Archive

  • Union slams 'gimmicks'

    A TEACHERS' spokesman in East Lancashire has criticised a government plan to introduce £5,000 cash inducements to encourage maths and science graduates to enter teaching. Simon Jones, the NUT secretary for East Lancashire, acknowledged that the area is

  • Rovers chase Marcolin

    ROY Hodgson is hoping to sign experienced Italian midfielder Dario Marcolin from Lazio on an extended loan for the rest of the season. And there is a possibility, if the details of the move can be wrapped up in time - including international clearance

  • Rovers threat over Dublin fee

    BLACKBURN Rovers will reduce their £6.75 million offer for Dion Dublin if any other club is allowed to speak to the player on a cut-price basis, writes PETER WHITE. Other clubs, notably Aston Villa, have intimated that they are prepared to pay just over

  • Goal Rush threat to Clarets

    SHARPSHOOTER Ian Rush is on a mission to gun-down the Clarets when Wrexham arrive in town on Saturday for a Nationwide League Division Two showdown. The former King of the Kop has been out for 10 games after key-hole surgery on a knee injury but made

  • Bravery award for taximan hero of car blaze

    BRAVE taxi driver Hafeez Ahmed saved a motorist from being burned to death after a horrific head on crash. And now he has received an award from Lancashire's Chief Constable -- and the heartfelt thanks of the accident victims. Mr Ahmed, of Irene Place

  • One step at a Tyne

    ROY Hodgson could afford to be a happy man just after 9.30pm at a soggy, gale-swept Gresty Road last night, writes PETER WHITE. But his state of mind might have altered slightly half an hour later following news of the Worthington Cup fourth round draw

  • What's On Tomorrow: Friday, October 30

    Burnley Footballer Chris Scott lights Bonfire, including Hallowe'en Dancy Dress Party and refreshments, at the Roggerham Gate Inn, Briercliffe, 7pm. The Castle Players present "Surgicala Sensation At St Sennapod's," in the Centenaries Theatre, St Mary's

  • Referendum is a must

    THIS country could face the biggest upheaval in the voting system since the Great Reform Act following the proposals of the commission under Lord Jenkins, of Hillhead. When it was in Opposition Labour was all for electoral reform. Now they are not too

  • Immediate solution

    HALF of your paper (LET Oct 22) was devoted to firework yobs, the front page, opinion column and letters. All areas of the town have had to put up with bang, bang, bang since last month and, if last year is anything to go by, it will last until December

  • Syringes a real danger

    YOUR article 'Slam the door on druggies' (LET, October 14) is extremely worrying for the local community. The dangers from carelessly-discarded syringes are very real and there is a potential risk of hepatitis 'B' or even HIV transmission from accidental

  • Blunt not so sharp

    JOHN Blunt, you are losing your touch. Never did I think you would be joining the Mandelson-Darling Thought Police in dealing with widows' pensions. I agree that some widows have fat company pensions from their husbands' jobs and perhaps do not need the

  • NON-LEAGUE: Gt Harwood face threat of folding

    EXCLUSIVE: GREAT Harwood Town face the threat of folding at the end of the season -- unless someone comes forward to pump between £250-300,000 into the Unibond League club, writes PETER WHITE. Chairman Bill Holden revealed the crisis exclusively to the

  • Price hike on 'saver'

    WITHIN weeks of the publication of statistics demonstrating even worse services on the West Coast Line, connecting the North West with London, Richard Branson's Virgin Express have implemented a massive, yet disguised, hike in fares. From September 27

  • Post office action call

    EMERGENCY action to provide post office facilities in Briercliffe is being demanded by Burnley MP Peter Pike. The sub post office in Burnley Road has been closed for several weeks after Operation Fiscal, a joint operation by police and Post Office chiefs

  • Fireworks a menace

    CONGRATULATIONS both for your front page story (LET, October 22) highlighting the problem of fireworks yobs and for your Opinion column on this annual inconvenience to the long suffering public. I am sick and tired of going through the yearly charade

  • No regrets nursed

    I READ with interest the letters relating to nurses and would like to comment. To me nursing was a vocation and as I entered my probationary period in 1943, I was happily prepared for all the menial jobs which have been described. We were called each

  • Residents' legal threat to council

    ANGRY residents are considering legal action against a council for allowing a car park which they claim is causing traffic chaos near their homes. The residents lost their fight to stop Granville Technology building the 145-space car park at its factory

  • Action plan for school

    A PRIMARY school has been ordered to carry out a 20-point action plan after a damning report from Ofsted inspectors. They have ordered "special measures" at Burnley's 360 pupil Todmorden Road school to bring it up to acceptable standards -- and a Lancashire

  • Witches: No pardon from Straw

    THE GOVERNMENT has made an eve of Hallowe'en decision not to pardon the Pendle witches. Home Secretary Jack Straw has decided that the convictions of ten women and one of their sons for Satanism in 1612 should stand. Pendle MP Gordon Prentice and his

  • Action urged on under-age drinking

    THE problem of under-age drinking in Hyndburn is set to be tackled head-on in a bid to cut juvenile nuisance in the borough. Worried residents told a meeting of Hyndburn Police and Community Forum that gangs of rowdy youths were buying alcohol and the

