Vosper Thornycroft boss Dave Diaper is hoping Winchester City's FA Vase run puts them off their Southampton Senior Cup bid. Cup holders Vosper are in league action against Lymington Town tomorrow but have an eye on next month's semi-final against Mottisfont
A HAMPSHIRE country park is at the centre of a new big cat alert. The Daily Echo has been told of a fresh sighting at West End's Itchen Valley Country Park. The big cat, which looks like a lynx, was picked up in the headlights of a car as it swept into
TRADITIONAL recipes and culinary tales from around Eastleigh are needed for a new book which will lift the lid on local food and drink. The book will be available in time for the second Hamble Food and Drink Festival on June 28 to July 6 run by Hamble
Today's Principal Arrivals: Bunga Raya Satu, container, 0600, 204; St Barbara, ro/ro, 0730, 105; Hoo Crest, bulk, 0800, 107; Madame Butterfly, vehicle carrier, 1230, 34/35; Autofreighter, ro/ro, 1330, 201 link; Carmen, ro/ro, 1930, 40; Tinka, container
THE DRUGS controversy involving Australian cricket hero Shane Warne is threatening to throw Hampshire's season into chaos. It was hoped the big winter signing for the Rose Bowl-based county outfit would be the lynchpin of their campaign to win promotion
A gasp of excitement greeted the semi-final draw of the Hampshire Worthington's Bowl a fortnight ago when Fordingbridge were awarded a home tie against Forest rivals New Milton & District. The match is on Sunday, with New Milton operating from a division
TOTTON councillors have hit out at the huge amount of social housing being built in a historic part of the town centre. Members of the town planning and transport committee criticised an application to build 12 one-bedroom flats at Rumbridge Street for
SOUTHAMPTON-based Grainfarmers, the country's largest farmer-controlled arable business, has announced a £1m improvement in its interim results covering the first half of its 2002/3 marketing year. Chairman Andrew Christie-Miller told shareholders at
CURRENTLY enjoying the limelight thanks to his script for this week's major movie release, the Oscar-tipped The Hours, playwright David Hare is back in the theatre with a new production of his tense drama Amy's View. First performed in 1997, when it starred
MOST of us have had a stab at origami, probably when we were about eight. After a few duff attempts at life-like representations of a seagull or the USS Enterprise, we wisely gave it up as a lost cause. Ennio Marchetto is one person who persisted - with
AWARD-WINNING dance company CandoCo are back with a triple bill of new works demonstrating the versatility of the company's able-bodied and disabled dancers. The group, currently in demand both at home and abroad, have teamed up with some of the UK's
AS NATIONAL Marriage Week comes to a close with luvvie-duvvie Valentine's Day, Southampton Operatic Society believes it knows exactly what it is talking - or rather singing - about when it comes to romance. The society, due to perform Some Enchanted Evening
WOULD YOU like your amateur show featured in the Stage pages of What's On, or reviewed for the Daily Echo's Curtain Call Awards? Then write to Tracie Billington-Beardsley at the Southern Daily Echo, Test Lane, Redbridge, Southampton SO16 9JX or email
DETECTIVES have switched the focus of the investigation into the murder of an Afghan asylum seeker to the parks in Below Bar, Southampton. Officers now believe 22-year-old Mohammed Isa Hasan Ali was attacked with a bottle-like weapon in one of the open
A RUNAWAY Jack Russell dog brought traffic to a standstill on the southbound lane of the M271 near Southampton yesterday - and still managed to escape being collared by the long arm of the law. Motorway police and frustrated motorists teamed up in a bid
A SOUTHAMPTON pay-and-display car park that has become a fertile hunting ground for clampers is to get a makeover in a bid to stop innocent motorists getting stung. The welcome move by Marina Developments Limited to introduce extra lighting and larger
EVERYBODY needs somebody - and Saints legend Lawrie McMenemy found a Blues Brothers buddy when he turned out to back a music campaign. The ex-Southampton manager gave his support to the Daily Echo-backed Music 4 Life initiative by teaming up to impersonate
The Sixties produced some great music and the fans are still out there and as loyal as ever, some 40 years on. Some of the boy bands and heart-throbs of their day have got together to put on one swinging show, which will play a few venues across the region
