Archive

  • Local hero Aaron is a Crowder pleaser

    AARON Crowder gave a motocross master class to power to double glory on a wet and windy Whalley Nab. The Nelson rider was in unstoppable form in the second of Rossendale AMC's four race series -- and only a torrential downpour prevented him from a hat-trick

  • Money driven out of town

    TRAFFIC calming measures are around every corner in Blackburn. Try getting up Saunders Road and see how calm you feel by the time you've fought your way to the top. Give Way signs are ignored. A popular long-stay car park is now changed to short-stay,

  • Understanding needs thought

    IT is some time since the Rev Kevin Logan started a long-running debate on evolution versus creationism. It has been perpetuated partly by those who, like Mr Logan, don't understand the rudiments. Others have broadened the argument to questions or assertions

  • BNP presence being felt

    IN response to Burnley Lib-Dem councillor Roger Frost (Letters, May 23), perhaps he should have a moan at the all-party Commons Committee which said: "The way government money is distributed in the regions may have heightened racial tensions in part of

  • Bike seized from nuisance teenager

    POLICE have used new powers to seize a motorbike from a teenager as part of a crackdown on nuisance in the Kibble Bank area of Burnley. Officers exercised a new power under the Police Reform Act 2002 which enables them to seize bikes which are causing

  • Family workers face jobs worry

    ANXIOUS family workers are waiting to hear news about their jobs this week - as union and county council officials meet to discuss new contracts. Family Support Service workers in Lancaster and Morecambe, employed by Lancashire County Council, fear new

  • Alan the pool's winner

    YOU don't have to have a stack of medals or break records to be a winner. And you don't need to be first choice to prove that you are indispensable. For behind every medal winner, there is a true champion. Behind every record breaker there are those who

  • Millers boss Moore looks to hijack Branch deal

    GRAHAM Branch is set to hold talks with Rotherham in the next few days as speculation over his Burnley future rumbles on. Clarets boss Stan Ternent is desperate to make Branch a lynchpin in his new-look defence for next season. The player himself has

  • Three men held over teen death

    A BLACKPOOL teenager has been viciously battered and stabbed to death in front of his grandmother and two young sisters. The 16-year-old boy was attacked after a gang of intruders broke into his home on Jesmond Avenue, in South Shore, at around 8pm on

  • A stable future!

    THE STABLE doors are set to open at a Wyre sanctuary for ex-racehorses in a bid to educate people on the 'do's' and definite 'don'ts' of owning a thoroughbred. Despite playing host to some of the racing worlds most illustrious names such as Hello Dandee

  • Torment of witness in Iraqi murder trial

    A WITNESS who helped trap a killer today revealed he had been living in torment since chancing upon the blood-stained murder scene. Kenneth Jackson, 43, has been on anti-depressants since finding his next door neighbour Samsuddin Farhan Hamad cradling

  • May you be with the force!

    YOUNGSTERS have been put at the top of Bury Police's most wanted list. The force is asking members of the public to be on the lookout for the most dedicated and caring youngsters, one of which will go on to represent the borough's police division in the

  • Furious parents had their chance

    IN the revived row over school bus fares rising this week by up to 100 per cent, it may seem that the increases have been driven through with only token public consultation and that they were a foregone conclusion. Certainly, the changes, which affect

  • Environment in safe hands at reserves

    THESE days we tend to think that "the government," whatever its colour, has nothing to do with conservation, when actually lots of taxpayers' money is being channelled into the capable hands of influential bodies staffed by competent scientists. Two of

  • Holy Trinity are Kwik to make it a double

    HOLY Trinity Primary School are fast becoming the experts of Kwik Cricket after more success at Witton Park. Hot on the heels of their mixed team success two weeks ago, the girls-only team notched another victory. It means the Darwen school will have

  • Monty's men know how to have fun!

