Archive

  • Lap dance hardly counts as culture

    AS East Lancashire faces the prospect of its first lap-dancing club, it is worth asking whether such a place fits in the many efforts to improve the region's image. Some £11million has been ploughed into the regeneration of Blackburn town-centre where

  • Jeffrey's classic comedy career

    HIS career is on the line, his marriage is in danger of falling apart and he has to contend with a wandering senile patient, an assortment of matrons and a syringe full of tranquilliser. That's a brief outline of the role played with aplomb by Hi-de-Hi

  • It's the high life for Melanie

    AT 5ft 10 and with legs to die for, Melanie Stace has never had any problems getting noticed. In fact, it was her propensity to attract too much attention that hampered her early career. The former Generation Game presenter said: "I started at the bottom

  • Health should come first

    I CANNOT believe that cancer patients may have to go on a long waiting list for treatment at one of the most renowned hospitals in the country because of lack of funds. We have just spent billions of pounds on a war in Iraq, money that we will not see

  • Threats of eviction are over the top

    THE threat of eviction to tenants if their children drink on the streets (LET, May 17) is neither fair nor reasonable. Young people who drink to excess must have some reason to behave in this way. They, and their families, need help and support rather

  • It is a myth that funding is restricted

    IN response to Blackburn BNP Councillor Robin J Evans (Letters, May 16) who writes about what you have termed 'grant boundaries' which define the areas to which the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) and funding of a similar nature, is applied, he implies

  • Kate's off to drama school

    A LOCAL drama student is looking forward to pursuing her acting career after being offered a place at the world-famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Kate O'Flynn, 17, of Hunters Green, Holcombe Brook, Bury, is currently studying at Bury Grammar

  • Town hall probes gravestone damage

    A COUNCIL chief has been suspended amid allegations that gravestones in a Padiham churchyard were pulled out of the ground and smashed. Lee Thorne, Burnley Council's Bereavement and Customer Services Manager in the Parks Services Unit, has been suspended

  • Fury at lap dance club

    BLACKBURN'S first lap-dancing club is set to open - between a youth advice centre and a college campus. Education chiefs at Blackburn College today vowed to oppose the move by the owners of Cubes, Duke Street, to change itself into Velvet Lounge, a lap-dancing

  • Brum's £5.5m Dunn bid

    BIRMINGHAM City have tabled a club record £5.5 million bid for Blackburn midfielder David Dunn. Blues boss Steve Bruce wants the former England Under 21 international to bolster his midfield resources next season. And I can reveal he has tested Rovers

  • Danger tablets alert

    POLICE in Burnley are appealing for the public's help following the theft of three boxes of potentially harmful tablets from a car. The tablets are thought to have been taken when a silver Vectra parked on Towneley Picnic Site in Todmorden Road, Burnley

  • Barmaid threw bottle and hit man

    A TEENAGER who injured a man with a bottle in a pub had meant to hit her brother, Burnley magistrates heard. The court was told how part-time barmaid Kelly Ann Cockett, 18, claimed she had been assaulted by her brother and was getting her own back by

  • Ex-drug addict mum stole from shop

    A FORMER drug addicted mum went back to heroin when her old boyfriend came back on the scene, magistrates heard. The Burnley bench heard how Shelley Leanne Morrison, 27, was now hoping to be going to a drug rehabilitation centre in Sheffield to "fight

  • School bus kids 'playing with fire'

    A MOTHER has branded a school bus service a disgrace after it was revealed that pupils were literally playing with fire on their way home from school. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions on her two daughters, said she was

  • Hero's drive for charity

    A RESCUE hero who saved the life of a seven-year-old schoolboy who was being savaged by a pack of dogs has used his civic award to raise £500 for charity. Robert Ashworth, 56, of Tunnel Street, Burnley, was presented with the honour by the then Burnley

  • Prentice urges early action

    MP Gordon Prentice is demanding urgent action to reform the House of Lords, including scrapping the new independent Appointment Commission. He has taken up the issue at Westminster with Leader of the Commons John Reid. Pendle Labour MP Mr Prentice has

  • The great escapes

    LAST week I was watching a herring gull chick emerging from its egg. On the top of the bill of each young bird is a structure known as an egg tooth. This works like a sharp chisel and the young birds bash the inside of the egg until the shell breaks.

