Archive

  • Plans for Clitheroe to get its first pole dancing studio

    THE owner of the first pole dancing studio in the Ribble Valley is looking to move into the centre of Clitheroe. Dance Finesse Ltd is based in Waddington, but owner Serena Smith, 26, has made an offer for a new studio space in Green Acre Street

  • Barrowford-based firms’ leaders on target for charity

    A CHARITY which helps people communicate has been boosted by sharp-shooting business leaders. Barrowford-based Denwa Communications hosted a clay shooting day to raise cash for Speakeasy, which helps people overcome communication problems after

  • Great Harwood residents called to clean-up

    GREAT Harwood residents are being asked to join in a community clean-up on October 12, to help spruce up the Railway Terrace and Clayton Street areas. Skips, funded by Great Harwood Area Council, will be in place in the area and members of the

  • Sightings of mink near River Calder

    SEVERAL new sightings of an unwanted transatlantic invader have been made in East Lancashire. American mink have been spotted in, and around, the River Calder by the Lancashire Invasive Species Projects in recent weeks. The observations have

  • Road safety pilot could be rolled out

    A ROAD safety scheme currently being piloted in Hyndburn could be rolled out across the rest of East Lancashire, and beyond, if it is a success. Child Safe Plus is an initiative being run at borough schools for Year 6 pupils, at the request of

  • Former serviceman set to raise money for Royal British Legion

    AN ex-serviceman is to take on a charity motorcycle ride this weekend on a new state-of-the-art Harley Davidson. Paul Carter, 52, will join the Ride to the Wall event, which sees thousands of motorcyclists gather at the National Memorial Arboretum

  • Pendleside Hospice ball funds top £1,700

    A CABARET ball in aid of Pendleside Hospice held in Barrowford has raised £1,700 for the charity. Organisers Keith Varley and Martin Mcarthy wish to thank the Sparrow Hawk, Turners, Roaming Roosters, Sara Hargreaves Hairdressing, John Clegg, Marsden

  • Follow-up West Craven artisan fair planned

    A SECOND artisan fair is to take place in West Craven after the first event was hailed a success. Customers lined up to take advantage of the Artisan crafts on sale. Following on from this success, the next fair will be on Saturday, October

  • Tweets aim to smash North West Ambulance Service myths

    AMBULANCE chief Bob Williams said a new Twitter campaign will help ‘break down the myths’ around 999 services. The North West Ambulance Service [NWAS] wants patients to realise that ambulances are no longer sent to all incidents, and do not always

  • LVA gives mementos of Burnley

    THE Licensed Victuallers Association of Burnley has donated historic items to Towneley Hall, to mark its 150th anniversary and ensure the association is remembered for years to come. Items include the president’s chain of office and two rosebowl

  • While It’s Still Legal Steve Hughes comes to Blackburn

    GIVEN Steve Hughes’ reputation for forthright and, at times, outrageous comedy, it was with some trepidation that I asked him to explain the title of his show, While It’s Still Legal, which comes to Blackburn next week. While what is still legal

  • Hopes high for new food court in Accrington

    ACCRINGTON town centre is set to benefit from a new lease of life if plans for a new food court at the Arndale Centre are approved next week. The owners of the centre have applied for planning permission to change vacant shops into food outlets

  • Wheels came off rock rollercoaster

    JUST sitting with Mick Spencer, talking and drinking tea in the kitchen of his Blackburn home, does more to rekindle the old deep enthusiasm for rock music than the swirl of incoherent energy that is the predominant language of some of today’s X-Factor

  • PUB OF THE WEEK: Molloy’s, Blackburn

    Mark Briggs has been a real ale connoisseur for over 35 years.  A self-professed ‘beer geek’, Mark visits East Lancashire’s pubs for his weekly column. Read of Mark’s adventures in ale at his blog realaleupnorth.blogspot.com or follow him on Twitter

  • Tribute band’s double dose from Madchester

    THE music of Madchester will be coming to Colne Muni next Friday night with a special double bill. The Total Stone Roses will play a set of all of the best Roses material including She Bangs The Drums, Fools Gold and Waterfall. This talented

  • Variety show aims to raise the roof at Thwaites Empire Theatre

    A FEAST of variety is heading to the Thwaites Empire Theatre, Blackburn, later this month when veteran comedian Des Day hosts a special fundraising show. Razzle-Dazzle Showtime will help raise money for the theatre’s roof appeal which aims to raise

  • Metal I.C.O.N.s heading home

    BURNLEY-based metal band I.C.O.N. will be returning for a special hometown show tomorrow night. The band will play Sanctuary on Cow Lane, supported by Stone Cold Kill. This summer the band have played at rock festivals across the UK and they

