THREE parliamentary candidates asked voters to put their faith in them come May 6 during a hustings gathering arranged by the Bishop of Burnley today. Labour’s Julie Cooper, Liberal Democrat Gordon Birtwistle and Richard Ali, for the Conservatives
VANDALS caused a huge fire at a large former factory last night, with crews spending six hours tackling the blaze. It was the fourth arson attack in three days at the old Mato factory at Church Bank Mill, off St James Road and Kirk Road, Church
YOUNGSTERS have helped raise £1,000 towards a new BMX track that police hope will reduce incidents of bikes causing problems for residents. The new facility is situated on the recreation ground in Worsthorne Village and was the brain child
A 79-YEAR-OLD grandad is celebrating after completing his 17th London Marathon - but said it could be his last. Fred Eastham finished the 26-mile course in an impressive five hours and 43 minutes, which is 20 minutes quicker than he managed
DEFIANT East Lancashire Labour candidates have played down Gordon Brown’s ‘bigoted’ gaffe. Rossendale and Darwen candidate Janet Anderson and Graham Jones, who is running in Hyndburn, said voters would not switch to rival parties after hearing the Prime
RIBBLE Valley’s famous ghost walker, tour guide and sound effects man is turning his successful hobby into a full-time business. Simon Entwistle, 54, from Clitheroe, lost his 26-year-post as a gardener for Ribble Valley Council after bosses
A FAMILY of good Samaritans were left black and blue after being beaten for trying to stop a fight in their street. Salman Ali, 21, and distant relative and friend Ikram Hamid, 22, said they both intervened when they saw a man being attacked
A POLICEMAN and celebrated artist has died aged 46 after a battle with pneumonia. Simon Evans, a police constable based in Burnley, who was responsible for crime prevention, died leaving sons Felix, 22, and Finn, 20. He joined Lancashire
ROLLS-Royce has offered the US government a deal in a bid to save an engine contract that safeguards hundreds of East Lancashire jobs. The aerospace giant, which employs 1,000 in Barnoldswick, along with partner General Electric (GE) has offered the
Within easy reach of Colne is Wycoller Country Park set around what was only a few years ago regarded as a deserted village. Although it has now been 'discovered' the atmosphere has not been destroyed. Above the old settlement once the home of
KELBROOK is yet another of our forgotten villages. Situated close to Barnoldswick and Earby and also on the main road from Colne, Kelbrook is only visited today by those in search of one of the best fish and chip shops and restaurants in the
THE most certain way of starting a quarrel in Barnoldswick is to say the town is in Lancashire. It has been part of the Red Rose county since 1974 when politicians reorganised the boundaries but to local people Barnoldswick has always been
Tourists will find the Pendle village of Foulridge irresistible. From the 17th century Foulridge was famous for its hat making industry and then a century later textiles became important. All this came before the coming of the Leeds to Liverpool
A FATHER-OF-FOUR who lost his 27-year-old partner to diabetes is urging people to support a charity fun day in her memory next month. Nursery nurse Kellie Brown, of Whitebirk Road, Blackburn, was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes at the age of
SIX OF the candidates vying to become Blackburn’s next MP clashed at a debate today. Blackburn College’s new University Centre was the venue for the student union-organised event, hosted by politics lecturer Adrian Sackman. On the panel
LABOUR has held Burnley for almost 80 years, but opponents have never been so confident. The town has seen many positives, including the opening of new university and college buildings, as well as the construction of new schools, since the
THE For Darwen Party could be set to block a fellow coalition councillor becoming the borough's next mayor. Whitehall Lib Dem councillor Karimeh Foster is set to be made deputy mayor tomorrow, meaning she would be Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen
ELECTION fever has arrived in Chorley with almost 50 per cent of people returning their postal votes in just three days. Chorley Council revealed the bumper crop of more than 20,000 votes had arrived as it began the count down to election day
A SERIES of deals by Rossendale property firm Hurstwood have seen the ‘full-up’ signs posted at a Haslingden industrial estate. Start-up business Packaging Supplies UK has taken a unit at Three Point business park in Charles Lane and Rawtenstall-based
THE MAYOR of Rossendale will cut the ribbon to open the borough’s newest shop tomorrow. Coun Joyce Thorne will officially open Winners Discount Megastore, in New Hall Hey Road, Rawtenstall, at 10am. The store has taken over the previously dilapidated
A YOUNG spa operator in East Lancashire is set to share the secrets of her success with a TV audience. Olivia Gordon, 28, faced a battle to secure funding for the launch of Liv Spa, which is now based at the Oaks Hotel, in Colne Road, Reedley.