  • Plants and potions

    ONE of our most interesting native flowers is the foxglove. The normal colour is purple but in some areas white specimens occur. Obviously the white specimens are genetically different but just why this is so is still something of a mystery. All parts

  • Old gent's picture poses a mystery

    CAN readers come up with clues to this mystery photograph sent to Looking Back by Shirley Nawrocki in Idaho, USA? Taken by old-time Blackburn photograper A. Jennings and Co., who was in business in the town during the late 19th and early 20th centuries

  • 'We're proud to be backing award'

    STEVE Palmer, executive director of the Learning and Skills Council Lancashire, said: "We are proud to be supporting the Pride of East Lancashire Awards and in particular, the Community Group category which launches today. "The campaign is a tremendous

  • My life has turned right round

    THIS week we launched the first of our Pride of East Lancashire Awards, the accolade for the area's best community group. One man who knows a lot about the work of such groups - from being helped to helping others - is Paul Cullen, as Donna McKenzie found

  • Fantastic musical reaches fever pitch

    I'VE seen the movie, bought the album and even replaced it with the digitally remastered CD. I've practiced the famous finger-pointing dance at every family function for what seems like my entire life -- though I have stopped just short of donning the

  • Ten years ago

    ANDREW Hindley of Accrington, Justine Cotton of Langho and Nicole Handley of Blackburn, landed at Southampton after a 28,000 mile voyage around the world.

  • Five years ago

    ACCRINGTON pipe band threw a surprise party for their longest serving member -- 84-year-old John Tinnion. Mr Tinnion had been in the band since he was 14 and clocked up 70 years' service.

  • Crews fly to 'quake rescue

    FIREFIGHTERS from Lancashire are en route to Algeria today to join rescue teams dealing with the aftermath of the country's worst earthquake for two decades. The 16-strong team, including six firefighters from East Lancashire, jetted off from Stansted

  • Nine remanded after drug raids

    A TEENAGER is to be committed to crown court charged with supplying drugs, after a series of raids by police. The 16-year-old, from Accrington, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of supplying heroin, possession of crack cocaine, and assaulting

  • Steam fair spectacular washed out

    A MASSIVE country fair -- which was expected to attract thousands of people to East Lancashire this weekend -- has been cancelled because of bad weather. Organisers of The Chipping Steam Fair, which normally attracts up to 8,000 people to the region over

  • Gazza heads back

    FORMER Burnley star Paul Gascoigne flew back to Britain yesterday after an outbreak of the killer virus Sars brought the league season there to a grinding halt. The ex-England midfielder, who made six appearances for the Clarets at the end of the 2001

  • Warren searching for stars of future

    READ captain Warren Eastham is hoping his club has unearthed the next James Anderson. Oliver Newby, who emerged through the junior ranks at Whalley Road, made his first class debut for Lancashire against Durham University on Wednesday and took his maiden

  • Donkey and chips!

    BLACKPOOL'S annual 'Donkey MOT' day took place last Friday at the Rigby Road stables. The 'MOT' sees council vets and the RSPCA visit donkey owners to inspect the animals, which work in the resort's tourist industry, and ensure they are fit and healthy

  • Carers week

    IF YOU are a carer or know a carer then 'Carers Week' is just for you. A carer is someone who supports a relative, partner, or friend who cannot manage on his or her own. This year Blackpool Social Services Carers and Direct Payments Team are involved

  • New force will be with you

    A NEW force in the fight against crime took to the streets of Blackpool this week -- just in time for the busy Bank Holiday weekend. The resort's first Street Crime Wardens are to act as the 'eyes and ears' of local police in a bid to reduce crime and

  • Bands battle for studio time

    FIVE of the area's leading young bands will be competing for a day at a top recording studio. Jazzy Keks in Blackburn plays host to a Best of the Bands competition on Sunday with the winning group getting a day at manchester's Opus Studio. The five bands

  • Two days of top live music for Darwen

    A TOP quality line-up looks set to get Darwen dancing over the Bank Holiday weekend. Darwen 2003 features a two-day free music festival featuring music for all tastes which starts on Sunday. Chart favourites Bad Manners will bring the event to a rousing

