ONE of Bournemouth's most famous retail brands is returning to the town centre, nearly half a century after it disappeared.

FAST food firm McDonald’s has put forward proposals to open its second restaurant in Christchurch.

HUGS with family and friends and indoor socialising are expected to be allowed from next week as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces further easing of coronavirus restrictions in England.

BOBBY'S department store is set to make a comeback in Bournemouth.

CONTACTLESS "giving points" will be set up across Bournemouth and Poole to enable people to donate £3 to help people sleeping rough.

CREDITORS of a company which collapsed after fire wrecked a Sandbanks cafe nearly seven years ago have yet to see any money.

Can you guess where this picture was taken?

A HONDA driver travelling at more than 100mph had his pregnant wife and young daughter in the car.

STALLIONS being released into the New Forest today could be dangerous to members of the public.

DANGEROUS parking is putting children's lives at risk outside schools.

TOW-AWAY zones are set to be introduced at tourist hotspots to avoid the chaotic scenes of last summer when thousands descended on the area and parked illegally.

WITH a week to go until the “green list” of countries where can people can visit on holiday goes live, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also expected to give the go-ahead to further relaxations of the lockdown rules in England.

MOTORISTS who drive in pedestrianised areas and those who park on double yellow lines are being targeted by police in Boscombe.

PLANNING officials will decide whether to grant permission for a new sixth form college which would see the demolition of the existing health centre and creation of new boarding accommodation at Canford School.

CHRISTCHURCH

IT blights our streets, beauty spots and countryside.

Here are some of the terrible fly-tipping offences in and around Bournemouth so far this year.

A BOURNEMOUTH woman who spat at someone during the pandemic has avoided an immediate prison sentence.

IT has been more than a year since most office workers have had one of those informal chats around the water cooler.

MULTIPLE vehicles have been badly damaged after a fire broke out on a small piece of land in Hamworthy in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A WOMAN has been ordered to pay more than £2,700 in compensation after her dog was responsible for attacking sheep in north Dorset.

THESE are all the roadworks taking place across the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area this week.

A COUPLE who set up an online community for small businesses are turning it into a day-long live event.

A FORMER accountant and craft extraordinaire set up a knitting club at the beginning of the pandemic and has supported local animal charities with her creations.

BOURNEMOUTH Folk Club is back with its first gig for more than a year later this month at a brand new venue.

ACCORDING to our recent Freedom of Information request, we have learned that BCP council in 2020/2021 received:

HERE are six amazing pictures taken by members of the Echo Camera Club.

Wonderful postcard of Poole Quay circa 1960 showing the old Custom House which was built in 1813 which is now a restaurant and café. The postcard also shows the gasworks coal transporter which was dismantled in the 1970s.

TESTING ... Testing ... Testing!

IS it just me, or has nobody noticed the million people who failed to receive their second Covid jab? Twelve weeks ago our world-beating vaccine programme had delivered 17million first jabs. Yet today it has only delivered 16m second jabs.

ARE any of your readers old enough to remember a foreign lady who had the courtesy title of ‘Granny’ Raus?

BCP planning needs transparency. A bungalow can be replaced by four houses, then they in turn can be replaced by two blocks of flats, each with five storeys and having seven flats in each block. Total 14 flats with underground car parking for the ...

I APPLAUD and support the campaign launched by Litter Free Dorset to ban the sale of cheap disposable barbecues that have been responsible for the countless deadly fires that have destroyed so much natural habitat in recent years.

WHILE the nation prepares itself to visit nightclubs next month, the Echo looks back at a popular nightspot from the past – the Pier Showbar.

A BID by the owner of a Southbourne off-licence to have his permission to sell alcohol restored has been opposed by Dorset Police.

A RESERVED matters application has been submitted to BCP Council after permission was granted in 2018 to demolish a care home and build a block of 36 apartments.

PLANS to run a 12-month pilot to tackle fly-tipping across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are being proposed by BCP Council.

POLICE are currently dealing with a crash in Charminster Road with left a car on its side in the middle of the road.

THE prison sentence issued to a man who sexually assaulted a woman in her own home has been referred to the Court of Appeal.

PHOTOS show a Dorset quarry being transformed into a set to film a scene for a new Star Wars TV series.

ORGANISERS of Southbourne’s popular music and arts festival have announced that this year’s is to go ahead as planned.