GERALD Merritt was shocked to pick up his award for Service to Sport, but years of commitment to local football made him a worthy winner. The 66-year-old from South Ham, Basingstoke, said: "I am honoured to receive this award. I don't do it for the awards
JENNY Earle capped a great 2004 on the judo mat and athletics field by scooping the Senior Women's title. The 46-year-old, a duty manager at the Basingstoke Sports Centre, won a clean sweep of Masters judo titles with success in the World, European and
THE Basingstoke RFC Academy's progress has been of such stature since its establishment three years ago that they are now one of the leading teenage squads in the country. Through to the last 16 of the National Colts Plate competition and currently in
Coach of the Year Category Winner: Ernie Howe, Team of the Year Category Winner: Basingstoke Town FC THERE was double delight at the awards for Ernie Howe, who picked up the Coach of the Year accolade while his Basingstoke Town side won the Team of the
KNIGHT Frank Hotels in Southampton oversaw the sale of The South Lawn Hotel in Milford on Sea, near Lymington, to Swallow Hotels. The 24-bedroom, three-star country house hotel offers a restaurant, accommodating up to 100 guests, with separate dedicated
IT is unlikely to be a Hollywood blockbuster, and even film director legend Steven Spielberg would be hard-pushed to turn this into a nail-biting drama. But for Brian Cleckner the chance to video the development of a redesigned vacuum cleaner could not
THE first passengers entered South-ampton Airport's new £5m departure lounge yesterday when it was officially opened. Magicians entertained travellers and champagne and chocolates were handed out in the spacious first-floor lounge, where 550 passengers
THE OWNER of a controversial motocross circuit near Winchester is taking steps to reduce noise pollution after complaints by villagers. Residents living in South Wonston and Littleton say the track on former farmland at Three Maids Hill is disrupting
LORD Nelson, Lady Hamilton and the battle of Trafalgar was the theme for this year's Beaulieu village fete. Lord Montague's Palace House Lawns opened to hundreds of visitors for the annual summer event, which raises money for clubs and organisations in
HEALTH chiefs in the New Forest are asking residents what they think of plans to axe scores of hospital beds across the district. New Forest Primary Care Trust is holding a series of public meetings following the publication of proposals to give community
MORE than 300 pupils from a Fareham school took a break from their normal lessons to commemorate the end of the Second World War. The youngsters from Brookfield Community School put away their exercise books and had a go at jive dancing, ration cooking
BASINGSTOKE Town boss Ernie Howe has made his first new signing for the coming season - and he will have hit the right note by securing the services of Winchester City midfielder Lloyd Webber (pictured above). The 24-year-old, from Southampton, joins
Tadley Calleva Res 0, Taplow United 1 TADLEY Calleva Reserves were beaten by a goal nine minutes from time in the final of the Berkshire Trophy Centre Intermediate Cup on Saturday. The match played at Reading Town's ground was disappointing for the large
A wrasse of 3lb 4oz made Tony Humm's day during the Lymington small boat specie open competition. The fish snapped up the 45-year-old Lymington boat builder's ragworm/peeler crab bait - and landed him the £350 top prize for the day's best specimen. Fishing
The 36-hole medal for the Hampshire Alliance Championship was held at Alresford earlier this month, where a blustery wind, quicker than normal greens and lush rough provided the field - professionals and amateurs alike - with a stiff test. Rob Edwards
Chris Tremlett will play as a Hampshire substitute for the last three days of the south coast derby against Sussex if he is not handed what would be a surprise Test debut against Australia when the Ashes series begins on Thursday. Fast bowler Tremlett
Team Southampton golden girl Rebecca Gough pulled off her second big win in the space of eight days at the weekend's Home Counties' Schools' International. Her reward for lifting the English Schools' intermediate 3,000 metres title was to represent her
Team Southampton faced a near impossible task of reaching the final of the British Athletics' League Cup. With eight semi-finals taking place around the country and only the winners going through, the south coast club would have needed a miracle to have
FORMER Salisbury City favourite Simon Browne is back in training with the Wiltshire club. Whites boss Nick Holmes is taking a good look at the 34-year-old defender, who was released by Weymouth in May, writes WENDY GEE. Browne, pictured right (maroon
ANDREAS JAKOBSSON has become the 12th senior professional to leave Saints in the wake of the club's relegation. The 32-year-old former Swedish international has returned to his home country to rejoin Helsingborgs. Saints have received a £500,000 fee for
TABLOID queen Jodie Marsh unwittingly sparked a brawl at a Southampton bar - during a visit to promote a national anti-bullying campaign. A fight broke out at the Bambuu bar after a stripper from the city's For Your Eyes Only club - who was attending
THE first passengers entered South-ampton Airport's new £5m departure lounge yesterday when it was officially opened. Magicians entertained travellers and champagne and chocolates were handed out in the spacious first-floor lounge, where 550 passengers
FORMER cricketer Mike Gatting, the last England captain to win the Ashes, made a great catch yesterday when he took the keys to the five millionth Transit after it came off the production line at Ford's Southampton plant. The president of The Lord's Taverners
THE FIRST stage of a project that will eventually connect northern Southampton to Mayflower Park and Town Quay via a pedestrianised "boulevard" has been given the green light by city highways bosses. Members of the city's ruling Liberal Democrat cabinet
SMOKING could soon be stubbed out completely at Test Valley Council, with bosses planning to axe traditional smoking rooms for the first time. Employees would be banned from lighting up in any council-owned building, including Romsey Sports Centre, or
Today's Principal Arrivals: OOCL Fortune, container, 0400, 207; Hojin, vehicle, 0430, 43; CFF Seine, roro, 0445, 30; Grande Scandinavia, roro, 0730, 202; Mignon, vehicle, 0930, 34/35; Autofreighter, roro, 1230, 203; Valmont Express, roro, 1330, 201; Asian
GRANTS from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council were handed out through the Local Sports Council to some 90 deserving sportsmen and women across 31 events, to help with their training and equipment costs. The recipients this year were: Martial Arts:
A FURTHER 10 athletes will benefit from free supervised use of Basingstoke Sports Centre in the year following the awards after collecting scholarships at the ceremony. Chris Evans, in his last year as chairman of Basingstoke Sports Trust, which administers
THE Hampshire man at the centre of a corporate branding row with a multi-national clothing giant says that he is confident of victory. T-shirt designer Andy Carter has enlisted the help of a retired trademark expert in his battle with fashion chain French
SMALL businesses in the south that sell alcohol, such as corner shops and hotels, could find themselves trading illegally unless they meet a looming government deadline to fill in forms. A leading business pressure group, The Forum of Private Business
NATIONAL law firm Shoosmiths has expanded its specialist planning team with the appointment of associate Nicola Raistrick to its Solent office. Her appointment brings Shoosmiths' expert southern planning team to three, one of the largest dedicated units
BUSY Bee Cleaning Services has acquired Purser Contract Services for an undisclosed sum. The deal, completed by Southampton's Moore & Blatch Solicitors, positions Busy Bee as one of the leading contract cleaning companies in the south of England.
