Archive

  • The Invasion of Mobile Phones

    From Ann Davis, Tiverton Drive, Blackburn. The earth has been invaded by mobile phones There is no way of avoiding those ringing tones. Classical music, funky and jazz, Silly little jingles that drive you mad. Some people keep them stuck to their

  • Champions of the tourist industry

    Lancashire businesses were honoured for their outstanding contributions to the county's tourism industry at an awards ceremony last night. The annual Tourism Awards, organised by Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board, celebrate success and good practice

  • Scheme will help firms

    A NEW scheme has been launched in the borough to help firms create more jobs and boost the local economy. The council's regeneration unit has launched its Business Support Initiative and is offering up to £30,000 to each applicant. The man responsible

  • Playgrounds up and running again

    YOUNGSTERS in Barnoldswick are celebrating after the re-opening of two new playgrounds. Pendle Council has spent £110,000 upgrading the ageing facilities at the play areas in Harrison Street and Bank Street. And now youngsters will be really able to

  • Peace deal in Army row

    THE Salvation Army and Pendle Council have declared a truce in their war over the future of the charity in Nelson. Bosses at the charity today spoke of their relief the group would remain in the town after fearing it would have to leave Nelson after

  • Boy, 15, fined in litter crackdown

    A LITTER lout at Burnley bus station has become the first to be hit with a £75 fixed penalty fine. The 15-year-old boy was caught by the council's community wardens dropping a carton of milk. When asked if he intended to pick it up he replied no and

  • Traffic alert on M65 work

    TRAFFIC on the M65 between Burnley and Brierfield will be disrupted by roadworks which are set to start on Monday. And the resurfacing work will be carried out by Aggregate Industries Ltd every day for the following five weeks. However, council bosses

  • Land to be seized for super schools

    A BURNLEY campaign group has spoken of its disappointment after Lancashire County Council agreed to seize two pieces of land to build new schools. Compulsory Purchase Orders have been ordered on highly contentious sites at Towneley Park and off Rossendale

  • Race abuse councillor under pressure

    A BURNLEY councillor today refused to quit despite having convictions for racially abusing a group of Asian men, assaulting his wife and football related violence. Party leaders across the political spectrum in Burnley demanded Brian Turner stand down

  • Sister’s aid in killer hunt

    POLICE were today going through a statement from the sister of murdered Nazia Ahmed to see if she can throw fresh light on the killing. Detectives spoke to 20-year-old Shazia Ahmed for the first time yesterday after her family broke the news that 23

  • Singer Aled Jones tops charity bill at Cathedral

    SINGER Aled Jones joined Blackburn's own musical stars last night as the town welcomed its second royal visitor in a matter of weeks. Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra was the guest of honour as a packed Blackburn Cathedral hosted a Royal Midsummer

  • Trail of a killer

    THE detective leading the hunt for a murderer has walked the escape route the knifeman may have taken. And officers have issued a photograph of a jacket similar to the one worn by the man believed to have killed 23-year-old Nazia Ahmed. The county council

  • The green cathedral

    BLACKBURN Cathedral is to go green' with the installation of an enviro- nmentally-friendly £70,000 boiler which burns wood chips as fuel. The specialist biomass boiler will be fitted as part of a £45million development scheme which includes building

  • £44m home winner

    AROUND £44million will be spent over the next two years to help re-invigorate the housing market in Blackburn and Darwen. Housing chiefs at Blackburn with Darwen Coucnil have announced where they plan to spend the cash. And although they could not give

  • No animal tests — no herceptin

    THE broad welcome given to the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to recommend Herceptin is a measure of how much we value medical advance. Thanks to this drug, thousands of women with breast cancer have a much-improved

  • Old Helmshore films now on DVD

    THOSE older and former residents of Helmshore who enjoy a look back in time may be interested in seeing their town from half a century ago. For two full-length colour films focusing on Helmshore in the 1950s have now been transferred to DVDs, following

  • Immigrant ‘strapped under lorry’

    AN "illegal immigrant" has escaped after arriving in East Lancashire strapped to the underside of a lorry. A spokesperson for William Blythe Chemicals, Church, which also has a factory in Hapton, said one of their drivers had reported seeing a man emerge

