BURNLEY'S council leader was today told hands off our councils' as he outlined a wish to merge with Pendle and Rossendale. Discussions over mergers are taking place as the Government's secretary for local government and communities, Ruth Kelly, prepares
THESE are the horrific injuries a Brierfield pensioner suffered when she was shoved head-first down her stairs after disturbing burglars. And the community where Dorothy Hodgson lives today spoke of their anger at the incident. The 74-year-old gran
A WOMAN from East Lancashire was one of the two people who died when an inflatable tourist attraction was lifted into the air by a gust of wind, it emerged today. And the husband of tragic victim Claire Furmedge paid tribute to his "beautiful wife".
A 13-year-old boy was knocked down as he pushed his bike across a busy road during rush hour. Joseph Gemmell, of Baynes Street, Hoddlesden, was crossing Roman Road, Lower Darwen, pushing his pedal bike when the accident happened. He was in collision
BLACKBURN with Darwen and Hyndburn councils are in merger talks which could signal a radical re-organisation of local government in Lancashire. Under the proposals, Hyndburn and Blackburn with Darwen would pool all officer services but retain two separate
A MAN has appeared in court charged with kidnapping a Haslingden teenager and carrying out a string of sex attacks on her. A second man also appeared at Burnley Magistrates Court charged with offences relating to the girl's abduction. The 14-year-old
MOORLAND fires ripped across East Lancashire yesterday as the soaring temperatures sparked flames on the dry land. Fires started on moorland behind Sunnyhurst Lane, Darwen, the Coppice on the outskirts of Accrington and most dramatically in The Forest
A Blackburn man who had his clothes confiscated by police is still waiting for them to be returned four months later. Leonard Whittaker was forced to walk home in the snow in a blue "boiler suit" after being released on bail by officers probing assault
AN £8million sixth-form centre intended to be "the pride of Hyndburn" is unlikely to become reality until 2010. St Christopher's CE High School, Accrington, last year announced its intention to create the sixth form to address a lack of A-level provision
A BLACKBURN school has won the approval of government inspectors who credit it for "preparing pupils for later life". Cedars Infant School, Hawthorn Street was graded "good" the second highest grade following a two day visit by Ofsted at the end of
Plans for this year's Rishton Festival are under way, with a parade through the streets opening the events. The festival will be held on Saturday August 12. Parade participants will first assemble at Cutt Wood Park and have their fancy dress costumes
RIBBLE Valley Radio has been given a boost thanks to sponsorship from a local car dealership. Bowker BMW, based in Blackburn, recently put its money where its mouth is to sponsor a day on air for the radio station, which operates from the St Mary's Centre
From Keith Sowerbutts, Southwood Drive, Baxenden. The thug ventured out on a shopping trip With a moll stuck like glue to his arm Passing by shops, looking into windows To impress, tried to turn on the charm. At a jeweller's asked would she like
I ENJOY reading the articles which Ron Freethy writes. However in his recent article Hidden Tockholes he states that on the tombstone of John Osbaldeston, which is sited in the graveyard, is written "Here lies John Osbaldeston, a humble inventor, who
JACK Straw's attempting (LT, July 20) to pass off the Scottish Parliament as being effectively controlled by Westminster is disingenuous. The fact is English undergraduates pay top up fees and Scots don't, English care home residents pay for their care
JACK Straw glibly writes of English votes for English people as an idea that has "got going in some quarters" (LT, July 20). Some quarters! Wake up and smell the English roses Jack: opinion polls are showing large and increasing numbers of English people
JACK Straw (LT, July 20) said that he wanted a real argument about English laws, English votes. Jack Straw and New Labour have studiously avoided even saying the word "England" ever since devolution for Wales and Scotland. In fact, over the last 10
A GP cleared of indecently assaulting a female patient is still banned from prac-tising medicine more than seven months after a jury said he was innocent. Tanuku Venkata Suryanarayana, 56, was found not guilty of the allegation involving a 17-year-old
