HEADTEACHERS have backed their staff after the chief inspector of education watchdog Ofsted claimed teachers did not know the meaning of stress. Sir Michael Wilshaw warned that the country did not need school leaders whose first instinct was to blame
A "HEAVY user" set up a £12,000 cannabis farm at his Burnley home with an inheritance, a court was told. John Parkinson, 49, an ex-heroin addict, had been growing 60 plants in two rooms, with heating and lighting. Parkinson, said to use the
THIS year’s Darwen Live will feature a youth stage for the first time in the festival’s 13-year history. It will have a heavy metal feel, and organisers have teamed up with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation for the event. The stage will be inside
CHILDREN in East Lancashire will still receive specialist music education after funding was secured to save it. Blackburn with Darwen Council’s music and performing arts service was under threat and 25 jobs were at risk when bosses were unsure
A PENSIONER collapsed and died outside a shop in Haslingden this morning. An ambulance was called to the Co-operative shop in John Street at 9.10am. The man, believed to be aged 65, suffered a cardiac arrest and was given CPR and defibrillator
EAST Lancashire Hospice are hosting a raffle - giving you the chance to win £5000 cash and the MINI Coupe for a year. Take a look at the video below. PICTURE CAPTION: Russell Kerr, Bowkers business development manager for Mini,
theatre MISS JULIE — Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, until tomorrow. THE QUEEN OF THE NORTH — Octagon Theatre, Bolton, until Saturday, May 26. MURDER ON THE NILE — The Lowry, Salford Quays, Tuesday, until tomorrow. RAINING MEN — The Muni, Colne
ALL IN GOOD TIME (12A). Running time: 93 mins Starring: Reece Ritchie, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Meera Syal, Neet Mohan Director: Nigel Cole. LOVE won’t necessarily tear you apart, but it will certainly inflict some serious bruising. Set in
FILM-making brothers Jay and Mark Duplass, two key exponents of the low-budget mumblecore movement, err dangerously close to the mainstream with this quirky comedy of ill manners. Like their previous work, Jeff, Who Lives At Home is distinguished by
GIVEN the number of fast food establishments in Blackburn’s Darwen Street, it seems perhaps understandable that a regular diner of donners could actually stumble across one that has not been tried before. Pyramids has been on the neon mecca of kebab
ICONIC children’s TV show Blue Peter will be filmed live in Burnley next month. Presenters Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood will be broadcasting live from Towneley Park as part of a nationwide tour following the Olympic Torch relay. The town is
A MAJOR project to buy empty homes and renovate them for the rental market has been announced for a ‘crumbling’ part of Accrington. A public meeting has been announced for next week to unveil long-awaited improvements for Woodnook. Residents
PAULINE Black was arguably the most influential woman on the male-dominated 2-Tone music scene. Renowned for reflecting the social and political issues of the 1980s and giving a voice to disaffected youth across the racial divide through their
BLACKBURN is to host a one-day punk festival in October. Early-bird tickets for the event at King George’s Hall go on sale at 10am today priced £12.50. The official line-up has yet to be announced but a minimum of five bands will play live at the
WHEN Heidi Talbot comes to Burnley Mechanics next month fans will get a sneak preview of her new album. For Heidi, one of the top singers on the folk scene at the moment, will be showcasing many songs from the, as yet, unrecorded album. “After
AUDIENCES often appreciate the effort performers put in to stage a concert but few have ever given quite as much as pianist Anthony Hewitt. For Anthony, dubbed the Olympianist, who comes to the Grand in Clitheroe next Friday is cycling from venue to
IT may be early to be getting in the Christmas spirit but details of two of East Lancashire’s most popular festive shows have been announced. The area’s biggest family pantomime at King George’s Hall, Blackburn, will see children’s favourite Phil Walker
WELL you can’t accuse the Beeb of under-selling Tuesday’s Great British Menu in their trailers. “The most dramatic scenes ever seen on Great British Menu,” said the announcer in breathy tones. Well, she certainly had a point. For we had a strop
A CAR wash manager is offering a £500 reward to anybody who can help find the person who caused £2,000 of damage to his Blackburn business. Awat Peerot, who runs Express Hand Car Wash, in King Street, said six advertising signs had been vandalised,
IT is an interesting time to be Rory Bremner. As a satirist and commentator, he admits that the current political situation is full of potential material. “Oh let’s face it, the wheels have come off spectacularly all over the place,” he said. “Politics
I enjoy reading the recipes in the food section of the Lancashire Telegraph, but why aren’t there more vegan recipes? By going vegan, an individual can help to end animal suffering, reduce their carbon footprint and boost their health. What other
The cuts to local council services that are being made will damage our local community, threaten jobs and hurt our local economy. People rely on local council services to improve and maintain the area where they live, turning collections of houses
VIRTUALLY every youngster has a mobile phone today and the technology is an essential part of their daily lives. Parents want their sons and daughters to be contactable too. Smartphones have become a vital tool but their use has to be controlled
HEALTH campaigners are offering a day of blood pressure checks to combat the biggest cause of strokes. As part of Action on Stroke Month, Stroke Association staff will be offering checks and stroke information, at an event in Accrington. Participants
THE Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles will travel together on a barge along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal while they are in Burnley. The Royal party will travel from Finsley Gate wharf to Sandygate on the barge, and the public will be able
RESIDENTS in the Ribble Valley are being asked to boost recycling in the borough with battery power. Ribble Valley Council has put battery recycling bins in place to help tackle pollution, which is caused when batteries are discarded in landfill.