CONTROVERSIAL plans to open a nightclub at Shepards Wharf in Cowes in time for Skandia Life Cowes Week were given the go-ahead by the Isle of Wight Council's licensing panel on Thursday. Club "Submerged" caused uproar among residents last year when they
COUNCIL tax on the Island is set to rise by over 14 per cent this year. Members of the ruling "Island First" group agreed to the rise - one week before the full council's crunch budget setting meeting which is due to take place next Wednesday (February
AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-friendly transport facility which moves wind-turbines from a factory on the Isle of Wight to the River Medina has won a prestigious national design award. The £1.2m project at NEG Micron Rotors Ltd at St Cross Business Park in Newport
ONE OF the most popular watering holes on the Island is having a refit costing almost £1m. Work at The Wight Mouse Inn at Chale is set to be completed in June in time for the summer season. The award-winning pub has new managers, husband-and-wife team
TRADITIONAL recipes and culinary tales from around Eastleigh are needed for a new book which will lift the lid on local food and drink. The book will be available in time for the second Hamble Food and Drink Festival on June 28 to July 6 run by Hamble
SAINTS' FA Cup run has already proved extremely lucrative - but a win tomorrow could put them in line for a windfall of millions of pounds. Prize money and television money from two live games has already helped the club rake in well over £500,000. And
GORDON STRACHAN admits his Saints team have missed striker Marian Pahars. The little Latvian has this week undergone a second operation on his injured ankle and is not expected back until the middle of March. Pahars has been a regular source of goals
Sven Goran Eriksson surely won't judge James Beattie on just 45 minutes of near isolation at Upton Park on Wednesday night. So few chances did the Southampton striker get to shine, and so few are the attacking options that the England coach currently
SOUTHAMPTON'S newest Chinese restaurant is an unusual mix of pseudo-Habitat modern meets palatial grandiose. Located in Canute Road, Pilgrim's House is in the heart of Southampton's dining district. The first thing you notice on entering is the large
ANTON JACKSON (Eddie Griffin) is the Undercover Brother of the title, a 70s cool cat wannabe whose fashion sense and ideals are three decades out of date. By chance, Anton meets The Chief (Chi McBride), who runs an organisation known as B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D
Films showing in the Hampshire region until February 20. 8 MILE (15): Eminem stars as a poor aspiring rapper who turns to music to try to gain some respect. ABOUT SCHMIDT (15): A retired insurance-risk calculator is prepared for an uneventful life but
DRUG-BUSTING police officers believe they have chalked up a major victory by mounting their biggest-ever operation in the Basingstoke area. Before dawn broke on Tuesday, drugs crime suspects had a rude awakening as officers with battering rams smashed
A GROUP of mums are angry about plans to halve the number of respite beds in Basingstoke for children with severe disabilities and are asking for an open meeting with project managers. The 20 mums of Pro-Active Parents are unhappy with plans to close
ROMANTIC residents in the Basingstoke area are being hailed as among the most lovey-dovey in the country - and Valentine's Day really showcases their loving mood. A survey conducted by a major supermarket chain has discovered that shoppers in the town
SHE may be only four but Basingstoke youngster Lucy John is already making her debut on TV. In an episode of the BBC2's Manchild, a comedy series that centres on the lives of four men in midlife crisis, Lucy will play young Helen in a flashback scene.
A KEY figure in youth work at Basingstoke's Haymarket theatre has quit after a clash over her role and working hours. Associate director Helen Fry walked out last week after two meetings with her boss Alasdair Ramsay failed to resolve problems relating
There may have been no chocolates or flowers for Ellen MacArthur and her crew this St Valentine's day but instead, and much more gratefully received, there was 30 knots of wind. MacArthur said: "At last we're off, 30 knots of wind and we're hooning!"
