AN EARLY Christmas supper is being offered to people aged over 55 on Portland this Friday. The free annual event is being held at Ladymead Hall, sheltered housing in Easton and will include entertainment from an island choir and a visit from Santa.
ORGANISERS of Portland’s first ever gay night are hoping the event will give a boost to local trade and raise money for charity. The free event, called Rainbow Night, will take place at the Portland Roads Hotel, Castletown on Saturday. Planners say
A MEMORIAL bench has been unveiled for Tash Samways, who was killed in a car crash on the coast road just outside Weymouth. Fundraiser Jack Knowles and Tash’s father Colin Sweet and step-mum Lil were pleased to see the tribute in the popular area in
LOCAL firms hope to be creating waves at the Dorset Business Awards tomorrow night. The Dorset Echo-backed finalists include 27 first-class businesses, three schools and three apprentices. They gathered together to attend a drinks reception with the
SUPPORTING the local community is the reason one business has donated to the Echo’s Christmas Toy Appeal. Olds Garage, in Bramdon Lane, Portesham, has given £100 towards making it a merry Christmas for hundreds of children across Dorset. Business owner
A WOMAN was arrested and a quantity of cannabis seized in a drugs raid in Purbeck. Police said a warrant obtained under the Misuse of Drugs Act was executed at a house in Folly Lane, Wareham. Officers found and seized a quantity of cannabis at the address
PORTLAND Coastguard Station will close in just over three years’ time, it has been confirmed. Coastguard controllers based at a site in Fareham, near Portsmouth in Hampshire, will take over co-ordinating rescues along the Dorset coast when the station
TACKLING Shakespeare is a challenge to even the most seasoned of actors, so hats off to four Dorset schools who took part in this year’s Shakespeare Schools Festival. The festival is a national institution where schools take the play of their choice
CRITICALLY acclaimed outdoor theatre company The Pantaloons make their debut at Shaftesbury Arts Centre with their hilarious, fast-paced adaptation of Dickens’s festive favourite A Christmas Carol. With a cast of just four actors, this production is
AN EDUCATION watchdog has praised Dorset schools for their educational standards after 15 schools and 31 childcare centres received the top judgement this year. It comes after Ofsted published its annual report prepared for the House of Commons yesterday
DORCHESTER Mayor Tess James is hoping to get the town in full voice and create a song for Dorchester. Councillor James is hoping to get a record-breaking number of people to help write the song by telling her what Dorchester means to them and by getting
BUSINESSES are being urged to start making plans now for possible restrictions to roads, parking and deliveries from July 27 to August 12, 2012. Free help is being offered by London 2012 officials and local authorities in order to keep businesses
HOTELIERS and tourism businesses fear they will lose repeat customers and are calling for more clarity about plans for next summer’s event. Loraine Godwin, of the Richmoor Hotel, Weymouth, said: “The problem is not whether we’re full or not
CLOSING Weymouth Esplanade to cars from 10am until 10pm daily during the Olympic sailing events is among a raft of new measures proposed for 2012. Hoteliers, guesthouse owners and tourist attraction representatives demanded more information
I WISH to add my voice to the list of people affected by the backlog of patients waiting for painkilling injections to stress my distress at the unacceptable delay. I had my last injection administered at Weymouth on May 31 when he reiterated that I
When I first moved to Poundbury a little over 18 months ago, I have to say I was surprised by the anti-Poundbury viewpoints that I heard expressed, often on the Dorset Echo’s website. Locals, it seemed, so hated the place that everything from a waste
A CAR and a van were in collision on the A356 near Maiden Newton, police said. The road has just reopened following the crash which was reported at just after 10am. A woman and a child were said to be in the car. There are no reported injuries.
TOMORROW, Tuesday, 29 November at 7:30pm Artsreach will be presenting Fairgame Theatre’s Arabian Nights at Portesham village hall. This intriguing entertainment will bring the warmth and magic of ancient Arabia to our own lovely village! Through storytelling
FIRST bus driver Sami Rathnayaki is looking forward to a non-stop party during next summer’s Olympic and Paralympic sailing events. The 30-year-old from Rodwell, Weymouth, has claimed one of 10,000 Bring on the Games window stickers produced by the
HEALTH chiefs sounded an urgent call today for mums-to-be to get their flu jab. It comes after it was revealed that just 12 per cent of pregnant women in Dorset have signed up for their jab. The NHS in Dorset says women carrying a child who do not get
SKANDIA Team GBR is the British Sailing Team in the Olympic and Paralympic classes. The team consists of the Performance Squad and Development and Transitional squads, which jointly total around 70 sailors. The sailors train and compete across 10 Olympic
A police officer who tried to cover up a dead colleague’s affair to spare his family is facing a High Court bid to have him drummed out of the Dorset force. While investigating the death of Detective Constable Ian Morton in a road smash, Sergeant Neil
CAPTAIN Mark Jermyn is relishing the opportunity to lock horns with old foe Steve Claridge. With Dorchester Town hosting lower-league Gosport Borough in the FA Trophy this weekend, the Magpies’ skipper, and caretaker-assistant, is once more set to do
FIREFIGHTERS dealt with a blaze at a pub in East Lulworth last night. Wareham crews were called to The Weld Arms at 6pm where there was a chimney fire. They checked the thatched roof to make sure the fire had not spread.
MICHAEL Watson was the best placed West Region player after the first round of the Titleist PGA Play-Offs in Turkey. The Wessex Golf Centre pro carded a level-par 71 to trail Surrey star Richard Wallis by six shots. However, Watson’s second round of
BRIDPORT RES 4 Upwey & Broadwey 0 JACK Scovell netted on his return to the side as the Bees made light work of lower-league Upwey & Broadwey in the second round of the Dorset Senior Trophy. Making his first outing of the season, the talented
THREE digger buckets were stolen from a construction site, police said. They were taken from a site near the Worgret Manor Hotel, west of Wareham overnight last Thursday. The digger buckets are marked with the letters AD. Police are appealing for information
WEYMOUTH SPORTS 0 KINGSTON LACY 2 WEYMOUTH Sports suffered a fourth successive league defeat at the hands of Kingston Lacy at Cranford Avenue. The contest was fairly even throughout but it was the visitors that made the most of their opportunities
WEYMOUTH COWBOYS 47 JP BARRACUDAS 67 WEYMOUTH Cowboys were left looking for their first win after being beaten by JP Barracudas at Weymouth College Sports Hall. It was the Cowboys’ third consecutive defeat and second loss to Barracudas after the
GIRLS’ football in Weymouth and Portland has received a boost with news that WeySports will be running a Year Four to Six football tournament at Redlands in March for all schools in the area. The tournament will be on the same day as the boys’ prestigious
Under-13 WEYMOUTH 32 OAKMEADIANS 29 TROY Brocklebank and Tyler Craig both scored braces to help Weymouth pull off a fine home win over a strong Oakmeadians side. The hosts were forced into some last-minute changes and were forced to take to the field
KIERON ‘King’ Clewitt produced a masterclass to overcome Portland’s Tom Jarvis on a 16-bout card at the Wessex Tournament. The Dorchester & District ABC member entered the ring in great shape and immediately went on the attack by catching his opponent
Under-13 Division Two LYTCHETT RT 1 Dorchester TOWN TIGERS 10 JOSH Wilkinson scored a hat trick as Dorchester Tigers maintained their unbeaten away record this season with an awesome display. Kriss Radivojsa opened the scoring in the first
