FORMER Bashley skipper Craig Davis is ready to don a Salisbury City shirt for the first time at home to Corby Town tomorrow - a week later than anticipated. Whites' failure to register him with the FA meant the £15,000 goalscoring midfielder was deprived
Tichborne Park have failed in their bid to win promotion into the Southern Electric Premier Cricket League next season, despite finishing runners-up in the Hampshire League this summer. They have been refused promotion having not met the accreditation
RICHARD Curtis' directorial debut assembles practically every famous British actor and puts them all in one film telling six stories about love ...aww! Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon star as the Prime Minister and his tea lady in one tale. Coming from
SAMANTHA Morton and Paddy Considine play the parents who move from Ireland to America after the death of their son in Jim Sheridan's autobiographical film. Stunning performances lift this well above the standard emigration fare.
PUDSEY Bear helped sporty students at Brighton Hill Community College raise money for Children in Need during a 24-hour netball tournament. Members of the Basingstoke college's netball team joined teachers and more than 150 volunteers from years 7 to
Today's Principal Arrivals: Autofreighter, ro/ro, 0300, 201 Link; Mol Promise, container carrier, 0600, 207; Leo Leader, vehicle carrier, 0630, 43; Thebeland, ro/ro, 0730, 34/35; California Luna, container carrier, 0800, 205; Marco Polo, passenger, 0830
THE Queen Mary 2 has just completed her final sea trials in which she broke the 30 knots (34mph) barrier. The £560m opulent ocean liner, the world's biggest, longest, tallest and widest, is due here on Boxing Day, although owner Cunard says that date
IT'S amazing what a couple of weeks in the jungle can do for your career. Less than a year-and-a-half ago, Rhona Cameron was a popular stand-up comedian and sometime TV presenter, but far from being a household name. Then she was invited to take part
WITH Remembrance Day still vivid in our minds, Minstead Players have aptly chosen to perform a war drama. Out of the Sun is written by Roger Stennetts and is an all-male drama set in the Second World War. It takes a look at four ordinary men finding themselves
A LABOURER who stole a Southampton student's handbag, broke into her home hours later and raped her at knifepoint as she lay in her bed, was today starting a nine-year jail sentence. Former Territorial Army soldier Richard Bruce Needham had taken the
CHRISTMAS comes to Southampton on Sunday when the city centre's festive season is launched with lights, music and entertainment. The three main shopping centres - WestQuay, The Marlands and the Bargate - will be switching on their seasonal illuminations
SAINTS superstar James Beattie might have been left out in the cold by England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson but he got a red-hot welcome at Hedge End. Saints fans rallied round and made their feelings crystal clear that their soccer hero should have been
MORE than 60 per cent of stores across Hampshire were found to sell alcohol to under-age teenagers in an undercover operation by trading standards officials. The shock figures come hard on the heels of a similar operation in Southampton that showed nearly
WALKING to school or playing football with no shoes seems unthinkable for us well-heeled Brits but it's a sad fact of life for many children in Morocco. Hedge End Rotary Club has launched an appeal for shoes. On November 30 it is aiming to collect 500
POLICE have warned teenage girls and parents to be on their guard against a pervert who is behind a series of attacks in Fordingbridge. The same man is believed to have been responsible for two assaults on teenagers and an incident of indecent exposure
SOUTHAMPTON'S push to promote excellence in its city council services has received a boost after a group of leisure officers received qualifications making them assessors in quality management. The ten employees, who all work for the council's leisure
Basingstoke Lions 0, Cork Lions 1 BASINGSTOKE Lions lost out to visiting Cork Lions in the champion of champions final. The home side lost 3-2 on aggregate after being narrowly beaten 1-0 last Wednesday in the second leg. After only two minutes, Basingstoke's
IT took Ernie Howe a 30-minute phone call that fully tested his persuasive powers, but in bringing Oliver Burgess (pictured above) to the Camrose, the Town boss believes he has signed a player of real ability. Burgess, 22, is playing at right midfield
Sir.-Having read about Cllr Phil Heath being forced to resign from the county council Cabinet, I was compelled to wonder exactly what his principles are. He obviously believes very strongly that housing estates should not be built on farmland, yet he
Sir.- Hooray for the new Tory parliamentary candidate and her "hump-free!" campaign. I am sick and tired of our council's obsession with these humps when there are better ways of calming traffic. Maria Miller has hit the nail right on the head here. If
Sir.-I am a Basingstoke man who has worked in the private hire industry for 33 years in Leicester, and can only stress that hackney carriages and private hire vehicles should have the same access rights as buses. We are all part of public transport. We
