The drama of a canal rescue made the front page headlines on this day, when the heroic actions of a 15-year-old boy and two ambulancemen saved a teenager’s life.

Leslie Dean, 15, of Peel Close, Blackburn, had fallen into the water at a spot off Hollin Bridge Street, but his friend Paul Corlass of Bonsall Street, Mill Hill, along with passers-by who heard the splashing, pulled him on to the canal bank to safety.

Within minutes leading ambulanceman Peter Cook and his colleague Philip Brierley arrived, to find that Leslie had stopped breathing.

They managed to revive him and then rushed him to Blackburn Royal Infirmary where he was reported to be comfortable.

Leslie and Paul, both pupils of Tullyallan School, Darwen, had been walking home from the Easter fair, when Leslie complained of feeling ill and fell headlong into the canal.

While the Queen attended a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey to mark the Royal Air Force’s diamond jubilee, in Blackburn, flight sergeant Michael McKeown, 17, hoisted the Air Training Corps standard outside the town hall.

A guard of honour was made up of colleagues from 1262 Blackburn Squadron of the ATC.

In national news, the country’s favourite steeplechaser Red Rum was pulled out of the Grand National, forcing punters to switch their bets. The legendary horse had already won three Nationals, in 1974, 1975 and 1977 and was a national treasure.

Meanwhile, union chiefs called on the government for measures in the Budget to combat the ‘horrifying’ problem of unemployment.