BEING too drunk to get home... needing furniture moved... wanting a hand getting into an electric scooter for a trip to B&Q. Those are all reasons Dorset people have dialled 999 for an ambulance. But soon ambulance staff will no longer be forced to
THE internet could be costing Dorset's charity shops dearly as more people opt to sell their possessions online than donate them to worthy causes. Charity might begin at home but it now ends on the home computer, according to several British charities
FEW people ever experience first-hand the true horrors of war. The Tank Museum at Bovington has unveiled plans to recreate the reality as closely as it can without live ammunition being fired. The museum is bidding for £15.44 million lottery funding to
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 film
IF luck is a lady then whatever you do, don't take her for granted, otherwise she'll make you wish you were never born. Bernie Lootz (William H Macy) is intimately acquainted with Miss Fortune and her wicked streak. His marriage ended in acrimony, he
THAT Dennis Pennis has come a long way, hasn't he? Once famous as a sort of precursor to Ali G, he and his dodgy red barnet and geeky suits could often be seen at celebrity bashes where he'd pass himself of as a bona fide Noo Yowk reporter, approaching
A MAN has been arrested and released as investigations continue into a suspicious fire that destroyed a Poole landmark motoring shop and garage. The charred remains of the Motor World shop, formerly known as Charlie Browns, are likely to be demolished
BASHLEY manager Geoff Butler's quest for a new central defender has so far led him down a blind alley but he insists the hunt remains his top priority. The new boss, installed in June, is beginning to piece together a squad from the depleted remnants
JOSE Barandiaran will make his debut for Dorchester at home to former Nationwide Conference side Margate tomorrow (3pm) after his international clearance finally arrived. And Magpies boss Mark Morris revealed today that the 26-year-old Spanish midfielder
HOUSEHOLDERS and companies in this area are being warned to review their flood prevention strategies and reassess their insurance cover after the flooding in Cornwall. Royal Liver Assurance spokesman Andrew Wood said: "Ten per cent of the land area of
PLANS to install cattle grids to introduce grazing at Holt Heath have been amended following fears that wildlife will be put at risk and public access restricted. Objections have been pouring into Dorset County Council over an application from English
MIDDLE Eastern royalty gave their regal seal of approval to Weymouth and Portland after a whistle-stop tour. The special guests from the Gulf country of Oman and their entourage of more than 20 people arrived at the resort on carnival day in top-class
LITTLE Stefan Savic is returning to Weymouth for the first time since life-changing surgery on his face. The young Bosnian boy is jetting into the UK on Wednesday for two days of check-ups at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. But he will also be
LIFE is sweet for songwriter Bruce Hammond as his tune Chocolate is set to soar up the charts. Bruce 48, from Weymouth, wrote and produced the song Chocolate (Choco Choco) which will be performed by Soul Control on Top of the Pops Saturday on BBC 2 this
TWINS Phoebe and Harriet Shaw were overjoyed when they scooped matching grades in identical subjects. The Thomas Hardye School students were still celebrating today after gaining straight As in their A-levels. They both achieved top marks for English
THE brother of a teenager killed in a World War Two bombing was distraught to see her grave desecrated by vandals. Retired Dorset traffic warden Mr Green, 79, says he was shocked at the toll taken by vandalism on many of the memorials at New Milton cemetery
RURAL post offices in Dorset under threat of closure face a brighter future after reports the government has agreed to extend a £150 million national subsidy to 2008. Dorset Community Action, which works with local post offices which, whether through
COUNCILLORS have granted permission for a temporary police communications mast to remain at Lyme Regis Golf Club until the end of this month. Planning permission for the 22-metre high TETRA antenna expired at the end of May. Last week operators Airwave
TWO sailors were plucked to safety from their sinking yacht as it pounded against the Cobb harbour wall in Lyme Regis in the early hours of Wednesday morn ing. Around 50 bottles of red wine thought to be on board and other personal posses sions were lost
A-LEVEL students at Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis were yesterday cele brating an impressive set of results, with 40 per cent of them achieving A or B grades. The overall pass rate for A-lev els at the school was 97 percent, up one per cent from last year
THE FIRST ever joint emergency services centre in Dorset opens today in Lyme Regis. Officials from police, fire and rescue and ambulance services will declare the new centre in Hill Road open at 10.30am, heralding a new era in the provision of emergency
DEOGO Andrade is on his way back to Dean Court - with help from his dad, Jose. The Portuguese teenager has been invited to join Cherries for an extended three-month trial. And his generous father has played a major role in the youngster's return by coughing
A-LEVEL students at Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis were yesterday celebrating an impressive set of results, with 40 per cent of them achieving A or B grades. The overall pass rate for A-levels at the school was 97 percent, up one per cent from last year
TWO sailors were plucked to safety from their sinking yacht as it pounded against the Cobb harbour wall in Lyme Regis in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Around 50 bottles of red wine thought to be on board and other personal possessions were lost
COUNCILLORS have granted permission for a temporary police communications mast to remain at Lyme Regis Golf Club until the end of this month. Planning permission for the 22-metre high TETRA antenna expired at the end of May. Last week operators Airwave
FOR months the lives of those regularly attending the Fourways Centre hung in the balance. Closure looked imminent for the service, which provides activities for around 200 disabled people in Poole on a daily basis. Back in 2002 Borough of Poole's Social
HUGE mosquitoes that are twice the size of normal insects and bite through clothing have invaded the South Coast. The bloodthirsty insects have a wing-span of almost one inch and a vicious bite, leaving behind nasty wounds which can take days to heal.
