Archive

  • EVENTS taking place in East Lancashire on Thursday, October 10

    A LOOK at events, from amateur theatre to rambles through our beautiful countryside. Blackburn Flower Club, Brownhill United Reformed Church Hall, Brownhill Road, Blackburn, 7.30pm. Practice Night. Age Concern Open Day, Accrington Town Hall, 10.30am-3.30pm

  • Yes, County Hall is out of touch

    HAVING progressed from being virtually out of touch with one another, relations between Lancashire County Council and Burnley Council are said today to have improved in the past six months -- following the call by the Task Force inquiry into last summer's

  • Rams let down by poor finishing

    Alsager...0, Ramsbottom United...0 THIS was a game which Ramsbottom should have won and with better finishing they would have undoubtedly done so. Defending against a strong wind in the first half it was Ramsbottom who carved out the first chance, neat

  • Cup draw brought back the memories

    IT is a wonder that some Clarets fans managed to see any of the thrilling 3-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday. Any student of the club's history, and certainly anyone over the age of about 45, will have come over all dewy eyed shortly before kick-off at Hillsborough

  • Saved from ruin

    A CHARITY has stepped in with a £110,000 donation to help save the family of tragic cancer patient Phoebe Morley from financial ruin. The American organisation contacted the Florida Hospital in Kissimmee where 76-year-old Mrs Morley was treated after

  • We want justice

    THE family of a man who died after an argument today said she would not rest until somebody was made to pay for the tragedy. Mr Abdul Raja Qayyum, 62, died on March 30 after an incident at his home in Halifax Road, Brierfield. His wife Munawr Begum, 51

  • Matautia all set for Grand finale

    FORMER St Helens hard man Vila Matautia has been given the chance to help Leigh Centurions secure a place in Super League before finally hanging up his boots writes Ian Laybourn, PA Sport HERE The 33-year-old Samoan has missed the Centurions' last two

  • Why Sven chose Tommo

    ENGLAND boss Sven Goran Eriksson is backing David Thompson to succeed where Lee Bowyer and Joe Cole have failed as he steps up his preparations ahead of Saturday's European Qualifier in Slovakia. Eriksson surprised several pundits when he overlooked Bowyer

  • Duff plots cup win

    BLACKBURN winger Damien Duff today vowed to make Charlie Nicholas eat his words when Rovers meet Celtic in the UEFA Cup later this month. Nicholas stoked the fire ahead of the eagerly-awaited Battle of Britain by claiming that Celtic would have been disappointed

  • Souness faces a 'cauldron of hate'

    GRAEME Souness will find himself at the centre of a cauldron of hate when Rovers take on Celtic in a UEFA Cup Battle of Britain later this month. That's the view of Phil Boersma, Souness's side-kick, who knows exactly what's awaiting his Blackburn boss

  • Jury in 'riots' trial due to retire

    THE jury in the trial of five Asians accused of violence during last year's Burnley riots were due to retire today to consider their verdicts. Mohammed Bashir, 22, of Forest Street, Burnley; Mohammed Nawaz, 35, of Lord Street, Brierfield; Asif Khan, 24

  • We want justice

    THE family of a man who died after an argument today said she would not rest until somebody was made to pay for the tragedy. Mr Abdul Raja Qayyum, 62, died on March 30 after an incident at his home in Halifax Road, Brierfield. His wife Munawr Begum, 51

  • Arrests in dead children passport purge

    POLICE raided a house in Nelson as part of a crackdown on the use of birth certificates of dead children to get false passports. Three houses in Lancashire were raided as part of the national Operation Wisdom led by the National Crime Squad. One person

  • Cannabis factory raided

    A HEADTEACHER today spoke of his shock after police swooped on a cannabis factory just 100 yards from his primary school. The raid on the premises in Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors, was executed as part of Lancashire Constabulary's Safer Streets Initiative

  • Tribute to chief executive found hanging from tree

    SPORTS retailer JJB today announced a slump in profits as staff tried to come to terms with the death of chief executive Duncan Sharpe. The 43-year-old, of Waddington Old Hall, Waddington, near Clitheroe, was found hanging from a tree by a farmer at a

  • Planners can make you sick

    HAVING only recently questioned the power and presumption of councils to put the half-Nelson on developers by attaching absurd conditions to bids for planning consent -- such as a supermarket chain being asked to stump up the cost of a statue if they

  • Defendant 'can't be acquitted'