  • Wayne is taking a break

    WAYNE Hussey spent most of his childhood wanting to be Kevin Keegan. Then, a chance sighting of Marc Bolan on Top of the Pops inspired him to pick up a guitar instead. Thirty years on, Wayne is still going strong, following a successful and notorious

  • New row blows up over town's name

    A ROW broke out today after a London-based company announced it was to open a new store in Darwen -- under the name Blackburn. The 100,000 sq ft Blackburn Bestway store, to be based off Lower Eccleshill Road, will employ between 50 and 100 people. But

  • Outrage over bowling green sale decision

    A DECISION to allow a 100-year-old bowling green to be sold off for housing has been branded "disgraceful". Blackburn with Darwen Council rejected Hollins Grove Liberal Club's outline planning application for housebuilding. The club saw sale as the only

  • Lottery cash priority call sparks advice

    VOLUNTARY groups in Rossendale are being advised to apply for cash after National Lottery chiefs said the area was to receive priority in funding applications. The Awards for All organisers studied grant awards across the North West and concluded Rossendale

  • Jailed burglar's new sentence for punch

    A NEW dad who smashed a man's cheekbone in an unprovoked attack outside a pub, has been given a new jail term. Jason Joyce, 25, who is already serving two years for burglary, was given another eight months. A judge slammed the "wrong man" assault as "

  • Scheme to fill council houses is paying off

    PRIORITY action designed to cut the number of empty council houses in Rossendale is paying dividends, releasing more money for repairs and modernisation, according to council chiefs. The number of empty houses reached almost 170 early last year and 140

  • Bank Holiday blues line-up

    SUNDAY sees a great day of blues at Colne Municipal Hall with the Benedictine Blues Day. Staring with Standing Room Only at 1pm, the full line-up is 2.15pm The Upsetters, 3.30pm, Sugarlanmd Slim and at 4.45pm Danny Bryant's Redeye Band. The evening session

  • The Beat goes on, this time with a Twist

    ORIGINAL members of one of the Eighties most influential ska bands, The Beat, play Blackburn's North Bar next Friday. Twist and Crawl, which includes Beat members Ranking Roger, Everett Morton and Saxa will perform a set of new songs and some Beat classics

  • Junkie jailed for life for murder of dock worker

    A HEROIN addict who murdered a man after suffering flashbacks to childhood sex abuse was yesterday jailed for life at Preston Crown Court. Danielle Johnson, 27, of St John's Avenue in Pilling, earlier this week pleaded guilty to strangling 55-year-old

  • Don't mock... this is a lifelong friendship

    IT DIDN'T take a website to reunite two old friends. Arthur Ruffell, curator at Blackpool Tower aquarium, first met Molokai when the sea turtle was just a three inch long hatchling. Arthur, 54, had to delicately hand feed the young turtle for several

  • Council seek action on Womble

    AN UNTIDY council tenant is set to be evicted after neighbours complained about him turning his garden into a junkyard. It is claimed that the tenant, a single man in his 40s , repeatedly ignored orders to clear items from the front garden of the council-owned

  • Asda protest meeting planned

    A PUBLIC meeting is to be held to discuss a controversial bid by ASDA to build offices on open land at Bispham. The supermarket giant wants to build a two-storey office development, consisting of 13 units and car parking in landscaped surroundings, on

  • Airport's American hopes

    BLACKPOOL Airport's American dream could soon become a reality -- with a leading UK travel company planning transatlantic flights from the Fylde Coast. Newmarket Holidays already offer package tours from Blackpool to Italy, Spain and Portugal, and the

  • Life sentences for witchcraft murderers

    TWO Fylde men who "savagely slaughtered" a witchcraft fanatic in a frenzied attack on remote moorland have been jailed for life. Daniel Delker, 24, of Shackleton Road in Freckleton, and David Sandham, also 24, of The Croft in Cleveleys, were sentenced

  • Underworld Mr Big linked to garage shooting

    AN underworld 'Mr Big' is being linked to the unsolved gangland murder of a Blackpool garage owner as he begins an eight-year jail term for extortion. Jason Gillard, 32, of Calder Crescent, Whitfield, Greater Manchester, was arrested during a major police

  • Cancer scanners cash for hospitals

    EAST Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has been given thousands of pounds to replace vital cancer scanners. The money is part of a new programme announced by Health Secretary Alan Milburn to replace the diagnostic tools to ensure that within three years

  • We're finally there!

