A PROLIFIC thief was jailed for 120 days - and accepted his fate. Blackburn magistrates were told that David Phelps had a drug addiction which he funded by stealing. And defence solicitor Deborah Morgan said her client was realistic enough to know that
THREE first-half strikes proved decisive as Blackburn Rovers comfortably saw off Premiership bottom club Watford at Ewood Park. The results boosts Blackburn's chances of grabbing a European spot for next season, and almost certaintly confirms the Hornets
The St George's Free Church of England, St George's Avenue, Mill Hill, is celebrating its 100 birthday on Sunday. Guest speaker at the service is the Rt Rev Dr John Fenwick, Bishop of the Northern Diocese. A Centenary stone will be consecrated by
AN early two-goal blitz saw Blackburn Rovers take charge against Premiership bottom club Watford at Ewood Park. Rovers, unchanged from their FA Cup semi-final last Sunday, made a sixth minute breakthrough when Christopher Samba scored his second goal
A 40-year-old man subject to a drink-related Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) was arrested after being found in a bar in the early hours of the morning. Blackburn magistrates heard that James Lee had gone to the Cellar Bar looking for his sister so
A TRAVELLING circus has caused a stir after it pitched up in a village without warning. Residents were shocked when Circus Mondao's big top - complete with zebras and llamas - arrived on fields off Salterforth Road, Kelbrook, on Sunday, ready for its
A 38-year-old man produced a hammer when he went to hospital to visit his partner and found her ex-boyfriend in attendance. Blackburn magistrates heard Nigel Lee Hodgson was confronted by the ward sister and ordered to leave. He walked through Accident
A COMMUNITY champion was so angered after yobs cut the brakes on a pensioner's mobility scooter that she is paying for it to be repaired. James Rimmer, 67, of Elizabeth House sheltered accommodation in Sudellside, Darwen, was moved to tears by the kindness
A MAN who became addicted to drugs after moving to London is behind bars after dealing crack cocaine to fund his habit. Shayleem Ullah, 24, of Bury Road, Haslingden, had cocaine with a street value of almost £1,500 on him when searched by police. He
FIREFIGHTERS are attending English classes to teach migrant workers about fire safety. Fire brigade leaders estimate more than 500 manual workers from countries like Poland, Lithuania and Estonia have settled in Nelson and Colne in recent times. And
A TEENAGER who raided a man's home at night, stole his car and wrote it off, has been jailed for 27 months. Burnley Crown Court heard how Jamie Fairclough, 19, was also involved in trouble outside a woman's Whitworth home. The defendant, said to want
PARENTS, carers and residents are invited to find out more about a new children's centre planned for Ramsbottom. A consultation will take place today at Bury Town Hall's Elizabethan Suite to discuss the eight children's centres planned for the borough
POLICE have vowed to take action over young yobs in a Nelson park. Plans to add more youth facilities at Marsden Park were met with hostility from residents, who said they were often kept awake all night by drunk youths. Officers will now step up their
HOPES for a skatepark in Trawden could soon be dashed when initial reports are published in the next few weeks. Teenagers in Colne and Trawden had asked Pendle Council's Colne and District Committee to look into the idea of ramps for skateboards and
A NEW police and community support officer will be helping to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in Queensgate. PCSO Lisa Edmondson joins the area's Neighbourhood Policing Team to work with community Beat Manager PC Richard Collopy, PCSO Nigel Keates
THREE men who attacked a murder susp-ect's partner after the death of a baby have all been jailed for 12 months. Burnley Crown Court heard how Andrew Gerard Elliott was set upon, branded a killer and knocked unconscious by Graham Anderson, 26, Kenneth
A TOWN centre developer donned a Beatles replica outfit in celebration at the coming 40th anniversary of a Beatles album that made Blackburn famous. Margo Grimshaw put on the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band outfit for the photo call at her town
A LEGAL secretary is pleading for help in tracing the East Lancashire dad she has never met. Donna Simpson, 28, of Barnstaple in north Devon is looking for Michael Charles Williams, who would be about 50 years old and whose last known address was in
A COUPLE from Darwen are running the London Marathon on Sunday for a diabetes charity after a relative died from the condition. Joanne Farley, 33, and Tony Farley, 39, of Minster Crescent, are running for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to raise
RESIDENTS are being warned they will be taken to court if they allow domestic rubbish to build up outside their homes. Burnley Council issued the warning after Jacqueline Coppin was fined £100 when she dumped items including a bathtub, toilet and household
A SUSPECTED terrorist from Blackburn appeared in court yesterday ahead of a trial that is expected to last six months. Junade Feroze, 31, of Malham Gardens, Audley, was brought into the dock at Woolwich Crown Court with six other co-accused. Feroze
A FAMILY from Darwen rubbed shoulders with Blackburn Rovers stars at a poker night. Tracey and Ste Crossley, from Pot House, Darwen, entered an online poker competition and won a trip to Blackburn Rovers Football Club for a evening of entertainment.
