KEITH HAMILTON looks through past editions of the Echo and reviews the issues which made the headlines

50 years ago A steward on the Queen Mary was fined £45 after city magistrates found him guilty of trying to smuggle 72 pairs of nylon stockings through the docks.

He said he hoped to sell them in London pubs, as he needed money for his forthcoming wedding.

40 years ago British Railways announ-ced that it was switching its Southampton-based Channel Island ferries to the port of Weymouth, in Dorset.

According to local music shops the best-selling record in Southampton was Andy Stewart singing A Scottish Soldier.

30 years agoSouthampton faced chaos as refuse collectors and sewerage workers continued their strike and bus crews were also set to take industrial action.

Buses to ferry fans for Saints' home match against Wolverhampton were cancelled and schools were expected to close.

20 years agoAn employee of the Spanish Consulate in Southampton claimed dip-lomatic immunity and refused to appear before city magistrates on a charge of careless driving.

Magistrates disagreed and issued a summons for his arrest and fined him £70 in his absence.

10 years agoThree drug dealers who plotted to smuggle £50 million worth of drugs through Southampton docks were jailed for a total of 60 years.

The city council apologised to a 75-year-old widow for not sending a poll tax paying-in book, despite being asked 20 times.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.