, Pat Sloman. TV news presenter Mrs Sloman, who died on Wednesday of lung cancer, aged 77, was known as a strong and dynamic woman, both among family and
IT has been dubbed a "disaster" for consumers and for small-scale airports like Bournemouth. Bosses at the budget airline Ryanair are furious at being ordered to repay around £3 million of the state aid the company received for operating from Charleroi
A BIG-HEARTED Bournemouth solicitor will be swapping his law books for a rucksack this autumn to take part in his second Inca Trail challenge. Martin Davies is hoping to raise £50,000 for the Royal Bournemouth Hospital's life-saving Jigsaw scanner appeal
A MAN has admitted poisoning two people at a Purbeck holiday cottage last summer. Richard Pearce piped butane gas through the rafters in July. He pleaded guilty to two charges of causing a noxious thing to be administered or taken with intent by unlawfully
RESIDENTS are objecting to moves to install floodlighting at Sandford Middle School near Wareham - fearing light pollution will ruin their quality of life. Planning permission was given for eight 10-metre high floodlights around the school hardcourt play
Rivals battle it out Division One Mosterton Marauders 14 Mosterton Merlins 28 THIS was a fine win for the Merlins, but the Marauders did manage a healthy points total. Phil Stringer was the only winner for the Marauders. He and Ian Rodger scored five
Hawks up to mid-table OPM (Plymouth) 2 Bridport Hawks 3 BRIDPORT gave their survival chances a huge boost with their second straight victory. Rotten weather made life difficult, but the Hawks made their intentions clear from the start with some fast attacks
Double figures for champions elect Misterton 0 Charmouth 10 GALE-FORCE Charmouth blitzed hapless Misterton in the wind and rain at Unity Lane. The table-topping Robins also stole a march on nearest title rivals Combe Reserves, who dropped vital points
Beaminster close in on title Beaminster 4 Swanage and Wareham 2 BEAMINSTER edged within one-win of the championship after this vitally important match, which was fraught with tension. The home side set to work with such admirable dexterity that the result
DID you know that the first radio-controlled yacht race in the world took place in Poole? In the late 1950s and early 1960s two members of the then Poole Model Yacht Club, a Colonel Bowden, who owned a model shop in Westover Road, Bournemouth, and George
FORMER Sheffield Wednes-day keeper Stuart Jones' switch to Weymouth has been put on ice. The highly-rated 26-year-old gloveman was being lined up by the Terras after leaving Weston-super-Mare last month. But player-boss Steve Claridge revealed his move
PRINCE'S Trust business Trace Web Design of Bournemouth has launched Wedding Websites to help happy couples organise their impending nuptuals online. The personalised websites provide information such as addresses, linked maps and contact information
Thursday, February 5: Hot Rod Jesus - Waters Edge, Poole Quay; Lynchpin - Plough Inn, Tiptoe Friday, February 6: The Shrouds - Villa, Bmth; Viva Santana - Mr Kyps, Ashley Cross; Hot Rod Jesus - George, Poole; Bad Reputation - Finns, Weymouth; Lewis Sings
THE body of a man found in the sea near the entrance to Weymouth Harbour was Nicholas Berry, police said. Mr Berry, 23, of Cherry Way, Preston, Weymouth, was pulled from the water at 9am on Monday, nearly three weeks after he went missing. Police said
PLANS for a flagship new marina in Portland Harbour have been unveiled. Invitations have gone out to marine developers across the country to build a 600-berth development at Osprey Quay. Scheme backers at the South West Regional Development Agency say
INCOME IDEA IS NOT TOO TAXING DANIEL Smy (Echo letters, January 28) is too quick to condemn the Lib Dems for their calls for a local income tax, which from where I stand is a fair, just, effective and cheaper solution to the problems of council tax. He
YET another Weymouth post office will close when it is taken over by a supermarket chain. Dorchester Road post office will shut when the One Stop chain of convenience stores is rebranded as Tesco Express. The closure is a blow to post office users in
SAILING fanatic Stuart Budden is riding on the crest of a wave after having a kidney transplant. He is so grateful for his new-found zest for life since the operation that he is spreading the message of organ donation the only way he knows how - by taking
JOIN the Daily Echo campaign to Save the Juniper Centre in Christchurch. Juniper provides day care for 100 adults with learning disabilities and could be closed by Dorset County Council to save money. Normally in the Juniper Centre you would find a lot
A ONE-man business offering cut-price rail travel has been shut down despite protests from its supporters. South West Trains decided not to renew its contract with the Bournemouth Rail Travel Association, which has built up a membership of around 20,000
MORE than 100 people were evacuated from a Bournemouth hotel last night after fire broke out. Three people were led to safety by firefighters and treated at the scene for smoke inhalation following the blaze at the Carrington House Hotel, Knyveton Road