IN the 2005 General Election Jack Straw faced one of the biggest challenges of his Parliamentary career. Faced with a vocal Iraq war protest, the then Foreign Secretary saw his majority trimmed to 8,009, but still polled 42 per cent of the
A VANDAL crackdown will see police target a park with undercover officers as well as dog and horse patrols in a bid to beat vandals. Yobs caused hundreds of pounds of damage by ripping an iron fence from a wall in Corporation Park, Blackburn
COUNCIL bosses have joined forces with Booths supermarket and Longridge hygiene products company B3 to try to stop the spread of food poisoning. Ribble Valley Borough Council will distribute 100 packs containing alcohol hand gel, bleach, antibacterial
In celebration of the new Blackburn store opening on Saturday with a gala fun day, GO Outdoors is launching a competition searching for Blackburn¹s Adventurer of the Year. The winner will also receive £250 worth of vouchers to spend in-store
DARWEN fireman Liam Brindle has raised more than £2,000 for charity on completion of his first London Marathon. Mr Brindle, 24, of Walmsley Street, trained by pounding the streets of Tockholes and Blackburn, losing two-and-a-half stones in the process
DARWEN cricket club’s second, third and fourth teams require scorers. Anyone interested should call Gary Jackson on 07745 450176 or e-mail gary.jackson @woodall-nicholson.co.uk. Pay is available.
A BURST water main closed part of the main road through Hoddlesden for over 24 hours. Emergency repairs were carried out in Johnson New Road between Johnson Road and Long Hey Lane when a six-inch section of concrete piping cracked due to ground movement
BUS drivers have launched a campaign to have a prayer room installed at Burnley bus station. Muslim staff at the station are keen to have a small room set up where they could take part in daily prayers in a peaceful location. But bosses
SOLOISTS from Haslingden High School have been pitched as two of the country’s best musical prospects. Seventeen-year-old Alex Saxon and Owen Middlemas, 13, travelled to Birmingham for the National Concert Band finals. And the Rossendale
BEFORE each match at Turf Moor this season, the same touching video has been played on the big screen. It charts the club’s rise, from the depths of 1987 to the Premier League. “It’s times like these you learn to live again,” were the Foo Fighters
THE word ‘recycling’ conjures up all sorts of images – men with beards clad in a variety of shades of brown and beige, women with beads in their hair, home-baked bread and the smell of wood smoke. Those aren’t intended as pejorative descriptions either
CYCLING routes around Burnley are to be improved as part of a £200,000 scheme. The council is to fund the improvements to six different routes as part of a bid to get more people using their bikes. Council bosses are now set to offer
Ribblesdale League scorecards for matches played Sunday, April 25. Barnoldswick v Padiham Padiham K Siddique lbw b Nazir 46 A Saddique lbw b Nazir 0 U Saddique ct Kegg b Nazir 0 J Bushell lbw b Nichols 28 L Anderson b Nichols 10 N Ashraf
THE man in charge of leading regeneration across East Lancashire has announced he is leaving the project. Max Steinberg, the chief executive of Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, is to take up a similar role at a rival group in Liverpool.
Ribblesdale League scorecards for matches played Saturday, April 24. Padiham v Ribblesdale Wanderers Padiham Siddique b Britcliffe 38 A Saddique ct Peel b Britcliffe 12 U Saddique st Peel b Pratt 28 J Bushell run out 15
I would like to comment on the recent report in the Lancashire Telegraph of the political meeting held in Blackburn Cathedral. The organisers of the meeting, the people who allowed it to be held in the Cathedral and those who took part in the purpose
I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to staff at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, especially those working on Ward B14 (SADU) and within the ENT Surgical Team. I was recently required to undergo surgery and was obviously very nervous about the forthcoming
I hope you will allow me a brief appeal to readers to vote in the election. It is said that the televised debates have roused the UK electorate, particularly the young. Let's hope so. With our courageous youngsters out in Afghanistan risking their
AFTER witnessing for the first time people being made redundant at work, I decided to write to Jack Straw and ask him to have stickers put on all British goods and encourage government departments to buy British. I felt this would help boost the local
I work at a business in Trident Park, Blackburn, which backs on to the canal. On Wednesday, April 21, a group of four youths wandered down the towpath and shot at every bird or animal they could see. A nesting goose, reluctant to leave her eggs,
Blackburn Rovers academy coach Gary Finley has quit as manager of UniBond League First Division South side Witton Albion. The 39-year-old Liverpudlian played professionally for Doncaster Rovers and was captain and then manager of Welsh Premier League
Blackburn Rovers’ reserve team produced an impressive performance to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Tranmere’s Prenton Park last night. Jason Lowe put Rovers ahead before Matthew Pearson headed the winner.
