News Archive

Kingston Maurward College has been selected for £3.5 million worth of funding, part of the Government’s £900 million ‘Getting Building Fund’. West Dorset MP Chris Loder told KeeP 106: “Government is investing in West Dorset’s community and rural economy”, with the news that Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester has been selected as one of 300 projects ...

Dorset Council’s annual accounts for its first operating year have been published today (Monday 3 August). The accounts show the council’s spending over the 2019/20 financial year, as well as the income it has received from various services and funding sources. In its first year of operation Dorset Council carried the costs of merging six councils into ...

Dorset Police Chief Constable James Vaughan is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Deputy Chief Constable to the Force. Scott Chilton was successfully selected on Tuesday 28 July 2020 following an appointment process chaired by Chief Constable James Vaughan, supported by the Chief Executive of Dorset Council Matthew Prosser and Gloucestershire Constabulary HR lead ...

A team who has delivered nearly 3,000 learning tutorials and created a series of countywide digital networking events over the past year has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award. The digital team at Dorset Council are one of the finalists in the ‘Digital Public Service Innovation of the Year’ category of the Digital Leaders 100 ...

Over the last two years 11 barn owl boxes have been installed in trees and barns on Dorset Council farms. Now 25 per cent of Dorset Council farms have an owl box. When the boxes were checked last month A total number of six chicks were found in four boxes. Barn Owls have additional protection against disturbance ...

Officers carrying out enquiries to locate a man who went missing in the water off Portland are sad to confirm that a body has been located. Dorset Police was called at 10.21pm on Sunday 19 July 2020 to reports a man had entered the water near the area of Church Ope Cove. Searches were carried out ...

A former patient from Dorchester is raising money for the Friends of Dorset County Hospital after they left a lasting impression during her four-month stay at the Trust. Lizzie Milner, 32, broke her back and lost both her lower legs in December 2016 at the age of 28. She was treated at Southampton General Hospital for ...

Dorchester’s Brewery Square will see the re-opening of various eateries in the coming weeks, following Government advice that all restaurants, cafés and bars can open from 4th July 2020. Zizzi will open its doors for a dine-in service on Friday 31st July, followed by Pizza Express on 6th August. Costa Coffee has been offering a takeaway-only service ...

Dorset County Hospital has been allocated £62.5million of Government funding to expand key clinical services on its Dorchester site. At a meeting of Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s Board on 29th July 2020, members heard that the money had been allocated to DCH as part of the national Health Infrastructure Plan and the project had ...

A Government broadband scheme set up to provide a faster broadband service has helped over 230 Dorset homes and businesses since it launched in 2019 and now Dorset Council is investing £1 million so that it can reach up to 1,000 more. The £200m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) has been helping to provide gigabit-capable connections ...

The Dorchester Ghost Walks are starting again with the first one taking place on Thursday 6th August beginning at 8pm from the Kings Arms Hotel in High East Street. Current regulations mean that all places on the walks will have to be booked in advance and the maximum numbers allowed on each walk will be limited ...

Local motorcycle riders have been delivering food to young carers and their families across Dorset. 20 young carers and their families had their food shopping delivered by The Bike Shed, a motorcycle riding group, who volunteered to support local communities during the Coronavirus pandemic. Dorset Council supports children and young people aged between 5 and 18 who ...

Next time you go to a beach in Dorset you should spot some new banners up. Litter Free Coast and Sea have coordinated a coast wide campaign with most of Dorset’s resort beaches joining together with the call for beach goers to “Slam Dunk the Junk”. We have all seen reports of more littering and aggressive ...

This Summer Litter Free Dorset have developed the ‘Don’t Be A Tos53r’ campaign to target visitors that may choose to leave their rubbish behind in Dorset. As lockdown restrictions where eased in June littering behaviour has increased dramatically. As people’s habits are moving to ‘take away’ options disposable packaging is on the rise and risks polluting ...

A new COVID Health Protection Board will monitor for and respond to any potential coronavirus outbreaks in Dorset. Sam Crowe, Director of Public Health for Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Councils, will chair the Board, which will look at the number of cases in the county and where they are, monitoring for any rises ...