PLANS to bulldoze the Sea Witch Hotel and build a block of 12 flats in its place have been submitted to Poole Council. Bournemouth businessman Richard Carr has ended months of speculation by sending in two identical applications for the prime Canford
Weather tests the Blues Poole 5 Bridport 15 BRIDPORT experienced some of the worst conditions so far this season at Poole's Turlin Moor ground. A ferocious cross wind blew in from the adjacent Poole harbour and huge puddles covered the length of one side
Step hang on by a whisker Step Ahead 18 Buckaroos 17 THIS exciting match was fast and pacey with some great passing. Step Ahead made use of the whole team in their centre court play, while in defence, Jo Hayter made some flying interceptions to return
BOURNEMOUTH'S men were gunned down 5-1 at home to Brighton, but coach John Kimber was encouraged by his side's display, believing they are "not far off" the Sussex side's high standard. Despite taking an early lead, second-placed Brighton stunned Bourne
PORTLAND United were left counting the cost after their Sydenhams Wessex League clash with Downton at Grove Corner was postponed last night. Dorchester referee Pete Hutchings called the game off two minutes before kick-off following an hour-long deluge
DORCHESTER passed up the chance of another big pay day against Weymouth when they failed to beat 10-man Eastleigh in their Dr Martens Cup fourth round tie at a rain-lashed Avenue Stadium last night. The ambitious Eastern Division side scored twice in
CARL Mutch is the latest player to be released from his contract at Weymouth. The 21-year-old striker has been told he no longer figures in manager Steve Claridge's plans at the Wessex Stadium. Mutch's departure comes hot on the heels of Mark Kenway and
DORCHESTER'S on-off search for another goalkeeper could be back on again after a blunder by Mark Ormerod helped Eastleigh on their way to a fifth round tie at home to Weymouth in the Dr Martens Cup. Ex-Brighton keeper Ormerod spilled a long range free-kick
HAVANT and Waterlooville star Shaun Wilkinson says he is on the verge of signing for Weymouth. The midfielder has won plaudits for his performances after joining the Hawks from Brighton and Hove Albion in December. But the 22-year-old claims life at West
By the time you read this week's column, I will, hopefully, be in Milan. I haven't been abroad for the best part of two months now, so the Ayatollah and I are on the road again to pastures new. The plan was to go via Lingfield Park and Loftus Road, where
Two Counties Cup WIMBORNE TOWN 2 DORCHESTER TOWN 0 ON-LOAN Pompey goalkeeper Craig Bradshaw couldn't prevent Dorchester losing their unbeaten record in the Two Counties Cup to the Sydenham Wessex League leaders at Cuthbury last night. The well-built 20
HOUSE prices rose by 2.2 per cent last month - 16 per cent year-on-year - as property shortages continued to push up values. That compares with 2.0 per cent monthly growth in December (15.4 per cent year-on-year), said Britain's biggest mortgage lender
PIRATES chief Matt Ford has revealed that their attendances last season weren't any higher than in 2002 despite the club enjoying unprecedented treble-winning success. Poole fans are still, in some ways, pinching themselves that their team lifted the
A PUB landlady said she had no hesitation in alerting police when she suspected drugs were being taken on her premises. Kim Riche-Webber, who runs the Dorset Soldier in Wareham Road, Corfe Mullen, has been praised by officers for her actions. Eight customers
SEX offender John McDermott was in custody today after being arrested on the run in Weymouth - 12 years after he kidnapped and sexually assaulted two schoolgirls in the town. Police caught him near the railway station in King Street yesterday after a
DORCHESTER servicemen held an impromptu school reunion in the Iraqi desert - with the forces' sweetheart as special guest. Senior aircraftsman Giles Daniels, 28, was the RAF's official photographer during a morale-boosting visit by model Nell McAndrew
A FRIEND of missing schoolgirl Lauryn Hill has exchanged texts with the teenager, the Daily Echo can reveal. Arabella Begg, 17, told how her close friend had sent a message yesterday (Feb 4)saying she needed time on her own but could be home by tomorrow
PLANS for a single crime-busting closed circuit television camera for New Milton have been put on hold for further investigation. Town councillors this week deferred making a decision on whether to progress the scheme until they had looked at the legal
MISSING teenager Lauryn Hill has been reunited with her family in Lymington four days after disappearing while on the way to school on Monday. Lauryn, 16, who is a student at Highcliffe School, sparked a police search after she failed to catch her bus
A SCHOOL which could be bulldozed to the ground during restructuring should be saved as a new community primary school instead, say its governors. St Leonards Middle School is putting up a fight to stop Blandford changing from a three-tier pyramid to
