A MAN has tonight been charged with the murder of his twin brother in a New Year’s Eve brawl. Robert Cerqua was charged by murder squad detectives last night after spending almost 48 hours in custody where he was quizzed about the death of brother
A SCHOOLGIRL has died and a teenager is fighting for his life in a Hampshire hospital after a car crash. The 14-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-car collision at around 3pm today (Jan 2). She had been a passenger in a red
FIREFIGHTERS battled a blaze in the kitchen of a Hampshire home this evening. The chip pan fire broke out in a property in Southampton at around 6pm. One appliance each attended from Redbridge and St Mary’s stations and crews were on the scene
Southampton City Council has highlighted the areas of the city most at risk of flooding with up to 15mm more rainfall expected tonight in the city. With more rain expected tomorrow, the Environment Agency has upgraded flood warnings for the Itchen
SOUTHAMPTON has been put on flood alert with many city communities warned about potential flooding over the next 24 hours. The city council has warned residents of the risks, and the Environment Agency has updated its flood warning map to show
THE captain of a cargo ship berthed at Southampton Docks has appeared in court after allegedly failing to provide a breath test. Han Gi Cheong, 60, from Korea, was arrested after officers boarded a vessel berthed at Southampton Docks. Mr Cheong
DETECTIVES hunting a rapist who attacked a woman in a Southampton park have urged the public to remain vigilant. Officers are appealing for help in finding the attacker who raped the 32-year-old victim while she was making her way home from celebrating
THE Met Office has issued two weather warnings with bad weather set to return to Hampshire over the next three days. The agency has issued a yellow wind and rain warning for tomorrow, with gusts of between 60 and 70mph and up to 20mm of rainfall
A HAMPSHIRE army veteran who booked a party at a hotel for his 50th wedding anniversary has spoken of his bitterness after the venue refused to return a £700 upfront payment when he had to cancel the event when his wife died. Eric Clifton, 78,
RAIL passengers faced delays because of a tree hanging over the tracks in the New Forest. The line was blocked near the village of Sway sparking hold-ups for services.
A ROAD in Southampton is closed due to flooding. A large section of Redbridge Lane is shut to traffic this afternoon. The closure affects the road between Brownhill Way and Lower Brownhill Road. Southampton City Council's highways contractors
A MOTORCYCLIST has been killed in a collision in a Hampshire village this afternoon. At around 1.45pm today a motorcycle was in collision with a BMW car on the B2177 Winchester Road, Waltham Chase. The motorcyclist, a man in his 40s, was
UPDATE: The motorcyclist involved inthis crash has now died. More details on the article. POLICE are urging drivers to avoid Hampshire village following a serious crash this afternoon. A motorcyclist has been left seriously hurt following a
HAVING read recent correspondence regarding traffic gridlock in Southampton, I now see that Lidl is to build a large distribution centre off the M271 (Daily Echo, December 30). While not wishing to discourage companies from moving into the area
AS A trustee of the Young Explorers Foundation charity I am restricted in what I can invest charity funds in . It seems to me that Comic Relief investments in stocks and shares which can go up and down might not be allowed by the Charity Commission
I DO not normally write to the press, but I was incensed. I had the misfortune to receive a Christmas card from Royston Smith, the Tories’ prospective parliamentary candidate for Southampton Itchen. I was so incensed that in this card he stated
I WONDER how many of us are totally disillusioned (I’m being polite) with the BBC, and ITV for that matter, with the dross that fills our screens these days. It seems that if you are not into Netflix or Lovefilm, Sky or Virgin On Demand, or buying
INSTEAD of giving something up this new year, we’re asking your readers to give blood. Donating blood saves lives. It’s an easy resolution to keep and is easy to get started. During 2013, blood donors across England and north Wales helped save
MILLIONS of people in the UK who have no Christian beliefs celebrate Christmas with much merriment. Does that make them hypocrites? But many thousands, perhaps millions, who claim to be Christians and therefore love and cherish their fellow men
FIRST I would like to thank the local residents’ association for choosing to fit a speed warning sign to the lamp-post outside my house. Second, I’d like to thank all the drivers who activate it day and night by exceeding the speed limit. It
NO action over asbestos, says Mr Samuels. Well, I got £5,000 under the previous Labour Government and they said if it gets worse I will get more! Under this Government, I think not! K. MULLIER, ex-docker, Southampton.