A HEAD teacher in Great Harwood is to go on an extended summer holiday after retiring from his post of 19 years. Tony O'Neill, head at Our Lady and St Hubert's RC School, was presented with a cheque and a gold-plated golf trophy at a special school assembly
A £10 million office development has been opened at the M65 services at Darwen. Arkwright Court, comprising 61,000sq ft of offices, is expected to create more than 400 jobs. It was built by Gladman Developments and four buildings have already been
A FORMER Darwen serviceman has claimed he was repeatedly sent "shoddy goods" after trying to claim a Veterans' Lapel Badge. James Buckley contacted the Ministry of Defence Veterans' Agency last month to order the badge, which he was entitled to as an
WHEN Jenny Eclair and Michael Winner are filling in forms do you think they put "professional moaner" under the bit which reads occupation? If they don't they should, for that's all they seem to do nowadays. Last night's Grumpy Old Holidays (BBC2) rolled
A BLACKBURN choir is set to make its mark on the international stage after being invited to perform at a music festival in Sweden. The Blackburn People's Choir was today flying to Stromstrad to take part in the three-day Krokstrand Music Festival. Although
STEVE Jones struck a sizzling four-goal salvo to get Burnley's Italian job off to a flier. The Clarets made easy work of a Verona select side who could not live with Steve Cotterill's men. Six of Burnley's seven goals came from the frontmen, with Kyle
ANDREW Davidson has begun his fourth spell as captain of Settle after the players called for his return at a team meeting last weekend. After leading the club to a league and cup double last summer, Davidson stepped down as captain with the intention
ANDY Mangan is ready to ditch his super-sub tag and cement himself in Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman's first-team plans. The sprightly striker earned a reputation as an impact player last season after he scored five of his six goals after coming
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman has agreed one-year deals with goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin and midfielder Jay Harris. Both players, who featured in last night's 4-1 wIn over Northwich, takes Coleman close to completing his squad for the reds' return
Blackburn Rovers continue to step up their pre-season preparations in Germany, where they are currently on a 10-day training break. A goal from Morten Gamst Pedersen earned them a 1-1 friendly draw with Hamburg on Sunday evening, and manager Mark Hughes
BLACKBURN Rovers boss Mark Hughes is close to signing Porto striker Benni McCarthy following a year-long chase. Rovers have had a bid accepted for the South African international and McCarthy was last night given the green light to fly in to England
A MAN looked after a high-strength cocaine haul for about an hour just to get a free meal. But Waseem Ahmed, 20, who was minding the drugs for an acquaintance, is now serving a 12-month jail term after being caught by police. Ahmed had drugs in his
AN over-the-limit Burnley teenager who smashed his car in the early hours has been fined and banned from driving. Burnley magistrates heard how student Alex Cheetham, 18, had written off the vehicle which was only insured third party. Cheetham was tested
A 26-YEAR-OLD man took a girl half his age to the pictures, bought her jewellery and drove her around in his BMW. Abdul Rashad, of Railway Street, Brierfield, was warned by police about associating with the youngster, who had gone missing from a children's
MORE than 1,000 jobs have been created in Pendle in the past year through millions of pounds of investment in the borough. According to Pendle Partnership more than £2.5million of European cash triggered nearly £7.7m of other investment creating 1,226
BURNLEY youngsters got the television treatment as part of an ambitious national art commissioning programme being filmed for Channel 4. The town has been chosen as one of six sites across the country to feature in the TV channel's Big Art Project over
STEVE Cotterill admits he was pleased to see Danny Coyne back in action as Burnley cruised to victory in Italy last night. The Clarets romped to a 7-0 triumph against a Selectione Verona XI, the equivalent of an English Conference side. Steve Jones
UP to 100 firefighters battled a two square-mile moorland fire as soaring temperatures sparked flames on dry land near Colne. Eight pumps from Colne and Nelson and three from West Yorkshire worked throughout the night at the Forest of Trawden. The fire