BLACKBURN and Burnley will hosting a Catholic church bell which has been blessed by the Pope as part of a year-long tour of Europe. Organisers said a quarter of a million Irish pilgrims had rung the bell since the start of its pilgrimage last March
CONTROVERSIAL plans to inscribe ‘1612’ into Pendle Hill, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the witches trials, have been rejected as ‘inappropriate’. Barrowford artist Phillippe Handford had been commissioned to spray the date in 500-foot
THE family of a semi-professional footballer left with a permanent brain injury after being attacked outside a nightclub have backed a Lancashire Telegraph campaign aimed at stamping out alcohol fuelled violence. John Edgington, the father of 26-year-old
THE last remaining British National Party councillor in East Lancashire has said he is ready to work closely with his new Conservative colleague. Defeat for Adam Grant in Nelson’s Marsden ward at last week’s borough elections left Coun Brian Norton
OKAY, this has been the most depressing week ever. If getting relegated wasn’t bad enough we now have to sit back and watch the whole drama played out in front of the world. The worse thing is most people knew we were heading in the wrong direction
LANCASHIRE has higher rates of dementia and depression than the national average, new figures revealed today. The Community Mental Health Profile 2012 for Lancashire showed the county performed significantly worse than the England average for a number
CAMPAIGNERS fighting the proposed development of a wind farm in Weir must object to the plans AGAIN. Angry residents in the village have already opposed the idea twice – and their fears were backed by councillours who voted unanimously to refuse
HEADTEACHERS in East Lancashire already take a tough stance on mobile phone use during the school day, as Ofsted plans to ban them in classrooms. It comes as the education watchdog’s chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw said that mobile
A BRITISH Heart Foundation appeal aiming to fund vital equipment for East Lancashire patients has hit the jackpot. The Heart of Blackburn Appeal has reached its goal of £128,000 which wll see a new 3D echocardiograph machine for Royal Blackburn Hospital
ROSSENDALE MP Jake Berry welcomed the policies outlined in the Queen’s Speech on Wednesay, where her Majesty formally opened the Parliamentary session. He said: “The first priority in the Queen’s speech is to reduce the deficit and restore economic
DOZENS of motorcyclists came to Burnley yesterday as bikers bade farewell to a rider killed in a road accident. Jeremy White, known to his many friends as ‘Jez’, was travelling home from work last month along the A682 Gisburn Road, Blacko, when his
LANCASHIRE Fire and Rescue Service’s sickness absence reached a record low last year with average absences below four per person. Chief fire officer Peter Holland said the service has set itself a annual target of fewer than five days on average for
PUBLIC sector workers across East Lancashire went out on strike yesterday over plans to alter pensions. Thousands of people took industrial action over Government plans to increase their pension contributions and extend the length of time people are
A NATIONAL charity is donating wheelchairs to East Lancashire Hospitals to help patients with disabilities and health problems move around. Path to Success is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities and health problems
STAFF at one of East Lancashire’s top schools are ‘fighting’ moves by bosses towards making it an academy. More than 60 staff have written expressing ‘grave’ concerns to the chair of governors at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School about the idea.
