New Milton Advertiser 8th Jan 2021

Friday 8th January 2021 · 5 News

news@adt.press · advertising@adt.press · 01425 613384

More than 70 firefighters tackle cottage thatch fire

Occupants safely out as roof and first floor of home destroyed

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. The occupants stayed at a neighbour’s home while the blaze was be - ing tackled throughout Monday night, according to a spokesperson for the service. The spokesperson add - ed on Wednesday that the trio had since moved into another property that they own. Both fire services post - ed updates on Twitter as the emergency was being dealt with throughout Monday night and up until Tuesday af - ternoon. Several members of the pub - lic tweeted comments to the posts, praising the firefighters and passing on their best wish - es to the cottage’s owners. One tweeted: “It was tru - ly shocking. An incredible job done, but how awful for the owners.” Commenting on pictures showing the aftermath of the blaze, another person wrote: “What an awful mess. “The poor people that live there. My heart goes out to them.” Poole, several times between March and July 2017. They went together to auto-meets in Poole, Hampshire, London, Wiltshire and Northampton - shire. Lane was said to have touched the boy inappropri - ately on the way to events, and again when they went for a swim in the sea off Boscombe. In November 2017 the victim told his mother. A spokesperson for the At - torney General’s Office said: “A referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably avail - able in the circumstances of the offence.”

New Forest Heritage Centre in Lyndhurst

Visitor centre handed £2,500 grant boost

By CHRIS MARCH

DOZENS of firefighters bat - tled through the night to con - tain a blaze which devastated a thatched cottage in a New For - est village. The alarm was raised short - ly before 9pm on Monday as flames engulfed the roof of the Grade II listed property in Wilt - shire Road, Bransgore. Its oc - cupants, two adults and a child, all got out safely. People were urged to avoid the area as a team of more than 70 Hampshire and Dorset fire - fighters tackled the emergency. Equipped with breathing ap - paratus, their efforts included scaling the roof and removing sections of thatch. At the height of the incident, a total of 16 fire engines attended from stations including Lyndhurst, Burley, Beaulieu and New Milton. Crews remained at the scene until around 3pm the following day as they continued damp - ing down the property to pre - PAULTONS Park raised more than £70,000 to help equip a specialist sensory retreat for se - riously ill youngsters at South - ampton Children’s Hospital. The funding has come part - way through the Ower-based theme park’s three-year part - nership launched in 2019 with the hospital’s charity. Although the pandemic forced Paultons to close earlier in 2020, it reopened in July and invited guests purchasing tick - ets online to make a voluntary donation. A Paultons Park spokes - person said: “Such generosity proves that even during the hardest of times, guests remain keen to make a difference to those who need it most.” Restrictions on capacity meant season ticket holders had to pay a booking fee which also went to the charity. Jeneen Thomsen, joint inter - im director and head of major gifts at Southampton Hospitals Charity, said: “We are so thrilled that Paultons Park and their fantastic guests have continued to be so generous in light of an extremely difficult year.”

A NEW Forest visitor centre has been given a £2,500 boost through a scheme which raises funds for conservation and edu - cation projects. The New Forest Heritage Centre, a museum, gallery and reference library in Lyndhurst, was awarded the grant by the New Forest Trust’s Love the Forest initiative, which secures funding through donations from local businesses and the millions of visitors to the na - tional park each year. Manager Giles Gould said: “Without support like this we simply couldn’t do what we do; in a year in which everyone has faced ongoing challenges, we are delighted to be open, pre - serving the heritage and telling the story of the New Forest.” Free to enter, the centre at - tracts more than 200,000 visi - tors annually, and its exhibits, collections and education ser - vice play a vital role in promot -

ing conservation and educating locals and visitors alike. The facility also houses the Christopher Tower Reference Library, which boasts one of the most comprehensive collec - tions of material about the New Forest open to the public. New Forest Trust chair Wil - liam Ziegler said: “Our core aim is to increase the public un - derstanding of the New Forest, and the educational work by the heritage centre ties in very closely with this.” Love the Forest has raised a total £265,000 for local groups and organisations. As well as donating directly or running fundraising events, businesses in the New Forest provide opportunities for their customers to help conserve the precious landscape of the area by adding a donation on a room stay, meal or product. To make a donation to Love the Forest, go to bit.ly/3o6PgQ8

Firefighters at the scene (Photo: DWFRS) and, inset, the remains of the property (Photo: HFRS)

vent further flare-ups. Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Ser - vice also lent a hand. By the time the emergency

had been contained, the cot - tage’s roof and first floor had been completely destroyed and there was fire damage to about

70% of the ground floor. It started accidentally in the chimney, but no further details of the cause were available from

Theme park raises £70k for hospital sensory unit

Appeal fails to extend sentence of sex offender

Police sign language service

A ONE-YEAR prison sentence given to a Ringwood sex offend - er who groomed a 14-year-old boy will not be extended, it has been confirmed. A complaint had been made to the Attorney General’s Of - fice that the term given to Jack Lane (23), of Hangersley, was “unduly lenient”. However, after looking into the case it was decided it did not meet the “high” threshold requiring further ac - tion. As reported in the A&T, Lane was jailed at Bournemouth Crown Court in December hav - ing been found guilty of sexual activity with a child following a trial. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. The court heard Lane met with the boy, who was from

DORSET Police has launched a new service to help people with hearing difficulties to contact the force in a non-emergency. British Sign Language users can use SignLive to translate discussions and relay informa - tion. It will be available via an

app or its website – www.sign live.co.uk – through a video con - versation with an interpreter. Assistant Chief Constable Sam De Reya said it would help Dorset Police “reach out to those who may not have been able to contact us so easily in the past”.

OFFICE MAKERS Bespoke Home Office and Study Areas Something that is a little bit special Part of the Kitchenmakers Group

The Old Forge,Arnewood Bridge Road, Sway, Lymington SO41 6DA T: 01590 683225 • F: 01590 683629 • www.kitchenmakers.co.uk

It is hoped building will start on the special facili ty this year

Sara Mancey, HR direc - tor at Paultons Park, added: “As a family business we were pleased to welcome guests to the park after a significant pe - riod of closure. “We continue to be amazed by guests and staff who support the hospital so generously and are so delighted to have already

reached our original fundrais - ing target.” Planning of the hospital re - treat, which will involve the transformation of an old play - room, is already under way and it is hoped building will start this year. To donate visit www.just giving.com/team/paultonspark

Did you know we offer a Leaflet insert service? The New Milton Advertiser & Lymington Times is the perfect platform for you!

INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING? For further information contact your

sales rep or call us directly on 01425 613384 for more information

Calmore

Cadnam

FORDINGBRIDGE

TOTTON

SOUTHAMPTON

Ashurst

Marchwood

New ForestNationalPark

HYTHE

LYNDHURST

RINGWOOD

FAWLEY

BEAULIEU

BURLEY

BROCKENHURST

Calshot

BOLDRE

BRANSGORE

Bournemouth Airport

LYMINGTON

NEWMILTON

HIGHCLIFFE

BARTON-ON-SEA

CHRISTCHURCH

MILFORD-ON-SEA

BOURNEMOUTH

HengistburyHead

We are also able to offer a print and design service — rates available on request

Read by 38,484* local readers

every week * (JICREG June 2019)