REGARDING your article (LET, September 3) about the closure of Blackburn Infirmary in ten years' time, the message from the Government that the NHS is safe with them is a fallacy. Park Lee Hospital is due to close in December,1997, with the loss of some
Big match preview 1: Blackburn Rovers v Brentford BRENTFORD boss David Webb sees Ewood Park as the ultimate shop window for his players tonight. And if there are a host of top club managers and scouts watching their Coca-Cola Cup second round, second
RUDE or dishonest taxi drivers could face losing their licences if a new get-tough policy is introduced by Blackburn Council. A penalty points system is planned along with a code of conduct for private hire and hackney drivers and operators. The aim is
EAST Lancashire holiday company Airtours was enjoying soaraway success and announced plans to expand its fleet of new airliners from five to eight. The Helmshore-based firm announced it was spending millions expanding Airtours International Aviation,
CUSTOMERS will be flying high this week, thanks to a Burnley firm. Business equipment distributor FH Brown plc has arranged 40 free flying lessons for customers attending its digital products roadshow at Barton Airfield. The lessons were the idea of joint
CABBIES faced with a new honesty and behaviour code cannot complain - for the scheme planned by Blackburn Council to improve standards will not just protect passengers, but also benefit taxi owners and operators. That is because it aims to drive out the
THE CLAIM tonight that elderly people in Lancashire have been forced to wait for places in private residential homes because of a Social Services cash squeeze, despite the county council having funds to spare, may worry many old people who need financial
THE plans for all schools to set themselves annual performance targets and publish the results of how they achieved them should not be resisted by the teaching profession. To begin with, one good reason is that this new system will enable teachers to
GREEK soccer star George Donis and wife Despina are celebrating the birth of their second son Anastasios, who weighed in at 8lb. The pair, who live in the Ribble Valley with their young son Chris, were over the moon when Anastasios was delivered at Queen's
A POLICEMAN was taken to hospital after his car was rammed TWICE and wrecked after stopping a vehicle for a routine check. The stolen LandRover Discovery with a tow bar on the back wrecked PC Gordon Dickinson's traffic car, an 8 Series Rover. PC Dickinson
A MAJOR conference is being organised in East Lancashire in the national fight against drugs. The East Lancashire Drug Reference Group is inviting local businesses and groups to the event, which is due to be held on October 15. The organisation was set
Big match preview 1: Burnley v Charlton Athletic ADRIAN Heath does not plan to feature in Burnley's Division Two plans this season. The Clarets player-manager, who leads Burnley into tonight's Coca-Cola Cup clash against Charlton Athletic, says only a
REMPLOY, the country's biggest employer of disabled people, is to implement a significant investment in information technology. Amalgamated Packaging in Burnley, a subsidiary of the company, will be one of the first factories to benefit from the new computerised
YOUNG people who watched the TV documentary programme 'Bomber Command: Reaping the Whirlwind' on September 10, could be forgiven for thinking that the only British city which was bombed in the Second World War was London. No other city of ours was mentioned
WOMEN cancer victims visiting a hospital's breast care clinic are having to undress in areas without proper screening, say health watchdogs. Community Health Council members in Burnley were shocked to hear lack of facilities for Burnley General's prothesis
A MAN has been arrested and is waiting to be interviewed by police in connection with a serious assault which left father-of-two Dean Prescott in intensive care. Mr Prescott, 27, of Thursby Road, is on a life support machine in North Manchester General
MORE than one in ten injury accidents on Lancashire's roads this year have involved speeding motorists. The figure was revealed by police at the start of the Department of Transport's national Kill Your Speed campaign today. Between January and August
Big match preview 2: Burnley v Charlton Athletic DEFIANT Adrian Heath has warned Coca-Cola Cup opponents Charlton Athletic: "Write us off at your peril." Burnley take on Alan Curbishley's First Division outfit in tonight's second round, second leg clash
Big match preview 2: Blackburn Rovers v Brentford RAY Harford rang the alarm bells as Blackburn Rovers bid to put their Premiership basement blues behind them and beat Brentford in the Coca-Cola Cup at Ewood tonight. And the manager is demanding is demanding
TWO East Lancashire men have received prestigious safety awards at a ceremony at the Armourers' Hall, London. Graham Pedder, of J B Broadley, and Carl Thornley, of Pendle Training, each got the British Council Safety Diploma in Safety Management. To achieve
BUSINESSES are being offered the chance to get a 'behind the scenes' look at a local firm. Boundary Mill Stores, in Colne, is throwing open its doors to members of Pendle Business Club tomorrow evening. The mill is the largest of its kind in the UK and
HOMES for the elderly in Lancashire are being starved of cash even though the county council has funds to spare, according to an industry association. The Lancashire Care Association, the organisation which represents the owners of 400 private homes,
STRIKE turmoil is set to disrupt Accrington and Rossendale College next week. Lecturers union NATFHE has voted two-to-one in favour of strike action in an escalating dispute over the introduction of new working conditions for part-time lecturers. Action
JEAN Forrest (Letters, September 5), decried the fact that some of your correspondents use noms-de-plumes. For myself, I am always a little bit doubtful that some who do provide a signature use one that is truly theirs. If someone signed 'Saddam Hussein
CHURCH workers are being given child protection training in a bid to reduce the threat from molesters and perverts. Catholic churches in the East Lancashire area are taking part in the scheme, organised by the Salford Diocese. Local parish workers are
POLICE were called to a town hall after demonstrators refused to leave a meeting. Anti-asbestos campaigner Tom Howard was escorted from Blackburn Town Hall by two policemen after he refused to keep quiet during a meeting of the building committee. Mr
When the last war broke out the bugle heralded another type of action - stripping. Nudity on stage flourished in the 1940s to keep the troops entertained. But nude shows were never part of the mainstream until the shooting stopped. The new film Striptease
ISUGGEST Labour Party HQ advises its canvassers to be honest about the number of so-called 'asylum seekers' pouring into Britain instead of telling them - as I was by two Labour canvassers - that asylum seekers into Britain were 'a mere trickle' and '
GREAT HARWOOD'S trip to Ashton Town in the UniBond First Division proved to be a doubly pointless exercise. A victory would have lifted them into a top four spot and midfielder John Whitaker now faces suspension after being ordered off after 30 minutes
LIBERAL Democrats today backed Janet Anderson's campaign to criminalise stalking. The Rossendale and Darwen Labour MP has introduced two bills into Parliament in a bid to outlaw the intimidation of people, mainly women, by obsessive pests. Her stance
NEARLY all ambulance 999 calls in Lancashire are answered within 19 minutes, according to the service's annual report. In 70 per cent of cases, the response time is less than eight minutes. The Lancashire Ambulance Service Trust has also managed to increase