  • Crackdown on teen gangs

    A CRACKDOWN on a gang of youths who have been terrorising Accrington residents has been hailed a success by police. A team of mounted officers and a specially-formed juvenile nuisance squad has been targeting the Barnfield Street area after reports of

  • Youngster hurt

    A YOUNGSTER was seriously injured in a road accident in Nelson early today. The boy, aged about 10, was taken to Burnley General Hospital with head injuries after the accident in Lomeshaye Road outside St John Southworth Primary School at about 8.30am

  • Pupils cue up to meet a star

    SNOOKER ace Shokat Ali potted questions from pupils who were putting together an article for their school newspaper. Year 6 youngsters at Walter Street Primary School, Brierfield, asked about the Accrington player's experiences and how he came to meet

  • Flying a flag for the future

    PENDLE Council is to bid for a flagship Government award which marks high standards of efficiency and effectiveness and which benefits local people. If the move to achieve Beacon Status is successful Pendle will get extra powers and freedom including

  • Witches: No pardon from Straw

    THE GOVERNMENT has made an eve of Hallowe'en decision not to pardon the Pendle witches. Home Secretary Jack Straw has decided that the convictions of ten women and one of their sons for Satanism in 1612 should stand. Pendle MP Gordon Prentice and his

  • Bramwell Speaks Out

    ROY Hodgson has targeted the right man in Dion Dublin. He has stature, experience and a commanding presence. And those are precisely the qualities both supporters and unsettled players at Ewood want to see from new arrivals. But the unfolding saga of

  • Royal Mail site switch a worry

    WORRIED councillors have asked to meet with Royal Mail bosses about their decision to close a Pendle sorting office and merge it with another on a new site. The Royal Mail confirmed yesterday that it plans to shut the delivery office behind Colne Post

  • Multi million bid to reduce class sizes

    A MULTI million pound bid has been made to reduce infant class sizes in Lancashire in line with government recommendations that no class should be larger than 30 pupils by 2001. Lancashire County Council's plans, which are focused on the five to seven

  • Heritage railway station to grow

    RAWTENSTALL Station is to be extended to cater for longer trains now a £1.2 million extension to the East Lancashire Railway has been agreed. The volunteer-run railway opened from Bury to Ramsbottom in 1987, was extended to Rawtenstall in 1991 and yesterday

  • Paul McKenna on stage with Martians, Madonna and Elvis!

    A CLASS of naughty five-year-olds and some visiting Martians shared the stage with Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger and Madonna -- and none of them knew a thing about it. Or at least, they didn't know until TV hypnotist Paul McKenna snapped them out of their

  • Dead cats dumped in woods mystery

    THE bodies of 16 adult cats have been found dumped in bin bags in Billinge Woods, Blackburn. The animals were discovered by a Blackburn with Darwen Council worker. Now the RSPCA is trying to find out what happened and is appealing for anyone with any

  • Concern over blacklisted teachers

    EDUCATION bosses at county hall are under fire from the government for having their own blacklist of teachers who are banned from working in schools. Moves to stop local authorities from having their own unofficial lists of teachers, some of whom are

  • Agency and police deserve a rocket

    IF there was an annual award for the region's biggest Killjoy, the Highways Agency and Lancashire Police would be well ahead of the rest of the field. A warning to shoe and clothing superstore Winfield's, of Haslingden, of an estimated £3,000 bill to

  • ICE HOCKEY: KINGSTON HAWKS 12 BLACKBURN HAWKS 0

    BLACKBURN Hawks went looking for some Christmas cheer from Kingston last night, but found their east coast namesakes sadly lacking in festive spirit. Hawks took just 11 senior players to Hull for the Christmas Cup clash, youngsters Robbie Smith, Wesley

  • CLARETS: Chairman quits the league

    PETER Westwell will step down as chairman of the Lancashire League at February's annual meeting after 11 years in the job, writes PETER WHITE. He stressed that his decision was a difficult one to make but had been done for the right reasons. "I think

  • Hippodrome happy days

    REGARDING your interesting article on the show at the old Hippodrome, Accrington, I used to work there as a 16-year-old part-timer for seven shillings and sixpence for six nights, two shows a night, in 1948. I would have been a paying customer, 17-years-old

  • Success celebration

    THE annual awards night at Gawthorpe High School, Padiham, was a celebration of success at a popular, over-subscribed school, headteacher Len Thomas told students and parents. He said the awards reflected the tremendous hard work of staff, governors,

  • Worker in 40ft pub roof plunge

    A CONTRACTOR fell 40ft from the roof of the Rose and Crown Pub, Manchester Road, Burnley, yesterday. Nigel Hill, 28, of Shaw, near Oldham, was working for pub owners Punch Taverns, of Lichfield, Staffordshire. Police said he had been seen carrying a plank

  • Pupils hit right note

    A LOTTERY bid could lead to Burnley's Towneley High School becoming a centre for excellence in music. The news was announced to parents and pupils by headteacher David Hinks at the school's presentation night. He praised the achievements of the school's

  • Every bobby to have a beat

    EVERY front line uniformed officer in the Pennine police division which covers Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, is to be allocated their own small beat and become accountable for solving problems in their area. The radical change comes into effect in Burnley

  • Unknown donor hero can save young Dylan

    A BRAVE young leukaemia sufferer could receive the gift of life this Christmas from a 37-year-old stranger who has agreed to become a bone marrow donor. Dylan Wildman, nine, is to undergo the transplant at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury