THE atrocious summer weather has left foot-ballers in Darwen facing an uncertain season. Incessant rain has meant a £750,000 revamp of Black-snape playing fields remains unfinished. The drainage system, changing pavilion and improved 11-a-side pitches
A NEW police unit could be set up in a bid to slash the number of fatal road accidents on Lancashire’s roads. The move would see £250,000 of extra cash to tackle the problem and has been devised to drive down the amount serious crashes and
A TEENAGER breached a community order because he had been living in a tent, Burnley Magistrates heard. Simon Aspinall, 18, had spent the summer on ‘the rec’ in Stacksteads and had not got any letters from the probation service, Burnley Magistrates
A BLACKBURN man arrested in connection with an alleged threat to kill Gordon Brown appeared in court charged with terrorism offences. Muhammad Ali Mumtaz Ahmad, 24, of Whalley Range, appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court via
POLICE have renewed their appeal to find a group of drunken teenage ‘hoodies’ who attacked and robbed a man in Burnley. Stephen Jackson, 42, was walking back to his Coal Clough Lane home, from a nearby corner shop, when the gang attacked him
FRIENDS, according to the theme tune to the popular TV show, will be there for you. But what makes a friend a best friend? The honesty to tell you when you look fat in that dress or the decency not to flirt with your man. In fact there’s a much more
THE terrible summer weather has wrecked many our holiday highlights — but some businesses have received an unexpected boost. In the first two weeks of August a month’s worth of rain fell in East Lancashire, while July saw almost double the normal amount
A COMPANY boss is preparing to take the plunge in a bid to raise cash for a local charity. The Great North Swim is a one-mile open water swim taking place in Windermere on Saturday, and one of the competitors will be Jonathan Hutchings, managing director
A VOTE rigging probe into a Hyndburn Council election has found that nothing untoward took place. An investigation was launched into the Accrington Central ward May election after complaints about the high number of proxy votes cast - which were up
Seamus Moore (“the JCB man”) will be appearing at the Irish Club in George St on Friday the 12th September. Starts at 8pm with tickets £7. Contact 01706 214787
POLICE have issued a warning over a batch of missing drugs which could prove fatal if taken in the wrong quantities. The liquid Methadone, a heroin substitute, and Diazepam tablets, went missing from a Phoenix Healthcare delivery van somewhere
Will be meeting in the library on Tuesday, 16th September at 6pm. New members are very welcome who wish to participate in library decision making and to help promote the library services. Refreshments will be available.
PENDLE Council has urged residents to bring in their bins after they have been emptied — or risk being fined. Coun John David, leader of Pendle Council and responsible for waste collection, said: “This isn't just about making our streets look nicer.
A CHINESE takeaway has finally re-opened almost six months to the day after it was wrecked when a car smashed into it. Du Mai, the owner of Mai Takeaway, Shear Brow, Blackburn, pledged he would reopen as soon as possible after the accident in March,
A FAMILY has told how an infestation of rats has forced them out of their home. And Martin Massa, who shares the home in Douglas Place, Roe Lee, Blackburn, with his girlfriend and their two young children, hit out at the borough council for
A 50-year-old former teacher was found to be nearly four-and-a-half times the drink drive limit when he drove home from the shop at 11 am. Blackburn magistrates heard that staff at the store in Preston New Road, Blackburn, had reported Simon
A DRUG addict who stole a mother of three’s handbag in a bid to get cash for his £500-a-week habit was given help. Samuel Main, 36, stole the handbag from her trolley in Morrisons, in Nelson, Burnley magistrates were told. Main, of Smith
POLICE called to the Netto store, in Montague Street, Blackburn, found a 42-year-old man abusing an ambulance crew who had been called to help him. Blackburn magistrates heard that John Bailey had earlier shouted abuse and knocked over store
BURNLEY defender Christian Kalvenes is a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Nottingham Forest. The Clarets resume their Championship calendar at the City Ground this weekend after a two-week break for internationals, but Kalvenes is unlikely to play his
A FOOTBALL-mad schoolboy whose legs were amputated after he contracted a rare form of meningitis has been presented with a car by the Prime Minister. Ten-year-old Joshua Ford, of Lisbon Drive, Burnley, visited Gordon Brown at Downing Street yesterday
BOOKMAKERS reported a massive gamble last night on Paul Ince to succeed Kevin Keegan as Newcastle United boss. The new Blackburn manager’s odds tumbled dramatically from 66-1 to 6-1 amid reports in the North East that he was a strong contender for the