MORE than 200 pupils from local schools were offered the chance to get behind the wheel and experience the feel of driving - without actually going anywhere. BSM's unique driving simulator, developed at a cost of more than £500,000, toured around schools
HONDA is beginning a fresh assault on the compact vehicle sector with its 2004 Civic. Aimed at a younger, more style-conscious market, the 2004 Civic is a bolder, brighter spiced-up version of its "plain-Jane" stablemate. The 2004 Civic will be the first
OUMOU Sangare will be making a welcome return to The Anvil this month, following her performance there as part of Women of Africa in 1998. After a five-year break from touring, Mali's great diva Oumou (pictured above) exploded back on to the world music
FRESH from a starring role in Great Britain and Ireland's retention of the Seve Trophy at El Saler, near Valencia, last week, Justin Rose has jetted to the USA to compete in the WGC World Cup. Rose and good friend Paul Casey are representing England in
COLIN MONK has been given a tough opening round match in the World Professional Darts Championships at Lakeside in January. The builder from Buckskin, Basingstoke, who has reduced his number of tournaments over the past year because of family commitments
SOMETIMES, reality becomes so unbearable that fantasy is the only escape from the misery and anguish. Detective story novelist Dan Dark (Robert Downey Jr) suffers from the debilitating disease of psoriatic arthropathy. His whole body is covered in excruciatingly
FESTIVAL Place ranks as the UK's 11th biggest shopping centre - but when it comes to national and international interest, it's right there at the top of the league table. Basingstoke's £350million shopping and leisure complex has just celeb-rated its
SMALL, innovative British comp-anies are the power behind a technological revolution that is making the world a better place in which to live. That was the message delivered to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Institute of Directors at its annual lecture
HOME-SEEKERS checking the estate agents in Basingstoke are in for a shock - a window that talks to them. The Property Explorer, in Church Street, has become the first in the county to install and operate the Windowtalk interactive talking window system
A HEALTH check on the end-of-year market was prompted by a new instruction at agents Dreweatt Neate - a house which was extended to create medical consulting rooms. The detached house is in Cliddesden Road, Basingstoke, and is on the market for the first
Cardiff Devils 4, Basingstoke Bison 1 FORMER Basingstoke Bison player Merv Priest signed off his playing career by scoring the final goal for the Cardiff Devils as they beat the visiting Wella Bison 4-1 on Sunday night. Priest spent three seasons in Basingstoke
THE BASINGSTOKE Wella Bison Junior Fan Club made their first Player of the Month award to Bison netminder Curtis Cruickshank. Members were on hand to make the presentation of a winner's certificate and prize - a box of chocolates. The junior fan club
SAINTS keeper Paul Jones is preparing for "the two biggest games" of his life as Wales take on Russia for a place in the Euro 2004 finals. Jones will be winning his 36th cap in the sub-zero temperatures of Moscow tomorrow. He remains Mark Hughes' first
THE duel between Lymington & New Milton's John Mulhern and his old Winchester City clubmate, Matthew Bicknell, should provide one of the most compelling battles in tomorrow's big Wessex showdown at Fawcett's Field. Both players are bang in form for
GRAHAM KEMP is planning to unleash a secret weapon against Wimborne tomorrow. The Brockenhurst boss has his fingers crossed that pacy striker Ekene Ojukwo will be available to play after snapping him up on a month's loan from Cheltenham Town. The 20-year-old
TWO drama graduates put on a show of muscle-power and determination when they raised money in Basingstoke town centre. Dave Holby and James Gwyn-Thomas spent eight hours rowing on a machine in Festival Place to complete a distance of 110 kilometres in
TWO sisters have been banned from a total of 40 shops and off-licences in Basingstoke after subjecting local people to a reign of terror. This week, residents were able to be told the identities of Elizabeth and Natasha Stanley and see their faces after
THERE are just ten working days left before it becomes a criminal offence for workers to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving. The ban will affect hundreds of thousands of people in the south - from labourers, sales reps, estate agents and hauliers
Only a handful of clubs have taken the league's offer of moving their fixtures from the World Cup final weekend next week, but Tottonians ensured they got in early. Their match with third placed Weybridge Vandals has been switched to this week and that
ALEXEI Sayle will be considering the purpose of art, the good life and the redemption of sinners at The Lighthouse this week. He will be reading from his new novel, Overtaken, which is the follow-up to his highly successful volumes of hilarious short
