BETTER late than never was my response to the news that the Government was to take the functions of Railtrack back into public control. But why stop there? The entire rail privatisation exercise has been a disaster, its cost counted in cash, customer
independent too IN response to the story published on October 17, 'Break away call for towns.' Rossendale towns are being encouraged to seek independence like Padiham which had Government approval last week to form its own council. This is expected to
IT is with interest that I observe the present situation with Railtrack. Consider the following facts. In the past, after two World Wars and lack of private investment in the railways, they were run down and the money was not forthcoming. There was a
INTERNATIONAL team mates Tugay and Muzzy Izzet will be battling to take control of the midfield as Rovers take on Leicester City. Izzet has been the subject of intense transfer speculation in recent weeks with Aston Villa and Leeds United reportedly keen
LEICESTER striker Ade Akinbiyi has been the target of some discontent with his one goal return for the Foxes this season. But Rovers defender Henning Berg knows that Rovers will have to be on their guard against a backlash from Akinbiyi, bought for £5m
THERE is every chance that David Dunn and Matt Jansen will be packing their bags for the World Cup, according to former team mate Callum Davidson. "I am not at all surprised that Blackburn have made such a good start to the season after coming up because
A SECOND judge has hit out at drink-fuelled violence -- which he dubbed the "plague of this area," as he sentenced a youth who attacked another man. Judge David Pirie said the offence was "yet another incident of late-night violence," and told Stephen
POLICE called to a midnight road smash spotted a scratched and bruised man nearby staggering about, a court heard. Burnley Magistrates were told how Rishton building firm foreman David Whittaker, 36, was evasive and abusive, tried to walk away from officers
SERVICES are to be streamlined following an agreement between Lancashire County Council and Burnley and Pendle councils. A concordat was signed by council leaders Hazel Harding, Stuart Caddy and Azhar Ali bringing in a new era of co-operation between
AFTER spotting a want-ad for bottles and labels for the OBJ beer that used to pour from the old Dutton's brewery in Blackburn, reader Mr Jim Hilton sent Looking Back this 42-year-old pub price list showing the cost of it and the other drinks sold in its
RAY Harford resigned as manager of Blackburn Rovers 16 months after he took over from Kenny Dalglish. Rovers had suffered their worst start ever to a league season without a win after ten games and were knocked out of the Coca Cola Cup.
A TROUBLE torn estate won an award for transforming hard-to-let council houses into desirable homes. The Roman Road estate in Blackburn won a commendation in the prestigious National Home Improvement Council Awards after a pioneering plan to sell off
"WE played some great stuff in the first half and I said at half time we did not have to go and score another," Wolves boss Dave Jones. "Our front six had run them ragged. "Knowing Stan, they were always going to give it a right go after the break. "I
BEMUSED Burnley boss Stan Ternent had no explanation for his side's woeful start to their top of the table clash at Molineux yesterday. But having acknowledged the massive negative that saw his side three down to Wolves at the break he chose to accentuate
ROSSENDALE lad Lee Cartwright scored his first goal for two years to lift Preston up to sixth spot in the First Division. The winger, who still lives in the Valley, latched onto Graham Alexander's cross in injury time in the first half and headed the
POLICE are appealing for witnesses to a hit-and-run accident in which a 60-year-old local man died. The victim, who has not yet been named, was walking in Bolton Road near the railway bridge close to Blackburn Royal Infirmary about 6.50pm on Sunday. He
FOREIGN Secretary Jack Straw today insisted the British public had the "stomach" for a long war against terrorism. Mr Straw said Britain's reaction after the New York and Washington terror attacks was "instinctive in support of our brothers and sisters
THE commander of the Royal Marines expected to join the ground war in Afghanistan has admitted his troops are not ready for action. Brigadier Roger Lane told the BBC he was concerned about the lack of intelligence information in the region. He said his
FIVE hundred jobs will be created by BAE Systems in the next year as a direct result of the massive £280billion deal won by American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. Employees at BAE Systems in Salmesbury and Warton will be involved in the system design
A CUP final medal dating back to 1890 was just one of the finds football memorabilia experts made when Blackburn Rovers opened their doors to the public at the weekend. The open weekend, staged at Ewood Park, saw hundreds bring their old match programmes
