Archive

  • Club trip's Net gain

    MEMBERS of Blackburn Business Club will get the chance to "surf the Net" at their next meeting. The club will meet at Blackburn Technology Management Centre on March 21 to visit Internexus and Kite Computing to find out about the Internet. Converted for

  • MP Janet trails stalkers

    SINISTER stalkers who make people's lives a misery could soon be charged with a criminal offence following moves today by an East Lancashire MP. Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson (pictured) was introducing a Commons Bill which would create an easily

  • Council's cut-backs to hit services

    SERVICES are likely to be hit next year, as Pendle prepares for another 12 months of belt-tightening and cost-cutting. Councillor Tony Greaves, deputy leader of Pendle Council, warned the Liberal administration was already looking ahead to 1997/98 and

  • Harford's Russian spying mission!

    RAY Harford (pictured) travelled to France this afternoon to make a personal check on Spartak Moscow in European Cup action against Nantes tonight. The Blackburn Rovers boss is stepping up his efforts to make top-quality signings before the transfer deadline

  • Normal life

    ALTHOUGH research recently done by the British Epilepsy Association shows that one in 130 people has epilepsy, I believe that people do not not know enough about a condition that has the potential to touch their lives in some way. Many I have come into

  • Lobster's life

    IT'S AMAZING that some people are still inclined to believe the old wives' tale that lobsters suffer when placed in boiling water. Lobsters die instantly when dropped in boiling water. The high-pitched screaming sounds heard after a lobster, dead or alive

  • You won't forget my son, says mum

    A GRIEVING mum, whose baby son died in an intensive care bed 80 miles from his home, today pledged to continue her crusade to improve children's hospital facilities in East Lancashire. Helen Jackson has told health chiefs: "I won't let you forget my son

  • Violence threats gain house points

    PEOPLE who live under the threat of violence and harassment will get extra points, under a new system for letting council houses in Hyndburn. Town hall chiefs have decided to overhaul the system for letting their properties following a change in demand

  • 10 YEARS AGO: School fuel blaze

    POLICE were investigating a blaze that closed a Blackburn junior school. A fuel tank at St Luke's School ruptured in the heat of the blaze spewing hundreds of gallons of burning oil into the playground and columns of smoke into the air. Headteacher Mr

  • Law on stalking needed sooner rather than later

    THE FACT that the jailing of stalker Anthony Burstow was a rare, landmark conviction strongly suggests that a distinct offence should be on the law books to specifically combat this menace. We believe that this is the case rather than it proving, as Home

  • Bosses fight to 'keep it clean'

    RAIL-users and commuters have been travelling in grubby carriages because of the region's water shortage and local bus companies have been hit in their attempts to keep vehicles clean. British Rail's local and regional trains have been missing out on

  • David's test of courage

    BRAVE David Jarrad underwent a test of courage today while detectives continued to probe the mystery death of his father. David, 15, decided to go ahead with his GCSE art exam at St Christopher's School, Accrington, only six days after he found his dad

  • Taxpayers 'better off with Stagecoach' in bus sell-off

    THE final details of the controversial sale of Pendle Council's half share in Burnley and Pendle Transport have been agreed and contracts exchanged. The council's Liberal administration said the move to sell to bus giant Stagecoach was a good deal and

  • Open day celebrates birthday

    STAFF and customers celebrated the 10th birthday of ELMEC with an open day at the firm's new premises. The firm, which specialises in installing and refurbishing machinery for the printing industry, moved to a factory in Cotton Hall Street, Darwen, in

  • Top talks aim to improve road safety

    A MAJOR conference aimed at reducing road casualties in Lancashire was taking place today at Lancashire Constabulary headquarters. In line with other areas, casualties increased significantly in Lancashire in 1994 but showed a decrease in 1995. The conference

  • Heirlooms left in will

    CHARITIES and good causes have benefited in the will of a Ribble Valley woman. Miss Margaret Bennett Greenall, who died in November at the age of 88, left estate valued at £147,404 and a large number of antique furniture items which had been family heirlooms

  • 'Magnificent'

    BLACKBURN Museum and Art Gallery is described in the 1995/96 Times guide as "a magnificent arts and crafts building, opened 1874, containing treasures bequeathed by cotton-rich patrons from the area's industrial heyday: paintings, manuscripts, books,

  • Handwriting

    WILLIAM Shakespeare once wrote: "Write till your ink be dry, and with your tears - moist it again." I believe if Shakespeare could return he would shed more than a few tears on seeing some of the so-called handwriting circulating in this day and age.

