A COLNE mother fraudulently claimed almost £8,000 in benefits, a court was told. Preston Crown Court heard that Anna Dyson, 28, failed to notify the Department of Work and Pensions of a change of circumstance. Caterina Gianota, prosecuting, told the
A PROLIFIC Burnley car crook was caught red-handed after a witness snapped him on his mobile phone breaking into a vehicle. Burnley magistrates heard the picture was shown to police who immediately recognised drug addict Mark Hollins, 29, of no fixed
A BLACKBURN pub boss has scooped a major industry award. Dave Daniel, who works for the UK's largest pub chain, Punch Taverns, has won the 2006 Association of Licensed Multiple Retailer Operations Manager Awards for his work in Lancashire. Dave, of
A YOUNG couple's holiday in Blackpool ended in disaster. Andrew Clarkson, 25, was arrested after grabbing his partner by the hair and pulling her onto a hotel bed. Clarkson, a print firm worker, of Clarendon Road East, Blackburn, admitted assaulting
HANDS in his tracksuit bottom pockets, Nishit Shetty surveys the puddles dotted about the Accrington Cricket Club oval. It's a scene he has travelled to England to escape for the past six years. Yet since arriving in East Lancashire last month, there
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman has made his first signing of the summer by snapping up former Fulham midfielder Sean Doherty. The 21-year-old started as a trainee with the Cottagers, where he had a brief spell at Blackpool. The former England
BLACKBURN manager Mark Hughes is willing to bide his time in the transfer market as he looks to bring in the players capable of taking Rovers on to the next level. While Premiership rivals Tottenham Hotspur have already splashed out more than £10 million
Read and Simonstone run one into the other, but several readers have asked how Huntroyd fits into the complex of settlements. Huntroyd simply means a woodland devoted to hunting and in the middle ages it was used by John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster
AWARD winning Ribble Valley pudding firm Farmhouse Fare is expanding its factory by a third, in a move that could also create new jobs. The building work will see the firm, based at Lincoln Way, Clitheroe, grow by 10,000 square feet to 30,000 square
I MUST congratulate Blackburn Liberal Democrat Salim Lorgat for defeating Labour councillor Tahir Mahmood in Audley ward in the elections. The people of Audley have a councillor who represents all communities in the area and not taking one particular
EACH Friday I read the column by Shuiab Khan with great interest, although I may not always share his views. However, on May 12 I comprehensively agreed with his description of the new traffic system around Cardwell Place in Blackburn. I accept that
IT is bad enough being ill in hospital without worrying about having a bill to pay. The Government is toying with the idea of charging NHS patients £5 per night, called a "hotel" charge. As usual the scroungers and workshy will be exempt. Worst hit
CONVICTED offenders are helping cut crime by building a new shelter in a troubled part of Rossendale. The shelter is designed to give youngsters a place to congregate away from residents who raised concerns about juvenile nuisance and anti-social behaviour
SCORES of under-threat adult courses that are stepping stones back into education have been spared the axe. Funding cuts at East Lancashire's five colleges are not as bad as first feared, although employers are unhappy they now face having to pay more
THOUSANDS of walkers will descend on Pendle for a four-day country-side festival later this year. Visitors can walk with witches, or try Pendle's own version of the Three Peaks challenge tackling Pendle, Weets and Boulsworth hills over three days.
BLACKBURN'S YMCA is to herald a new beginning in a new home with a celebration of its past. The YMCA has secured a three year lease on offices in Wellington Street St Johns, after being forced to sell its home of nearly 40 years in Clarence Street which
A ROW has broken out at Blackburn town hall after Liberal Democrats demanded more power as the only mainstream party to gain seats in elections earlier this month. The argument stems around the appointment of councillors to committees and outside bodies
ENFIELD begin their assault on the double as they entertain Church in the Get Solutions Worsley Cup first round tomorrow. The Dill Hall Lane side came out on top when the two teams met in the league two weeks ago, with Craig Fergusson starring against
CLARETS defender Michael Duff is backing striker Kyle Lafferty to become Burnley's next big thing. The teenage striker, who made the break into Steve Cotterill's first team last season, marked a dream start to his professional career by getting a surprise
Blackburn Rovers are confident Michael Gray will sign a new deal with the club shortly. The former Sunderland defender has been mulling over the offer of a two-year contract and further progress has been made', according to the club. Hughes is keen
I WOULD like to thank the PR genius at Blackburn Rovers who thought that giving out balloons during the recent Rovers v Man City game was a great idea. It was ingenious if you liked listening to the sound of them popping, screeching and having deflated
THERE is no doubt the England First Party really do need to sort out their policies so the electorate know just what they are voting for. However, it suits Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians to portray English Nationalists as nothing
A WOMAN who suffered a stroke eight years ago is set to fulfil her dream of walking up to Darwen Tower. Margaret Kelly, 49, of Radford Street, Darwen, moved to the town six years ago and has always wanted to complete the famous walk. Now she has decided
YOBS have vandalised a church in the latest of a spate of attacks. In recent months West End Methodist Church, in Blackburn Road, Oswaldtwistle, has had to brick up a back door because it was kicked in so much and put railings over windows to prevent
LILLI-ELLA Kelleher is just five years old but has already got a taste of the Hollywood high-life after starring in the blockbuster movie The Da Vinci Code. Lilli, of Haslingden, has never done any acting before but was picked by director Ron Howard
A HUNDRED and eighty pair of eyes, some red with tears, gaze in my direction. Some of them actually register me, but not many. Most are glazed; open but with brains busy elsewhere. They've just been told that one of their number, in the first year of
POLICE today slammed mindless vandals who damaged a partly-built wall on Hall Street, Colne. The wall is being built by Pendle Wildlife Trust at a cost of £20,000, which was raised through various awards and donations. But in the last week it has become
A FAMILY of asylum seekers fighting to stay in Nelson have won the support of Pendle Council. Councillors agreed to do all they could to help after 13-year-old Crystal Karim made a desperate appeal at a council meeting. Last week, Nigel Karim, his wife
A BURNLEY British National Party councillor has been found guilty of racially abusing a group of Asian men on a night out. Brian Turner, ward councillor for Cliviger with Worthorne, was yesterday convicted of a racially aggravated public order offence
A woman was cut free from her car by fire crews after a collision with a lorry in Stacksteads. She was trapped for around 90 minutes last night. She was taken to Rochdale Infirmary with suspected chest injuries, and suspected fractures to her ribs and
A CONSULTATION on hospital closures was branded a shambles today after a health boss's wife was presented as a patient in a public information film. The DVD is used a public meetings to help inform people about the proposals and campaigners said it