A TEENAGER is cursing her bad luck after losing a £3,250 diamond ring - on Friday 13. And Naomi Fischer, of Whalley Road, Wilpshire, has offered a £500 reward for the return of the Tiffany ring which was an 18th birthday present from her parents last
THERE'S something about the first really sunny day of the year that strikes a dagger of fear into the hearts of women across the world. I know I'm not alone in this. When the mercury hits 23 degrees and 19-year-old girls strip down to their cut-off
WHAT a relief to be looking at the bottom teams and not worrying about getting embroiled in an end-of-season relegation dogfight. Leeds have pulled off some excellent results at Elland Road in recent weeks so it was typical of their current form that
ITEMS totalling over £200 were stolen from a shed behind a terrace house in Olive Lane, Darwen. The haul included two blue Raleigh bikes worth £100, a £50 silver challenge bike, a £20 aluminium folding table and chairs, a ten-man tent worth £100, camping
IT was meant to be a state-of-the-art community centre, but eight years after this steel structure was built it remains an unfinished, rat-ridden eyesore. The Muslim community turned its back on the project in Blackburn because the £300,000 which paid
Jobs will be created in Rawtenstall after an office development was given planning approval. B&E Boys, a family business based in Rossendale, has been given the go-ahead to build the 25,000sq ft development at Higher Mill, off New Church Road. Up to
A CAR was driven into the front of a corner shop in a failed ram raid. Officers investigating the drama at The One Stop Shop, Pritchard Street, Blackburn, are appealing for anyone with information to contact them as soon as possible. Police said the
BLACKBURN skipper Ryan Nelsen has told his team-mates don't let the season fizzle out' as Rovers prepare to pick up the pieces following their heartbreaking FA Cup exit when Watford visit Ewood Park in the Premiership tonight. Sunday's 2-1 defeat to
PUPILS from a Darwen primary school watched as their time capsule was buried on an old mill site in the town. Year one children from Holy Trinity Primary School, Bank Top, laid the capsule at the site in Bolton Road where a housing development is being
BUOYANT Burnley manager Steve Cotterill hailed Andy Gray after his leading scorer ended a frustrating wait to get back among the goals. The Clarets striker took his tally for the season to 11 with the second in last night's 3-0 win over Norwich City
FIRE service chiefs have improved the redundancy packages offered to East Lancashire firefighters they want to axe. Voluntary redundancy has been discussed with around a dozen firefighters at both Barnoldswick's Wellhouse Road station and the Queen Street
A woman who threw a half pint glass in a local pub and injured an innocent bystander has been ordered to pay the victim £500 compensation. Preston Crown Court was told that Joanne Pickering, 20, had not intended to injure anyone when she threw the glass
The three people killed in the M6 crash yesterday morning have been named. Thomas Hayes, 51, of Utting Avenue East, Liverpool, Stephen Corrigan, 55, of Cherry Lane, Liverpool, and John Kerrigan, 48, of North Wood Street, Kirkby, were killed when the
BLACKBURN Rovers' FA Cup adventure might have reached the end of the road at Old Trafford, but the defeat against Chelsea could prove to be a turning point in the career of Jason Roberts. Signed from Wigan last summer for £2.5 million, Roberts has taken
A GROUP opposed to plans to erect turbines above Bacup and Todmorden say many people are unaware they are almost as high as Blackpool tower. The Friends of the South Pennines have released a diagram illustrating the scale of the turbines that London-based
THE owner of a taxi firm was assaulted when he went to remonstrate with a drunken customer who was causing trouble in the office. Blackburn magistrates heard that Daniel James Caddens had been out celebrating his 18th birthday which was the following
A MAN who had been on a three-day drinking binge broke into a neighbour's house and stole a dart board and a set of darts. Blackburn magistrates heard that Paul Proctor had no explanation for his behaviour and could remember nothing of the incident.
