Archive

  • Delays after two-car crash in Blackburn town centre

    PEAK hour traffic delays are being caused this afternoon by a collision outside Blackburn Ice Arena. The two-car crash, at the junction of Lower Audley Street and Park Road, happened at 4.40pm. Police officers and paramedics are at the

  • Lancashire League Sunday scorecards

    Accrington v Haslingden Haslingden innings GA Knowles c Taylor b Ormerod 6 S Kershaw b Zaidi 0 LG Ingham b Ormerod 8 Hayes lbw Ormerod 17 J Taylor lbw Ormerod 0 M Ahmed b Zaidi 0 J Sudworth c and b Zaidi 26 G Sudworth c Crabtree b Zaidi

  • Nelson’s Lord Learie honoured

    Arguably the greatest professional ever to grace the Lancashire League, Learie Constantine, will be honoured on Friday. The West Indian, pro at Nelson between 1929 and 1937, was knighted in 1962 and in 1969 became the first person of African descent

  • Blackburn Rovers blog: Sir Alex can help us now

    I predict that even if we don’t win another point we will still survive in the Premier League, but please don’t tell the players. You will note that I deliberately do not qualify that prediction with the word ‘confident’ and with Wolves picking up three

  • Accrington Stanley blog: Nothing can stop us now

    SOME weeks ago I decided that the trip to Burton would be my three-year-old son’s first away game. At about 100 miles from Accrington I had figured that the ratio of ‘are we nearly there yet’ to travel sweets would be at an acceptable level. The day

  • Help improve Darwen while sitting on a sofa

    A TOURING Living Room will be hitting Darwen’s streets this month to ask people what they want and need in their community. Darwen Aldridge Community Academy (DACA) has received £150,000 Big Lottery funding to turn the ideas into reality as

  • Recapturing Blackburn's night life

    Blackburn must make a big effort and do something to revive its late-night economy. At the moment it’s in the doldrums, which makes me sad. I remember when the town was booming and people came in from outlying areas, not only to work, but

  • Chorley chairman praises Mag-nificent fans

    Chorley chairman Ken Wright has lavished praise on Magpies fans after they won promotion to the Evo-Stik Premier Division. “They have contributed to what has been a terrific achievement by the players,” he said.

  • Barnoldswick Town reserves in the final

    Barnoldswick Town reserve team made it to the final of the Craven Cup after a 3-0 victory against Rimington. The goals were scored by Ben Mousley, Russ Clark and Shaun Clough. Barlick will play Skipton LMS in the final.

  • No return for Nelson

    Plans to create a new team, Nelson Town FC, to play in the West Lancashire Football League have been shelved. Organisers were unable to secure a deal to play games at the town’s Seedhill Athletics Track.

  • Prizewinners are Ram-tastic

    Joint managers Bernard Morley and Anthony Johnson claimed the Vodkat League’s manager of the month prize for April after leading the Rams into second spot. Phil Dean was the Premier Division player of the month.

  • Chorley golfer talks of ‘horrible’ year

    NICK Dougherty has poured his heart out over a ‘horrible season’ that has seen the Chorley ace’s ranking tumble outside the world’s top 500. A once-glittering career has turned into a ‘very painful’ 2011, the Shaw Hill professional failing

  • Burnley boss expected to ring the changes

    A number of players are expected to leave Turf Moor this summer as boss Eddie Howe looks to reshape his squad for another tilt at promotion next season. Out-of-contract midfielders Remco van der Schaaf and Kevin McDonald have not been offered new terms

  • Burnley are fined over Leeds United flashpoint

    Burnley have been found guilty of improper conduct and fined £5,000 following their clash at Leeds at the end of last month. The Clarets admitted the charge of “failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained

  • Burnley announce Oldham Athletic friendly

    Burnley will travel to play Oldham Athletic in a pre-season friendly. The Clarets will face the League One side at Boundary Park on Tuesday, July 26 (kick-off 7.45pm). Admission is £10 with £5 concessions.

  • Local papers are trusted in a way internet sites can't be

    Local newspapers are fundamental to the health of any community and to the happiness of its individual members. We are social beings. We want to know what's going on around us and why. We want to know what out neighbours and friends have been

  • Woman ‘raped at house in Burnley after night out’

    A YOUNG woman was allegedly beaten up and raped twice at a house in Burnley, after a girls’ night out, a jury heard. The town’s crown court was told how the alleged victim, said to be ‘quite drunk’ and to have taken cocaine, was subjected to a barrage

  • Woman's body found in Padiham woodland

    A 48-YEAR-OLD woman has been found dead in woodland near to Padiham Football Club. Police were called to the area at around 7am yesterday after reports a woman had gone missing from an address in the town. They found the woman’s body at 8.20am

  • What we can learn from the Aussies...