SLIPS of innocuous-looking paper held in nervous hands had the power yesterday (August 20) to make or break dreams. Thousands of teenagers across Dorset received their A-level results, which government officials say are the best yet. Years of study and
AN EMERGENCY appeal to save land near Wareham from development has raised £300,000 in just two weeks. Dorset Wildlife Trust will find out today whether its bid to buy 120 acres of land at Creech is successful. The auction takes places this afternoon at
SINCE making her debut as plucky high school misfit Lizzie McGuire on TV in January 2001, life has been one long fairy-tale for Hilary Duff. Her subsequent film projects - Agent Cody Banks, The Lizzie McGuire Movie and Cheaper By The Dozen - have all
DIRECTOR James Cox chronicles one of the seedier and more lurid episodes in recent Hollywood history in this dramatisation of the so-called Wonderland Murders. When police arrive at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in the Hollywood Hills, they discover a bloodbath
20 Woodlands Road, Ashurst; 82322, 2 detached houses, detached garages (demolition of existing); Quayside Architects, Quayside House, Central Road, Eastern Docks, Southampton (for D Cornick). 17 Ashdene Road, Ashurst; 82361, rear extension, front dormer
THE cultural critic and Palestinian advocate Edward Said died last September aged 67. But as this posthumous collection of his essays shows, he was keenly engaged with Middle Eastern politics to the end. What really concerns him here is the US's influence
FOR 32-year-old Flora, adult life is not proving as thrilling as she might have wished, with a stable but dull job and a stable but dull boyfriend. As her friend slices into her wedding cake, she wishes for her 16-year-old world once more, and wakes up
ALTHOUGH the dictators are integral to the narrative, Richard Overy, who is professor of history at King's College, London, has not produced a twin biography. Nor is it a straightforward history of Nazism and Communism. Instead, Overy intelligently analyses
THREE of the Borough of Poole's most experienced officers, all of whom have worked their way up from the bottom rung, leave the council at the end of the year. Two are taking early retirement and the council's longest serving employee is being made redundant
THE Wessex League season is barely a week old and already old foes Pete Moore and Graham Kemp are at each other's throats. Last season, the pair exchanged words over the payment of the players but appeared to have made up by the time Christchurch and
PORTLAND United will be without striker Carl Mutch when they travel to Gosport Borough in the Sydenhams Wessex League tomorrow (3pm). The former Weymouth front man, who was sent off in the islanders opening day defeat against Cowes Sports last weekend
TERRAS chairman Ian Ridley insists that there is no panic at the Wessex Stadium following Weymouth's surprising start to life in the Nationwide South with two defeats. Speaking ahead of tomorrow's trip to Bognor Regis, he told Echosport: "I can understand
STUDENTS from across West Dorset are celebrating after achieving 'outstanding' A-level results. A total of 96 per cent of A-level students at the Sir John Colfox School passed their exams, with 67 per cent obtaining at least one A-C pass grade. At Beaminster
TWO young families who put up homes on farmland at Wootton Fitzpaine to run an organic food business have been ordered to move out. Planners ruled the timber houses - built without permission at Five Penny Farm - harm the area of outstanding natural beauty
FINAL preparations are being made for Bridport Carnival this weekend. The main procession takes place through the town on Saturday night. And chairman Shaun Fox said they were pleased with the amount of entries they had received. The procession will be
CALLS have been made for speed restrictions on the A35 at Bridport after a spate of serious accidents. In the last week there have been two smashes at the Eype turning and a third accident at Miles Cross. Although road improvements are planned for the
BUILDERS Wyatt Homes have finally got the go- ahead to construct a modern flats complex at West Bay. They have been granted approval for 18 homes on the Forty Foot Way site despite town council concerns over their contemporary design. The company recently
GREASE is the word at the Bournemouth Pavilion as Jonathan Wilkes continues to star as love-struck High School gangleader Danny Zuko in the latest touring production of the perennially popular American musical at the Pavilion. The show - most famously
GOLDEN girl Sarah Ayton is the toast of Weymouth after clinching Britain's first gold medal of the Olympics. Sarah was part of the three-woman Yngling crew alongside Shirley Robertson and Sarah Webb which sailed to victory at the Olympic regatta. Beaming
A DISTURBING police report has revealed Christchurch as the epicentre of a bicycle theft epidemic in the east of the county. Dorset police has decided to highlight the scale of the problem, which led to the arrest of one man recently, in a bid to shock
EVERY four years, we put our sporting hopes in the hands of a few Britons in the expectation that their exploits will bring reflected glory to our nation. And more often than not, we end up a little disappointed by the end result. Yes, the Olympics is
LYME Regis town council wants to look again at opening sports facilities at the Woodroffe School to the public. Councillors decided at Wednesday's town council meeting to set up a working group and explore the possibilities sur rounding the school's gym
THE FIRST joint emergency services centre in Dorset opens today in Lyme Regis. Officials from police, fire and rescue and ambulance services will declare the new centre in Hill Road open at 10.30am, heralding a new era in the provision of emergency services