PADIHAM suffered their fifth home defeat of the season against Blackpool Mechanics. Ian Vickers headed the visitors ahead after 25 minutes and then in injury time at the end of the first half Rob Park added a second. Carl Parker went closest for Padiham
COLNE put on a disappointing display with Norton gaining revenge for Colne's win at their place earlier in the season. Player-boss John Lister had to come off at half time suffering from the effects of a flu bug and the rest of his team struggled to show
DARWEN continued their inconsistent season with a 3-2 defeat to Chadderton. Manager Steve Wilkes left himself and Denny Khan out and brought Scott Derbyshire and Craig Shaw in. The victors were sluggish in the opening stages and the home side took the
NEW signings Julian Dowe and Shaun Cryer made their debuts up front for Bacup and the pair teamed up for what they thought was the winner but the referee ruled the goal out and gave a penalty instead. Nicky Taylor, out with a broken finger, and Stuart
ROSSENDALE lad Lee Cartwright scored his first goal for two years to lift Preston up to sixth spot in the First Division. The winger, who still lives in the Valley, latched onto Graham Alexander's cross in injury time in the first half and headed the
PARENTS in the North get more involved with their children's education than their southern neighbours, according to new research. The nationwide survey gathered data from parents with children aged between seven and 11. It found that northern parents
ETHNIC minority pupils in schools across East Lancashire are doing better, according to a report by the Office for Standards in Education. Ofsted inspectors visited 50 local education authorities nationwide, including Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen
A LOOK at events, from amateur theatre to rambles through our beautiful countryside. Blackburn and District Probus Club meet Lammack Methodist Church, Blackburn, 10.30am. 'Ponchinello in England,' with Judge Martin Grundy. Haslingden Conservative Club
ABOUT to become an OAP shortly, I am having to provide all sorts of information to a range of public and private bodies -- pension company, Inland Revenue, council, both local and county; DSS and banks. Not being a member at one bank/building society,
ONE finds it difficult to believe that 40 million sheep could have been slaughtered because scientists thought they had discovered mad cow disease in sheep's brains only to discover that they had been examining cows brains instead. Both BSE and foot and
UNFORTUNATELY Mr Roy Davies, (Letters, October 18) must not have read my letter which outlined the improvements in lighting in the Sudell area of town as a result of it being designated an action on crime hotspot. It could be construed that Mr Davies
SCHOOL pals were today saying prayers for an eight-year-old girl who was left fighting for her life after a road accident. Chloe Duxbury, of Church Street, Newchurch, was taken to Burnley General Hospital and transferred to Pendlebury Children's Hospital
A COUPLE today issued an emotional plea for help after a former Lancashire Evening Telegraph Baby of the Year was diagnosed with a brain tumour and given three months to live. Doctors found four-year-old John Mark Riding, our Baby of the Year in 1998,
FORMER Rovers keeper Tim Flowers has missed out on the chance of a trip to is old club this evening when he joined Stockport County on a month's loan on Friday. The 34-year-old former England international, who won a Premiership championship medal with
AN elderly woman has died and four people were taken to hospital after a three-car collision near Cliviger. The incident happened at 3.10pm on Saturday in Burnley Road, between Holme Chapel and Portsmouth. A red Ford Fiesta travelling towards Burnley
PERMISSION to build a four-bedroomed detached house with garage on the former car park of the Lamb Inn in Newchurch looks likely to be refused by councillors this week. The application is for a three-storey building with a driveway and vehicle turning
A WOMAN who battled breast cancer was so touched by an awareness and collection week-end that she volunteered her help. Barbara Gibb, of Milford Street, Colne, had gone to Colne Asda on Saturday to do some shopping when she noticed the Cancer Reasearch
TWO fire crews from Accrington fought a fierce blaze in a house in Augusta Street yesterday morning. Four firefighters tackled the blaze in the ground floor of the house, which was empty. All the windows in the house were blown out during the fire, which
A VET has spoken for the first time about the difficulties faced in the profession during the foot and mouth crisis in East Lancashire. Michael Reef said he has experienced the horror and heartbreak the disease brought and warns the future is still bleak
BLACKPOOL secured a Bloomfield Road encounter in the first round of the FA Cup. In the draw for the FA Cup Blackpool have drawn either Woking or Newport County in the opening round on the road to the Final.