    THE return of real Lancashire rain in the past few days has put moorland and forest fires to the back of our minds again. But it shouldn’t. The past two winters have forced us to have a long hard look at how to cope with ice and snow and our preparedness

  • Old letter highlights Burnley Oval delay

    COUNCIL bosses expected work to begin on a yet-to-be-built shopping centre in 2005. Planning chiefs at Burnley Council wrote to traders in 2004 warning them about disruption caused by the proposed Oval shopping centre in Curzon Street in the town centre

  • Villagers’ concern over rehab centre no surprise

    FINDING the best solution to the reintegration of sex offenders and paedophiles back into society is always going to be a thorny issue. Offenders have to go somewhere when they come out of prison. And it is in everyone’s interests that they continue

  • Burnley knifeman robber locked up

    A THUG who wielded a knife and robbed a boy of his new mountain bike is behind bars for 18 months. William Sutherland, 17, had threatened to stab the 15-year-old victim, and had then ridden off on his £450 Christmas present, after swiping the knife across

  • Colne market car boot plans face refusal

    PLANS for a car boot sale on the Saturday outdoor market in Colne are set to be shelved. The idea was mooted by the Colne Town Centre Forum in a bid to boost footfall at the market and in the town centre. They said numbers had suffered from

  • 4am bid to foil rogue anglers in Nelson

    Pre-dawn patrols are being carried out by police in a bid to catch poachers at a beauty spot in Nelson. Illegal fishing at Walverden Reservoir, off Brunswick Street, has led community beat manager Mark Dibb to start his shift at 4am in a bid to foil

  • Probe into fire at former Padiham mill site

    A FIRE which spread through derelict properties connected to a former mill in Padiham is being investigated. Firefighters spent an hour tackling the blaze at the eyesore Perseverance Mill site at around 9pm on Monday night. The fire had started in

  • Pledge for more police on streets in Nelson

    AN improved police presence has been pledged for Nelson when the town’s police station reopens its doors. Store owners and traders in the Pendle town have expressed concern about the number of officers patrolling the main shopping streets in recent weeks

  • Holland’s Pies boss leaves post

    THE boss of Holland’s Pies has left the company – less than a year after the controversial exit of the man he replaced. Ed Hyslop is a high-profile casualty of the management restructure by Ranjit Boparan, the new owner of Holland’s parent

  • Lancashire prison van escapee recaptured

    A convict who went on the run after climbing out of the skylight of a prison van in Lancashire has been arrested. Police warned the public not to approach John Paul Williams, who was serving an indeterminate sentence for robbery, after the incident in

  • New Clitheroe mayor sworn in after election drama

    THE new mayor of Clitheroe has been sworn in after a whirlwind week which saw the person set for the post dumped by the voters at the elections. Sue Knox, a councillor for the past four years, was elected as mayor following an emergency meeting

  • Appeal as Hyndburn business scheme runs out of cash

    ELEVEN new companies were founded by a scheme to equip disabled people with business skills. Hyndburn New Steps was funded by Hyndburn Council’s working neighbourhoods fund (WNF) grant, a cash pot designed to help people back into work.

  • Palace Shield: Four fun for bowl star Rob in win

    ROB Bolton claimed four wickets as Houghton claimed a fine Palace Shield win over Fylde seconds on Saturday. Bolton claimed 4-30 and was aided by Andrew Taylor (2-9) and Josh Holland (2-22) as Fylde were 80 all out. And then Darren Eccles took over

  • True Blues will roar Rovers on

    AT this vital stage in the season it is imperative that all Blackburn Rovers fans get behind their team. And the overwhelming majority will be dismayed and angry at the idea of any true Blues selling their tickets to Manchester United fans. With

  • Read ace Will closing in on a return to action for favourites

    STAR batsman Will Driver is closing in on a return to action – and says he can’t wait to pick up a bat for the first time since September. Read’s 22-year-old former Accrington professional has been sidelined after undergoing a winter shoulder operation

