Hampshire and Isle of Wight weekly round-up: 9 -15 October 2023

Ron Rapp was out on his fishing boat when he spotted seagulls near some floating packages on Sunday

An angler's discovery of large packages of cocaine floating in the sea was among our most read stories this week in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

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.

Angler finds cocaine packages floating in sea

Mr Rapp came across a suspicious set of packages floating in the sea on Sunday

A sea angler has described finding floating packages of cocaine off the Isle of Wight.

Ron Rapp was on his fishing boat with his family near The Needles on Sunday when he spotted the three bundles.

Aware police were searching - after holdalls filled with drugs were found off Purbeck in Dorset and on an Isle of Wight beach - he called the coastguard.

Hit-and-run warning after five animals killed

Campaigners said the number of hit-and-run incidents was "so disappointing"

A spate of hit-and-run crashes involving livestock in the New Forest has represented the worst week's death toll in two years, campaigners said.

Three sheep, a piglet and a foal were killed in the national park during the week of 25 September.

The New Forest Roads Awareness group said the drivers involved all failed to stop.

Post office to reopen after two-year campaign

Isle of Wight Council worked with local groups to bring the service back

A post office is set to return to the Isle of Wight after a campaign to get it reopened.

The branch inside Newport High Street's Central Convenience Store will start serving again on 29 November.

Local groups worked with Isle of Wight Council to bring the service back after it closed in February 2021.

Firefighters free cat with claws stuck in table

Holly the cat was unhappy and in pain, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said

A tortoiseshell cat whose claws became trapped in a patio table has been rescued by firefighters.

Crews from Lymington, Hampshire, arrived at a property in Paddock Gardens to find the animal, called Holly, in distress.

Firefighters used a saw to free the 17-year-old moggy's leg from the table and she was handed back to her owners with "all nine lives intact".

Cruise ship visits back to pre-Covid levels

Southampton will welcome around 500 cruise ship visits this year

The number of cruise ships arriving in Hampshire this year is already at pre-pandemic levels, a council has heard.

An estimated two million passengers on almost 500 vessels, including seven new cruise ships, will visit Southampton port before the end of the year.

Each cruise call is worth £2.7m to the economy, director of Hampshire 2050 Gary Westbrook told a cabinet meeting.