Officers investigating a fail-to-stop collision in Weymouth are appealing for witnesses or anyone with relevant dashcam footage to come forward. At approximately 12.30pm on Thursday 23 July 2020 officers attended a collision involving a silver hatchback Proton vehicle and a woman aged in her 20s on Astrid Way at the junction with The Esplanade. It is reported ...

Dorchester’ Heritage and Tourism Community agrees consultation on new tourism strategy. The Dorchester Joint Heritage Committee is inviting Dorchester residents and visitors to comment on its Heritage Tourism Strategy. The strategy was agreed for draft consultation at its meeting on Tuesday 21st July. Dorchester benefits from over 6000 years of history and is seeing significant investment in ...

Love sailing and boating? As harbours and marinas have reopened and people get back to sailing and boating, Litter Free Coast and Sea and Natural England have joined together to ask boaters to think about where they are going to the toilet. Sarah Spurling from Litter Free Coast and Sea explained “We want to thank all those ...

KeeP 106 has been running for two years and we are delighted to announce that our 2nd birthday appeal will support the Prince of Wales School in raising £5,000 to make the school’s wildlife garden accessible to everyone. Julia Nineham, the pre-school leader and a Governor at the school, explains more about the history of the ...

A body has very sadly been found in the search for missing man Thomas Gatfield from Portland. Dorset Police received a report at 10.39pm on Thursday 23 July 2020 raising concern for the welfare of the 34-year-old man after he was in mobile phone contact with family and friends and seemed very upset. Extensive searches were carried ...

The family of a young man who very sadly died in a collision near Beaminster has issued a tribute to their loved one. At 6.24pm on Tuesday 21 July 2020 officers received a report of a collision on Chedington Lane in Mosterton involving a small International Harvester tipper tractor. Officers attended, along with the fire and ambulance ...

Officers investigating a serious injury collision in Bovington are appealing for witnesses or anyone with relevant dashcam footage to come forward. Dorset Police was called at 6.20am on Saturday 25 July 2020 to a report that a grey BMW 320d left the road and was in collision with a hedge on King George V Road near ...

Dorset Police has been commended after an independent inspection found “high levels of accuracy” in the way crime is recorded. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has rated the Force as “good”, with 93 per cent of reports recorded accurately and within 24 hours of the initial report. Victims are put “at ...

With most events off the menu for 2020, Dorset Food & Drink will continue to support and promote their fabulous local Dorset food and drink producers by looking at different ways to engage with the community. They have been exploring new partnership opportunities and venues to give their members a slice of DF&D action and came ...

From Friday 24 July 2020 Government COVID-19 legislation changes mean it is mandatory to wear a face covering in all shops and retail premises in Dorset. The measure will see all shops able to prevent entry to the premises to anyone not wearing a face covering. The new measure will see police given powers to issue a ...

This summer, residents will be able to choose their own books once again as libraries start to reopen in Dorset, just in time for some holiday reading! Since 8 July residents have been able to use an order and collect service at 22 of Dorset Council’s 23 libraries, but from Monday 27 July, nine Dorset Council ...

Two men have been given prison sentences following an investigation into an incident where gun shots were fired in Weymouth. Kyron Smye, aged 22 and of no fixed abode, and Niall Kelly, 20 and of Penrhyn Road in Northampton, were sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Monday 20 July 2020. Smye was given a six and ...

Officers are appealing for anyone with information to come forward following two fires in Weymouth that are believed to have been started deliberately. At around 12.15am on Tuesday 21 July 2020 officers attended two fires near to each other on the heathland behind Kestrel View. The fires damaged approximately 10 metres by 50 metres of land. Nobody ...

Call for families to make and share their organ donation decision now the law has changed in England. New figures published today by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) show that last year (2019/20) 1,580 people in the UK donated their organs after they died. In Dorset, 17 people gave the gift of life, by donating their ...

Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner has launched a survey asking residents about their experiences of anti-social behaviour. The survey will ask residents whether they have been victims of anti-social behaviour, how much of a problem they think it is in their area and whether they believe it’s got worse or better in recent years. Police and Crime ...