BLACKPOOL fans may not have been best pleased with their teams performance against the Spirites but Steve McMahon was. The Blackpool boss said, "I have been begging my defence to keep a clean sheet and after 17 games they've finally managed it." In fact
BEMUSED Burnley boss Stan Ternent had no explanation for his side's woeful start to their top of the table clash at Molineux yesterday. But having acknowledged the massive negative that saw his side three down to Wolves at the break he chose to accentuate
A LOOK at the key stats and figures from the Clarets' defeat at Wolves. BURNLEY NIK MICHOPOULOS: Did not have a chance with the first and last goals but could have done more to stop Rae grabbing the second. Some good saves after the break. 6 STEVE DAVIS
THE clocks might have gone back one hour yesterday but Burnley's players must have put their's back two. That is because for the first half at Molineux they were all still asleep as they were savaged by Dave Jones' rampant Wolves. Never mind putting on
THERE is every chance that David Dunn and Matt Jansen will be packing their bags for the World Cup, according to former team mate Callum Davidson. "I am not at all surprised that Blackburn have made such a good start to the season after coming up because
BEMUSED Burnley boss Stan Ternent had no explanation for his side's woeful start to their top of the table clash at Molineux yesterday. But having acknowledged the massive negative that saw his side three down to Wolves at the break he chose to accentuate
SCHOOL pals were today saying prayers for an eight-year-old girl who was left fighting for her life after a road accident. Chloe Duxbury, of Church Street, Newchurch, was taken to Burnley General Hospital and transferred to Pendlebury Children's Hospital
FIVE hundred jobs across the North West will be created in the next year as a direct result of the massive £280 billion deal won by American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. Employees at BAE Systems in in Salmesbury and Warton will be involved in the
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to give the public a greater say in how a council is run. Liberal Democrats in Blackburn with Darwen want area councils to be formed across the borough. The councils would then serve as forum for local people to vent their
PATIENTS in accident and emergency departments in Blackburn and Burnley are waiting longer to see a doctor than they were five years ago. But the figures are in line with with damning national statistics, published in an Audit Commission report. The report
A COUPLE today issued an emotional plea for help after a former Lancashire Evening Telegraph Baby of the Year was diagnosed with a brain tumour and given three months to live. Doctors found four-year-old John Mark Riding, our Baby of the Year in 1998,
NELSON paid the price for some poor defending against Squires Gate despite looking the better side for long periods of this NWCL Division Two game at School Road. The Blues were caught cold when Alec Rawson put Squires Gate ahead with a shot in off the
CLITHEROE left it until the last kick of the game to secure maximum points against struggling Glossop in the NWCL Division One. Neil Spencer put the Blues out of their misery deep into injury time with the only goal of a game that Lee Sculpher's men had
ROSSENDALE conceded their first league goal on their travels and it was enough to condemn them to consecutive UniBond First Division defeats for the first time this season. The game was a scrappy affair with neither side really getting to grips with their
SIMON Carden missed a chance to clinch all three points for Stanley in their UniBond Premier League clash against Bishop Auckland. The midfielder could have give the tenth placed Reds only their second home league victory of the season in the final minute
A COLLEGE is set to take a leap into the future after being granted planning permission to build a state-of-the-art multi-media complex. But nearby residents have blasted the council for giving the project the go-ahead, claiming lives will be put at risk
BLACKPOOL fans may not have been best pleased with their teams performance against the Spirites but Steve McMahon was. The Blackpool boss said, "I have been begging my defence to keep a clean sheet and after 17 games they've finally managed it." In fact