AS THE great-grandson of a couple who fled Germany before the First World War, I was always proud of the country of my birth that took them in. The male Cushen children all joined the British Army in the First World War, although my grandfather
A MAJOR search and rescue operation has been carried out after a woman went missing in the early hours of yesterday morning. It is believed that Sabrina Boulenouar has links to the Southampton area and officers are keen to trace the 33-year-old
ANOTHER “vision” of a Southampton waterfront development, of Centenary Quay at Woolston (Daily Echo, December 28), and another totally unimaginative collection of monotonous apartment blocks. Described as not looking out of place on the Mediterranean
A SOUTHAMPTON church is holding a tea club as part of its outreach programme to the community. Highfield Church in Southampton’s next tea club meeting will be on January 9. It takes place at Kerrigan Court in Westwood Road, Southampton. The
NATIONAL Trust officials are urging the public to help the charity’s conservation rangers control rhododendrons at Foxbury Plantation at Wellow. This Sunday volunteers will be cutting back and digging out rhododendrons in the 370-acre site in a
TWO new paintings will be exhibited at Southampton’s City Art Gallery. Basil Beatie’s Far and Away and Phoebe Unwin’s Concrete Ball have been gifted to the collection. They will be on show from Saturday to March 22.
AS THE conductor rang the bell, the people of Hampshire were transported back to a different age for one last time. The last of the New Year’s Day Winchester buses running service was an unseasonably wet one, but it didn’t keep the spirits down
A CANNABIS factory was foiled after a landlord called the police having discovered his tenants had changed the locks. Chien Hoang and Sang Nguyen, both in the UK illegally, were found in a Hampshire home which had been converted into a drugs cultivation
A TOUCH tour of Southampton’s City Art Gallery will take place on January 24. The tour will give visually impaired people a chance to appreciate the gallery’s paintings. At the free session, which will start at 10.30am, there will also be a
The pantomime Dick Turpin will be staged at Bishopstoke Memorial Hall between January 22 and 25. For tickets to the Bishopstoke Players performance, call Wendy Shehan on 023 8069 3032.
BOSSES behind plans for a £3 billion wind park off the Hampshire coast are staging another round of public consultation as they put the finishing touches to the planning application. The team involved in the controversial Navitus Bay project, which
TEAMS racing in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race were today in the early stages of the latest leg of the competition. One team’s race had yet to begin at all after the Henri Lloyd yacht suffered a complication to the repair of a rudder.
THE identity of the man murdered after a New Year's Eve brawl in Hampshire has been revealed, as officers have been given more time to question a suspect. Chris Cerqua, 31, died from his injuries following a fight inside a house in Hythe on Tuesday
TIPS are being swapped in a free police workshop in a bid to thwart bike and moped thieves who blight a Southampton community. Sessions will be held at Weston Lane Surgery on Thursday, January 9, from 4pm to 5pm about Immobilise, the national property
MOTORISTS on a busy Southampton road may encounter delays caused by roadworks. Work to install a new bus shelter on Shirley Road will take place from January 14 to 17.
WINCHESTER woman Rosie Lawther has admitted attacking a man and a police officer. Lawther, 25, of Wales Street, Winnall, pleaded guilty to attacking Craig Friswell on October 25 and latter the same charge against PC Deakin, Basingstoke Magistrates
SOUTHAMPTON Common will be a-glow next month when a night-time running event is staged in the city. As part of a series of events around the country, the organisation Glow in the Park has announced it will be holding a meeting in Southampton.