A FORMER licensee at the Darwen’s Railway pub has joined the search for a missing war memorial. The search for the plaque is being led by former soldier Pete Elvey, 68, of Hilton Road. As we revealed this week he discovered that the
HISTORIAN Jack Nadin has been delving into the nooks and crannies of Padiham and investigating the many old ale houses which once served the locals. The area around the parish church of St Leonard’s, the present building dating from 1869, had a number
A pensioner had her handbag containing £400 snatched in Rawtenstall. The 67-year-old woman was walking along Burnley Road at 1.50pm on Monday when the thief, described as a slim white man, wearing a dark hooded coat and dark trousers, struck
WORK is underway to demolish Rawtenstall bus depot, which is moving to Haslingden. The new depot, which will involve the transfer of around 100 staff and accommodate up to 120 vehicles, will be built in Broadway, on the Knowsley Park Industrial Estate
AN EUXTON teacher died two days after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Clare Whittle, 27, has been described by family as caring and loving person who touched the hearts of everyone she met. And colleagues said she was a passionate teacher
CHRISTIAN volunteers will make late-night town centre patrols as East Lancashire’s first ‘street pastors’. The church members will take to the streets of Nelson, Barrowford and Brierfield tomorrow, offering revellers a ‘helping hand’ and even confronting
OWEN Coyle is confident Alex MacDonald will benefit from the international experience despite suffering a knee injury on his Scotland Under 19 debut. The 18-year-old suffered the setback against Holland last Friday, but the Burnley manager said: “You
THREE schoolmates from Darwen are taking part in a 6,500-mile rally to Mongolia for charity. The team – Richard Kirkham, David Davies and Liam Fenton, all 23, who met at St Peter’s Primary School and went to Moorland High –- call themselves
ROQUE Santa Cruz is expected to start for Blackburn Rovers in Saturday’s clash against Arsenal after coming through Paraguay’s latest World Cup qualifer unscathed. The South American striker was withdrawn from Blackburn’s Premier League defeat at West
TRIALIST Theo Fairweather-Johnson scored twice as Burnley Reserves cruised to a second win in three games in the Central League West Division. It took a while for the game to get going, but the Clarets took control after going in front on 15 minutes
FORMULA Renault racer Ross Worswick has switched teams for the remainder of the 2008 season. The 19-year-old Blackburn driver had been driving for his family-run Worswick Engineering team, recording several top ten finishes. But when Alpine Motorsport
A FATHER-of-three found with a knife and an air weapon in a public place has been given a suspended jail term. Andrew Barry Simpson, 36, had been arrested after two men were spotted using air rifles on a field at Nelson and Colne Rugby Club
A CALL has been made for extra efforts to regenerate problem homes in Nelson after councillors in Colne gave the go-ahead for an eyesore site to be revamped. Pendle Council is to begin making a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for dilapidated
POLICE are searching for the drivers of two vehicles following a car smash that killed a 19-year-old man. Andrew Taylor, from the Brunshaw area of Burnley, died when the Ford Mondeo he was travelling in crashed into steel barriers in Blackburn
‘IT’S not the winning, it’s the taking part’ is a well-worn sporting cliche. But for two East Lancashire riders who were in action at last weekend’s World Superbike meeting at Donington Park, it was just that. Phil Blackmore and Adrian Wilkinson were
The amazing Anna Pichrtova has just become a triple World Champion by adding to her titles at the Masters World Mountain Running Championships in her native Czech Republic. Already the winner of the World Trophy, and by winning the Yorkshire Three Peaks
Long distance ace Brian Cole is heading to Holland this weekend to run in a 100 kilometre event at Winschoten. The race is over a flat course comprising of ten laps of 10 kilometres, and he is targeting seven hours 20 minutes, the ‘A standard’ for next
MORE than 50 veteran, vintage and classic cars will be travelling through East Lancashire to mark European Heritage open day. The vehicles will pass a number of historic venues, including Turton Tower, Helmshore Mills Textile Museum in Rossendale
SIX firefighters from East Lancashire are set to receive medals in recognition for their long service and good conduct. The awards are for 20 years service of a consistently high standard. A presentation ceremony will take place at the
A TAXI driver who took a fare to a Whalley nightclub realised after he had dropped them off that his wallet was missing. Blackburn magistrates heard the wallet was recovered by doormen, minus the £60 he claimed was in it. But Scott Mason
HOW does Jack Straw have the gall to say communities should do more to combat knife crimes? He is the one who should be doing more by imposing stiffer sentences. Anyone carrying a knife should go to jail. Only last week Blackburn magistrates slapped