  • Shivver me timbers! It’s panto fun ahoy

    WHO said pantos were just for Christmas? For the October half term, Blackpool’s North Pier will be staging Dick Whittington and the Haunted Pirate Ship, an action adventure espcially aimed at the family audience. The show has all the ingredients

  • Competition for Clitheroe retailers

    A PROPOSED new superstore in Clitheroe has been hailed as creating greater competition in the town. Supermarket chain Aldi is considering building a new store, and a non-retail unit, on the former Barker’s Nursery site, off Whalley Road. A

  • Minister’s visit ‘a great opportunity’

    RIBBLE Valley MP Nigel Evans has welcomed a minister’s visit to the borough as a ‘fantastic opportunity’. Planning minister Nick Boles visited the borough last week and held a series of meeting with councillors and residents’ action groups.

  • Haslingden Pool will close doors for the last time

    HASLINGDEN Pool will shut its doors for the last time on Sunday, November, 3. The decision to shut the baths in East Bank Avenue, which opened in the 1930s, was decided at a council meeting last week after a consultation period of more than two

  • Mortuary set to be closed at Burnley General Hospital

    CONTROVERSIAL plans to close, and demolish, a mortuary at Burnley General Hospital look set to go ahead next year. According to East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor, hospital bosses have ‘no intention’ of retaining the mortuary, and want the

  • Lib Dems storm out in Darwen heritage centre rumpus

    LIBERAL Democrat councillors stormed out of the monthly meeting of Darwen Town Council in a row over a proposed heritage centre for the town. They were furious that details of the idea, being looked into by Labour councillor Brian Taylor, were

  • Pendle MP: HS2 cash ‘would just go to London’

    PENDLE’S Lib Dem peer Lord Tony Greaves has hit back at comments by Labour prospective candidate Azhar Ali over the high speed rail scheme. Mr Ali said he wanted to see the HS2 project scrapped and some of the money spent instead on railway projects

  • Hairdresser found Ramsbottom woman dead after stairs plunge

    A ROSSENDALE woman died after she fell down the stairs at her farmyard cottage, an inquest heard. Marlene Bernice Walsh, 72, suffered multiple fractures to her skull when she fell at her home in Buckhurst Road, Walmersley, on the rural outskirts

  • Access to health care in Hyndburn on the agenda

    RESIDENTS have been urged to have their say on access to health care in Hyndburn. Cabinet member for health and communities, Coun Pam Barton, spoke out as East Lancashire health chiefs launched a consultation process to find out how often local

  • Deadline looms in ‘best shop’ contest

    DARWEN’S MP has launched a fresh plea for residents to get behind independent shops in the final week of a competition to crown the area’s best. The competition, organised by Jake Berry, runs until 5pm on Friday and has been asking local people

  • Accrington Stanley sign Blackpool winger James Caton on loan

    ACCRINGTON Stanley have signed teenage Blackpool winger James Caton on a one-month loan deal. The 19-year-old, who has made one appearance for the Seasiders in the Championship this season, will go straight into the Stanley squad for tomorrow's

  • Help for carers in Lancashire

    A PILOT project to help carers access more services is set to be rolled out across Lancashire. Work has been ongoing in North and Central Lancashire, which has seen carers’ needs assessed by carers’ centres, instead of county council social workers

  • Jail term for Burnley man's ASBO breach

    AN alcoholic sent to a Christian-run rehabilitation centre, left the establishment, got drunk and flouted an anti-social behaviour order after getting fed up of reading the Bible, a court heard. Prolific thief and nuisance Antony Cross, 40, was

  • Ribble Valley old haunt is up for sale

    AN 18th century pub has been put up for sale — and it comes with its own ghostly resident. The Punch Bowl in Hurst Green was visited by highwaymen Dick Turpin and Ned King in the late 1730s and the ghost of ‘Old Ned’ is said to still roam the pub

  • Education key to cut A&E queues in Blackburn

    PATIENT champion Russ McLean said the NHS should do more to educate the public about health services. The chairman of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group said more patient education could help ease pressure on Blackburn’s emergency room

  • Shock at third raid on Accrington mosque

    POLICE want to speak to this man after a mosque was targeted by burglars for the third time this year. Senior members of the Faizan-e-Madina mosque in Richmond Road, Accrington, have been left ‘shocked and upset’ by the incidents, having already

  • Blog: Legalised drugs not the answer

    THE British war on drugs has been going on for nearly two centuries, I told a bemused American friend earlier this week, adding that for a large part of that time it was a war pushing drugs, not trying to eliminate them. We were discussing the

  • Burnley FC blog: Heaton has been brolly good deal

    HE arrived twirling an umbrella, like a modern day Mary Poppins. Unlike Danny Ings or Sam Vokes, he has scored no goals and provided no assists. But it is no coincidence that Burnley’s rise to the top of the Championship table has happened following