AN accomplished century by Ashwell Prince and a fifth successive Championship fifty from Steven Croft ensured that Lancashire held the slightest of advantages after the first day of the County Championship Division One match at Old Trafford. Coming together
THE news that East Lancashire is a national hotspot for criminal gangs staging ‘crash for cash’ scams is very disturbing. According to insurance giant Direct Line, three of the UK’s top four hotspots for fake traffic smashes are in our area. Only the
Think of long-distance lorry driving and the sort of image that springs to mind is a Yorkie bar-munching, bearded man wearing a string vest. But that isn't always the case. WHAT do you get if you cross a glamorous 27-year-old blonde with a
* Having steered his team comfortably clear of relegation this season, Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce is hoping to provide a boost for Jack Straw. Big Sam, who is a well-known Labour Party supporter, is pictured on the Justice Secretary
A TERMINALLY-ILL teenager’s dog has been stolen from his home while he is in hospital receiving treatment. The family of Christian Wignall, 17, have not yet told the youngster about the theft of the family’s two dogs as they are worried about
AN East Lancashire headteacher is one of 31 school bosses from across the country who has backed plans to remove schools from local council control. Judith Williams, who is in charge of Peel Park Primary School, Accrington, has shown support
A PLASTERER has set up his own training school in a bid to encourage more people into the trade. Daniel Stewart, 27, said Art of Plastering would run five-day courses for people who did not want to go to college but wanted to learn a skill.
MALCOLM Mawdsley makes his first appearance of the year on this weekend's Jack Neal Memorial Rally. The former Blackburn driver debuted his Activ8 Motorsport-built, two-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza on the Roger Albert Clark Rally last November. Although
SOMETIMES you wonder why you bother. And sometimes you are left wondering if the cricketing authorities are determined to conspire against clubs. With all the recent problems associated with signing professionals, East Lancashire are to be commended
FED-UP Settle skipper Andrew Davidson says he is baffled and bewildered by the bureaucracy that limits the amount of bowling for his professional. Under English Cricket Board directives, players aged 19 and below are limited to bowling no more than
SAM Allardyce’s transfer plans are stuck in limbo as he faces an anxious wait to see how his Blackburn Rovers side fare in their £3million Premier League battle. The Rovers boss last week revealed he was keen to conduct his summer transfer
MONDAY morning was a real ‘Out of Africa’ experience for children at St Mary’s RC Primary School, Haslingden. As part of a term-long project on Africa, the pupils were joined by The Mighty Zulu Nation theatre company from Durban, South Africa
BLACKBURN Rovers will continue to play their Barclays Premier Reserve League North fixtures at Leigh Sports Village. Ewood officials have reached an agreement with their counterparts at Leigh for the 2010-11 campaign after enjoying a ‘hugely successful
ROBBIE Blake has revealed that he is likely to leave Burnley this summer because of fears that he will not be a regular in the Clarets first team next season. The 34-year-old is out of contract this summer and, although it is thought that Burnley want
A ROW has developed between two parliamentary rivals after it was revealed one candidate’s sons are being educated in Pakistan. Interviewed by BBC’s File on Four radio programme, Pendle Liberal Democrat Afzal Anwar made the admission.
THREE of the country’s top four hotspots for ‘crash for cash’ insurance scams are in East Lancashire, it has been revealed. Gangs are believed to be behind the staged smashes which con insurers and honest drivers out of millions of pounds every
IF you want to be verbally assaulted, try to tell a resident of Trawden that they are just part of Colne. You will be told in no uncertain terms that Trawden is a settlement in its own right, with a long history all of its own. Originally the place
PLYMOUTH striker Jamie Mackie could be on his way to Sheffield United in the summer. BRISTOL City strike star Nicky Maynard is a summer target for Ian Holloway's Blackpool. LIVERPOOL are closing in on a £3.5m swoop forJonjo Shelvey from Charlton
