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Bournemouth Echo •

Bournemouth martial arts teacher recognised as one of the world's best

Steve Lyons, 69, from Bournemouth, has taught Wing Chun at the Lun Kuen Academy of Wing Chun, since 1994, which relocated to Ashley Road, Parkstone in 2023, and was recently given membership to the Hong Kong Ving Tsun Athletic Association.

Steve said: “I retired in July, I was an IT specialist for over 45 years, and Wing Chun has always been my passion.

Steve Lyons (middle) with his junior students on their grading day (Image: Steve Lyons)

“When I retired, I decided, you know what, l...
Bournemouth Echo •

Bottomless brunch venue coming to 'up and coming' Southbourne

The Dancing Jug will host an opening party for the new restaurant in Southbourne Grove on Friday, November 21.

Julezz, general manager of the newest venue, said: “We’re hoping to just bring something different really. We have made Bournemouth a great success. We’ve worked very hard with Charminster and now obviously we’re branching out to Southbourne”

The finishing touches are being put together at the newest venue (Image: The Dancing Jug)

“I think it (Southbourne) is up and coming,”...
Bournemouth Echo •

'Complete mockery': no confidence petition in council leadership gains 2k signatures

The petition is calling for a formal vote of no confidence vote in the council leader after new town councils for Bournemouth, Parkstone and Poole were approved at a full council meeting last week.

Of the 0.55 per cent of BCP resident who responded to the proposal, an average of 75 per cent of responders opposed it.

Millie Earl, BCP Council leader (Image: BCP Council)

The petition accuses the council of “demonstrating a disregard for public opinion and poor financial judgement”....
Bournemouth Echo •

Tribute to 'beloved' mum killed in A35 crash

Emma Smith, 37, of East Howe, was pronounced dead at the scene of a fatal crash near Askerswell at 12.05am on Wednesday October 22.

Emma and her brother Shane (Image: Shane Morrison)

Paying tribute, Emma's mother, Jayne Singer, said: “Emma was my beloved daughter, friend and partner in crime.

“We had happy days, we had sad days, but no matter what, we were always there for each other.

“She was my rock, and I was hers.

“No parent should have to lay their child to rest but sadl...
Bournemouth Echo •

Teenager died after suffering 'devastating brain injury'

Rex Edward Lilley, 18, born January 24, 2006, died on January 6, 2025, at Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

An inquest into Mr Lilley’s death was held on October 23 at Bournemouth Coroner's Court, led by assistant coroner Richard Middleton.

The court heard how Mr Lilley had remained in bed for much of the day on January 2, 2025, displaying signs of low mood and that his mother encouraged him get up and "do something productive”.

Later that day, Mr Lilley locked himself in his bedroom in th...
Bournemouth Echo •

Poole couple among 14 convicted in £28m timeshare fraud

Nihat Paul Salih, 57, of Poole, and Lisa Salih, 56, of Poole, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years, respectively.

The conspiracy, led by Mark Rowe, 54, of Los Blanquitos in Tenerife, operated under the brand Sell My Timeshare (SMT) and targeted owners desperate to relinquish their properties.

Nihat Paul Salih, from Poole, was part of the conspiracy and was sentenced to three years’ impris...
Bournemouth Echo •

Campers brave the cold for night of rough sleeping in Southbourne

Sleep Out on the Beach is returning for the third time to SOBO Beach Restaurant & Bar as dozens of campers will brave the cold autumnal evening on Saturday, October 25.

The event aims to show people the realities that homeless young people face sleeping rough, while raising funds for Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homeless charity.

Founder and local organiser Mark Kedgley, 56, from Canford Cliffs, said he started the sleep out after seeing similar events take place through the count...
Bournemouth Echo •

Homeowners say next door HMO could change the 'character' of Poole

Martin, 68, and Karen Shea, 67, have owned their home in Poole for six years and argued Poole’s community was being affected as they claim homes are being bought by property developers and turned into HMOs.

Karen said: “It will change the character the town.

“More will come and there’s no way of stopping them.”

The proposed extension would be three metres tall and block sunlight from the Shea's family garden(Image: NQ)

“We have noticed it more and more,” said Martin of other HMOs...
Bournemouth Echo •

Driver fined after parking in McDonald's car park for just 10 minutes

Tim Govier, 45, from Parkstone, visited McDonald’s in Alder Road at around 10.30am on July 16 after he dropped his partner off at Poole Hospital, leaving after approximately 10 minutes.

Later that day at around 3.30pm, Tim returned to the same McDonald's after collecting his daughter from a nearby school, but used the drive-through instead of parking.

Tim has appeal the parking fine but has not been able to contact the ticketing company(Image: Tim Govier)

At the end of September, Tim...
Bournemouth Echo •

'Country has lost all sense of community', says pub landlord

Joe Bird has run the Queen’s Park Hotel for seven years but said he is struggling to keep his business running as he feels the country has “lost all sense of community”.

He said: “Its absolute shame. This country has lost all sense of community and a big part of that is a decline, and as far as I’m concerned, local pubs are at the heart of the local community.

“All we hear about now is declining communities, but is that surprising when the community hubs in these areas are all closed?”...