Dorset Council sets out how it will spend £9.1m fixing and upgrading roads, and preventing potholes Officers in Dorset Council’s Highways team are asking Cabinet to approve plans to invest £9.1m toward repairing some of Dorset’s worst roads and improving others. On 14 May, the Secretary of State for Transport announced a £1.7 billion funding allocation to ...

A new special school will be built in Dorset so more children can be educated closer to their homes. The Government gave the go-ahead yesterday (19th) after Dorset Council successfully bid for funding for the new special free school. The school will provide much needed places for Dorset children who would otherwise have to travel out ...

Officers have been carrying out searches for a man who has gone missing in the water off Portland. Dorset Police was called at 10.21pm on Sunday 19 July 2020 to reports a man had entered the water near the area of Church Ope Cove. Officers, the NPAS helicopter and other emergency services, including the ambulance service, the ...

We are delighted to announce that, as a direct result of the Keep 106 Trike Appeal announced a couple of weeks ago, Dorchester & District Lions are pleased and proud to have handed over a cheque for £1500 to Gary Spracklen , headteacher at Prince of Wales School, Dorchester, yesterday (Thursday 16 July) This covered the ...

Detectives investigating a reported sexual assault in Purbeck have arrested a man. The incident is reported to have occurred during the night of Wednesday 15 July 2020 into the morning of Thursday 16 July 2020 in the area of Durlston Country Park near Swanage. A woman aged in her 20s was camping at a small cove in ...

Dorset Police has seen a 2.3 per cent drop in recorded crime, according to new figures released on Friday 17 July 2020. Data released by the Official for National Statistics, shows the Force has reversed a previous rise in crime in just six months. Following a crime reduction of 2.3 per cent during the 12 months to ...

A man has been charged in connection with a fire that is alleged to have been started deliberately in Dorchester. Dorset Police was called at 4.07am on Monday 29 June 2020 to a report of a fire at a block of flats on Bitter End. The surrounding roads were closed to allow emergency services to deal with ...

Weldmar Hospicecare Summer Fete is cancelled for the first time in 25 years, with a £25,000 fundraising blow. It’s an annual event that has survived an arson attack and flooding in the past, but the 2020 Weldmar Hospicecare Summer Fete will not be going ahead due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The popular fete usually attracts more ...

Partner agencies in Dorset are urging communities and visitors to the county to enjoy the summer holidays safely. With the school summer term due to finish for many this week, councils, emergency services and other organisations have been busy preparing for a wave of visitors arriving to experience all that the county has to offer. However, with ...

A drug driver has been jailed after he was found guilty of causing a serious injury collision in West Dorset. Sam Laurence Harman, aged 30 and of Sussex Road, Weymouth, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Tuesday 14 July 2020 after being found guilty at an earlier trial of two offences of causing serious injury ...

The annual GP Patient Survey (GPPS) conducted by Ipsos MORI has once again seen GP practices in Dorset score highly. Across the NHS Dorset CCG area over 21,813 questionnaires were sent out between January and March 2020 asking people for their opinions on everything from their overall experience to how involved they felt with their treatment ...

As hairdressers, restaurants and pubs reopened their doors, more than 40 Special Constables gave up their free time to help police the easing of lockdown across Dorset. Special Constabulary officers joined regular officers on the frontline to ensure residents and visitors remained safe as they enjoyed new freedoms across the weekend of Saturday 4 July and Sunday ...

Apply for childcare funding, even if you’re not using childcare right now. While saving money on your childcare costs might not seem like a priority right now, applying for funding could help you save money in the coming months. Childcare providers can now open to more children if they can meet government guidelines. Some providers may not ...

Reopening date announced for Dorset Council’s leisure centres. Dorset’s sports and leisure centres are set to reopen, following the recent announcement by the Government. The centres managed by Dorset Council will be welcoming back customers from Saturday 25 July. The news comes after the facilities closed in March due to COVID-19. Guidance published by the Government outlines measures ...

The more time children spend at home, the more time they will be spending in the kitchen. It could be from lending a hand to searching for snacks. It is important to make sure that children know the hazards of a hot hob. As part of the Fire Kills campaign, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue ...

