THERE was a magical scene at Oakley Infant School as children celebrated a St Lucia Swedish Christmas assembly. Everyone got into the spirit of Christmas as the pupils sang Swedish songs in the school hall, which was lit by candles and decorated with
A WOMAN has vowed she does not wish to work as a midwife again after a disciplinary committee heard she ignored signs that a baby was in danger of being stillborn during a birth at Basingstoke hospital. Geraldine Foley, 44, was found guilty of misconduct
A SOLDIER was lucky to walk away alive after he was forced off the road and his car overturned. Andrew Carder's car rolled more than four times before coming to a stop 20 metres from the road on the A30. The incident took place last Sunday afternoon just
WORRIED residents on a Basingstoke estate are living in the shadow of daily arson attacks. Security is being doubled at the derelict apartment block in Myland Close, Oakridge, after a guard had to evacuate a mother and her two children from their nearby
SWIM star Laura Wood showed she is getting back to her best form when she successfully defended two of her Welsh national titles at the weekend. The 18-year-old from Chineham was just outside her best short-course times in the two events she contested
THE Southampton Enter-prise Hub was formally opened at the city's Chilworth Science Park, thanks to the South East England Development Agency (Seeda). Southampton Test MP, Dr Alan Whitehead, declared the Enterprise Hub officially launched in front of
A MURDER hunt was launched today after a man's mutilated body was found in a suitcase left at a Hampshire railway station. The body of the man, who was in his 20s, had been cut to death before being stuffed in a suitcase and dumped. A passer-by is believed
A SECRET new list of proposed leisure cuts being considered by Southampton council can today be exclusively revealed by the Daily Echo. Nearly £1m must be cut from leisure provision in Southampton and some of the city's best-loved events and venues could
TWO teenagers who gave methadone to a youth who fatally overdosed on the drug have been jailed for three and a half years each. Thomas Evans and Nicola Pratt, both 19 and unemployed, gave the class A drug, used to treat heroin addicts, to Dominic Butler
POLICE are hunting a killer who dumped the mutilated body of his victim in a suitcase outside Basingstoke's train station. The body of a young Asian man in his mid-20s was found in the four-feet by three-feet case on the pavement outside Basingstoke Cycle
A PERVERTED transsexual who raped and terrorised two women in attacks marked by evil domination and kinky sex has failed in his appeal court bid to overturn his convictions. Rachael Tuscani - formerly Bruce Middleditch - made one woman dress in a PVC
PARENTS fighting for Basingstoke's arson-hit Beechdown Primary School to be rebuilt on the same site have accused county council bosses of disrupting their children's lives while they decide its future. At a consultation meeting held on Tuesday at Bishop
AFTER two months of intensive training in Auckland, the crew of GBR Challenge take their Christmas break this week before starting a new year that's potentially one of the most important in British yacht racing's recent history. For the next fortnight
Today's Principal Arrivings: MOL Integrity, 0400, 205; European Highway, ferry, 0700, 7 drydock; Romeo, general cargo, 0700, 36; Turandot, ro-ro,0730, 34/5; Autotransporter, ro-ro, 0800, 201 link; Hual Tribute, ro-ro, 0900, 40; Atlanticar, ro-ro, am,
Basingstoke Bison 4, Milton Keynes Kings 5 IT was third time lucky for the Milton Keynes Kings as they finally beat the Basingstoke Bison 5-4 on Sunday. The visiting team included six former Bison players - and one of them, Jonathan Phillips, netted the
TOM OWENS and Julie Cheung completed a double success as they scooped Southern titles at the Sport Acrobatic regional championships in Southampton. The two 16-year-olds from Basingstoke were both easy winners in the 15-16 age group in international tumbling
UKRAINIAN Osadchyy Dymtro won the 12th Tadley Runners' Christmas cross-country in a time of 30min 21sec. He was one of four runners from the Ukraine who came over courtesy of Ron Hill to give the race an international flavour. Second man home was Wessex
A DIFFICULT four weeks for Basingstoke rugby club begins tomorrow with a re-match against high-flying Sutton and Epsom. Five weeks ago, the Surrey side inflicted a first home defeat this season at Down Grange, so revenge will be on the minds of tomorrow's
STAND UP and be counted is what Basingstoke Town boss Ernie Howe is asking his players to do as they travel to bitter rivals Aldershot on Boxing Day. The first derby match of the season is perhaps not what Town want at this precise moment having failed
THERE will be no room for sentimental farewells at Stoneham Lane - United Services coach Ivan Torpey takes charge of his final match, but Trojans are looking to mark his last day with a defeat. Torpey, the former Havant, Services and Royal Navy scrum-half
SOME surprises are in store when Ellen MacArthur unveils her five-year plan at the London Boat Show in January, as well as the identity of the sponsor who has agreed to back her. It's been confirmed her three-year sponsorship deal with retailing giant
A SOUTHAMPTON man has been given the worst possible Christmas present - notice to quit his city home of 16 years. Campaigner Richard Hazelton, 59 - who hit the headlines when he placed a saucy barricade of blow-up sex dolls wearing combat gear outside
THE third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race starts on Boxing Day as the fleet takes its place alongside the starters of the 650-mile ocean racing classic, the Sydney to Hobart Race. Two gruelling days at sea, in which the fleet cross the Bass Strait then head
Gordon Strachan takes his Saints side to Old Trafford tomorrow for the first game of a gruelling run that sees them play seven league matches in four weeks - all against teams in the top seven of the Premiership. The Saints boss says the key to his side's