  • MPs’ seats by the back door

    In reply to David Green (LT, May 5), AV presupposes that choices 2, 3, 4, 5 are all acceptable to me. Not so. If I vote for a candidate, he or she is the one I wish to represent me in Parliament. None of the others may well be suitable. AV

  • Talking Cricket: Give the county stars a shot in the league

    SURREY batsman Michael Brown returned to his roots on Saturday as he turned out for Burnley CC in the Lancashire League against Rishton. Yet instead of celebrating the fact that a player who has carved out a decade-long county career chose not to forget

  • Former Lancashire League pro pops back for pint

    Former East Lancashire, Church and Ramsbottom professional Ian Callen had a pint with old mates on Monday when he called into Alexandra Meadows. The Australian, whose raw pace and energy delighted fans across the league, is now a bat manufacturer

  • Farewell – with my thanks

    Following the local elections, can I thank the electorate of Irwell Ward, Bacup, for allowing me to act as their representative since 1998. It has at times been hard work, but extremely satisfying and I would like to think I have in a small way contributed

  • Biographer in family search

    I am writing a biography of my late father, Professor E J H Corner (1906-1996), who was Emeritus Professor of Tropical Botany at Cambridge. Soon after his arrival in Singapore in 1929, my father met William Birtwistle who was Director of Fisheries,

  • No closer to democracy

    Last week the Coalition Government generously granted the electorate a referendum on how in future we elect our MPs. The AV vote, which would have offered voters and the smaller parties a greater degree of democracy, failed to resonate, so the first

  • Stanley in the play-offs: Reds looking for full-house

    ACCRINGTON Stanley are confident of a sell-out crowd for their play-off semi final second leg against Stevenage next week after tickets went on open sale last night. Tickets go on sale at the club from 10am today after online sales commenced at 8pm yesterday

  • Santa Cruz keen for permanent Blackburn Rovers switch

    Loan striker Roque Santa Cruz has admitted he would like to seal a permanent Blackburn Rovers move from Manchester City this summer. The Paraguayan striker said: "The loan ends this summer and I need to see how it goes. "But once I finish

  • Darwen pupils in £2,000 plea for competition finals

    FOUR Darwen primary school pupils need £2,000 to represent the UK in a global competition. For eight months, Troy, Caitlin, Catriona and Tia, have practised their critical thinking and problem- solving skills at St Joseph’s RC Primary’s after-school

  • ‘Crunch’ meeting on For Darwen Party's future

    THE future of the For Darwen Party will be decided at a ‘crunch’ meeting tonight. The party, formed in 2007 to fight for town issues, has lost several councillors in recent months, and on Thursday leader Tony Melia lost his Sunnyhurst seat. It is

  • Morecambe target Burnley veteran Alexander for manager's post

    MANAGERLESS Morecambe could be on the verge of making a move for 1,000-game veteran Graham Alexander as they seek a replacement for Sammy McIlroy. The Shrimps are understood to be keen to make the 39-year-old Burnley midfielder their player-manager

  • Silentnight's custom-made bed gives Mr World strong support

    AN EAST Lancashire bed company had a challenge on its hands when it was asked to make a made-to-measure bed for Mr World. Bodybuilder Neale Cranwell, who lives in Essex, has had problems finding a bed that is suitable for his 18-stone muscular frame,

  • Plans to house sex offenders near playground in Rossendale

    OUTRAGED residents are fighting plans to house paedophiles and sex offenders just a few hundred yards from a children’s play area. Bosses at the hostel want to extend their services to convicted sex offenders as well as to ex-offenders with mental health

  • Local newspapers tell the real story on the ground

    Living as we do with 24-hour media, and the ability to contact and be contacted at any time of day no matter where we are in the world, means the word community and local have experienced a shift on their axis. This is perhaps more accentuated

  • Rent out your garden

    THIS summer, sporting, musical and culture fans will be looking for accommodation that’s handy and affordable close to the main event. Warmer weather makes camping an attractive option, but mainstream campsites are often overcrowded and inconveniently

  • Protect your deposit warning

    TENANTS are being urged to check as figures show that up to a million with combined deposits worth up to £1billion are missing out on deposit protection. Petty’s, the residential sales and lettings agent with offices in Burnley, said the number of

  • Market confidence 'remains high'

    THE Worldwide Property Group has revealed that confidence in property both here and abroad remains high. It’s latest confidence survey focused on a number of areas such as house price and interest rate expectations, general confidence, buying intentions