A £50,000 Coastal Revival Fund grant has enabled Weymouth’s historic Nothe Fort to transform its North Terrace and open it to the public. The newly landscaped Terrace now has two special stone benches, was unveiled on Friday 10 July by KeeP 106 contributor, BBC antiques expert and Bounce Back Arts Director, Paul Atterbury, at a private ...

West Dorset MP Chris Loder has called on Government ministers in the House of Commons to ensure West Dorset gets its fair share of funding and investment in the future. The MP and his small team have assisted thousands of local businesses and constituents access the grants, income support and loans they have needed, often ...

Dorset Police are reminding the Dorchester community to be alert to fraudulent telephone crimes, as more have been reported this week. PCSO Mark Wodarek-Black said, “Unfortunately my shift today (Saturday 11 June) has involved visiting several victims of fraudulent telephone crimes, where local people have lost money to this type of scam” “If you receive a call ...

Following the Government’s recent announcement, libraries managed by Dorset Council will start a phased re-opening from 8 July by introducing an order and collect service for existing users. Customers will be able to order online their preferred categories of books, DVDs and talking books and to collect at an allocated time from 22 of Dorset’s 23 ...

Dorset Council has today, 9th July, approved the following two applications: • Ringstead’s Creek Caravan Site has been granted an extension to its season. It will now be allowed to open for all but two months of the year – and will have to shut between mid January and mid March. It had asked Dorset Council ...

UPDATE 9th July – The travellers have left the Great Field at Poundbury. They were gone when our reporter was there on Wednesday afternoon with very little rubbish left behind, apart from a few branches from a tree or hedge. The travellers had arrived several days ago causing some concern to local people. Around 10 caravans and ...

Three controversial planning applications are being decided today, Thursday. An online committee will vote on an application to demolish a Weymouth church and replace it with 18 affordable flats. Other applications being debated include knocking down a bungalow in East Street, Beaminster to build five new houses while the Creek caravan park at Ringstead wants to ...

Weymouth’s park and ride is due to be re-opened by July 17 – in time for the start of the school holidays. The car park is currently closed while the military use it as a drive-in for coronavirus testing . Dorset Council says the testing will continue when the park and ride re-opens with new signs so ...

Why Matt’s 24 hour Devon to Dorset challenge is so much more than a sponsored walk. When it comes to his relationship with Weldmar Hospicecare, Matt Smith is not only the charity’s Director of Fundraising and Marketing. He’s recently spent time – twice – at their Inpatient Unit in Dorchester as a family member, as two ...

More than a million overnight stays in West Dorset’s holiday parks and campsites have been saved, due to timely intervention by Chris Loder MP, leading to Government restrictions for the sector being eased from 4th July. Visitors have started arriving back this week, just in time to rescue the summer season – also saving thousands ...

With various retailers now re-open and new health and safety measures put in place, Dorchester’s Brewery Square is helping advise shoppers how to make the most of their shopping day out. Charlotte Spracklen, centre manager at Brewery Square, told KeeP 106: “We know many people will be looking forward to spending a day out at their ...

As lockdown eases and more people take to the roads, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has produced three new digital resources to promote safe driving. They can be found at www.dwfire.org.uk/road-safety-during-covid-19 and include links, videos and other signposting to helpful advice. Amongst the areas of focus are the main reasons for injuries and loss of ...

Officers investigating a reported road traffic collision in Weymouth are appealing for witnesses or anyone with relevant dashcam footage to come forward – with one man arrested. Dorset Police received a report at around 5.10pm on Sunday 5 July 2020 that a silver Citroen C3 was being driven dangerously on Dorchester Road. It was further alleged that ...

Officers investigating the theft of farming equipment in West Dorset are appealing for witnesses to come forward and issuing images of some of the stolen items. Between 5pm on Saturday 27 June and 8am on Sunday 28 June 2020 a burglary occurred at a farm in the Tincleton area. A tri-axle flatbed trailer, an IEA cattle crusher, ...

Dorset Police is thanking its communities and visitors for contributing to a largely peaceful weekend following the lifting of further COVID-19 restrictions. The Force had been planning extensively with partners throughout the lockdown period for the lifting of restrictions in our region and the past weekend saw the reopening of the hospitality industry. Chief Constable James Vaughan ...