EAST Lancashire’s miserable May weather is set to continue, with experts revealing that we have already had a month’s worth of rain in just three days. The area has already been hit by a bizarre series of weather conditions this year, with
NEW owners have saved a troubled farm shop after it went into administration. The future of Huntley’s of Samlesbury was thrown into doubt after the business, at Huntley Gate Farm, Whalley Road, Samlesbury, appointed administrators Leonard Curtis on
LANCASHIRE police handed out more than 200 on the spot fines to drunken and abusive young women last year, 10 times more than in other parts of the country. The figures are from health campaign group Balance, which is now calling for an urgent review
EX-Rishton star Richard Rostron will make a temporary return to his old club starting tomorrow after Foster’s Lancashire League chiefs gave the all-rounder the all-clear to play during a month back in the UK. The 28-year-old, who was also the first professional
RIBBLESDALE League leaders Barnoldswick aim to extend their near perfect start to the 2012 season tomorrow on a day when old team-mates collide. Matthew Nutter’s Barlick have impressed so far this term with four wins and one abandonment from their five
A SITE visit is due to take place next week to look at the possibility of reopening a footpath in Brierfield that has been closed for two years. The section of path on Higher Reedley Road, near the Marsden Cross Inn, has been closed since a
CHORLEY’S Nick Dougherty returned from a six-week absence from competition to post an encouraging first round score at the Madeira Islands Open yesterday. The Shaw Hill professional, who is looking forward to the birth of his first child, is up against
UNDER fire Blackburn Rovers boss Steve Kean has defended his activity in the transfer market after blaming the previous regime for the need to balance the books. The Rovers boss spoke defiantly about his bid to build a squad for next season capable of
LUKE Joyce believes Accrington Stanley could benefit from a summer of stability – a year after the Reds’ squad was decimated by the departure of several key players. Remarkably, Joyce was the only player remaining from Stanley’s play-off line-up 12 months
TWO women have been attacked as thieves tried to steal their huskies – and dog baiters are thought to be the prime suspects. One woman was left with a bloody nose after she was punched in the face by a would-be dog thief as she took her pet for a
A supporters’ campaign to bring Blackburn Rovers into community ownership will give all fans the first opportunity to get all the facts about their bid. The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Investment Trust (BRSIT) is inviting all supporters to its first
POLICE have launched a licence review against a Nelson pub after a 20-person street brawl. During the incident, at the Bull Hotel, Scotland Road, shortly after 3am on March 17, a doorman wielded a baseball bat and a customer had a plank of wood.
STATISTICS released today show that hundreds of children across Lancashire have been waiting longer than the national average to be placed with adoptive families. Figures released by the Department of Education show that nationwide children
EWOOD Park staff have been left fearing for their jobs after Venky’s suggested the sacking of deputy chief executive Paul Hunt was the start of a series of cost- cutting measures. Hunt was dismissed from his post on Wednesday morning after an explosive
TWO match programmes from the last time Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup in 1928 are set to be sold at auction. The rare copies are expected to fetch around £600 at Sotherby’s in London next week. Rovers won the match 3-1 against Huddersfield Town
THERE will be few, if any, shocks once Burnley’s retained list – or rather released list – is made public. The contracts of seven senior professionals were due to expire this summer. One has already been finalised, with long-serving defender Michael
JASON Tindall is hoping to avoid a repeat of the late summer sales which he feels hindered the start of Burnley’s season. Speculation surrounding the future of top scorer Jay Rodriguez has mounted since the campaign drew to a dis-appointing
ONE of two men involved in a savage attack in which their victim was kicked, punched and was said to have been set upon by a dog, has been jailed for two years. Burnley Crown Court heard how Andrew Keays received a broken left jaw, smashed left eye
POLICE have seized 46 cannabis plants after they were discovered at homes in Blackburn and Darwen. Officers found 36 plants in the loft and back bedroom of a house in Whalley Old Road, Blackburn, on Wednesday. Cannabis and cultivation
A 21-year-old woman who has links to Colne has been found. Rebecca Sumner was reported missing on Wednesday, and at 11.50am in the Wyke area of Bradford but has since been found safe and well.
A MINOR earthquake struck 17kms under the ground in the Burnley area on Bank Holiday Monday – but nobody in the town said they felt it. The British Geological Survey recorded the tremor at 9.20pm north east of the town, near Fence. It measured 1.6
WITH the weather as cold and damp as it was, Tony Blackburn could be forgiven for wishing his surname was Barbados. As part of, 2Day, a 12-hour on-air celebration of BBC Radio Two, the 69-year-old DJ broadcast a one-hour show from his namesake town
JOBS at BAE’s Samlesbury plant have been secured after a government U-turn over development of the Harrier Jump Jet. Following a Defence Review, the Government decided to cancel the development of the Jump Jet, which is worked on at BAE Systems at