  • Extension plan bites the dust

    AFTER 25 years, plans to extend the M65 from Colne to Keighley have finally been scrapped. The county council has agreed the draft Lancashire Structure Plan which put the final nail in the coffin of the proposed trans-Pennine route. "After all these years

  • £60 a week is fair, says boss in pay row

    A FACTORY boss has hit back at an MP's claims that a job offered at his business was "scandalously low paid." Peter Cunliffe, proprietor of Babywise Mattress Factory, Duckworth Street, Darwen, said the general assistant's position for a 16-year-old advertised

  • Euro nest egg

    PLANS by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to provide facilities to watch birds at its Marshside Nature Reserve have attracted £25,000 from the European Regional Development Fund. Marshside forms part of the extensive Ribble estuary and is

  • Museum policy

    IN DEFENCE of plans to close Blackburn Museum every morning because of spending cuts, Coun Jack Fairless (LET, February 28) states that it is Labour policy to look after local people who are less fortunate in terms of employment and income. Who does he

  • Injuries group

    HEADWAY, National Head Injuries Association, wishes to make it clear that they are not in any way associated or affiliated to the recently-formed Lancashire Head Injury Association. Potential donors of money or gifts in kind should be aware that if they

  • Fireman hurt in 'death trap' works blaze

    A FIREFIGHTER was injured in a blaze at an empty warehouse that has been branded a death trap. And today the new owners of the former Warwick and Bailey works in Richmond Hill Street, Accrington, pledged to transform the building into luxury flats. Fire

  • Darwen show they have right spirit

    DETERMINED Darwen bounced back twice from a goal down to earn a well-deserved draw at The Anchor. It was much needed after the disappointing performance and defeat against Blackpool at the weekend. Paul Ireland gave the visitors the lead on 53 minutes

  • CHORLEY 4, BOREHAM WOOD 3 (after extra time)

    THE Wembley dream lives on for Chorley and their ecstatic supporters after a heart stopping and hotly contested FA Umbro Trophy third round replay at Victory Park last night. The never-say-die Magpies came from behind in extra time to snatch victory from

  • Give walkers a chance

    WE HAVE been fortunate recently to have a most welcome spell of almost spring-like sunshine. For many retired citizens, who have largely been confined to the house through the ravages of winter, it has been an ideal opportunity to stretch their legs.

  • Town hall's top jobs to go?

    TOP jobs at Ribble Valley Borough Council could go after councillors have ordered a full review of the management structure. A move by the Liberal Democrats to push for an immediate review of top posts was backed by lone Labour member Bert Jones and,

  • 5 YEARS AGO: Building society raid

    A BUILDING society cashier was held at gun-point and told to hand over cash during a town centre raid. The 21-year-old woman from the Bradford and Bingley, in King William Street, Blackburn, placed a "substantial amount" of cash into a plastic bag held

  • Shoot meddler down

    THE government has decided to upgrade the RAF's ageing Tornado warplanes rather than renting American fighters as a stop-gap measure while the new European Fighter Aircraft is ready. That is the right decision. It lifts the threat to thousands of jobs

  • Cot death tragedy

    OUR HEART goes out to the young couple from Accrington whose baby's tragic cot death you reported (LET, January 18). This is a terrible reminder that the cot death problem is still not solved: with ten babies dying every week, it remains the leading cause

  • Could this Euro fishing row sink John Major?

    THE GOVERNMENT is heading for deep water over fish - or possibly even to the rocks. It has lambasted as "crazy" the European Court ruling that allows Spanish fishermen to sue Britain for banning them from UK waters. But it may not be able to protest hard

  • CRICKET: Opposition grows to new board

    A NEW board to oversee grass roots cricket in Lancashire comes into being next month despite a wave of opposition. The formation of the Lancashire Cricket Board has left a sour taste in the mouths of local league officials. The LCB aims to take over the

  • Children torch chemical drums

    CHILDREN diced with death when they set fire to drums of highly flammable chemicals in a disused furniture factory. The blaze ripped through the former Wood Fabrication factory in Marsh House Lane, Darwen, last night. Firefighters from Blackburn and Darwen

  • Patients evacuated from hospital ward

    ELDERLY patients were evacuated from their hospital beds after a fire broke out in a storeroom. About 10 patients were moved out of ward seven at Blackburn Royal Infirmary when smoke from the small fire threatened to spread on to the ward. The cause of

  • What a drag! Anti-cigs display wrecked

    HEALTH campaigners have told students to get knotted after they messed up their anti-smoking display. Hospital chiefs commissioned Burnley College arts team to create a giant packet of cigarettes and box of matches to illustrate this year's No Smoking

  • Knives: Cops get right to search schools

    THE police were today given new powers to enter schools and arrest anyone carrying a knife The Government unveiled proposals that would give them extra powers to enter school premises without invitation for the first time and to stop and search pupils

  • John's story in TV spotlight

    THE fight to give brain-injured youngster John Aspinall a better future is being spotlighted tonight on national television. John's story is being screened as part of the BBC1 programme How Do They Do That? at 8pm. A film crew spent a day with 13-year-old

  • Ex-BAe sites go for £2.75m

    TWO former British Aerospace sites have been sold in a £2.75 million deal. The Emerson Group has bought 13.5 acres at West Strand Road, Preston, with planning consent for industrial and retail use. And a further 3.5 acres at Riversway in the town has