    THERE were some familiar faces among the winners in this year's Farleys Fun Fives with Monty Beaumont leading his team to glory for the second year running. Monty was the manager of the Ewood Arms team that won the senior section of the event last year

  • Alan the pool's winner

    YOU don't have to have a stack of medals or break records to be a winner. And you don't need to be first choice to prove that you are indispensable. For behind every medal winner, there is a true champion. Behind every record breaker there are those who

  • Let's work together to improve park

    THE headline on your report (LET, June 4) about the £2.7million grant to Corporation park in Blackburn was misleading. The lottery grant has not been given to 'tackle vandal damage.' Any damage in the park is repaired out of Blackburn with Darwen Council's

  • Factory man's arm crushed in machine

    A FACTORY worker suffered severe injuries after his arm was crushed in a roller machine. The 21-year-old man was operating a cardboard press at Leighton Packaging Ltd, Green Fold Way, Leigh, when the accident happened at midday on Tuesday. Paramedics

  • A Lotto money to restore historic park

    A MAJOR £4million Lottery bid to restore one of Burnley's premier parks to its former glory is expected to be given the nod tonight. One hundred years after Towneley Park first opened to the public the council are seeking to breathe new life into the

  • Teenage pregnancy fight hope

    HEALTH chiefs in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale are turning the corner in the fight against high teenage pregnancy rates. That was the message which came out of a conference for health and youth workers across the area on how best to tackle the problem

  • Revamp plan hits snag

    A MULTI-MILLION pound mission to regenerate Heysham is under threat after the venture clashed with new planning guidelines. The planned Heysham Mossgate scheme, which includes 400 homes, a library, doctor's surgery, police station and facilities for young

  • Sadness at David Holt death

    BURNLEY Football Club have expressed their sadness at the death of former player David Holt, who died suddenly at the weekend aged 51. Defender Holt made 84 appearances for the Clarets between 1980 and 1983. Club secretary Cathy Pickup said: We are all

  • Maylett heads out to Swansea

    BRIAN FLYNN is urging Brad Maylett to get his career back on track after snapping up the frustrated winger on a free transfer from Burnley. Swansea boss Flynn swooped for Maylett last night following his impressive loan spell at the Vetch Field at the

  • It could just be the ticket, couldn't it?

    ANYONE who has been near Ewood Park when Blackburn Rovers are at home will know that parking places are at a premium. Fans have either to arrive extremely early to nab a spot in a street anywhere near or pay plenty to park at the ground And you only need

  • I want four new players

    BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness wants at least four new faces in his squad before the start of next season. After a slow start to the summer, the transfer merry-go-round now looks set to kick into action in the wake of David Beckham's £25 million move to

  • Donor plea

    A TRIPLE kidney transplant patient is today urging more people to sign up to save lives. Brian Wilson's life has been saved three times in the past 30 years by the crucial transplants. Now the 41-year-old Darrener wants more donors to give people like

  • I am not Peter Kay

    HE looks like comedian Peter Kay but he earns his 'garlic bread' and butter saving animals! RSPCA animal collection officer Jon Kerrigan is causing quite a stir wherever he goes thanks to his resemblance to the Bolton funnyman. Whether he's out and about

  • EVENTS taking place in East Lancashire on Thursday, June 19

    A LOOK at events, from amateur theatre to rambles through our beautiful countryside. 'Making a Hanging Basket' Drop-in, Little Harwood Community Centre, 1.30pm-3.30pm. Sequence Dancing, Accrington Town Hall, 7.30pm-10.30pm. Clitheroe Mountaineering Club

  • Lancaster bombs record attempt

    BLACKBURN snooker star Andy Lancaster has failed in his attempt to rewrite the CIU record books. For 31-year-old Andy of the Orchard WMC was on course to net a hat-trick of singles titles -- a unique feat -- however Mill Hill's George Holden had other

  • Hakan and Laura are cross country champs

    HAKAN Burton and Laura Briggs were the golden greats in the annual cross country championships after running to individual glory. Hakan, a pupil at Newchurch, was named overall boys winner after clocking two first places and a second in the three race

  • Honours now mean so little

    REGARDING Hyndburn MP Greg Pope's complaint about East Lancashire losing out in the Honours List (LET, June 3), the system has been a shambles for a long time now and, in my opinion, should be done away with, except in really deserving ones. It has become

  • Three men held over teen death

    A BLACKPOOL teenager has been viciously battered and stabbed to death in front of his grandmother and two young sisters. The 16-year-old boy was attacked after a gang of intruders broke into his home on Jesmond Avenue, in South Shore, at around 8pm on

  • Surgeon battles to keep crucifix

    A SURGEON is facing a battle to keep a 7ft high crucifix in the grounds of his house after planning officials told him he put it up without permission. Dr Gunther Schmitgen, a surgeon at Burnley General Hospital, built the religous shrine as a symbol

