A KEEN biker from Earby is planning to push his skills to the limit by travelling through 16 European countries in just four days. Darren Parker, 25, will set off with his friend and fellow biker Kieran Potts, also 25, on March 9 for their 2,600-mile
A WOMAN spent £16,000 from her parents' credit cards while they were on holiday. Burnley Crown Court was told how jobless Judith Rawstron, 36, of Parkinson Street, Haslingden, "raided" her father's strong box last August and helped herself to the bank
POLICE officers are being taught Polish in a bid to communicate with the thousands of Polish workers who have come to East Lancashire. Bosses have made cash available for officers to learn foreign languages and one of the most popular choices are lessons
NINETY jobs are under threat at an Accrington company that manufac-tures interior and exterior trims for cars. Bosses of Automotive Applied Technologies (AAT), based in Exchange Street, is in danger of collapse unless a rescue package can be found.
A TEENAGER who robbed a takeaway boss at knifepoint for a £25 meal has been jailed for two years. Stuart Cassidy, 19, had produced an eight-inch kitchen knife, was abusive and threatened to stab victim Banaras Khan before running off last September 11
AN alley in Bacup where a woman was indecently assaulted could be closed off. The 41-year-old woman was attacked when she was walking home on New Year's Eve on the footpath that links Rochdale Road and Ramsey Avenue. Days after the assault, county councillor
A LEISURE centre roof which blew off in last week's storm was due to undergo maintenance work, it has been revealed. Rossendale Council said that despite the impending work to a roof at Haslingden Sports Centre, nobody could have predicted the ferocity
BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes hailed Morten Gamst Pedersen one of the best deadball specialists in the Premiership' following his stunning exploits against Manchester City at the weekend. For the second successive away game, Pedersen scored with a wonderfully
A COUPLE who spent nearly 20 years building up their business are now helping others climb ther ladder to success. Steve and Jackie Everett redeveloped a historic mill into a home for their fireplace firm Canterbury Fireplaces, in Canterbury Street,
PENDLE Council looks set to give up £500,000 and hand over land for Nelson's transport interchange for free. Since plans for the flagship bus and rail interchange were announced in 2005, the controversial issue of whether Pendle Council will transfer
Blackburn have completed the signing of defender Stephen Warnock from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee. The left-back has agreed a three-and-a-half-year deal. Lucas Neill also completed his move to West Ham at the same time. Rovers manager Mark Hughes
COUNCIL bosses have come under fire for closing Darwen Leisure Centre - before applying for planning permission for the replacement. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has only just applied to its own planning department for approval to build the
EAST Lancashire's four top hospital doctors have spoken out against plans for 45,000 operations to be carried out by a private company. They said that the move, which will cost the NHS £23million, could see hospital departments fall apart and the departure
BLACKBURN Rovers defender Andre Ooijer will be out for three months after an X-ray confirmed he broke his leg during Saturday's 3-0 win at Manchester City. Ooijer had an operation last night to repair the break and some ligament damage and he's expected
A ROSSENDALE family business finally threw open the doors of its new showroom - six months after freak floods ruined its premises. The owners of fireplace manufacturer Petra Hellas were left picking up the pieces of their showroom in Toll Bar, Stacksteads
PADIHAM retailers have formed a town centre partnership in a bid to boost the economy. The news comes just days after Burnley Council announced plans to close the town's market and turn the area into a car park. Paul Howard, secretary of the newly-formed
SATURDAY'S postponement at Turf Moor is not the first time Premiership referee Martin Atkinson has called a game off in controversial circumstances. The Yorkshire official left both Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger frustrated
THE family of a stock car racer have paid tribute to their "caring and considerate" son who died in a car crash. Samuel Lund, of Rimington, was left fighting for life after his Peugeot 205 crashed into a tree on Saturday January 13. The 19-year old
SATURDAY'S second consecutive home postponement has deepened Burnley manager Steve Cotterill's concerns about a fixture backlog. The Clarets had already been forced to reschedule their New Year's Day washout with Stoke City for tomorrow night, after
American band Gringo Star, from Atlanta, Georgia, are coming to some Burnley, Accrington and Bacup as part of a UK tour. We put some questions to the band. HELLO, CAN YOU PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELVES? Hello. We're Peter Furgiuele, 23, Nicholas Furgiuele
Thank goodness. I thought it was just me and my husband. I believed we were the only parents in the country mean enough to raid our children's piggy banks. But I now know that we are not alone. Not by a long way. This month a staggering 1.3million