  • Hostel set to get nod

    A controversial proposal to create a hostel for homeless people in Darwen is set to be approved. The £2.2million 30-bed apartment development would replace the "outdated" Police Street hostel in the town. Housing company Twin Valley Homes has asked

  • Workers in bid to save post office

    A CAMPAIGN is being launched to stop Accrington Post Office being taken over by a private company. The Post Office has announced plans to franchise the Abbey Street branch to a firm called UBF Ltd. Fifteen members of staff have been told that if it

  • Business people’s applause

    THE stars of the region's business world will be lining up to take the applause at an awards event on tonight. The Investors In Education Awards event, organised by Lancashire Education Business Partnership (LEBP), Lancashire Ambassadors and SETPOINT

  • College dream a step closer

    ACCRINGTON and Rossendale college will tomorrow unveil the first phase of a £9million makeover designed to ensure its students "get the excellent facilities they deserve". The college is undergoing a major building project which will see the bulk of

  • Hostel drinker’s fatal fatty liver

    A man whose favourite drink was strong lager and vodka in the same glass died as a result of alcohol-related fatty liver, an inquest was told. An inquest heard that Robert Love, who was known as Rab, was found dead in his bed at the Police Street hostel

  • Four East Lancs firms honoured in awards

    FOUR East Lancashire businesses were winners at an awards ceremony which championed outstanding contributors to the region's tourism industry. The quartet were among 13 winners at the annual Tourism Awards, organised by Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist

  • Church on look out for helpers

    EXTRA hands are needed at St Bartholomew's Church, Chipping, to join the church's cleaning rota. Volunteers should sign up to the rota in the church porch. For more information about what the work entails ring 01995 61586.

  • Girlfriend thought her man was dead

    A MAN who beat up a builder until his girlfriend thought he was dead has kept his freedom. David Wrigley had at first walked away from Paul Berry but then went back, picked up a piece of plaster and hit him with it, a court was told. When Mr Berry fell

  • Gifts go to Ghana

    YOUNG pupils have raided their toy boxes at home to give cuddly toys, books and craft materials to children in West Africa. The gifts from St Mary's Hall, Stony-hurst, will be taken to a school in Dawhenya, a suburb of the capital of Ghana, Accra, by

  • Can you help make a clean sweep of it?

    BURNLEY Community Safety Partnership is hoping to make a clean sweep in the Duke Bar area and local residents are being urged to lend a hand. Following concerns from the local community and as part of Operation Hot Spot, the partnership is planning to

  • Ian in action

    Oulton Park will host the sixth round of the North West Formula Ford Championship when the BRSCC organised event takes place this Saturday. The regional championship sees locals from across the north west battling for the title, including Barrowford's

  • Euro winner

    Barnoldswick's Iain Shirlaw proved to be the survivor on a day of mechanical carnage in the Welsh forests, when he took his Proton Satria kit car to victory on the second round of the EuroRallye Cup on the Severn Valley Clubman's Stages Rally. Shirlaw

  • Stanley make bow at Chester

    Accrington Stanley will travel to Chester City on August 5 for their first Football League game in over 44 years. Their first home game comes three days later with a midweek clash against Darlington, followed by Barnet's visit to the Fraser Eagle Stadium

  • Cott's home comforts

    STEVE Cotterill insists Burnley must be "on their toes" when they kick-start their 2006/07 Championship season against QPR. Rangers visit Turf Moor for the opening day fixture on Saturday, August 5. The Clarets will hope for a repeat result of the corresponding

  • Addict stole her mum’s jewellery

    A DRUG addict stole from her family to the tune of £3,000 after falling victim to heroin, a court was told. Burnley magistrates heard how Louise Heaton, 18, helped herself to her mother's jewellery in a safe, and also took computer games and a mobile

  • Probe into lorries blaze

    FIRE bosses were today launching a probe after two lorries and a HGV trailer were gutted in a suspected arson attack. The incident happened at Recticel, Hallam Road, Nelson just after 2.40am today. Fire crews were called to the firm based in Dale Mill

  • Geoff completes highlands challenge on buggy

    A ROSSENDALE man and his famous yellow scooter have just returned from a mammoth 11-mile challenge across some of the toughest terrain in Scotland. Geoff West, who suffers from arthritis and can't walk more than 10 yards without feeling pain, took on