  • I want four new players

    BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness wants at least four new faces in his squad before the start of next season. After a slow start to the summer, the transfer merry-go-round now looks set to kick into action in the wake of David Beckham's £25 million move to

  • Charged 'wrote to family to confess killing'

    A MAN alleged to have murdered law student Janet Murgatroyd confessed in letters to his family that he thought he had killed her, a court was told. Andrew Greenwood wrote a series of letters from Preston Prison shortly after his arrest in August 1999,

  • Surgeon battles to keep crucifix

    A SURGEON is facing a battle to keep a 7ft high crucifix in the grounds of his house after planning officials told him he put it up without permission. Dr Gunther Schmitgen, a surgeon at Burnley General Hospital, built the religous shrine as a symbol

  • Households advised to boil water

    HOMEOWNERS in Lancaster and Morecambe are being asked to boil their drinking water after a supply fault. United Utilities say an estimated 46,000 properties are affected in the following council wards: Ellel; Overton; Caton; Heysham North, Central and

  • Popular Mort loses cancer battle

    ENTERTAINER, animal lover and councillor Mort Allan has lost his long battle with cancer. The 66-year-old from Heysham died on Monday at Royal Lancaster Infirmary, leaving behind his long-term partner Joan, whom he married earlier this year. Mort's funeral

  • Shakers supremo insists Preece's job is safe

    SHAKERS chairman Fred Mason has assured Andy Preece that his job is safe during special talks with his manager this week writes Chris Hall Preece was alarmed by radio reports that a big-spending consortium was set to take control of the club and install

  • 'Keep of The Grass' set to grow again

    CAMPAIGNERS who fought against an expansion of the Lomeshaye Industrial Estate into Barrowford have threatened to strike up again in response to news of further industrial development. A piece of greenfield land opposite Nelson and Colne College, in Colne

  • Council draws up list for new houses

    PENDLE Council has revealed potential development sites within the borough to meet its need to find land for 2,000 more houses by 2016. The council is now at the first stage of identifying priority areas which could be used for housing and 35 more hectares

  • Fisherman drowned after fall into beck

    A 55-YEAR-OLD man who died after falling into a stream in Earby earlier this year had fallen into the water five years previously, an inquest heard. The inquest at Burnley Magistrates Court heard how Douglas Sprout, of Aspen Lane, drowned on March 23

  • Lions show must go on

    ORGANISERS have vowed "The Show Must Go On" at Accrington Lions carnival -- despite the problems that have forced the cancellation of neighbouring events. And the charity group has invited people from all over the region to join the Carnival Queen Sasha

  • Thugs beat up new dad on night out

    A NEW dad on a night out to celebrate the birth of his third child was left unconscious in a pool of blood after two thugs broke his jaw. Mark Nicholson, 34, of Rishton, had not been on a night out for more than a year but was persuaded to go by family

  • Woman swept to death in paradise

    A HOLIDAYMAKER from East Lancashire was swept to her death by a rip current on a New Zealand surfing beach, an inquest has heard. Mary Elizabeth Blackburn, 20, was relaxing with friends on Opoutere Beach near Whangamata on the Coromandel peninsula when

  • Stressing a point

    REMEMBER the astounding levels of absenteeism among employees of Blackburn with Darwen Council that was running up a sick-pay bill of £4million a year, with the town hall's time-off tally among the worst in the country? It amounted to more than 178 YEARS

  • Maylett heads out to Swansea

    BRIAN FLYNN is urging Brad Maylett to get his career back on track after snapping up the frustrated winger on a free transfer from Burnley. Swansea boss Flynn swooped for Maylett last night following his impressive loan spell at the Vetch Field at the

  • Blowing support for wind farm plan

    THE MAJORITY of people who attended exhibitions on the controversial Rossendale wind farm are in support of the scheme, it has been revealed. The Scout Moor exhibitions at Rawtenstall and Heywood invited locals to take a first look at the proposals and

  • Womble or nuisance?

    AN environmental crusader with a soft spot for wildlife, or the neighbour from hell? Either way, Blackpool's very own Great Uncle Bulgaria is facing a possible jail sentence prompting environmentalists and locals alike to cry 'Save the Womble'! As reported

  • Coffin ban for cemetery workers

    CEMETERY gardeners have been warned they face the sack after they began helping undertakers to carry coffins into burial services. A memo has been sent out to Blackburn with Darwen's undertakers and to staff who work at Pleasington Cemetery and Crematorium