The Bournemouth One News Centre

All the news you need for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole with travel information and national headlines.

• Bournemouth MP supports World Book Day

  Bournemouth East MP Tom Hayes has marked World Book Day by encouraging children to read for fun. The event forms part of the National Year of Reading and aims to help more children enjoy books. National figures show only one in three children say they enjoy reading for pleasure. Hayes said reading can help build confidence and open opportunities for young people. World Book Day organisers say the campaign helps children see reading as something enjoyable rather than a chore.

• Bournemouth dog walk to support two causes

  Two Bournemouth charities are inviting dog owners to join a sponsored seafront walk later this month. Hope Housing Training and Support and Helpful Hounds Assistance Dogs are organising the event between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers. Organisers say the walk aims to bring people together while supporting vulnerable people and young people with additional needs. The charities say previous walks have proved popular and they hope many owners will take part with their dogs. Children will also be able to enter a craft competition during the event.

• Poole special school plans more places for pupils

  Plans are being put forward to create seventy additional specialist education places at Winchelsea School in Poole. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and the school want to expand provision from the two thousand and twenty six academic year. This includes up to fifty early years and infant places through a new satellite nursery at Stanley Green Infant Academy and twenty extra post sixteen places at Broadstone Youth Centre. The consultation is open until March twenty seventh and the outcome will be considered by councillors in May.

• CCTV issued after Bournemouth knife threat

  Police in Bournemouth are appealing for help to identify a man following a reported knife threat. Officers say the incident happened at around twenty past three in the afternoon on Friday January ninth in the Bath Road area. The victim was approached and threatened by a man believed to be carrying a Stanley knife before driving away. The suspect is believed to have headed towards Gervis Road. Police Constable Alex Ayre says investigators are now releasing CCTV images and are urging anyone who recognises the man to contact Dorset Police.

• Fire crews tackle flat blaze in Bournemouth

  Firefighters responded to a fire in a second-floor flat above a shop on Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth last night. Ten firefighters used hoses and an aerial ladder platform to bring the blaze under control. Smoke was cleared using mechanical ventilation. The fire was extinguished by ten fifty-four and investigations with Dorset Police are underway to establish the cause.