HERE are the top stories from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole this week, incase you missed them.

  • Suspicious package found at The Juntion leisure centre

Bournemouth Echo:

Emergency services deal with suspicious package

Hundreds of people were evacuated from a leisure centre in Broadstone after a suspicious package was found on the tennis courts.

Police and bomb disposal experts were called to The Junction Sports and Leisure Centre in Station Approach at 10.39am on Monday after a brown package with a watch face and wires was found between the nets on the tennis courts.

Corfe Mullen resident Jills Hobbs, who found the device, said: “I saw something by the tennis court. To me, it looked like a camera or some kind of recording device bit when I picked it up, I saw that it had wires all the way around it."

READ MORE: The Junction Leisure Centre: Evacuation after suspicious package found

  • Car overturns after crash in driveway next to bungalow

Bournemouth Echo:

Emergency services were called to Fontmell Road, Poole, on Saturday, October 30, 2021. Picture: Dorset Traffic Cops

A man had to be rescued from a car which had overturned after colliding with a bungalow.

Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the residential address in Fontmell Road, Poole.

A spokesperson for Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters from Wimborne and Westborne attended the incident at 1.11pm on Saturday, October 30.

"Once they arrived firefighters found one male inside the vehicle," the fire service spokesperson said. "He was released using small tools by firefighters and left in the hands of paramedics."

The full story can be read here. 

  • Cordon put in place in Blandford due to 'suspicious item'

Bournemouth Echo:

 Pictures: Stephen Hill and Dorset Police

A TRIO of keen metal hunters searching for general scrap in a river have spoken of their 'shock and surprise' after pulling out a suspected explosive device - which brought a town to a standstill.

Dorchester man Stephen Hill said was searching for scrap metal along with friends in the River Stour next to the Marsh & Ham Car Park on Wednesday morning when the group came across a long metal object.

READ MORE: Blandford comes to standstill after three friends find what they believed to be a bomb in the River Stour

Bournemouth Echo:

John Mirco and his granddaughter Mimi

A Cherished Italian restaurant in Christchurch has closed its doors after trading for a “memory filled” 47 years.

La Mamma in Bridge Street opened in 1974 and has survived recessions, a fire and the recent pandemic. Despite being as busy as ever, the restaurant announced last month that it would close for the final time on Sunday, October 31.

Owner John Mirco joined the restaurant in late 1974, soon after it was opened by his father. Reflecting on the “difficult decision” to close, a proud John told the Daily Echo that he has been touched by the support shown by customers.

Read the full story here.

  • Trees felled at West Parley cross roads development

Bournemouth Echo: Trees felled along Christchurch Road at the West Parley cross roads in FerndownTrees felled along Christchurch Road at the West Parley cross roads in Ferndown

Residents and a council chairman have expressed disappointment after unscheduled tree felling resulted in an area looking like “a tornado has passed through”.

The major development on green land near the crossroads in West Parley has seen several mature trees felled and then left without warning.

Resident Ronald White said: “The bushes and trees along Christchurch Road and New Road at Parley Cross have suddenly been chopped down.

Read the full story here.