The Blackburn and District CTC kicked off their Hill Climb season by scoring their 11th consecutive win of the Beard Cup for the best team in the steep climb at Diggle near Oldham. Top ride was 18-year-old Adam Pinder of Great Harwood. who is reigning
Colne progressed through the first qualifying round of the FA Vase with a 3-2 win over Darwen. Darwen took through Wisdom, but Stevie Hall equalised after the break. Darwen took the lead again when Ed O'Neil fired into an empty net. But minutes
COUN David Pearson (LT, September 5) seems to be making a very good case for an elected North West of England regional assembly with similar powers to Scotland. While I don’t agree with the Scot Nats breaking away from the UK, they are riding high in
I READ in the newspapers that five pubs a week are closing. Also over the past few weeks I have been reading about under-age drinkers, their access to cheap booze and their disruptive and often violent behaviour due to excessive drink. Well, I do not
DARWEN rider Felicity Coulthard was celebrating last night after winning a silver medal at the Paralympics. The 23-year-old, competing at her first Games, finished second in the Grade II individual freestyle dressage event at the Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian
BLACKBURN Rovers will today assess the full extent of Andre Ooijer’s injury, sustained during Holland’s 2-1 World Cup qualifying round victory in Macedonia last night. The veteran defender was replaced after just 27 minutes of the Group Nine clash in
THE images here show what Blackburn’s first vocational sixth-form centre will look like. Work has just begun on the £7million building at Our Lady and St John Catholic Arts College in North Road, which will welcome its first students from September
One hardened Brummie told me on Monday: “I’ve just lobbied six members of the Cabinet, and in 10 minutes made more headway than I would have done in 10 months with letters and emails” . The occasion was the session with West Midlands regional representatives
A FRENCH historian is searching for the family of a Second World War air gunner from Accrington. Sergeant John Holden, son of Thomas and Mary Holden, was one of the crew of a Lancaster Bomber shot down by a German night fighter in 1944. He was a young
A RIBBLE Valley primary has started the new school year with a glowing report from Ofsted. Chatburn Primary School was rated a good school with outstanding features by inspectors after they visited at the end of last term. It is the latest positive
BLACKBURN College has assured its students it is doing all it can to support those affected by a national delay on grant payments. The Government’s Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and Adult Learning Grant payment system has hit the headlines because
WOMEN are putting themselves at greater risk from a deadly form of cancer because of embarrassment about going to the doctor, an expert has warned. Gynaecological cancers affect around 650 women every year in Lancashire, but the conditions
MOVE the clock forward a few decades and this photograph shows Belgrave Mill, in Darwen, hard at work in 1935. Then owned by Crown, the lasses from the factory were busy producing decorative shields to mark the Silver Jubilee of King George V. They
IT’S true to say that while most Muslims know all about Christmas and Easter and their religious significance, many Christians have very little idea of what Eid or Ramadan mean to followers of Islam. That’s partly because we don’t see Muslim religious
ALTHOUGH this flouncy wedding cake is a typical design from the 1880s, it is far larger than most folk would have at that time. But the groom was a big man in the area. He was James Edward Hubery Cecil, known as Viscount Cranborne, and he was Darwen’
THE Government boss in charge of Building Schools for the Future has told parents: “The prize will be worth the pain.” And Tim Byles said the prog-ramme was about changing mindsets not just buildings. Mr Byles is chief executive of Partnership for Schools
A ROW has broken out amid claims that the parking spaces at Darwen Market have been made smaller. Lines on the middle level car park leading to the annexe have recently been repainted. And since the work, at least two customers have been given fixed
AN AUNT accused by her sister of stealing charity cash raised in memory of her nephew has insisted: “I’m no thief”. And Ailish Leigh, 41, said she had been left scared of going out after being targeted by residents who believed she had taken the money
AN East Lancashire company played a major role in the development of the ‘Big Bang experiment’, it has been revealed. Bosses at Hawk Electronics, based in Malt Street, Accrington, have spent the last 15 years developing electronic circuit boards and
A TWO-day Muslim prayer festival could be staged in Corporation Park, Blackburn, next month. The event – the first of its kind outside London – would attract thousands of visitors from across the North West, according to the group behind the plans.
A BURNLEY milkman has been accused of supplying cannabis resin to customers with their daily pint. Pensioner Robert Holding, of Fair View Road, Burnley, is alleged to have been carrying out “commercial supply” of cannabis resin to 17 customers