    A JUDGE has told the jury in the Charlotte Flanagan murder trial that defendant Gareth Richard Horton cannot be acquitted of the killing. Brian Barker, QC, told the four man and eight woman jury at the Old Bailey that their job was to decide whether Horton

  • Council tax bill is a laughing matter

    A PENSIONER who received a council tax bill for just 1p today described how he roared with laughter to read it was to be paid in instalments. Dave Woolley, 76, of Longshaw House home for the elderly, Crosby Road, Blackburn, said he was initially shocked

  • Dale drop out

    ROSSENDALE UNITED were knocked out of the FA Trophy at the Preliminary Round stage by manager Jim McCluskie's old side Witton Albion last night. McCluskie reached the Trophy final at Wembley 10 years as a member of the Witton side but he was not repeat

  • New start for the Rams

    NEW Ramsbottom manager Andy Grimshaw kicked off his managerial career with a draw against title hopefuls St Helens. Grimshaw , who was previously a player at the club and will continue to play 'very rarely', has taken over at the Riverside in the place

  • Blues get back to winning ways

    CLITHEROE returned to winning ways with a convincing win away at Flixton. The game burst into life when a home defender was sent off for appearing to aim a kick at Lee Cryer. Clitheroe took the game to the visitors with Gary Jackson going close on a couple

  • Panthers have eye on comp

    PENDLE Panthers are enjoying their first taste of open age competitive rugby. After running junior sides for the past four years, they have now stepped into the big league and are competing in their first season in the Women's Rugby League Association

  • Hawks boss Haig 'has thinking to do'

    IT was back-to-back blues for Blackburn Hawks as they crashed to double defeat in successive games. Bobby Haig's men slumped to a 2-8 defeat to unbeaten league leaders Sheffield Scimitars in an English National League (North) clash at the Arena. And 24

  • Coleman: Strugglers will be no pushover

    JOHN COLEMAN has warned his players not to be complacent when they take on bottom-of-the-league Colwyn Bay at the Crown Ground tonight. Coleman reckons the North Wales strugglers will be going all-out to beat his in-form side, who are still five points

  • Home search for young

    CAN you give a child a good home? That's what social services will be asking during National Adoption Week next week. They especially need to find homes for older children, sibling groups, disabled youngsters and children of dual heritage. Diana Powell

  • On-line warfare just got better

    IF you thought Counter Strike was the last word in online gaming, Battlefield 1942 is going to blow you away. Digital Illusion's first-person shooter ambitiously offers 16 huge maps themed on different campaign theatres from the Second World War. From

  • Deli support came later

    BEFORE Martyn Race (Letters, October 1) goes off on a tangent, he should get his facts right. When the planning decision on Puccino's deli-bar was determined, there was no support for it coming from the public -- that came afterwards. As for planning

  • Doctor was there round the clock

    REGARDING Darwen GP Dr John Bidwell taking early retirement and complaining that from 1990 messing about by successive governments has made the job difficult to do (LET, October 1), this prompted me to think back to when I was a lad. Becoming ill, I was

  • Sports facility funding

    DISABLED people have scored in their bid for cash for new elite sport facilities in the region. Wigan's Disability Sports Forum and the Council's Sports Development Team have won £30,000 from Sport England to open a multi-sports club for disabled athletes

  • Pope should target the true wreckers

    HYNDBURN MP Greg Pope's tirade of abuse at trade unions and trade union leaders (LET, September 11) was reminiscent of Margaret Thatchers's era when Tory Ministers and MPs lined up to attack the 'enemy within' during the 1980s, secure in the knowledge

  • Court hears of axe attack on police car

    A GANG of violent armed robbers smashed a large axe into the bonnet of a police car in a desperate bid to stop an officer pursuing them, a court heard. The axe was embedded in the bonnet and had to be wrenched out by the attacker before it was thrown

  • Top award for Giants boss

    Tony Smith, whose Giants team take on Leigh Centurions in Saturday's Grand Final at Widnes, has been named Northern Ford Premiership coach of the year. Smith received his award at a presentation dinner at Elland Road, Leeds, where three of his players

  • Sutton can't wait

    FORMER Rovers striker Chris Sutton said he is relishing the chance to cross swords with his old club when they meet later this month. Sutton spent five years at Ewood where his goals as part of the famous SAS strike partnership with Alan Shearer led Rovers

  • Souness very excited

    ROVERS boss Graeme Souness could not have been more thrilled with the draw against Celtic and he admitted: "I have said in the past the UEFA Cup is not a priority but I can promise you the two games against Celtic will be!" The former Rangers manager