OSCAR winner Jennifer Lawrence surprised pub goers when she turned up at a Hampshire pub with her boyfriend Nicholas Hoult. The US actress was at the Jekyll and Hyde pub with her boyfriend, Nicholas Hoult. The star of the two Hunger Games films
HELP us get our bus back! That is the message to Totton town council over a key bus service to the hospital that will be cut in the next few days. It comes after First Hampshire announced its number 10 service from Totton to Southampton was
BEGINNERS and more fluent German speakers can attend a language cafe in Southampton on January 9. The SAGS German Language Cafe takes place at the Art House Cafe in Above Bar Street and runs from 7.30-9.30pm. There is a suggested donation of £1
RESIDENTS are being asked to help those in financial crisis by donating food. The Hedge End Food Centre provides individuals and families from Botley, Hedge End, West End and other local areas with food-aid if they are suffering financial difficulties
THEY were battered by high winds and heavy rain for a good cause. Nine members of the Southampton Youth Campaign completed a 13-mile walk from the city’s Medina Mosque to Winchester, despite stormy weather. They arrived at Winchester Theatre
TWO of Britain’s top political figures will launch a Hampshire-based attempt to recreate one of the most daring missions of the Second World War. Paddy Ashdown and Caroline Flint will outline plans by the Pilgrim Bandits to salute the men whose
A WEST End man has been banned from driving for failing to do a breath test when stopped by police. Brian Kendall, 44, of Harbourne Gardens, admitted the charge that happened on November 30, Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard. Kendall also
A SOUTHAMPTON man will be catching the bus for six months after refusing to tell police who was driving a car. Michael Olan-George, 31, of Aldermoor Avenue, failed to give details about the driver of an 02-reg Chrysler Neon alleged to have been
DIBDEN-based accountancy firm Stephenson Sheppard held a coffee morning that raised £347 for Macmillan Cancer Support. A spokesman said a large number of people supported the event, despite pouring rain. “We would like to thank everyone who ventured
CIVIC chiefs in Southampton have been urged to introduce 20mph speed limits in a city community. Labour city council bosses introduced a pilot 20mph area in Maybush in November – and now there are calls to introduce one in Harefield. Harefield
PLANS are in the pipeline to flatten a bungalow and build a new five-bedroom house in a Hampshire village. Developers want to bulldoze the home in Western Road, Chandler’s Ford and replace it with a new detached house. Proposals have been submitted
AN office in a Hampshire village could be transformed into five flats. Developers want to convert the first floor of the South West Block at The Mall in Winchester Road, Chandler’s Ford. The plan has been submitted to Eastleigh Borough Council
GREEN-fingered volunteers are being called upon to help spruce up a Hampshire park. Helpers are needed for a clean-up of Fleming Park in Eastleigh on January 9 between 10am and 3pm. To find out more call 02380 902458.
A SOUTHAMPTON shoplifter has been fined by magistrates in Basingstoke. John Walsh, 51, of Bitterne Road West, admitted stealing perfume worth £63.98 from Boots and after shave valued at £32 from Debenhams, both in Basingstoke on December 21. Magistrates
A NEW exhibition will feature at Southampton City Art Gallery. The Artists in Tandem exhibition will run from January 4 to March 22, it will showcase the work of Eric Meadus, Larry Wakefield who both worked in Southampton for some time, as well
A WINCHESTER man allegedly attacked three women the day after his 20th birthday, a court heard. Harold Pilnik, of St Cross Road, is charged with beating Hannah Hamlin, Annalise Ord and Holly Walsh in Winchester on December 4. Magistrates in
“IT IS the best New Year’s present we could have wished for.” Those are the words from a defiant Southampton family who are threatened with deportation but have been given an eleventh-hour reprieve by the Home Office after the community rallied
CIVIC chiefs have submitted plans for thousands of solar panels to be installed in the grounds of a Hampshire country park. As previously reported, Eastleigh Borough Council wants to put 3,380 panels on land at Itchen Valley Country Park in West
ART to Wake the Soul is the title of a talk that guest speaker Anne Clark will give to Hythe Flower Club on January 9. The meeting will be held at the parish hall in West Street, Hythe, at 7.30pm. Visitors will be asked to pay an entrance fee of
A NEW exhibition will be on show at the New Forest Centre in Lyndhurst this month. From January 11 to February 9, the Woodland exhibition will be available for people to see pictures of the New Forest in the winter months.
THE Hawthorns Wildlife Association will be leading a walk on Southampton Common on January 5. The walk, called Controversy on The Common will start at 2pm, from the Hawthorns Centre, booking is not essential but donations are welcome. For more
THE Southampton Running Sisters group will hold its club night on January 8. The women’s running club will host the event at Southampton Solent University’s East Park Terrace campus. It will start at 6.45pm and be followed by a run at 7pm.
