SIR: Thinking about this Tory Government's shocking social and economic record, my thoughts went back to that period now named the 'Hungry Thirties', to a pie-eating contest that took place at a pub in the district of Halliwell. I must compare the eventual
BURNLEY fans aiming to sit in the upper tier of the new North Stand next season will have to pay the top prices at Turf Moor, apart from vice-presidents and 100 Club members. Adult season-ticket prices for existing seats show a slight increase, while
SIR: I feel compelled to write to you, in the wake of the recent correspondence concerning the proposed march by the Apprentice Boys of Derry, which was successfully halted earlier this month. As one who would have been there to add my voice to the protest
A CORONER has promised that a thorough investigation will probe the death of karate expert John Gardiner who died in police custody. Andre Rebello opened an inquest into the death of the 40-year-old father-of-two, who died in the early hours of Saturday
EXTRA Government cash and the possibility of new laws were promised to schools today in a bid to step up security in the wake of the Dunblane massacre and the stabbing of London headmaster Philip Lawrence. Schools will also get priority for money to install
INVESTORS are being advised to buy shares in East Lancs firms. Stockbrokers Henry Cooke Lumsden recommend Crown Eyeglass, SIlentnight, and Wolstenholme Rink and P&P. Hang on to Airtours, Scapa, Seton Healthcare, TDS Circuits and Wardle Storeys. Converted
RICHARD Green staked a strong claim for a Lancashire recall in Thursday's Championship game against Notts at Trent Bridge with a five star show for the second team at Haslingden yesterday. The 20-year-old Warrington-based all-rounder, who impressed in
IT IS hard to imagine a more heinous trade than the international baby selling racket exposed tonight on TV in the Cook Report. It reveals how infants in Latin America are snatched from their parents - apparently stolen to order - and sold to overseas
A COUPLE desperate for a child helped blow a baby-selling racket wide open after posing as would-be adoptive parents. Pat and Stephen Hampson exposed the cruel trade in human lives after being dragged in to the international scheme, which involved lawyers
EX-Servicemen have gone into battle in Burnley in a bid to save their club. Royal British Legion members were called to an emergency general meeting after dwindling attendances put the future of the Lindsay Street social centre under threat. Just 28 of
BRITISH Aerospace's Military Aircraft Division, which includes the Samlesbury and Warton sites, has won a major health and safety award. The firm was presented with the Sir George Earle Trophy by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents for its
THREE North West councils were today facing action from the Government for failing to meet financial targets. Salford, St Helens and Burnley are authorities whose in-house direct labour organisations have not met targets in contracts won in competition
SIR: I refer to the Government's long delay and the chaotic mess of ending the threat of so called 'Mad Cow Disease' and its effect on the general public, and parents, with the added worry of wondering whether to give or not give beef products to their
AN ARSON attack gutted the living room of a house in Spencer Street, Burnley. The building was well alight when fire crews arrived shortly before 9pm last night. They found that the back door had been kicked in and a fire deliberately started in the settee
JOHN Major today injected another £2 million into the war on drugs as he stepped up his personal crusade against "one of the great menaces of our age". The Prime Minister launched a new free booklet to help parents combat the menace and promised the local
HIGH Court action is threatened by Lancashire County Council in a last-ditch bid to stop Blackburn and Blackpool breaking free from county control. Environment Secretary John Gummer has already said the boroughs can go it alone and deliver all local services
BOLTON people are being invited to star in a TV drama being shot this summer as part of a joint venture. The Wolfenden Writers and the Wolfenden Drama Group, based in Halliwell, and the Bolton College TV and video production team have got together as
ALAN Shearer, pictured right, looks to be ahead of schedule, as England and the Ewood striker step up their preparations for the fast-approaching European Championship finals. And England coach Terry Venables will decide in the next few days whether Shearer
