Dorset weekly round-up: 27 November - 2 December

A story about a digger driver being rescued after the heavy machine got stuck in the sand at Bournemouth beach was among our most read 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.

Thomas Hardy's Wessex photos fetch £24k at auction

Grey's Bridge in Dorchester features in The Mayor of Casterbridge

Images inspired by the people and places in Thomas Hardy's novels have gone under the hammer.

The collection of photos have sold for the hammer price of £24,000 at Forum Auctions.

The images were conceived by Hardy and his photographer friend, Hermann Lea, for the 1913 guidebook Thomas Hardy's Wessex.

Christmas tree towering over house needs new home

It is hoped Nannette Stratton's tree, standing at house-height, could take pride of place somewhere this Christmas

A woman who has seen a Christmas tree grow taller than her house wants someone to give it a new home.

Nannette Stratton has had the fir in her garden in Christchurch, Dorset, since it was a 6in (15cm) sapling.

The 78-year-old said she got the tree in 1998 after collecting enough newspaper coupons - and it has shot up by 1ft (0.3m) every year since.

Lotto winners celebrate with weekend in Weymouth

Graham and Caroline Parris matched five numbers and the bonus ball in the Lotto Must Be Won draw

A couple have said they will celebrate a £1.2m lottery win by re-living a romantic weekend they had at a Dorset seaside resort 44 years ago.

Graham and Caroline Parris, both 65 and from Reading, matched five numbers and the bonus ball in the Lotto Must Be Won draw on 1 November.

Mr Parris said the pair's first trip as millionaires would be to Weymouth.

Dorset beach tops list of world's best winter visits

Reynisfjara Beach on Iceland's South Shore features in the list of cold-weather beaches

A beach on Dorset's Jurassic Coast has topped a list of the world's best to visit in winter.

Charmouth, which is popular with fossil hunters, is listed number one out of nine beaches recommended by travel guide publisher Lonely Planet.

Second is Reynisfjara Beach in Vik, Iceland, followed by Plage de la Conche des Baleines, on Île de Ré in France.

Driver rescued after digger stuck in sea

The digger tipped over and into the sea while replacing groynes

A driver had to be rescued after his excavator got stuck in the sea at Bournemouth beach.

The machinery was being used to replace groynes as part of a scheme to protect the beach from erosion.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council said it tipped over in soft sand on a rising tide.