A MAN was seriously injured in a mysterious fall from a house window today. Frank Mulholland, 34, suffered severe cuts to his face and groin when he plunged 15ft from the upstairs window of his home in Dove Lane, Darwen. He was taken to Blackburn Infirmary
The opinions expressed by John Blunt are not necessarily those of this newspaper FINDING circus trainer Mary Chipperfield guilty of a catalogue of sickening cruelty to a baby chimpanzee and her husband - a government zoo inspector, no less - guilty of
AND I thought New Labour, emboldened by its steamroller majority in the Commons and the pathetic Opposition, had reached the heights of arrogance last week when Tony Blair advised ministers not to talk about the jet-set lifestyle so many of them have
TEACHERS are moaning about their pay. But it's not their inflation-busting increase this week they are unhappy with. It's that they will actually have to earn the ones in future. They fought school tests for the children because they also measured their
POLICE called to a butcher's found two men in the walk-in freezer, helping themselves to meat worth £350. One raider, Patrick Ashley Paul Robinson, 23, who claimed a boarded up window was open after the wood became partly loose, was told by Burnley magistrates
EUROPEAN cash has been secured to help East Lancashire firms tackle the millennium timebomb. Through the Lancashire Information Technology Support Centre subsidised help is now available to help firms prepare for the Year 2000 challenge. A grant of 45
A £2.5 million investment in a new factory is already paying dividends for a filter firm. Camfil has secured a clutch of new contracts since it moved into a new factory on the Knowsley Parkway in Haslingden last autumn. The move has also seen the workforce
Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy THE long-tailed fieldmouse is also known as the wood mouse and its scientific name is Apodemus sylvaticus. It has been present in Britain since the Ice Ages, unlike the house mouse, which only came to Britain from Asia when
AN engineering firm is helping give the world's most famous passenger plane a new lease of life. The Brookhouse group of Darwen is playing a part in the refurbishment of an Air France Concorde. The firm is manufacturing tooling and producing specialist
TIM SHERWOOD was in London today talking over a £4 million move to Tottenham with the end of his long-running wrangle at Ewood Park almost in sight. But there have been so many twists and turns in this saga that, until pen is put to paper, anything could
FORMER Burnley manager Chris Waddle is backing Terry Venables as the man to step into the breach as England boss. Waddle was disappointed to see his former England and Tottenham team-mate Glenn Hoddle get the push and believes that Venables is the man
FLAGGING schools in Burnley are set to be included in a controversial government initiative to raise standards in classrooms. Burnley has been put forward in a £3million bid to set up an education action zone which will be managed by local partnerships
CASH-strapped councillors in Burnley probably have the worst town hall facilities in Britain, says Labour stalwart Beryl Barnes. And she believes their cash allowances are among the lowest in the country. The Queensgate councillor poured scorn on critics
SOME four years ago, I found myself becoming increasingly disenchanted with what I was hearing from the pulpit of my local Baptist church. I had long felt that all religions had something good to offer and that no particular one was superior to any other
MICK HOLGATE has made a shock return as joint caretaker-manager of relegation-haunted Chorley following the sudden departure of Brian Griffiths. Ex-Bamber Bridge chief Holgate walked out on the Magpies just eight months ago after refusing an offer of
I COULD not agree more with Mr Brian Watson (Letters, January 26) that the underfunding of the NHS should be solved by the use of lottery money. But why don't people who feel the same way try to do something about it? I think if everyone who cares would
A CRACKDOWN on benefit cheats was set to net more than £250,000 after almost 100 cases of housing benefit fraud were uncovered by Blackburn Council's investigations unit. The unit expected to detect frauds amounting to £250,000 by the end of March to
MATTHEW Brown brewers revealed plans to switch a major part of its distribution from Blackburn to Chorley. Bosses promised there would be no redundancies at the takeover-threatened firm and said around 80 workers would be offered an incentive package
Valerie Cowan Surfs the Net NET users are being asked to help save the life of a lobster called Larry. Students at Jefferson City High School in Missouri, USA, are raising money for the Special Olympics by paying 50 cents (30p) each to vote on whether
BLACKBURN with Darwen will enter the new millennium with the borough's first ever Asian mayor. Councillor Salas Kiani, left, who represents the Audley area was last night chosen to be the district's first citizen during the 1999-2000 council year - provided
Oldham Athletic Reserves 1 Burnley Reserves 2 TWO goals in three minutes mid-way through the first half were just enough to give Burnley the win that lifts them out of the Pontins League First Division relegation zone. Both goals came from perfectly delivered
A NATIONAL conference on the future of education will be held at Blackburn College on Monday. Education officers, councillors and teachers visit the town for the conference, which has been organised by the local government association. Delegates will
A MAN arrested for being drunk and disorderly has lodged an official complaint against the police. Blackburn magistrates heard that Benjamin Roberts claimed he had been punched repeatedly during his arrest. Roberts, 36, of Worcester Road, Blackburn, pleaded