    WORK is finally set to begin on a £550,000 church hall at a Blackburn place of worship -- after almost 20 years of dedicated fundraising. The old hall at Trinity United Reformed Church, Brownhill Road, was built in 1929 as a temporary structure and has

  • Sell-off of centre near completion

    COUNCIL bosses are preparing to give their seal of approval to the £102million Blackburn Shopping Centre sell-off. Leading councillors are studying paperwork concerning the deal, in which they have a 16 per cent stake. Main owner, Standard Life, put the

  • Crime fight line gets the hard cell

    SUSPECTS held in custody are being urged to turn informer -- by an advertisement for Crimestoppers painted on the ceiling of cells. People lying on their beds at the Greenbank station, Whitebirk, will soon be staring at the two-foot long message. Over

  • 'Do something to protect us'

    RESIDENTS on a Blackburn housing estate say they are living in fear of youths who terrorise their street by speeding around in cars late at night, throwing things at people and their homes. One mum says the problem is so bad that she is too afraid to

  • Fury at lap dance club

    BLACKBURN'S first lap-dancing club is set to open - between a youth advice centre and a college campus. Education chiefs at Blackburn College today vowed to oppose the move by the owners of Cubes, Duke Street, to change itself into Velvet Lounge, a lap-dancing

  • Ex-Claret agrees deal at Stanley

    ACCRINGTON Stanley have agreed terms with former Burnley captain Paul Cook. The midfielder has yet to put pen to paper but agreed a one-year deal with the Nationwide Conference club last night. Stanley chairman Eric Whalley said: "Paul hasn't signed yet

  • 'Open space' is private land

    I OBJECT to the term 'public open space' being used to describe the plot of land referred to on Larch Road, Oswaldtwistle (LET, May 17). At no point in history has this land been public in any way. It currently is and always has been under private ownership

  • Writer astray on evolution

    AS an atheist, I agree with L Lawes' attack (Letters, May 13) on the assumptions of religious believers, but, unfortunately, he goes badly astray in his similar attack on what he claims are the assumptions of the evolutionists. It is not true that evolutionists

  • Asylum seekers not better off

    MR A Sedgwick (Letters, May 14) states that he is accused by me of "giving advice to pensioners." That is exactly what he did, however, when he stated that pensioners should "pose as an asylum seeker and claim all the benefits that ensue" (Letters, April

  • Explanation call on strike vote

    REGARDING your report headlined 'MP Pope defies Whips over fire strike Bill' (LET, May 10, it goes on to tell us that a miserly 27 Labour backbenchers voted against the former "left wing trade unionist" now Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's Fire Services

  • BNP's 'lies' need explaining

    COUNCILLOR Robin Evans, of the BNP, claims that Single Regeneration Budget funding has gone to "just the selected few" (Letters, May 16). This does not tell the truth, and I fully agree with Lord Tony Clarke that we need to keep dispelling the myths by

  • Councillor's implications are racist

    I AM disappointed that you give so much space in Your Letters to the BNP and, in particular, ones under the name of Robin Evans. The one (Letters, May 16) about the areas that are eligible for Single Regeneration Budget funding is full of error, implication

  • Lions turn down Rovers' Reid offer

    BLACKBURN Rovers have had a bid rejected for Millwall midfielder Steven Reid. I can exclusively reveal that Rovers boss Graeme Souness has made an official offer in the region of £2 million for the Republic of Ireland star in the last 48 hours. But Lions

  • Burning candle started blaze in bathroom

    A FAMILY of four had a lucky escape after an unattended burning candle cause a fired at a home in Coal Clough Lane, Burnley, earlier today. Firefighters were called to the house at 5.40am after receiving reports of a fire in the bathroom of the house.

