Dorset weekly round-up: 30 March - 5 April 2024

A story about the skull of a prehistoric sea monster found on the Jurassic Coast making it into the world record books, was among our most read stories this week in Dorset.

A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Solent and South Today.

We have picked five stories to keep you up to date.

An 85-year-old woman believed to be one of Britain's longest serving butchers is retiring after more than 60 years.

Pat Jenkins began working at her father's butcher's shop in Bournemouth in 1958, aged 19.

The lease of Mason's Butchers in Pokesdown has ended, with the business facing a choice between closing or signing on for 10 more years.

Ms Jenkins, who worked with her son Andrew Jenkins, 60, said they were reluctantly shutting up shop.

Police cordoned off a section of a beach to allow a seal to get uninterrupted rest.

Wareham police were called to Durdle Door, Dorset, to block off a section of the beach to "keep a safe distance between the public and the seal".

They said the cordon also allowed the animal enough space to "feel comfortable".

A couple say a new venue has stepped in to save their wedding after the hotel they had booked closed without warning.

Bride-to-be Anne Chilcott, from Poole, Dorset, was distraught after learning Poole Quay Hotel shut suddenly, just three months before her wedding day.

After hearing about her plight on BBC South, the Lord Bute hotel in Highcliffe offered to help and now the wedding is back on.

Ms Chilcott said: "It's a lovely venue and we are really excited."

A hospital charity has said its donation of a £95,000 scanner reflects the importance of community hospitals.

The 22-bed Victoria Hospital in Wimborne, Dorset, received the new cardiac ultrasound machine in December.

The hospital's League of Friends paid for the so-called Echo equipment, which offers faster and more accurate diagnoses of heart conditions.

Chairman Anne Salter said the charity was "clear" about the hospital's future.

The skull of a prehistoric sea monster found on the Jurassic Coast has made it into the world record books.

The 2m-long (6ft) skull of a pliosaur, excavated from high above a beach in Dorset, was the subject of a BBC film presented by Sir David Attenborough.

Guinness World Records confirmed it was the "most complete" of its type on the planet.

It said it was about "95% complete by surface area", with "previously unobservable details" of the genus.

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