  • Rovers stunned by Diego Four-lan

    URUGUAYAN international Diego Forlan piled on the agony for Rovers' reserves last night after his four-goal salvo condemned Alan Murray's men to a fifth straight defeat. Alex Ferguson's £7.5 million signing from Independiente might have struggled to find

  • Sure to be a hot reception

    OUT of the frying pan, into the fire. That's the only way to describe the outcome of the draw for the second round of the UEFA Cup in Geneva yesterday. If those Rovers fans who made the trip to Bulgaria last week thought the atmosphere in Sofia was a

  • Resting place for fairground folk

    BURIED beneath the three-day market since 1964, this bit of town-centre Blackburn, top, previously served as a parking space for the corporation's buses. And, at the time of year when the picture was taken, as a resting place for the vehicles and caravans

  • FIVE YEARS AGO

    THE grounds of Blackamoor School, in Roman Road, Blackburn, were transformed into a haven for rabbits, hedgehogs and field mice. Pupils at the special school benefited too, from developments such as wheelchair swings and a trail suitable for wheelchairs

  • TEN YEARS AGO

    A 13-year-old actor forced his family to cut short their holiday so that he got the chance to appear in the pantomime Peter Pan at King George's Hall. Ben Holt, of Pleckgate High School, Blackburn, auditioned to appear beside stars of Home and Away and

  • Princess completes the Link for carers

    THE first Carers Link in Lancashire is to open in Accrington this month. The Princess Royal Trust for Carers has a network of 116 centres for carers and this is one of two new venues in the town, to be opened by the Princess Royal. In Hyndburn and the

  • Evidence games 'kept by CID man'

    A POLICEMAN stole four PlayStation games which were seized from a murder suspect as exhibits in a major crime investigation, a court heard. Detective Constable David Wright, 39, is accused of taking the Sony games back to his house after he was entrusted

  • Chemical store set to get go-ahead

    ELEVEN hazardous substances will no longer be used at a controversial chemical plant as part of a change in production by its new owners. But Clariant UK, formerly Nipa Laboratories, has applied to store Nipacide BIT, a chemical preservative used in paints

  • Spurs are in town

    DETAILS on how to get hold of the hottest tickets in town have been released by Burnley Football Club. Tickets for the clash with Premiership giants Tottenham at Turf Moor on Wednesday October 6 are now on sale. Unreserved seats can be bought now and

  • Stan keeping open mind

    ANY plans Burnley boss Stan Ternent might have had about having a behind closed doors friendly match this week have been shelved as he explained: "I haven't got enough fit players!" With a gap of several weeks between reserve games there had been a suggestion

  • Duff plots cup win

    BLACKBURN winger Damien Duff today vowed to make Charlie Nicholas eat his words when Rovers meet Celtic in the UEFA Cup later this month. Nicholas stoked the fire ahead of the eagerly-awaited Battle of Britain by claiming that Celtic would have been disappointed

  • Taylor pays tribute to Sparky

    GARETH Taylor joined up with the Wales squad today ahead of next week's clash with Italy and admitted 'It was great to sign off with a goal'. "It gives you that extra confidence and is something positive to go away from your club with," said Taylor. The

  • Hilda's 'gran' day out

    A COURAGEOUS blind pensioner is hoping for a "wheelie" good time when she takes to the open road -- on the back of a Harley Davidson. As she prepared for the biggest thrill of her life, Hilda Crabtree said the challenge was a dream come true and would

  • Leisure venues may be saved

    FOUR of five leisure facilities set for the axe in Rossendale could be saved, but Rawtestall's popular Astoria Ballroom will still close on New Year's Day. A meeting of Rossendale Borough Council's corporate policy committee last night revealed that discussions

  • 'Crude' results warning by head

    A HEADTEACHER warned parents last night : Don't just judge us on "crude" exam results. Ruby Hussain told an open evening for prospective pupils at Beardwood High School, Blackburn: "This is fraught with danger when you are comparing schools. Be careful

  • Pubs get ready for Celtic invasion

    POLICE were today preparing for the arrival of their largest away football crowd in East Lancashire as Celtic fans turn Blackburn into a sea of green and white. Rovers' pairing with Celtic in the UEFA Cup second round yesterday has already become one

  • Rape bid charge man in court

    A MAN has appeared before Bury magistrates accused of attempting to rape a pensioner. Jason Hargreaves, aged 29, of Ainsworth Road, Bury, is charged with the attempted rape of a 76-year-old woman in Bury following an incident on Monday. He was remanded