A GOOD test of how good a Chinese is can be to order a sweet and sour dish. Done badly and you end up with a sticky mess where the sauce has the consistency of treacle and you have to chew your way through. Mister Fu's proved why it has such a good
ROBBIE Savage reckons David Bentley deserves an England call-up after he helped inspire Blackburn Rovers to another impressive away win at the weekend. Bentley gave a Rolls Royce performance as Rovers cruised to a 3-0 victory at Manchester City, prompting
POLICE are warning residents to keep their doors locked after a spate of sneak-in thefts at homes in Blackburn. Officers say thieves have been targeting homes with unlocked doors since the beginning of the month. Homes in Franklin Road, The Paddock,
The Rhythm station at Rawtenstall will welcome back brilliant multi-reeds player Michael Patrick Manship, known in the jazz music business as "Munch", on January 23. Born in Teeside in 1952, "Munch" took up the saxophone at the age of 10. In his
FRUSTATED Burnley manager Steve Cotterill admitted the fact his side had yet to play a home game this year left him feeling "totally depressed". On a positive note, results meant the Clarets didn't slip from 13th in the Championship, despite not playing
LUCAS Neill has hit back at claims his imminent move to West Ham United is motivated by greed. After months of speculation, one of the longest running transfer sagas in Premiership history will finally come to a conclusion today when Neill seals his
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after an elderly woman was beaten by a man hiding in her home. Officers have just released details of the terrifying raid at the home of a 65-year-old woman living alone in Altom Street, Blackburn, on December 22.
FAMILY and friends said goodbye to a "truly remarkable man" at the funeral of murdered Burnley charity worker Michael Blakey. Michael, 23, was killed in the Dharamsala province of India in November. His bludgeoned body was found in a gully near the
A BRIDGE that had stood in Blackburn for more than 100 years was dismantled in a day. Freckleton Street bridge was broken away piece by piece by a giant crane in what was a delicate operation because of the railway tracks running underneath. By May
CUSTOMER services at Rossendale Council are getting better, according to a report to be presented to the cabinet. The report is the first since the introduction of the council's customer services strategy last year, which aims to put customers first
BURNLEY chief executive Dave Edmundson insisted the club did everything possible to prevent Saturday's game at home to Norwich City from being postponed. Extra covers have been donated indefinitely from Lancashire County Cricket Club, which were placed
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill has today confirmed that keeper Brian Jensen has been placed on the transfer list. The 31-year-old has been a regular for the Clarets since his arrival from West Bromwich Albion in summer 2003, but has been placed on the
BLACKBURN Transport goes into private hands today after 125 years of council ownership. Union bosses described the sale of the business to Yorkshire-based Blazefield Holdings Group as a "sad day" for the town. Blackburn with Darwen council chiefs said
By Hugh Davies. Jill was on a diet and a stone had lost, Needed a new dress, asked what the material would cost, Jill was slim and attractive, blue-eyed and dark, Only one kiss per yard smirked the young male clerk. That's fine I'll take 10 yards
AN unusual blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Blanc add up to a deliciously spicy and flavour-some dry white from one of Chile's old-established winemakers Concha Y Toro in the Casablanca Valley. The combination is everything with the tropical
CROZES-HERMITAGE is the biggest appellation in the north of France's Rhone region and Tain, where this classic red comes from, is the hub of the winemaking area. The grape is Syrah, better known nowadays as Shiraz, and this example is spicy and warm
NELSON youngsters are being given a chance to make their artistic mark in the town centre. Young people aged 12 to 18 are invited to attend a special workshop where they can help design graphics for the new business centre being built opposite Nelson
OVER THE last few weeks Keith Hall has been showing me a collection of old photographs relating to the Ribble Valley. We started to discuss how buildings and scenery may have altered over the years. On a wet and windy morning I strolled through the
STANLEY manager John Coleman showered his midfield dynamo Jay Harris with praise for his swashbuckling performance against Wycombe. The diminutive former Liverpool schoolboy capped a superb performance with his first goal in a Stanley shirt to give the
THE body of missing Blackburn man Joe Culshaw has been found in the Leeds Liverpool Canal. His sister has told of her grief at the news and said: "I can't believe I'll never see him again." The body of 31-year-old Joe was spotted in the waters at Albion
POLICE have arrested two more people in connection with a high-tech diesel scam. Detectives confirmed that the men, aged 23 and 22, both from Nelson, had been arrested on suspicion of using bogus credit cards to steal more than £1,000-worth of fuel.