  • Blackburn girl jailed for race abuse

    A VULNERABLE 20-year-old woman who was given a final chance by magistrates after they heard how she had been the target of sexual predators is behind bars. Blackburn magistrates heard Jasmine Astin shouted racist abuse at an Asian couple less than

  • Team spirit helps Blackburn Rovers up table

    BLACKBURN Rovers boss Gary Bowyer hailed his side’s superb 1-0 victory over Watford as a true team effort. Bowyer was quick to credit Jordan Rhodes for his 65th-minute winner and centre-backs Scott Dann and Grant Hanley for keeping the Championship’s

  • Mentality key to Burnley progress

    BURNLEY boss Sean Dyche says getting the basics right and a winning mentality have been key factors in the club’s rise to the top of the Championship table. The Clarets moved into first place with a 2-0 win at Doncaster on Tuesday night. But the boss

  • Jane Horrocks sings praises of her indie heroes

    EAST Lancashire star Jane Horrocks is swapping acting for an indie singing career — by releasing covers of Joy Division and Morrissey tracks on iTunes. The Absolutely Fabulous star is self-releasing the songs by the Mancunian acts over the next

  • Clitheroe homes plan D-Day

    A CONTROVERSIAL application to construct 140 houses off Henthorn Road in Clitheroe looks set to be decided by borough councillors next week. Developer Strategic Land Group has applied for permission to construct the homes opposite a site where

  • Blog: Building things for the future

    Had a really busy few days. Busy, hectic, complex, satisfying. HealthWatch is set up by the government to act as a local "Watchdog" for things to do with our NHS & social care. We have £150k allocated to do this work for around 165,000

  • Muslim teens in beards row at Accrington high school

    TWO Muslim teenagers at a Roman Catholic school have been banned from lessons for refusing to shave off their beards. The 14-year-olds have been in ‘isolation’ at Mount Carmel High School in Accrington for almost a month, the school confirmed.

  • Action call over rodents rise in Blackburn town centre

    TRADERS’ leader Tony Duckworth and politicians have called on Blackburn with Darwen Council to tackle a growing town centre rat problem after a dead one was found in Railway Road. They fear the increase in the rodents around the Cathedral and Boulevard

  • Concern for welfare of Lancashire's former troops

    A VETERANS’ charity has urged the government to provide more mental health support in Lancashire after concerns over the welfare of ex-service men and women. Keith Hudson, spokesman for the North West-based Blue Apple Heroes charity said there

  • Spurr: Blackburn Rovers are good enough to go up

    TOMMY Spurr has urged his Blackburn Rovers team-mates to start believing they can push for promotion to the Premier League. The left-back believes Rovers have the players in their squad to ‘frighten’ any side in the Championship. But Spurr, pictured

  • We can hang on to top spot, says Burnley defender Trippier

    KIERAN Trippier believes Burnley are more than capable of holding on to top spot in the Championship – insisting their current league position is no fluke. Against all expectations at the start of the season, the Clarets moved top of the table with a

  • Burnley duo nominated for monthly awards

    BURNLEY manager Sean Dyche and defender Jason Shackell have been nominated for the Championship manager of the month and player of the month respectively. Dyche steered the Clarets to 10 points from four games in September and faces competition from

  • Woman injured falling off escalator in Blackburn

    A WOMAN pushing a pram was injured when she fell backwards off an escalator. The accident happened as the shopper, who was in her 50s, stepped on to the escalator leading from the market to The Mall in Blackburn. She suffered injuries to her

  • Thumbs-up for 46 new homes in Barnoldswick

    PLANS for 46 new homes on land in Barnoldswick are set to be approved by councillors next week. The scheme, for land off Valley Road, will be discussed by the West Craven Area Committee on Tuesday but planning officers have recommended it is approved

  • Welcome increase in recruitment of staff in East Lancashire

    EAST Lancashire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Mike Damms has hailed the growing number of local companies taking on new staff. Now he wants schools, colleges and training providers to meet the challenge of ensuring local people, especially

  • Blackburn Rovers wait on Dann injury scare

    BLACKBURN Rovers captain Scott Dann will today discover whether the injury he sustained in the win over Watford will rule him out of this weekend’s trip to Wigan. The centre back came off in injury time in Tuesday’s Ewood Park clash with the Hornets

  • Bacup woman in epic swim for love of cancer-hit friend

    A FORENSIC psychologist swam 43 miles in less than 48 hours to raise £2,200 to support her friend who has pancreatic cancer. Rebecca Jarre, 44, from Bacup, teamed up with seven other women and girls for the two-day challenge, travelling the 11C