A PADIHAM publican is celebrating a special anniversary being given the all-clear from skin cancer. And landlord Simon Hope is determined to help others a year after he defeated the disease by becoming leading a new cancer campaign. As temperatures
A man was airlifted to hospital with serious head injuries after jumping into the canal in Brierfield while playing with friends in the hot weather. The incident has prompted renewed warnings about the dangers of swimming in the area's waterways and
BRITAIN in Bloom judges visited Huncoat to see if the village ranks among the best kept places in the country. Local residents, councillors and Huncoat in Bloom campaigners were there to meet the judges and help them reach their decision. Afterwards
A WOMAN suffered major burns to her upper body after being set on fire with petrol in Blackburn. A man was arrested after the woman was found with 60 per cent burns inside the kitchen of a house in Fielding Crescent, Mill Hill. He was released on bail
A CONTROVERSIAL scheme which gave free driving lessons to Asian teenagers in Blackburn is to be extended into predominantly white areas. Council bosses insisted the decision had not been made after the authority was flooded with complaints about the
DIABETES sufferers are being invited to have their eyes checked for complications using new digital photography equipment. Sessions will take place at Darwen Health Centre, the Independent Living Centre, Mill Hill, and Larkhill Health Centre, Blackburn
THE merger of Lancashire's police with Cumbria was expected to be officially scrapped yesterday. Members of the Cumbria Police Authority were meeting to vote on whether to abandon the merger. And, after bosses said two weeks ago that the merger
RETAINED Haslingden firefighters battling to save their jobs put their under-threat station up for sale on eBay! The crew carried out the stunt in a bid to raise the profile of an on-line petition supporting their campaign. But, after just one day,
IN his column about English votes on English matters, Jack Straw stated England would be the loser, and goes on about all the nasty things that would happen if these things went ahead. Well Mr Straw, you and all your fellow MPs went ahead with devolution
THE FATHER of tragic toddler Levi Bleasdale has become something of a local celebrity in the last 12 months for all the wrong reasons. Lee Bleasdale has been in and out of trouble with the law and has battled a heroin addiction. By all accounts these
A SPECIAL exhibition at Blackburn Visitor Centre, Church Street, celebrating food will run from August 1 to September 29. It is hoped the exhibition by food photographer Phil Taylor will get people in the borough in the mood for the Lancashire Pennine
A DANGEROUS pervert has been banned from owning any photographic equipment in a bid to stop his offending. A court heard that serial offender Daniel Gordon Edmunds, 20, of Lydia Street, Accrington, took pictures of women and young girls to "feed his
AEROSPACE giant BAE Systems has taken a first step towards developing a multi-million-pound business park at its Samlesbury site. The defence company employs more than 3,000 people at its East Lancashire facility, involved in four main projects including
CLITHEROE'S town centre streets will be a no-go area for motorists next Wednesday night as some of the country's top cyclists ride into town. Access will be denied from 5pm to 11pm on August 2 due to the annual Clitheroe Cycling Grand Prix. The event
BLACKBURN Rovers' scoring sensation Morten Gamst Pedersen has started as he means to go on after he opened his account for the season with a stunning strike against Hamburg here in Germany. The free-scoring Norwegian, who has a habit of scoring spectacular
ROMMY Boco got the ball rolling as Accrington Stanley's pre-season campaign got back on the winning track. The 21-year-old Frenchman starred in a side that was close to John Coleman's starting eleven when they kick off their campaign in the Football
DO you want to live forever? Do you want to learn how to fly high? If fame's what you're looking for there's no better way to start than attending the performing arts summer school at Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre. The theatre is holding a course for
Take the plunge and help save Lancashire's ponds. The Pond Conservation group is conducting a survey of the county's ponds in an attempt to stem their loss. Around 10,500 Lancashire ponds, which are a haven for rare animals, have disappeared in
