THOUSANDS of jobs in the Lancashire textile industry have been lost in the last two decades. East Lancashire has been particularly badly hit with dozens of companies, some of them household names, going to the wall. So the £10million Government aid plan
POLICE crime figures in East Lancashire have made pretty depressing reading in the last few years. But there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. Crime rates in the Blackburn Division, which includes Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, were down
THE prospect of the first league derby game between East Lancashire's top two football teams in 17 years is proving too exciting for some supporters to even think about. But alongside the thought of the forthcoming Blackburn Rovers v Burnley games in
DARWEN Music Festival was the best thing I have seen happen in Darwen -- ever! I had a really good three days and the tent was bouncing every time I went in. I spoke to people from all over who had come to Darwen to see this. Please, same again next year
WOULD you like to experience the wonders of Egypt on an eight-day, 500km bike ride alongside the River Nile? I'd like to invite you to support Mencap by taking part. Mencap simply ask you to pay a £250 registration fee and raise a minimum amount of sponsorship
HAVING read your report 'Our taxi crashed then left us behind!' (LET, May 30), I had to check the calendar to see that it wasn't April Fools' Day! I was astounded to read that after being involved in a car accident, Jeff Moulton, aged 15 and his adult
ROSSENDALE was today dealt a massive jobs blow with the news that travel giant Airtours is to move out of its Helmshore headquarters. The holiday giant -- the biggest employer in the borough -- has unveiled plans to move to a new head office for its Airtours
TURNING your back on the biggest football club on the planet hardly sounds like the best career move in the world -- but that's exactly how new Rovers signing John Curtis sees his move to Ewood Park. The 21-year-old defender has hailed his £1.5m switch
NOAH'S Ark was the theme for the first Summer Fayre at Nelson's new St John's CE Church in Barkerhouse Road. The theme represented the "new beginnings" and the coming together of the two congregations of the town's St Philip's and St John's. The event
A MASSIVE police operation was launched after an arsenal of ammunition was found at a Blackburn house. And detectives warned parents to be on their guard after pupils at several schools were found to be carrying live bullets. Police traced the ammunition
A NURSE who went on a Mediterranean and Caribbean cruise to study was astonished to win a new car in a free prize draw. Wendy Saporita, who runs the Whalley House home for the elderly, Accrington, said she had not taken any interest in the competition
BURNLEY have broken the 10,000 season ticket mark for the first time in their history. They have sold 10,600 tickets for next season's First Division campaign so far -- and expect it to rise to over 11,000 before kick off in August. "It is astounding,
BURNLEY have broken the 10,000 season ticket mark for the first time in their history. They have sold 10,600 tickets for next season's First Division campaign so far -- and expect it to rise to over 11,000 before kick off in August. "It is astounding,
GRAEME Souness today quashed talk of a sensational return to his former club Galatasaray by revealing he is ready to commit his long-term future to Blackburn Rovers. Speculation has grown in Turkey over the last few days that new UEFA Cup winners Galatasaray
THE body of a 29-year-old man from Bacup has been discovered by fishermen in the River Irwell at Ramsbottom. Derek Butler, who lived alone at New Line, Bacup, was reported missing by his family on Saturday and was found the following day. Fishermen discovered
ROSSENDALE was today dealt a massive jobs blow with the news that travel giant Airtours is to move out of its Helmshore headquarters. The holiday giant -- the biggest employer in the borough -- has unveiled plans to move to a new head office for its Airtours
COUNCIL has put its money where its mouth is and bought a new machine to tackle a sticky problem -- chewing gum. Chorley Borough Council has spent £13,000 buying a 'gumbuster' which will trawl the streets clearing up gum which has been trodden into pavements
VINDALOO veteran Sher Mohammed is the area's longest serving curry chef -- bar naan! Mr Mohammed is still cooking up the curries at his "Khyber Cafe" at the grand age of 70 and has no plans to hang up his apron. The poppadom pensioner opened up the Blackburn's
A PETITION with 1,110 signatures protesting about plans to hold private council cabinet meetings will be discussed behind closed doors tonight. A shake-up of the way Blackburn with Darwen Council is run sparked a major public protest and led to the petition
A BANK worker today spoke of his "regret" after he e-mailed more than 350 Blackburn Rovers supporters suggesting club supremo Jack Walker had died. Jim Burrows, 38, said he sent the message to the Blackburn Rovers mailing list after he heard the rumour
THE rift that developed between Christopher Loftus and his domestic and business partner did not lead to a distant separation. Blackburn magistrates heard that following the fall-out Loftus moved into a caravan parked on the drive of the couple's house