FLAGGING schools in Burnley are set to be included in a controversial government initiative to raise standards in classrooms. Burnley has been put forward in a £3million bid to set up an education action zone which will be managed by local partnerships
THIS 12-week-old German Shepherd puppy was rescued by RSPCA inspectors who found it in a cold, damp house without food and surrounded by its own dirt. Young mother Michelle Martin admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal when she appeared before
A PLASTICS firm is poised for a major expansion. Red Rose Plastics, which distributes kitchen worktops and laminated flooring, is doubling the storage capacity at its Parliament Street, Burnley, base by expanding into vacant premises next door. The firm
A TEENAGE pupil has been suspended from school after a 14-year-old boy's face was burned in a cookery lesson. Mark Bailey was left with a two-inch mark under his right eye after he was scorched by a heated-up potato masher at Norden High School, Rishton
HANGING up the phone took on a new meaning for staff at town centre shop. Abbey Telecom of Blackburn suspended more than 100 old mobile phones from its ceiling as part of a Christmas display. And the eye-catching effort has been rewarded with record December
A 51-YEAR-OLD man from Huncoat has become the latest person in East Lancashire to be struck down by meningitis. East Lancashire Health Authority was notified of the case on Sunday and the man is now receiving hospital treatment. A health authority spokeswoman
FRIENDS fanatic Christine Ratcliffe is planning to settle down with some pals of her own to watch all 96 episodes of the TV series - to raise money for charity. The 36-hour TV tune-in will take place at Pendleside Hospice, Reedley, next month and organisers
MP Ian Duncan Smith (Letters, December 31), complains that the Government owes Britain's pensioners up to £1 billion in pensions and other benefits because they have not repaired the National Insurance computer. This ridiculous whinge is clearly a novel
I FULLY agree with Marjorie McCarthy (Letters, January 26) that the councillors of Blackburn with Darwen are not representing the views of the people. This is again reflected in the proposal to close Blackamoor school which is held in such high regard
ON March 18, 1994, you published a short article about me when I had my first poem accepted for publication. This came about when I first noticed an article in your newspaper a few weeks earlier asking local poets for submissions. How many doors have
Darwen 3 Accrington Stanley 2 A SENSATIONAL last minute volley from John Whittaker slayed Stanley and put Darwen into the semi finals of the Lancashire ATS Trophy for the first time in over 20 years. Player-boss Steve Wilkes was ecstatic after his side
I HAVE never been overly impressed with the standard of street cleansing in Blackburn. It seems to concentrate on cosmetic cleaning rather than the removal of dog excrement and chewing gum. However, having had occasion to walk along the main road to Accrington
WHERE is New Labour's vision for the future? Jack Straw's proposals for unmarried mothers to have their babies adopted reverts back to the bad old days. In the early years of the century, unmarried mothers were put in institutions, and often remained
WITH the average car owner now spending more than £50 a week on motoring, the claim today that the government is looking at a new way of taxing them - this time as a device to lessen exhaust emissions - is likely to be greeted with weary resignation.
TORY MP Nigel Evans is calling on the Government to give free passports to children in care, as part of a millennium charity scheme being launched by travel agents. Speaking to the Association of British Travel Agents, the Ribble Valley MP also called
Ian McMillan At Project One-O-One, Haslingden Public Hall, Regent Street, 8pm. Clover Hill Residents Action Group meet St Bede's Church Hall, Railway Street, Nelson, 7.15pm. National Osteoporosis Society meet Lammack Mathodist Church, Lammack Road, Blackburn
TIM SHERWOOD was in London today talking over a £4 million move to Tottenham with the end of his long-running wrangle at Ewood Park almost in sight. But there have been so many twists and turns in this saga that, until pen is put to paper, anything could
CARERS in Lancashire have criticised a county council decision to raise fees for caring for the elderly in its homes by eight per cent while only giving independent providers a three per cent rise. The county council's proposed social services budget
FORMER Burnley manager Chris Waddle is backing Terry Venables as the man to step into the breach as England boss. Waddle was disappointed to see his former England and Tottenham team-mate Glenn Hoddle get the push and believes that Venables is the man
FORMER Blackburn Rovers boss Roy Hodgson today refused to rule himself out of the running for the England manager's job. Hodgson was hot favourite to succeed Glenn Hoddle when the disgraced England coach hit problems during and after the World Cup in
POLICE in Lancashire are failing to reach tough targets for reducing the county's crime rate set by force bosses. Every year the force is set performance targets in a wide range of areas from reducing crime to cutting down on accidents. And this year
SIX people were today being quizzed by detectives over the suspected murder of a factory worker who died after being engulfed in flames. And police leading the investigation into the death of Parvez Hussein Shah appealed for people who may have important
THE Police Complaints Authority is heading an inquiry into the death of a 25-year-old man who was found hanged in a toilet at Rawtenstall police station. David Hodgson, who lived in King Street, in the centre of Waterfoot, had been arrested at 2.30am
A WOMAN driver who had just escaped a motorway crash with minor injuries was killed when she got out of her car and walked into the path of another vehicle on the opposite carriageway, an inquest told. Mother-of-two Jane Margaret Stanhope, 38, of Brooksbottoms
