Nick Churchill meets a Dorset Star Wars fan who got to play a vital role in one of the sequels... AS the world forms orderly queues at the cinema to see the latest instalment of the Star Wars saga, one Dorset fan will allow himself a wry smile as he recalls
CRIME in Dorset is up again, figures out today reveal. In the 12 months ending in March, the total number of crimes in the county rose by nine per cent from 50,320 to 54,951. Next Thursday's Dorset Police Authority meeting will be given a report on the
A WEYMOUTH caf owner claims he is losing trade because of a parking nightmare outside his premises. Vaughan Carter, who runs the Lookout Caf on top of Bowleaze Cove, is fed up with traffic problems which he says are hitting him in the pocket. He believes
DORSET firefighters were congratulated for their long service and good conduct at a prestigious awards ceremony. Thirteen men serving at fire stations across the county were presented with medals from the High Sheriff of Dorset, James Boughey, at the
CHERRIES have launched their Target 2002 campaign in a bid to generate club season ticket sales. Representatives of combined supporters' groups have been meeting with the club's board to launch the first of many season ticket initiatives with the aim
DORSET'S Jurassic coastline will be officially welcomed into a universal family of world heritage sites next week. A top scientist who is the European head of the World Heritage Centre in Paris is set to tour the fossil-rich coast and speak at a conference
SIX students have proved top of the class at a Weymouth school. Two Year 10 pupils at Wey Valley School, off the Dorchester Road, have been named head boy and girl after impressing a panel of judges, with four named as their deputies for the coming year
PEOPLE are being urged to beat the crooks and sign up with the Weymouth and Portland Crime Prevention Panel. The panel is looking for new members and is reminding householders of the crime-busting equipment that is available. The panel has been operating
A 2,000-ACRE Dorset estate went on sale with a price tag of about £15 million today. Encombe, near Kimmeridge, is on the market for the first time in 200 years after the trustees of the estate decided to sell. It is expected to attract the interest of
THE JUBILEE will not be so golden for villagers in Chideock. They have been turned down for a grant for their celebrations - and been told it's because they did not submit it in time. But Keith Baylis, chairman of Chideock Fete Committee, is confused
IT'S a long way from Dorset to Hollywood, but that's how far Liam Scanlan used to commute to work. Liam, 50, the new director of the Arts Institute's School of Media, came to the Wallisdown campus after five years at Industrial Light and Magic, movie
A POOLE couple who removed their child from school because he was being tormented by bullies have been given a conditional discharge by magistrates. The case comes in the same week that a mother was jailed for 60 days because her children repeatedly played
TOURISM campaigners have blasted Dorset County Council for letting Dorchester's prized Roman townhouse fall into disrepair - just five years after spending £380,000 to preserve the ruins. The county town attraction - the only Roman townhouse in the country
MARIA Wakeley has mounted a one-woman campaign to save Portland's coastguard search-and-rescue helicopter. Miss Wakeley, 35, has launched a massive petition bid amid speculation that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is preparing to transfer the
HEALTH bosses are urging people to speak their minds about the Dorset County Hospital - by sending a text message. The trust that runs the Williams Avenue complex is the first in Dorset to let people use their mobiles to contact them as well as via more
ACTRESS Hazel Ellerby will be performing a role of a different kind in Dorchester - opening the annual Big Affair extravaganza. The former EastEnders and Peak Practice star is special guest at the Dorchester Moose organised bash at Kings Road playing