THE EIGHT "super councillors" who will run Blackburn town hall will see their expenses rise under the controversial new political system. A special panel set up to decide a new method of payments following the shake-up at the council has publicly announced
AT least £107million will be spent on Blackburn with Darwen council homes if they are taken over by a non-profitmaking company. Twin Valley Homes, which has been set up to take over the crumbling council estates, has pledged to spend the cash over five
THE art of persuasive language is being studied and practised by children in year 5 at a Blackburn school, who have written to us on topics of concern. Pupils at Roman Road primary school have been using our Pick and Mix literacy and numeracy resource
Charity Concert for East Lancashire Hospice, King Street WMC, Accrington, 7.30pm. Vocalist and comedian. Blackburn Rambling Association, Oddfellows Hall, Regent Street, Blackburn, 8pm. Deep Relaxation. Sale of Goods, Roman Road Community Centre, Newfield
A CAR boot sale in aid of the East Lancashire Hospice was so successful, volunteers have decided to make it a regular event. Fund-raising volunteers Eileen Holden and Maureen Carter, of Blackburn, ran the stall on Blackburn College car park on bank holiday
REGARDING the article (LET, May 30) concerning a taxi allegedly abandoning its passengers after an accident, I have been a taxi driver for more than six years and will quite honestly admit that if the driver did abandon his passengers as claimed, then
A BOMB explodes on Hammersmith Bridge in London and Jack Straw, as Home Secretary, denounces it and its perpetrators, saying that "in a democratic society, people should accept the will of the majority." Highly laudable. Meanwhile, in Scotland, a referendum
I AM writing as President of the Blackburn and District Chamber of Trade representing the members, other interested traders and many of our customers. I read Councillor Ashley Whalley's soapbox article with interest and would now like to make the following
A BANK worker today spoke of his "regret" after he e-mailed more than 350 Blackburn Rovers supporters suggesting club supremo Jack Walker had died. Jim Burrows, 38, said he sent the message to the Blackburn Rovers mailing list after he heard the rumour
SCHOOLS and community groups entering the Grimewatch competition this year could get a boost for their environmental projects. The Grimewatch team has joined forces with home improvements giant Wickes to give away £1,000 in vouchers to deserving projects
GRAEME Souness today quashed talk of a sensational return to his former club Galatasaray by revealing he is ready to commit his long-term future to Blackburn Rovers. Speculation has grown in Turkey over the last few days that new UEFA Cup winners Galatasaray
BURNLEY has lodged its bid for £20 million government cash boost for two of the most deprived areas of town. Burnley Wood and Accrington Road districts are the focus for the latest Single Regeneration Budget application by Burnley Regeneration Forum -
VOLUNTEERS are being invited to help clean up Pendle's largest park and find out a bit more about its history at the same time. The clean-up campaign will start around 10am on Saturday in Marsden Park, Nelson, and is expected to last two hours. Volunteers
A HALF million pound windfall to a former Blackburn man was condemned by the town's MP Jack Straw. Granville Carney, 59, a board member of National Power, bought more than 200,000 cut-price shares in the company -- then sold them immediately for double
HOME Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw is urging young people to spend more time with their grandparents. Last month, the US Embassy and the Department for Education and Employment launched a national essay contest for all students, aged between 14
MP GORDON Prentice is pressing ministers to ensure that mobile phone transmitter masts are not a risk to human health. And he wants new guidance on their use to be tough on safety and issued quickly after controversial attempts to site masts near Cherry
THE future of East Lancashire's textile industry could lie in 'smart fabrics', according to a government aid plan. Moves to develop materials that could include embedded computer chips which set their own washing machine programme have been suggested
CARL Fogarty's racing future could rest in the hands of an unidentified Australian bike fan. The injured World Superbike champ has appealed for eye-witnesses to his crash at Phillip Island, which fractured his arm in three places. Fogarty wants to be
TEENAGE golf sensation Nick Dougherty has stepped into the bitter row between Nick Faldo and Mark James. The two world stars have been at each other's throats ever since Faldo was left out of last year's Ryder Cup side by James, the Europe captain. And
Captain's Log, with David Hayes of Cherry Tree 7pm Monday June 5, Blackpool cells: Telephone call for PC1603 Hayes: "Hazey, Brammers here. I need a 400 word article off you by 8am tomorrow morning at the latest." Midnight: PC1603 returns home to begin
AVID newspaper readers in Burnley are likely to exceed their school's own excellent targets achieved by last year's pupils, using our NIE Super Story Search literacy resource and daily delivery of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Paul Holmes, English