NEVILLE Roach and Craig McAllister are set to re-kindle their deadly strike partnership at Harrow tomorrow and try to halt Basingstoke Town's recent run of defeats. Having lost five games in a row, the Camrose Blues are crying out for a victory when they
Setting the council tax rate for Southampton is the single hardest task that city finance bosses have to face. With a projected rise of nearly 19 per cent this year - plus cuts to jobs and services - it is not one that is going to win them any popularity
By an ironic twist of fate, the only two county-based sides in league action tomorrow are the very two left to feature in the Hampshire Worthington's Cup quarter-finals on Sunday. It is a far from satisfactory situation for both, as Winchester aim to
TOMORROW'S Six Nations Championship kick-off means league action - bar those re-arrranged clashes - takes a fortnight sabbatical, although a few friendly games may have early starts to allow viewing from Twickenham. Southampton travel across the border
Is there no end to Australia's sporting hold over England? In the wake of Wednesday's Upton Park shocker, we ask: why are THEY so good, and what can WE do about trying to match them? FIRST the cricket, but Australia's 4-1 Ashes win over Nasser Hussain's
ROB Carruthers is in a perfect position to compare and contrast England and Australia and the reasons which lie behind their sporting achievements. For the 32-year-old Aussie, born and bred in Melbourne, is the manager of the Walkabout pub in Southampton
PLANNERS have blocked a proposal that could have ruined a major regeneration scheme in a deprived Waterside parish. An application that would have prevented Calshot's last shop from re-opening has been thrown out. Calshot Stores occupies a prime site
TRADERS at Lymington Quay are hopping mad about council plans to increase charges in the town's amenity car parks. The scale of fees is to rise by between 9.1 and 11.1 per cent in the period between March and October 2003/2004. The steepest increase will
Sheila Ferguson left the Three Degrees in 1983. It could have spelled the end of her career. But, as she reveals to ANDREW WHITE, she is as busy as ever... NO ONE is in a better position to remember the 1970s than Sheila Ferguson. As lead singer of the
Karen Drury has had some dramatic roles in her time, including tragic mum Susannah Farnham in Brookside. ANDREW WHITE asks her about her latest role... PRIOR to her short-lived fling, Celia Johnson didn't have the most riveting of existences in Brief
If you fancy trying your hand at Shakespeare this summer, two thriving amateur dramatic companies are on the look-out for actors, actresses and backstage help. This weekend, Titchfield Festival Theatre is inviting would-be actors, directors, designers
POLICE and social services officials today swooped on a Southampton rest home. The investigation centres on allegations of providing inappropriate levels of care to elderly residents at the Everest Retirement Home in Welbeck Avenue, Highfield. Dharamjit
THE Daily Echo can today reveal that an Italian government grant - which broke Euro rules - was behind Pirelli switching production to Italy with the loss of 312 jobs in Hampshire. Eastleigh MP David Chidgey and Hampshire MEP Chris Huhne have branded
THE FORCE was certainly with the people of Southampton when they completed the 2001 census. The city has one of the highest proportions in the country of people who, when asked about their religious belief, replied with the word 'Jedi'. When the latest
HUNDREDS of Hampshire protesters will travel to London tomorrow to march for peace. They could be joining the biggest global protest in history with at least 25 million people in 300 cities around the world expected to demonstrate against military action
Many people in and around Southampton will have nostalgic childhood memories of school trips that took them abroad and away from their families for the first time. With mum and dad left back home none of these jaunts were more exciting than the educational
She would often propose her beauty, Challenge the sun to a duel, And she would prevail. She would often dance in the fog Until her stage was clear And she could perform. She would always smile in the rain Until the water began to laugh And the ground
Def Leppard, now in their third decade, still love touring. MICHAEL HEATLEY talks to lead man Joe Elliott... When you reach your forties, living happily in bohemian, tax-friendly Dublin, there must be a temptation to view rock'n'roll as a younger man's
