Dorset weekly round-up: 27 January - 2 February 2024

The large falls have blocked the beach at West Bay

A story about a trio of rockfalls blocking a beach on the Jurassic Coast was among our most read content 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.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor to headline Poole's first Pride

Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 2001 hit, Murder on the Dancefloor, is back in the charts

Murder on the Dancefloor singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor will headline the first Pride event held in Poole, Dorset.

Pride will take place at Lighthouse arts centre on 8 June and will be preceded by a week-long film festival.

A month-long exhibition is also planned to honour gay activist John Chesterman, who was involved in the formation of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970.

Cows stuck in slurry pit near Wimborne rescued by firefighters

DWFRS said the cattle "seemed to be none the worse for their ordeal" but the crews "needed to decontaminate"

Two cows were rescued by fire crews after falling into a slurry pit.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) said the beleaguered bovines were found up to their necks in a 15ft (4.5m) pit in Mannington, near Wimborne.

A crew from Verwood and a technical rescue team from Poole had to use strops and a telehandler to lift them to safety.

West Bay: Three rockfalls on Dorset's Jurassic Coast block beach

A series of three rockfalls blocked a stretch of beach on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

Aerial footage showed the aftermath of the cliff collapse and large pieces of rock left jutting out perilously over the beach at West Bay, Bridport.

West Bay Photography, which captured the scene, said the earth movements were seen on Monday afternoon.

Seafeast: Weymouth seafood festival set to go ahead after U-turn

Organisers said the Dorset seafood festival attracted 10,000 people in 2023

A seafood festival will go ahead this summer - three weeks after organisers announced it would be scrapped.

Plans for Seafeast in Weymouth, Dorset, had been abandoned after a drop in sponsorship and an increase in costs.

The food and drink weekend will now take place on Weymouth Peninsula, after a group of local businesses stepped in to take the event on.

Bournemouth's big wheel dismantled for revamp

The wheel is expected to be back up and running again at Easter

A big wheel attraction at a seaside resort was taken down for a revamp.

BCP Council said the observation wheel near Bournemouth Pier had been dismantled for routine maintenance and repairs.

The attraction, which stands about 100ft (30m) tall, is also set to have new enclosed carriages added.