THERE seems to have been some monkey business going on in Southampton - somebody has been feeding Gloria the gorilla in between meals. Most mornings shop owner Graham Dowse pops out to check on the seven foot furry creature, which can be seen hanging
THE plans for a new container terminal at Dibden Bay have been given a huge lift by the government. A report carried out into the country's ports says that new berths, like those planned for Southampton Water, are vital if it is to continue to compete
SOUTHAMPTON'S social services provision has taken a massive leap up the government league tables. Services for the elderly, disabled and in-need children in the city were given a two star rating out of a possible three - up from a dire one star last year
Basingstoke Town 2, Northwood 0 COMPLETE domination of the second half, an excellent team display and man-of-the-match-worthy performances from Efon Elad and Oliver Burgess resulted in Town recording their first home league victory since August. Basingstoke
New Forest Juniors' Hayley Pointer is in unbeatable cross-country form. Taking the lead in the last third of the race, the under-15 girl made it two Wessex League wins out of two in the latest fixture at Salisbury. Clubmate Charlotte Bates improved to
Sir.-I have read with interest letters and articles in local and national newspapers, and while I support any pensioner who wishes to make a stand over council tax, I should like to point out that there are many people who, like myself, work on a fixed
Sir.-If there is no funding crisis at Basingstoke council, why are Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors talking about cutting grants from important voluntary groups. These including the Citizens Advice Bureau, "stealing" the money meant to build Beggarwood's
THERE are certain presents you just know you're going to get, but for a more inventive Christmas this year, DVLA has the answer. It has more than 15 million different and personal number plates available which could be just the inspiration you need to
PAUL Carrack will be at The Anvil on Tuesday, November 25, after his October date had to be cancelled. The voice behind worldwide hits such as Ace's How Long, Squeeze's Tempted and Mike and The Mechanics' timeless classic The Living Years, Paul Carrack
THE headturning appeal of the ultimate 4x4, the Grand Cherokee, is further enhanced by the introduction of a limited edition, the Stealth. Based on the popular Jeep Grand Cherokee 2.7 CRD, the Stealth brings the allterrain ruggedness of the luxury Jeep
ALAN FOSTER says he is ready to win "the biggest fight of my life" and put Basingstoke back on the boxing map by capturing the vacant British super-middleweight title. The 30-year-old Scot, who now lives in town and trains at the Essex Road gym under
JACKIE Chan martial arts movies can be pretty much what they say on the can - Jackie Chan doing martial arts in a movie, and not a lot else. The Medallion is packed with plenty of impressive martial arts sequences with Chan admirably proving that being
IN AMERICA, the National Spelling Bee is something of an institution: a nationwide contest for children aged eight to 14 to find the student with the best spelling skills in the country. Jeffrey Blitz's award-winning documentary follows eight regional
ALIEN: DIRECTOR'S CUT (15): Re-release of the classic 1979 sci-fi horror starring Sigourney Weaver. Despite being over 20 years old, this film still has the ability to shock, with the chest-buster sequence yet to be equalled. BAD BOYS 2 (15): Will Smith
Cats, The New Victoria Theatre Woking, Until November 22 THIS run of Cats at the New Victoria has been one of the most successfulever for the theatre. It proves that, although the show recently ended its perm-anent run in the West End, the demand to see
HAIR-RAISING fundraising has led to Wella scooping one of the top honours at a national awards ceremony. The Basingstoke-headquartered company's Comic Relief fund-raiser was judged Best Corporate Communications Campaign for 2003 in this year's prestigious
A BASINGSTOKE office park is proving to be a hot spot on the M3 motorway corridor after attracting six companies in just over eight months. The latest company to take up space on Faraday Office Park, which is a Hostmead Developments' project, is Huawei
BUSINESSES are looking to raise thousands of pounds to provide extra funding for a family support worker who has just started a new role with seven schools in Basingstoke. The local chapter of the business-to-business networking group of BNI has adopted
STAFF at Tenon, the accountants and business advisors, have notched up exam successes to strengthen the corporate recovery team. Politics graduate Gareth Brown has passed his intermediate level exams for the Association of Accounting Technicians after
CANNON has celebrated 50 years in the UK and 40 years in Basingstoke. And it is creating new jobs in the town to honour its share of a multi-million-pound Government contract to supply the military with the new generation of Bowman communications systems
THE Bank of England may have made the predicted move of increasing interest rates last week - but a health check on the Basingstoke residential property market holds some good news. National statistics show that house prices are still rising, but they
