STAR: American pop star P. J. Proby, clad in a beige suit and matching stetson, was married at Bury Register Office. The 36-year-old star of the trouser-splitting Sixties was married, for the third time, under his real name of James Smith to croupier Dulcie Taylor (25) of Prestwich. The couple, with the bride's four-years-old daughter Michelle, planned to lived in a flat in Clough Drive, Prestwich.

PROHIBITED: Bury Council banned swimming in Clarence Lido due to the condition of the water. It was believed that the cause of the trouble was the water source of the lido was polluted. The water was in such a poor state that a regulated weekly dose of hyperchloride was administered to the pool. DIRTY CASH: A Bury man had part of his wages stolen from under his dustbin. He said that he thought it was safer to keep money under the bin rather than in the house. A thief who visited the Hewart Drive house, however, helped himself to the money, £21.50.

PC: A chase through pitch black railway sidings ended when a young Bury policeman came within a hairsbreadth of death. Constable Frank Bancroft was crawling under a train in pursuit of some football fans when he touched a "live" rail carrying 1,200 volts. He was taken to Bury General Hospital with hand burns and severe shock.

A colleague said that PC Bancroft had had a "fantastic escape" and that he he could have been killed instantly.

VANISHED: An anxious lady phone Bury police to report her garage had vanished! Further investigations uncovered bits of the garage round and about Alfred Street and it is believed vandals were responsible.

BRIDE: Newlywed Sylvia Clarke was appealing for the return of her wedding dress after it had been stolen during a burglary at her home in Renshaw Drive, Bury. Police were making enquiries while Sylvia was touring local dry cleaners to try and trace the £70 lace-trimmed dress.

SMALLPOX: Smallpox victims from as far away as the Isle of Man would be treated at Bury's Ainsworth Isolation Hospital from October 1. The Department of Health and Social Security announced the decision as part of its aim to cut the number of smallpox hospitals in England and Wales from 14 to eight. The Ainsworth hospital has been chosen to cover the North West region, Merseyside, Cumbria, North Wales and the Isle of Man.

STRIKE: The first strike in the history of the Bury hat manufacturing firm of H.S. Edwards and Co. Ltd, in Wellington Street, ended this week. The dispute, which last one and a half days, was between the hat makers' union and the British Headwear Industries Federation over a cost of living bonus.