YOU manage to finger and thumb the supermarket flimsy bag open, drop your loose sprouts in and tie the handles. You get home and instead of untying the bag you poke your finger through a side and rip the bag wide open and tip the sprouts out. Why is
AS I read my daily paper I wonder what will be the next thing we have not to do? When a child is christened the prayer is: "I baptise you with the sign of the Cross to show you must not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified and manfully
THE Government is concerned over the quality of service given to the electorate by local government. It has extended an invitation to local authorities and interested persons to suggest ways to improve services. The Government seems particularly concerned
I WAS surprised to read (LT, January 13) that the paper is in favour of Patientline being installed in the Royal Blackburn hospital. The Ofcom investigation is not being carried out for nothing. Patientline is horrendously expensive. We recently had
A BLACKBURN man who crashed his car into a garden wall in the early hours later reported it stolen to police. Blackburn magistrates heard Simon Joseph Halliwell, 20, claimed he had been mugged by three men and his car keys taken. But police had an eye
THE SECOND meeting of a newly-formed forum to improve social cohesion was held at the weekend - and was described as a further step in the right direction. The 100 Voices group met on Saturday and will meet again in March when a national conference at
BURNLEY were left counting the cost of Saturday's postponement. Initial estimates revealed the club had lost around £25,000, on top of the £100,000 operating costs of the New Year's Day washout against Stoke City. Chief executive Dave Edmundson said
Burnley's David Fishwick (Cricket Field) Stand will remain closed for tomorrow's home game against Stoke City. Several roof tiles were blown off in last week's gales, and following meetings with the club's ground safety officials, the police and Lancashire
ACCRINGTON Stanley and Chelsea have got something in common - they have both drawn 1-1 at Adams Park this season. And although John Coleman's side was assembled for slightly less than one of Andriy Shevchenko's toes - they still managed to leave Buckinghamshire
THE chants of the Blackburn Rovers supporters packed into the away end at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday evening echoed long into the night. As Matt Derbyshire, a striker born and bred in Blackburn, scored the goal that put the seal on another
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill today made his fourth signing in the January transfer window. He has swooped for Icelandic international and former Leicester City midfielder Joey Gudjonsson from AZ Alkmaar for £150,000. The 26-year-old goalscoring midfielder
BLACKBURN Rovers young guns Paul Gallagher and Matt Derbyshire have both signed new contracts with the club. Manager Mark Hughes sees the two Academy graduates as a key part of his future plans, so he has handed them both new deals, which ties them to
AT last, someone doing something different. There are all sorts of influences in this much-hyped debut from a Brazilian band. You'll spot salsa rhythms, electro pop and out-and-out rock, often in the same song. Occasionally it fails but when
THE Smithereens were always slightly Beatles-like, and it is to be admired that their debt to the Fab Four has been recognised with a proper tribute. It's actually just a pretty straight take on 12 Beatles songs. If it helps frontman Pat di Nizio
There are only so many ways you can stretch an acoustic-based sound and youngster Indi Forde just does not match the potency of the likes of Scott Matthews, Josh Pyke and Willy Mason. A blues element to the vocals helps to bring out some feeling, but
MORE than 3,000 homes across Lancashire were still without electricity yesterday after storms hit the county four days ago. United Utility chiefs said engineers had been working around the clock to restore power to the affected areas and they were expecting
AN Accrington woman who thought her partner was coming to pick her up in a taxi ended up being punched and throttled by him, a court was told. Hyndburn magistrates heard that Anthony Callendar also assaulted a man who had been with his girlfriend, punching