SCORES of Winchester people celebrated the completion of the memorial for King Alfred. The King Alfred Garden in Hyde, near the River Park Leisure Centre, was finished with the opening of a bridge. City MP Mark Oaten, mayor Neil Baxter and garden campaigner
A FAREHAM special school hit by vandals five times in a row has bounced back by holding a Caribbean carnival extravaganza. Staff and youngsters at St Francis Special School were left devastated when yobs wrecked their play area again and again over the
EASTLEIGH Council's planning blueprint to guide development in the borough until 2011 has been backed by the government's planning inspectorate who agreed greenfield sites in the borough should not be used to accommodate up to 4,000 homes. A comprehensive
NEVILLE Roach has rejected Basingstoke Town's offer of a new contract - because he wants to pursue a fresh challenge in his football career. The 25-year-old striker informed Town manager Ernie Howe this week that he would not be putting pen to paper on
THIS time last year, Basingstoke Town FC was at its lowest ebb after missing out on an automatic place in the revamped non-league set-up. A drubbing by Lewes and failure to qualify outright for the new Nationwide South league led to manager Ernie Howe
Basingstoke Town 2, Bishop's Stortford 3 ERNIE Howe shook his head in disappointment to acknowledge "the dream of making the play-offs is dead" after Bishop's Stortford ended any slim hopes Basingstoke Town had of a top-five finish. The Town manager felt
Southampton boxer Colin Kenna was forced to turn down the chance to fight for the British heavyweight title last Saturday due to a damaged rib. The Lordshill heavyweight, who recently defeated Julius Francis, was promoter Frank Warren's first choice to
Course records don't come along very often especially when the current one is set at 65. So to get two in ten minutes is remarkable - especially when they eclipse the old mark by two. But this is precisely what Andy Bow and Richard Elmes did during Stoneham
Twenty junior teams from all over the south of England took part in the annual 36-hole foursomes medal at Brokenhurst Manor Golf Club for the Jacob's Jigger. This year the 'Jigger' was won by home pairing Rob Gowers and Carl Morris with nett rounds of
Shane Watson, Australia's all-rounder in waiting, plans to boost his chances of a Test call up - by starring for Hampshire with bat AND ball. The 24-year-old is fit to bowl for Hampshire in the county championship match against Sussex, which starts at
Southampton-trained duo Robert Tobin and Sian Scott crowned individual success at the European Under-23 Championships in Erfurt, Germany, with silver medals in the 4x400 metres relay. For Great Britain's team captain Tobin, pictured, the individual gold
FORMER Bashley favourite Andy Darnton is set to rejoin the New Forest club as player-coach. The 36-year-old defender was unable to agree terms with Ryman 1 rivals Fleet Town for next season and is ready to lend his considerable experience to new Bash
DAZZLING DRESSES, SMART SUITS and lavish limousines. That is how hundreds of teenagers have been celebrating the end of school in Hampshire. Over the past few weeks dozens of proms for Year 11 students have been held in school halls, hotels, on boats
PLAYERS at a Southampton primary school will be taking to the field in the latest sports kit thanks to the generosity of a city restaurateur. Kuti Miah, who owns Kuti's in Oxford Street, agreed to splash out on the new strip for Springhill Catholic Primary
FAREHAM Borough Council has started work on its ten-year plan for the development of the area. When completed the Fareham Local Development Framework (LDF) will set out the council's objectives, vision and policies as well as those for housing and employment
AN investigation has been launched at a Southampton dockyard after a worker was left in intensive care when his 40ft crane toppled over. The Health and Safety Executive is looking into the accident, which took place on Saturday at Dock Gate 20 in Western
A SEA-GOING charity, which offers sailing for both disabled and able-bodied people, has been awarded a £5,000 grant by Hampshire County Council. The Woolston-based Jubilee Sailing Trust owns the only tall ships in the world designed to be sailed equally
NEARLY a month after a helpline was set up for people wanting to register with dentists in Whiteley and Gosport, over half the places have been filled. Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust (PCT) announced in June that two new surgeries were being opened