  • Rosegrove Bulletin

    ST Mark's Church, Rossendale Road is holding a summer fair on Saturday, May 31. This is one of the church's major fundraising events. Another event being organised is a trip to Chester on July 26 at a cost of £10. See Father John. ST Augustine's RC Primary

  • Padiham and Hapton Bulletin

    THE new Mayor of Padiham, Coun Bob Clark and the Mayoress, Mrs Hazel Rushton, attended the Mayormaking ceremony in Burnley Town Hall for Coun Lillian Clark. On Tuesday they met the Mayoress, Mrs Jacqueline Elkington, at Burnley Town Hall and the Mayor

  • Have an art and back our bid

    A BURNLEY school is asking people to back its renewed bid to become a specialist centre for the performing arts. Towneley High School made a bid to become a specialist college for the performing arts last year, but failed after a sponsor who was set to

  • Town hall probes gravestone damage

    A COUNCIL chief has been suspended amid allegations that gravestones in a Padiham churchyard were pulled out of the ground and smashed. Lee Thorne, Burnley Council's Bereavement and Customer Services Manager in the Parks Services Unit, has been suspended

  • Residents reassured by 'Mounties'

    RESIDENTS in Brierfield and the Clover Hill and Walverden wards of Nelson have been reassured by mounted police on the beat this week. Their presence in crime hot-spots was aimed at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. They also chatted to people

  • It's a tough old life for a young rabbit

    I THINK I managed to save the life of one young rabbit. As I was walking I disturbed a weasel which darted out right under my feet. When I looked down, I found a young rabbit. At this stage of their life rabbits are vulnerable to predators especially

  • Blow your own trumpets!

    OUR Pride of East Lancashire campaign is about promoting the area's unsung heroes and achievements. But do the people who live and work in the area do enough to promote its many attributes, or are they too modest? Donna McKenzie asked community leaders

  • Mayor-making turns to 'farce'

    HYNDBURN'S showpiece annual meeting descended into farce when the Labour Party tried to wrestle the leadership of the council from Conservative councillor Peter Britcliffe. Labour members, angry about the Conservatives installing their own mayor after

  • 'Crimewave' man is jailed

    A ONE-MAN crimewave was responsible for five per cent of the crime in Longridge and surrounding area in the past 12 months, a court was told. Blackburn magistrates heard that Nathan James Redmond had stolen thousands of pounds worth of property from cars

  • No cricket score at Stanley Park!

    ARSENAL 1 Southampton 0, Blackpool 3 Netherfield 2. The FA Cup result and one other football result perhaps? No, the FA Cup score and the score in the Northern Premier League Thwaites Smooth Bitter Cup tie between Blackpool and Netherfield at Stanley

  • The lesson I learned at Crosshill School...

    I DON'T know what Mike Hatch the head will say about me saying this, but the new extension to Crosshill School in Shadsworth Road is worth a visit just to gawp at the building and the Japanese Garden. I opened the new extension last Friday, all £1.5million

  • Play it again Stan

    IT WAS Stan Mortensen, not Stanley Matthews who put the fizz into Blackpool's champagne moment -- and that's official! 50 years on from the biggest day in Blackpool FC's history, analysts at Opta -- the company who provide comprehensive statistics on

  • Season ticket shortfall

    BURNLEY are steeling themselves for a drop of up to 3,000 in season ticket sales. The Clarets' ticket office have so far shifted 7,600 tickets for next season - over four thousand less than this time last summer, when they had missed out on the First

  • Mail delivers at right time

    IF only all Mail deliveries were as reliable as those of Church's Australian professional. Greg Mail is the Lancashire League's second highest wicket taker with 19 victims - even though he was brought over primarily for his ability with the bat. Not that

  • Way ahead for road

    A 10-YEAR management plan is being developed for one of the area's most important roads. The A585 Amounderness Way, which links Fleetwood with the M55, is being examined by the Highways Agency in a bid to relieve congestion, improve safety, protect the

  • Gone but not forgotten

    NELLIE the elephant packed her trunk and ended up in Lytham! The pink plywood creature normally stands outside a cafe in the village of Gargrave, North Yorkshire. But police are now investigating the disappearance of Nellie, and mystery picture showing

  • Spirit level

    A NEW blue plaque was unveiled at a historic hotel in Dean Street on Friday. The Mayor of Blackpool, Cllr Ivan Taylor, unveiled the plaque, at the Old Coach House, a former Vicarage reputed to be the oldest building in South Shore, and owner Claire Smith

  • Season ticket shortfall

    BURNLEY are steeling themselves for a drop of up to 3,000 in season ticket sales. The Clarets' ticket office have so far shifted 7,600 tickets for next season - over four thousand less than this time last summer, when they had missed out on the First