A SOUTHAMPTON amateur boxer has been jailed after assaulting his girlfriend for the second time in 2013. In a sustained attack, Gordon Ip punched Louise Baker to the head and then put his hands around her throat after they had returned to her home
SOUTHAMPTON is to play host to the world’s latest and most colourful cruise ship when Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Getaway arrives in port this month. The ship will visit Southampton to celebrate its inaugural voyage from Europe to the USA
Hampshire suffered a new year storm battering as wind and rain hammered the south coast. New Year’s Day football matches and ferry services were cancelled yesterday, while an eight-mile stretch of a major road was shut due to flooding. And
The UK continues to edge ever closer to its European neighbours by becoming a nation of ‘renters’. As home ownership follows a downward trend, there has been rapid growth in residential lettings, with over 15 per cent of all UK homes (3.2m) now
POLICE were last night continuing to question a man on suspicion of murder after a 31-year-old male died during a fight on New Year’s Eve. Officers were called to an address in Hythe after reports of a fight taking place inside. When they arrived
ON the face of it, news reported in this paper that reveals how house prices are recovering strongly in Southampton should bring new year cheer. It was not so long ago, after all, that house price depression was a symptom of a wider economic malaise
IT bodes well for Saints and England that Luke Shaw should begin 2014 as the equal of Ashley Cole, at least during the first half at St Mary’s yesterday. This is a year that could see Shaw become England’s Apprentice to Cole, The Master, when Roy
DON’T be downhearted by Saints’ losing start to 2014. From being in third place in the Premier League in late November, the club have now banked just five points out of a possible 27 after yesterday’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea. As a result, they
PRIME Minister David Cameron is travelling to Southampton this morning as he champions his Help to Buy house ownership scheme. The Conservative leader will be at Regents Park Road at 10.20am before moving on to Centenery Quay in Vosper Road an
WINCHESTER Discovery Centre’s latest season of events has been unveiled with a mix of talks, exhibitions and family-friendly shows. Adventurer favourite John Pilkington visits with A Balkan Adventure (February 7, 20 and March 7). After spending
CELEBRATING its 45th year, Southampton’s historic Joiners Arms is one of the spots taking part in the nationwide Independent Venue Week. The Rising and Fever will appear at a special gig on January 31 as part of the scheme, bringing together some
MICHAEL Longhurst directs father and son, John and Lex Shrapnel, in a new production of Caryl Churchill’s A Number at the Nuffield this spring, in their first collaboration since the award-winning and Olivier-nominated West End hit Constellations.
HE’s best known as Doctor Who number six. But in his 33rd festive appearance, he’s actually something of a pantomime expert. It’s your last chance to see Colin Baker as Abanazar in The Anvil’s version of Aladdin before it closes on Sunday.
Police are appealing for information after a man was seriously injured in a road crash in Hampshire. The collision in Fleet happened in the early hours of New Year’s Day. At around 2.50am a 42-year-old man was walking along Reading Road South
MORE than 30 firefighters battled to extinguish a bungalow blaze. Crews from Hightown, Botley, St Mary's and Eastleigh fire stations were called to the property in Botley Road, West End, Southampton, at around 9.20pm last night. They found
TRAIN commuters in Hampshire face delays this morning due to overnight flooding. Flooding at Hamble is causing disruption to trains between Fareham and Southampton Central, with delays expected of up to 30 minutes. Buses have been requested
KELVIN Davis thought it would be Saints’ day when Oscar was denied a penalty – and booked for diving. Saints were still level yesterday when Oscar fell despite being in an excellent position to round Davis following Eden Hazard’s cute pass early
SUSPECTED joyriders or poachers torched a car after getting trapped in a field at a Hampshire beauty spot. Firefighters doused the flames that wrecked the stolen 4x4 dumped by a hedge at Cheesefoot Head on the A272 near Winchester. Crew manager
HOUSE prices in Southampton have risen by more than the national average, with a rise of 11 per cent in the last year. The average property in the city now costs £202,723, new figures have revealed. The rise was two per cent above the nine
AN INVESTIGATION is underway after a woman reported being raped in a Southampton park in the early hours of New Year’s Day. According to Hampshire police the victim, a 32-year-old woman, told police she had been subjected to a serious sexual assault