CONVEYOR belts and power transmission firm Fenner reports a leap in profits of 50 per cent. The company, currently investing £2 million in its Blackburn site, announced pre-tax profits in the six months to September rose to £8.2 million. Turnover increased
STALLHOLDERS whose trade has been hit during the massive upgrade of Ashburner Street Market are fuming over a £1 a day levy to pay for advertising. And 60 have signed a petition opposing the extra charge on their rents. The traders are to be charged the
A PLAY by Bolton-born Lovejoy author Jonathan Gash has been banned from his home town because it is considered too racy and blasphemous. The snub for Viva Rosso! - about the controversial life of the composer Vivaldi - was delivered after members of Bolton
SIR: I say to Whitakers' head office: Do you know you have angels on your staff? I do - when I lost my car keys recently - I waited over an hour as they searched every possible place for my keys even going to the police station to ask if any keys had
BURNLEY companies are being offered an easy and free way to find their new recruits. With more than 1,100 sixteen-year-olds in the area about to leave school, staff from East Lancashire Careers Services are going out and about to local employers. As well
A THIEF may have stolen important medical equipment being used to treat a leukaemia patient. And today a hospital consultant appealed for the return of the battery charger that had gone missing from the day room of wards 11 and 12 at Blackburn Infirmary
ANGRY North West dentists were considering refusing to treat children on the NHS, in protest against the Government's new charges. This was revealed by a shock survey which disclosed widespread opposition among local dentists to the changes introduced
SIR: I would like to ask the people responsible for the bowling greens on local parks, if anything is to be done about football being played on park greens. Rumworth Park green is ruined, and the bowlers have had to move to Haslam Park. The greens on
SCHOOLS should be given more cash to improve security, says the government working group set up after the murder of London head teacher Philip Lawrence. There can be no argument against the expense where the need exists. But though high-profile tragedies
DON'T the political chiefs at Lancashire County Council know when they are licked? For off they go again, flogging a dead horse, trying to stop Blackburn and Blackpool becoming independent local authorities, free from County Hall's control. They have
A BRAVE 15-year-old and his friend attempted a daring rescue when a neighbour's house was set on fire. Firefighters said arsonists pushed either a burning rag or liquid through the front door of 19-year-old Vicky Taylor's home in Hythe Close, Blackburn
NEIL Fairbrother has been reported to Lord's for his on-field showdown with James Whitaker in Lancashire's stormy Sunday League defeat by Leicestershire. Umpire Bob White confirmed last night that he would be including the incident, sparked off when Leicester
A FORMER Rossendale dentist, a key witness in the Rosemary West mass murder trial, is at the centre of another gruesome case. Dr David Whittaker, now of South Wales, is examining teeth and part of a skull from a burned body found in the middle of a forest
EVERYBODY knows the River Mersey but few people know where it rises. Actually, you will never find the source because the river only gets its name after it is already a substantial river in the middle of Stockport. The name Mersey means "boundary river
SIR: I would like to congratulate GM Buses for their Smithills to Bolton service (the 526) this morning - there actually was a service! This contrasts with Tuesday morning when, upon arriving at the Ainsworth Arms stop at the top of Halliwell Road at
SIR: It is poignant that in National Pet Week we read of London Underground's inhumane treatment of a dog. Having recently lost a cherished pet, my heart goes out to those who are similarly grieving. Society unconsciously applies a pressure on people
FRIENDS of the Earth have pulled out of Bolton's Environment Forum after dubbing the Council initiative "a sham" and "a waste of time." The shock decision by FoE co-ordinator, Dennis Watson to resign from the Forum steering committee comes on the eve
GARY Butcher has issued a rallying cry to his Clitheroe troops after the disappointing FA Vase final defeat to Brigg Town at Wembley. The Blues joint manager insists that Sunday's painful ordeal can be turned into a positive experience as the Shawbridge
AN ELDERLY Farnworth couple were locked in their bedroom by thieves who stole the only memento of their soldier son - killed by the IRA 12 years ago. Billy and Kathleen Gallimore, aged 64 and 62, were locked in as they slept at their home in Westminster