  • Bogus handyman preys on eldery 60 times

    A CALLOUS conman has swindled cash from more than 60 elderly victims in Blackburn and across the North West in a four-year crime spree. Today, as police launched a major operation aimed at catching him, one of his Blackburn victims urged his family to

  • Rude drivers take a lickin’

    SCHOOL chiefs have supported of a lollipop man who blamed abusive mums and dads for rising violence in the classrooms. Chris Allen claimed he suffered regular abuse from adults parking illegally outside St Leonard's CE Primary School, Langho, where he

  • Residents 'will lose out' in regeneration

    RESIDENTS are furious after it was revealed that a multi-million pound project to re-vamp a Blackburn housing estate will be left half finished for years. Tenants and home owners on Blackburn's Ashworth Street estate today branded regeneration chiefs

  • Let veteran care for his wife

    RE the story, Ex-paras join battle to free wife. It may interest the county council to know that news of its action regarding Dennis Cramp and Lancashire Social Services has reached the other side of the world. I consider that action is very high handed

  • This place is a dump — get me out of here

    RE the letter from Thomas Fay regarding the Olive Lane area of Darwen. I don't know how he can say that the children's recreational facility is excellent. I used to take my granddaughter over but seldom do now. The baby swings were vandalised just after

  • We must all be winners at Olympics

    You can't change your roots. I was born and brought up in Essex. I'm as proud of being from Essex as I am of having represented a key part of Lancashire for the past 27 years. Indeed there are surprising similarities between the county of my birth

  • Elderly ‘living on £59.46 a week’

    NEARLY one in five Lancashire pensioners are living on less than £59.46 a week, according to insurance giant Prudential. Nationally, around 14 per cent of retired people have incomes below that level, but in our county the figure is 18 per cent the

  • Have you got the rallying X-Factor?

    THE 2300 Club of Blackburn, organisers of the legendary Tunnock's Tour of Mull closed road tarmac rally, has announced the details of the 2006 John Easson Scholarship for young rally drivers. First run in 2004, the scholarship is named after rally driver

  • Steve Heads the rally pack

    A BROKEN fan belt failed to stop Steve Head and Graham Raeburn from winning Garstang and Preston motor club's memorial road rally. Arriving at the petrol halt almost a minute down on early leaders Simon Harrison and Mike Hughes, Head clawed back the

  • Dynamic duo bag North of England golds

    Danielle Walker and Eleanor Markendale are Champions of the North of England after successes at the NOEAA Track and Field Championships in Manchester. Ben Fish, Paul Bradshaw and Sarah Henton won silver medals and there was a bronze for Nicola Breaks

  • Alty takes victory at Horwich festival

    Horwich becomes runners' heaven for a week every June and with ten races taking place in just six days there really is something to appeal to every taste. The Festival has two distinct strands with five races over six days making up the Countryside Tour

  • Stanley joy at Forest clash

    DELIGHTED Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman admits they couldn't have asked for a better Carling Cup draw. Their first round tie at home to League One side Nottingham Forest on August 21 promises to be a sell-out. And Coleman hopes such an

  • Bellamy set to Kop his switch today

    BLACKBURN Rovers striker Craig Bellamy will complete his move to Liverpool today after meeting Rafa Benitez for talks. The Welsh international, who was given permission to speak to the Reds after they triggered a £6.5 million release clause in his contract

  • Tough start for Rovers

    BLACKBURN Rovers will kick-off the new season with a tough away game at Portsmouth on August 19. Manager Mark Hughes will then face two of his former clubs as Everton and Chelsea both visit Ewood Park during the first eight days of the new Premiership

  • Hard Candy (18)

    ON the surface, Hard Candy seems to be a Hollywood reflection of the reasonable fears people have about the Internet and child safety. However, though this movie has a lot of potential by dealing with a fairly new and controversial subject, it does

  • Office home from home

    Working from home is regular practice in today's flexible employment environment but home-ing from work' is becoming increasingly common, says new research released today. Lack of time, traffic clogged commuter journeys and hectic workloads are the main

  • Honour for top cop

    After a career spanning three decades, Lancashire's top cop has been honoured in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours. Acting chief constable, Steve Finnigan, has been awarded the Queen's Police Medal. Mr Finnigan, who lives in Southport, said: