Here's what happened in August 2017:

FANS shelled out thousands of pounds to save a Southampton music venue that has seen the likes of Oasis, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, The Libertines and Radiohead take to its stage, writes Ayaz Sumra. The

Joiners in St Mary Street had to seek the public’s help after a hefty repair bill brought it to the brink of closure. Within 24 hours the venue’s supporters raised more than £5,000 to save it. Club bosses say crucial repairs were needed to keep the venue open after damage was caused to the building by recent torrential rain. The venue is due to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.

A MAN was left fighting for his life in hospital after being struck by a falling tree on a Hampshire golf course. The casualty – a green keeper at Dibden Golf Centre – was operating a ride-on mower on the 18-hole course when the huge tree fell on top of him. An investigation was launched into the incident, which happened in windy conditions and left the small mower buried beneath a huge number of branches.

A SOUTHAMPTON professional boxer’s career suffered a major blow when he had crashed a car while driving under the influence of cocaine. Ryan Garner, 19, known as Piranha in the ring, was suspended from fighting by the British Board of Control. The former European amateur champion at junior level took two lines of cocaine before smashing up his brother’s car late at night in May, Southampton magistrates heard. After seeing a vehicle coming towards him on South East Road in Woolston he swerved and crashed his Ford Fiesta into a parked car. Garner, of Franklyn Avenue, Southampton, was handed an 80-hour unpaid work order and a two-year driving ban. He was also also ordered to pay £85 costs and £85 victim surcharge.

ROTTING piles of household and garden waste have been dumped at the end of a residential street in Southampton more than 75 times in the last six months, it was revealed. Damaged fridges and freezers, a for sale sign and mouldy mattresses were also among the heap of rubbish left by fly-tippers in a layby on Drummond Drive in St Denys, Southampton. Dead rats were also found just feet away from the pile of rubbish. Local councillors called on the city council to act. Councillor Bob Painton said: “Fly-tipping has become worse since the introduction of alternative weekly collections yet there have been no prosecutions.”

SOUTHAMPTON Football Club was at the centre of a multi-million pound takeover. It came after Katharina Liebherr sold an 80 per cent stake in the club to Chinese investors. Jisheng Gao, 64, spent £210 million from his own personal fortune – estimated at around US$1.5 billion – to herald a new era at St Mary’s. Liebherr inherited the club following the death of her father Markus seven years earlier. He had paid around £14m to save Saints from potential oblivion in July 2009.

SOUTHAMPTON received a £25 million boost to its economy as 10 cruise ships descended on the city in one weekend. Drivers were warned of massive gridlock on the road with 55,000 passengers were set to embark and disembark and splash their cash in the city’s hotels, restaurants and bars. The ships included Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, Azura, Arcadia, Aurora, Braemar, Independence of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Norwegian Jade and Mein Shiff 1.

IT WAS a new and improved year for A-level results with three Southampton colleges celebrating a 100 per cent pass rate – despite “significant” changes with the new “more rigorous” system. Southampton students were jumping for joy with an overall pass rate of 97.9 per cent – up from 97.3 per cent the previous year. City education boss Cllr Darren Paffey – who spent the day in Southampton University’s clearing office – congratulated the youngsters and said they should be proud. He also thanked hard working teachers and said students should be “encouraged” by the wealth of options open to them. The overall figure for Hampshire showed 99 per cent of pupils getting A-E – with many students in Hampshire also earning strong results for advanced level technical and general applied qualifications.

MORE than 1,000 jobs would be created a former disused factory site in Southampton, it was revealed. A total of 1,200 new jobs would be generated at the former Ford site in Swaythling following a redevelopment which has attracted several key names including Aston Martin, which was preparing proposals to set up a new multi-million-pound showroom. Three tenants have also announced as moving into three industrial units which are already completed – Cooper Vision, a manufacturer of contact lenses based in Fareham, commercial laundry specialists Berendsen and Murray Health, relocating from Chandler’s Ford. The Ford factory was closed in 2013 after the firm revealed controversial plans to move production to Turkey.