Archive

  • Judge cuts building company's fines

    A CONSTRUCTION company convicted of dumping waste in Burnley and Colne, has had its fine cut by £9,000. EOM Construction Ltd saved £180,000 by using Sansbury Quarry, Knotts Lane, Colne, formerly run by ex-skip operator Michael Kokocinski, who last week

  • Morgan's getting stronger

    Lincoln City v Burnley - Pete Oliver's big match preview ANYONE looking to include Burnley's result on their betting coupon this weekend could do with some inside knowledge as to how Steve Morgan's feeling. If anyone's fortunes have mirrored that of the

  • Spurs in need of a Freund

    Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur - Peter White's big match preview GEORGE Graham has been fairly careful with the cheque book since taking over at Tottenham Hotspur. And his £750,000 investment in Steffen Freund is hardly going to break whatever budget

  • Memories of Polish club

    YOUR article (LET, January 6) about the closure of the Polish Ex-Servicemen's Club in Blackburn, brought back memories for me. As a little girl, I was allowed to go to the club on a Sunday night during the school holidays with my grandparents, Tom and

  • Questions to council

    FOLLOWING my writing (Letters, August 12) about there being a domestic refuse tip on the site proposed for house building at Billington, drilling has taken place at the bottom part and I understand that evidence of a tip has been found. But having had

  • NON-LEAGUE SOCCER: Underwood understands

    NEW Great Harwood Town boss Denis Underwood sets off on the toughest challenge of his managerial career as he prepares for tomorrow's home clash with Burscough. Town are currently nine points adrift at the foot of the table and require a dramatic change

  • 'Third way' a shambles

    WHAT a shambles! The Government continues with its constitutional reform programme, ignoring the consequences of one change in the constitution upon other parts of the constitution. The Prime Minister is expert at demolition, but an amateur at rebuilding

  • Councillors' hands tied over road chaos

    CHRIS Thayne (Letters, January 22) suggests that there has been some failure by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and local councillors in overseeing the work by North West Water on the A666 through Darwen. Nothing can be further from the truth. The

  • Trust director blasts critic

    FORMER Burnley Council leader Kath Reade slammed a critic who accused her of manoeuvring to become chairman of Burnley Health Care Trust. Non-executive director Coun Reade, who has chaired meetings of the board for the past two months while it has been

  • Tree feller in fight for life

    A FATHER was critically injured and trapped for 30 minutes after being hit on the head by a branch as he pruned a tree. Police said Paul Slater, who is in his 30s, was working with a chain saw in the garden of a house in Wheatley Lane Road, Fence, yesterday

  • HOSPICE APPEAL: Fund-raising teams established

    TEAMS have been set up to co-ordinate the bid to raise £1.3m for the East Lancashire Hospice. Committees have been formed in Blackburn and Darwen and the Ribble Valley. A third committee is expected to be formed in Accrington. Anybody wishing to organise

  • HOSPICE APPEAL: Man at the sharp end

    THE man who will spearhead the £1.3 million appeal is 61-year-old magistrate Geoff Braithwaite. Mr Braithwaite, chairman of the East Lancashire Hospice Fund, is secretary of Clitheroe Lions and a JP on the Reedley bench. He is also clerk to the parish

  • Homeowners face wait for repairs grants

    FRUSTRATED residents have been told by council chiefs they must wait in line for repairs to their houses. Nine householders from Hope Street, Accrington, petitioned Hyndburn Council claiming their homes were crumbling and needed urgent attention. The

  • Exploring historic city is such a treat

    Drive and Stroll, with Ron Freethy - this week in Lancaster ONE of the best places to explore the city of Lancaster is from the river bank. There is plenty of parking along the side of the River Lune from which the city takes its name - Lunecaster, the

  • Spaced out by mystery of missing wheelie bin

    Wright On! - Shelley Wright takes a wry look at life MAYBE it's because I have spent my life in a town where strange and unexplainable events happen every day or simply that I've never been a big supernatural fan but I've always found it difficult to

  • Vinegar company leaves sour taste

    A VINEGAR company has been fined £500 for polluting a tributary of Pendle Water. Fisher Quality Foods Ltd pleaded guilty to causing vinegar waste to enter the unnamed tributary from Clough Springs Brewery in Wheatley Road, Barrowford. They were also ordered

  • Drunken man slept in court

    A MAN was found asleep in the chairman's seat in Hyndburn magistrates' court. And when he appeared before Blackburn magistrates William McDonald said he thought he was at his brother's house. McDonald, 31, of Police Street, Darwen, admitted being drunk

  • Friendship links with Russia grow

    A FRIENDSHIP link between the Rossendale Valley and Russian town of Engels has been cemented with the visit of representatives from its local university. Dr Lyubov Sokirkina, head of the English department at Saratov University, and vice-chancellors Professor

  • 60 shower works jobs face axe

    MORE than 60 workers at a shower components firm could lose their jobs as part of a review being carried out by company bosses. Owners British Home Doors are considering transferring production of shower trays from the Aqualux factory on Ribble Business

  • Anger as firm leaves town

    ANGRY workers have slammed company bosses after they decided to close a Blackburn factory with the loss of more than 40 local jobs. After weeks of speculation Plasmon has decided to close the Blackburn factory it bought off Philips only weeks ago and

