Archive

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Mental patient threat to public

A BOURNEMOUTH man on the run from a secure mental health unit should not be approached because he is dangerous, say police. Shane Cooper escaped from Ravenswood House near Fareham on Sunday night after smashing a window on the medium-secure Malcolm Faulk

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Course record for Thompson

LEE Thompson decimated the short Mathern course to set a new record of eight-under-par 60 in the second round of the Welsh Masters at Marriott St Pierre. "I was out in two-under (32) and then started to knock in a few putts," he said after playing the

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Tag rugger festival on the beach

DORSET will be treated to some more 'sand-astic' beach action this month with two more tag rugby evenings. Throughout the summer, there has been a series of successful beach rugby events in the county with the aim of widening participation across all

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GIBSON ACHIEVES AN INTERNATIONAL SECOND

DORSET equestrian star Kate Gibson is riding high thanks to a fine display on her own horse, Higher Waterston Sanne. Together, the pair secured second place, and the sash for best mare, in the four-year-old section of the Pre-Vac Pro Potential International

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ELSWORTH M AKES HIS MARK

DEBUT keeper Les Elsworth impressed watching Magpies boss Mark Morris when the club's second string overcame Wessex League opponents in their final friendly last night. The 38-year-old BT cabler from Marnhull, who has never played higher in the non-League

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WESSEX PASSES SPEEDWAY SAFETY TEST

PROMOTOR Brian White has been given the all clear to start speedway racing at the Wessex Stadium. The new Weymouth Wildcats track yesterday passed its final safety inspection which was carried out by representatives from the sport's governing body, the

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Call for safety works at accident blackspot

URGENT calls have been made for safety improvements at a Ferndown accident blackspot. Residents and town councillors fear it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident at the junction of Wimborne Road and Victoria Road. They say the problem

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Chippie's special package

OWNERS of a fish and chip shop are looking to give litter a battering. Enterprising Paul and Julie Hay, who run the award-winning Fish 'n' Fritz takeaway and restaurant in Weymouth, are serving their products in new packaging in a bid to cut down on street

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Driver narrowly escapes car blaze on way to MoT

AN ELDERLY driver had a lucky escape when his car burst into flames as he started the engine in the garage at his home in Ringwood yesterday morning. As flames and smoke poured from the engine bay of his Reliant Robin three-wheeler, owner George Fletcher

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Christchurch planning applications

241 Fairmile Road; 8/03/0491, erection of linked 'annexe' in rear garden to provide additional residential accommodation, demolition of existing garage; E Hague, Tanglewood, Derritt Lane, Bransgore (for H R Beheshti). 1 Halewood Way; 8/03/0492, certificate

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Blaze destroys community hall

YOUNG vandals have been blamed for a fire which destroyed a community building in the centre of Christchurch on Monday (August 11). Fire crews from Christchurch, Springbourne and Redhill were called to the Druitt Hall shortly before midday but they were

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Emergency buys only for Cherries

CHERRIES chairman Peter Phillips has told boss Sean O'Driscoll to prepare himself for "crisis management". Phillips insists the club will pull out all the stops to help O'Driscoll strengthen his squad - but only in an emergency. His comments come just

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Scan boost for injured Shaun

CHERRIES defender Shaun Maher has been boosted by the news he could be back in action earlier than was first anticipated. It was feared the Dubliner may have ruptured ligaments in his right ankle after going over on the joint in training on Friday. But

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PARKING MAYHEM

PARKING attendants are struggling to cope with problems caused by the huge influx of visitors trying to make their way to the beach during the heatwave. A total of 700 parking tickets were issued in Bournemouth over two days at the weekend - around three

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People power up to cope with heatwave

HOUSEHOLDERS and business owners in Dorset are using so much electricity during the heatwave that demand on the grid is as high as it would be on a cold winter's day. The surge in energy use across the county is mainly due to firms keeping their staff

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Tiny fish weeves its painful spell

BEACH-GOERS are being warned to tread with care following the visit of an unwelcome guest - the Weever Fish. Like the thousands of people who have been flocking to the Dorset beaches, the Weever Fish is attracted to the coastline by the hot weather. The

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Resort is now a smog blackspot

BOURNEMOUTH has become one of Britain's smog blackspots with pollution levels recorded at the weekend more than double the Government health limit. Friends of the Earth have revealed that while the resort basked in Mediterranean temperatures ozone pollution

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No more heroics as Bear waits for calm

DORSET'S Bear Grylls and his team of adventurers are now in Reykjavik, waiting for storms to abate so they can begin the final leg of their Atlantic crossing. Bear is hoping to skipper the first open-topped rigid inflatable to cross the Atlantic unassisted

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All change at 'Waterloo'