SOUTHAMPTON band The Score have to believe in 'third time lucky'. Twice they have come close to signing a record contract only to be knocked back by circumstances beyond their control. Under their original name of Moosey, the band created a real buzz
THE world music genre may not yet have hit mainstream, but its following is dedicated and has been growing in number for many years now. Portuguese fado singer Mariza was born in Mozambique, but relocated to Portugal during her childhood. In the Lisbon
WE DID it with Haslar - we'll do it again with Daedalus. That was the message from Gosport councillors last night who yet again are preparing to take on the government in a bid to fight plans for an asylum centre at the former air base. Using lessons
AS RESIDENTS of Lee-on-the-Solent bolster support for their campaign against plans for an asylum seeker centre at Daedalus, the Daily Echo is asking for your show of support. In today's Fareham & Gosport edition we have published a petition form for
CIVIC chiefs have stumped up £5,000 to kick-start an action fund to pay for a campaign against plans to build an asylum seeker centre in Lee-on-the-Solent. The Daedalus Action Fund was launched yesterday by the leaders of all the main parties in Gosport
ISLE of Wight Council today stands accused of not taking an early enough stand against controversial plans to axe essential hospital services. Tens of thousands of Islanders have already signed a petition calling for accident and maternity facilities
A SUPER-efficient, cost-saving home opens its doors in Fareham this month. The house will offer tips on how to make homes secure, accident-free and energy efficient. Fareham mayor, Councillor Pamela Bryant, will open the Ideas (innovative designs for
AN ISLAND musician has beaten his way into the record books after completing a marathon 51-hour drumming session. But Joe Redston, 28, from Shanklin, nearly failed to clinch the record. Just hours into his attempt, he was told that a South African drummer
THE FIRST "virtual" tenant has taken up space at an innovation centre based in Newport on the Isle of Wight. Marc Phillips Sales Solutions is a brand new venture which offers sales and marketing services to media and news media firms. The new business
MORE than 100 people attended the first stakeholders event held by the Isle of Wight Drug Action Team at Ryde Theatre. The aim of the one-day workshop was to involve people from different agencies in developing services to help educate, treat and care
THE ISLE of Wight's popular Dinosaur Isle attraction is staging a free exhibition of entries in an art and literature competition involving schools on the Island. All the Island's schools were invited to submit original drawings, paintings, cartoons,
Sometimes finding the right words to say on certain tragic or joyous occasions can be difficult. But as Vicky Green found out, Lynn New always knows what to say. Lynn, from Seaview, is an author and illustrator of inspirational poetry. "I help people
THE Daily Echo can today reveal that an Italian government grant - which broke Euro rules - was behind Pirelli switching production to Italy with the loss of 312 jobs in Hampshire. Eastleigh MP David Chidgey and Hampshire MEP Chris Huhne have branded
HAMPSHIRE Association for the Care of the Blind is to move into modern headquarters in Eastleigh. It will be operating from two floors at Horizon House - a key town centre location. Close to the railway and bus stations, it means the association's services
Director Stephen Daldry follows up the huge global success of Billy Elliot with this elegiac adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel, from a screenplay by award-winning playwright David Hare. The Hours cuts back and forth between three different time
TREASURE Planet is like a favourite chair that you've had lovingly reupholstered. On the surface it looks eye-catchingly new and different but underneath you know it's still the same old chair comfortingly imprinted with the shape of your buttocks. The
BEN AFFLECK squeezes into a fetching red leather bodysuit and cowl to play the eponymous superhero created by Stan Lee and published by Marvel Comics. Young Matt Murdock (Scott Terra) adores his father Jack (David Keith), a famous boxer who has knocked
THE origins of one of the most potent musical movements of all time are explored in fascinating depth in this 2001 documentary by Doug Pray. From the South Bronx in the 1970s to present day San Francisco, the film traces the development of the hip-hop