  • Clarets pair join Greeks

    BURNLEY youngsters Colin Carr-Lawton and Carl Smith today jetted out to Greece to extend their football education. And Gareth West is also getting the chance to kick-start his career - in the rather less glamorous surroundings of Rochdale! Carr-Lawton

  • 8.5 per cent rise in county council tax

    FINANCE chiefs at county hall are planning to cut more than £12million from budgets and raise council tax by an average of eight and a half per cent. The figure, highlighted by the county finance committee yesterday, will make up more than 80 per cent

  • The ball's in Sherwood's court

    TIM Sherwood was wrestling with the biggest decision of his career today, as Blackburn Rovers prepared to take on Tottenham with £8 million of new talent set for their debuts. Jason McAteer and Matt Jansen will face Spurs tomorrow, by which time the suspended

  • Local events tomorrow (Saturday, January 30th)

    Accrington and Blackburn CHA Club: Burnslack "C" grade ramble. Meet at Bull's Head car park, Wilpshire, Blackburn, 1pm, for Chipping at 1.45pm. Dennis Locarriere - The Voice of Dr Hook, Burnley Mechanics, Manchester Road, 8pm. "Joseph and the Amazing

  • FIVE YEARS AGO: Aid worker shot

    AN aid worker in Bosnia was shot twice in the head when the Land Rover he was driving as part of an Overseas Development Administration delivery was hijacked by gunmen. Father-of-four Paul Goodall, from Earby, had previously served as a section commander

  • TEN YEARS AGO: 12 per cent pay rise claim

    COTTON workers demanded a 12 per cent pay increase, more holidays and higher shift allowances with full sick pay and paid time off for medical screening. The TGU made the demands for a minimum hourly rate of £3.08, saying cotton workers had contributed

  • Nurses need better pay now

    TONY Blair is going to do things for nurses - recruiting more and giving them better pay - and has pledged to put more money into the NHS than the Tories and to build more hospitals. That's good over the next few years, but what about nurses now working

  • Get a healthy return on our lottery cash

    HAVING made overt tax increases a no-go area, the government has, of course, to find the money from somewhere for the nurses' big pay rises. It is, therefore, no surprise to find that it is coming out of the NHS itself as Chancellor Gordon Brown raids

  • Peace haven in hospital

    I REALLY must mention the beautiful chapel situated in the main foyer at Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn. It is a splendid, quiet place to be for those moments to think of loved ones or just for reflection. It is always open and welcoming. It's so

  • Violence 'the norm' in health service

    REGARDING your report 'Patient tried to strangle doctor' (LET, January 22), one of the main reasons why the country is unable to recruit nurses is because of the violence which is today considered to be the norm by nurses, who have to listen daily to

  • Golden day benefits churches

    GOLDEN wedding couple Arthur and June Ogden have asked family and friends not to send cards or gifts for their big day but instead to donate money to two local churches. Mr and Mrs Ogden of Lime Avenue, Todmorden, are celebrating their golden wedding

  • Blaze puts lives at risk

    YOUNG firebugs are thought to have started a blaze which destroyed two cars and put lives at risk. The fire spread from the vehicles into bedsits in Station Road, Padiham, and trapped two men for several minutes before they escaped unhurt. Richard Rowan

  • Match bans for football fans

    SUNDERLAND supporters leaving Ewood Park in a minibus threw bottles and cans and spat at Blackburn Rovers supporters, a court heard. And the violent reaction of three Blackburn fans landed them before the town's magistrates charged with threatening behaviour

  • New case of meningitis sparks call

    A HEALTH watchdog today called for all GPs to carry penicillin for the immediate treatment of meningitis in the home. Burnley Community Health Council chairman Frank Clifford made his appeal as it was revealed a youngster from Burnley was the latest child

  • HOSPICE APPEAL: Virginia and Rod's haven of peace

    ALTHOUGH hospices are usually thought to provide care for the dying, many terminally ill people use East Lancashire Hospice for just a few weeks during a crisis until they are well enough to return home. Virginia Thornton, a careers officer in Hyndburn

  • Burns death witness plea

    THE man leading the investigation into the death of factory worker Parvez Hussein Shah says he cannot rule out the possibility the 23-year-old was murdered. Mr Shah, of Princess Street, Great Harwood, died in hospital after suffering 75 per cent burns

  • 18-month drive ban

    A CONCRETE worker who had been running a bar was almost three times the drink-drive limit when stopped by police, a court heard. Neil Anthony Parker, 43, of Reedyford Road, Nelson, was banned for driving for 18 months, fined £350 and ordered to pay pay

  • Peace order for tights fetish man

    A MAN walked into a newsagent's in Lower Darwen wearing women's tights over his underpants and nothing else on the lower half of his body. And when Andrew Joseph Mercer was arrested he told police he had a fetish for wearing tights in public, Blackburn

  • Action plan to ease problems

    RESIDENTS in Darwen have been told government help may be at hand to ease traffic problems in their area. The Highways Agency has said it will consider giving financial help for a number of schemes which will provide solutions to a number of problems

  • 8.5 per cent rise in county council tax

    FINANCE chiefs at county hall are planning to cut more than £12million from budgets and raise council tax by an average of eight and a half per cent. The figure, highlighted by the county finance committee yesterday, will make up more than 80 per cent