IT is fifty years since the completion of the Waterloo housing estate - Poole's largest housing development at the time, when the first of 750 families started moving in. Luckily some of the families, many of whom had been waiting for up to four years

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Things will have to change

THOSE of you who are interested in the issue of UK competitiveness may know about the DTI's paper "UK Competitive-ness: Moving to the Next Stage". This is a report by Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School and his team following a three-month

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Wilts and Dorset sold for £31.6m

WILTS and Dorset Bus Company has been acquired by Go-Ahead Group Plc in a £31.6 million takeover. The news was broken to staff of the Poole-based company yesterday, and the new management team installed immediately following the announcement. W &

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Dead whale discovery at beauty spot

A MINKE whale has been found dead at Dancing Ledge in Purbeck. The four metre-long whale is believed to be a young female though the remains were badly decomposed making it impossible to determine how it died. All whales are protected by law and the Minke

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Strain to pull train

SEVENTY soldiers built up a head of steam when they chose to haul 180 tonnes of railway engine up and down the tracks at Swanage railway station. As if the heatwave weather wasn't enough to make them sweat the army men pulled two identical engines a total

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Tag rugger festival on the beach

DORSET will be treated to some more 'sand-astic' beach action this month with two more tag rugby evenings. (Aug 28) Throughout the summer, there has been a series of successful beach rugby events in the county with the aim of widening participation across

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BOVINGTON OUT-GUNNED BY HERRISON'S OLIVER

HERRISON Youth's Stephen Oliver took advantage of the gaps in the field of six-man Bovington Engineers to score the first century of the season in their Dorchester Evening League Division Three clash. Two wins in a week for the Herrison side, they also

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£5000 GRANT BOOST FOR THE REC

HOPES that Minor Counties cricket will one day return to Dorchester Rec have been boosted by news of a £5,000 grant for pitch improvement work at the county town ground. Dorchester Cricket Club have been promised the cash by the English Cricket Board

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SPORTIES LEFT WITH NO CHANCE

WEYMOUTH Sports are in danger of folding after parting company with manager Adie Chance by mutual consent. The former Portland, Bridport and Dorchester striker has left the struggling outfit just days before the start of new Elite Teamwear Dorset Premier

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Adams leads victory charge

LEIGH Adams reigned supreme at Brandon last night as the Meridian Lifts Pirates gained an important psychological edge over the Victor Chandler Bees. Poole's in-form Aussie ace made up for Saturday's World Cup disappointment in Denmark to storm to a classy

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GRANDAD TONY'S SPECIAL DELIVERY

GRANDAD Tony Turczynski went to help his son and ended up delivering a baby. Tony, 52, today told how a 3am emergency call led to him playing midwife to 6lb 5oz girl named Lucy by her delighted parents. Tony, from Fortuneswell, Portland said: "When it

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GRANDAD TAONY

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Jim's starring role in Stefan appeal

COMIC Jim Davidson has wished Bosnian four-year-old Stefan Savic luck with his operation and urged Echo readers to keep sending in their money. Jim handed a cheque for £1,000 to Weymouth soldier Wayne Ingram to go towards the cost of life-changing surgery

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Project to rebuild old Baptist church

CHURCHGOERS have raised £800,000 in 18 months to provide community facilities at their landmark building. Dorchester's Dorford Baptist Church, which has stood at the Top o' Town for 91 years, is set to be pulled down leaving just the two walls facing

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Civic Society objects to wind farm plan

WEYMOUTH Civic Society has objected to plans for a huge wind farm in Portland Harbour. Energy company Powergen Renewables announced last year that it wanted to build up to 12 offshore wind turbines 100 metres high to provide energy for the whole of Weymouth

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Poundbury goes online

POUNDBURY has gone online with a new website designed to enhance community spirit in Dorchester and beyond. This Is Poundbury is designed to give Internet users an insight into life in Prince Charles' dream village, and is also a place for residents to

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Swimmers risk serious injury

SWIMMERS are dicing with death by diving off Bournemouth and Boscombe piers to cool off as the South Coast continues to sizzle in tropical temperatures. And they are also risking the lives of other beach-goers by diverting lifeguards away from their normal

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Raiders get away with £140,000 jewel haul

DIAMOND rings and bracelets, gold chains and watches worth up to £140,000 were stolen in a raid on a Blandford jeweller. Thieves broke in to Raffles in Salisbury Street at 3.50am on Monday (August 11) through a side window and escaped in a stolen car

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More than just a flash in the pan

IT'S bizarre, zany, wacky, maybe even slightly odd. It's totally pointless - but, hey, that's the whole point! And guess what? It's the brainchild of people who spend much of their spare time sitting in front of computers. We're talking "flash mobbing