  • Season

    ticket shortfall By DARREN BENTLEY Clarets Reporter STAN BLOW I'VE BEEN RETIRED FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS THE ANDY PAYTON STORY: PART FIVE - PAGES 54-55 Season tickets shortfall will hit Clarets boss hard BURNLEY are steeling themselves for a drop of up

  • Bank Holiday blues line-up

    SUNDAY sees a great day of blues at Colne Municipal Hall with the Benedictine Blues Day. Staring with Standing Room Only at 1pm, the full line-up is 2.15pm The Upsetters, 3.30pm, Sugarlanmd Slim and at 4.45pm Danny Bryant's Redeye Band. The evening session

  • The Beat goes on, this time with a Twist

    ORIGINAL members of one of the Eighties most influential ska bands, The Beat, play Blackburn's North Bar next Friday. Twist and Crawl, which includes Beat members Ranking Roger, Everett Morton and Saxa will perform a set of new songs and some Beat classics

  • Motel set for green light

    PLANS have been unveiled for a new motorway-side motel, but the quest for a new town centre hotel in Blackburn goes on. Whitbread has applied for planning permission to open a 43-bedroom hotel on land off the Eccleshill link road in Darwen, within a mile

  • Bands battle for studio time

    FIVE of the area's leading young bands will be competing for a day at a top recording studio. Jazzy Keks in Blackburn plays host to a Best of the Bands competition on Sunday with the winning group getting a day at manchester's Opus Studio. The five bands

  • Two days of top live music for Darwen

    A TOP quality line-up looks set to get Darwen dancing over the Bank Holiday weekend. Darwen 2003 features a two-day free music festival featuring music for all tastes which starts on Sunday. Chart favourites Bad Manners will bring the event to a rousing

  • Jeffrey's classic comedy career

    HIS career is on the line, his marriage is in danger of falling apart and he has to contend with a wandering senile patient, an assortment of matrons and a syringe full of tranquilliser. That's a brief outline of the role played with aplomb by Hi-de-Hi

  • It's the high life for Melanie

    AT 5ft 10 and with legs to die for, Melanie Stace has never had any problems getting noticed. In fact, it was her propensity to attract too much attention that hampered her early career. The former Generation Game presenter said: "I started at the bottom

  • Dog rough justice!

    A BLIND war veteran has been taken to court at the age of 92 -- for not cleaning up his dog's deposits. But magistrates decided that leniency should be the order of the day and gave Charles Rix, of Burwood Avenue, Blackpool, an absolute discharge. Rix

  • Health chiefs plan appeal

    A HIGH Court judge has ruled that the religious beliefs of a Fylde GP may have led to the "wrongful birth" of a Down's Syndrome child. Fleetwood GP, Dr Tse Sak Kwun, was accused of failing to warn expectant mum Ann Enright of the increased risk of Down's

  • Council chief's pledge over postal ballot

    COUNCIL bosses have moved to set the record straight on the borough's postal voting project. Chief executive, Steve Weaver dismissed fears that the ballot was open to rigging, and has pledged to look at ways in which the system could be improved. The

  • Brave mum praised over blaze action

    FIREFIGHTERS today praised the bravery of a mum who rescued her two children from their blazing home and the actions of a nine-year-old boy who called an ambulance. The woman is thought to have smashed a window at the house, in Abraham Street, in the

  • Traders back big clean-up

    TOWN centre traders have given their backing to a £1million war on grime, claiming it can only be good for business. On Wednesday, Blackburn with Darwen Council unveiled its Thrash the Trash campaign, which aims to overcome criticism that the council

  • Better than a pig in a poke

    IN REPLY to last weeks letter from Mr B. Moxey, he obviously is an incomer to Blackpool, otherwise he would have known about the hundred and twenty years of Tory and Liberal misrule, when you could have tied a blue ribbon on a pig and it would have been

  • GULF SOLDIER'S BRUSH WITH DEATH

    A YOUNG soldier from Whitefield is recovering from serious injuries after a "friendly fire" attack on his tank in Iraq. Andy Julien, aged 18, is in Wythenshawe Hospital, blinded in one eye and with two broken legs. He has undergone four skin grafts and