THE RIBBLE VALLEY has been named the ninth best place in the country to bring up a family. First place went to East Dunbartonshire in the Reader's Digest poll which asked parents and looked into dadta like crime figures. The report's authors said "safe
EAST Lancashire is basking in warm sunshine - with experts predicting this could be one of the hottest Aprils on record. With temperatures reaching as high as 24 degrees celsius experts continue to forecast plenty of fine and warm weather for the rest
Click here to read fans' tributes. Click here for our photo gallery from the funeral. Click here for our photo gallery from Brian's time with Burnley. CLARETS fans lined the road outside Turf Moor to pay their final respects to a football legend
Click here to read fans' tributes. Click here for our photo gallery from the funeral. Click here for our photo gallery from Brian's time with Burnley. SIR Bobby Charlton led tributes from the footballing world to Brian Miller. The testimonials
Click here to read fans' tributes. Click here for our photo gallery from the funeral. Click here for our photo gallery from Brian's time with Burnley. FOOTBALL legends joined with hundreds of fans to say a final farewell to Mr Burnley' Brian
A DAD attacked his "wayward" daughter and then trashed the family home in a fit of temper. The 42-year-old from Haslingden, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had "come to the end of his tether" with the 16-year-old when he slapped her repeatedly
BURNLEY MP Kitty Ussher has called for Lancashire County Council to be axed and replaced by unitary authorities. She made the comments in a debate in Westminster which followed the government's rejection of the bid by Burnley and Pendle to merge and
ROVERS boss Mark Hughes is ready to fight for Europe again, just a week after writing off his side's qualification hopes. After defeat by Aston Villa in their last league outing, Hughes admitted a second foray in the UEFA Cup in successive years had
PAUL Mullin believes Accrington Stanley are playing like a team challenging for the play-offs - not one worrying about relegation. The Reds travel to Shrewsbury this Saturday knowing that a victory could guarantee their Football League survival. John
MY opinion of the braid' sculpture in Blackburn town centre can be judged in one word: hideous! It resembles an ornate chimney, but that's all. True life artists and their sculptors would be astounded by the content of this so-called work of art. Beauty
THE suggestion of placing a mailbox in the Town Hall-Market area of Darwen is an excellent one (LT, April 7). This would not take a great deal of the money allocated for Darwen town centre and would be a practical and helpful plan for Darwen people who
IT'S no wonder staff sickness levels are so high at Blackburn and Burnley hospitals, with practically week by week changes being made to their job descriptions, salaries, where they will work, being moved to Blackburn from Burnley, having to apply for
I AM writing to publicly thank all those who stepped in to help my cousin, Robert Taylor, outside Accrington Stanley's ground. My cousin was badly injured and special thanks must go to Dr Joyce Watson for her part in keeping Robert alive while waiting
WHEN the idea of Trash the Trash came out in Blackburn with Darwen, I thought great, what a good idea and resolved to do my bit. Hang on a minute, what are those bin bags doing in my back alley? Full of rubbish. They had been left behind by binmen who
A HIGH-profile campaign has been launched to help protect drug users who have taken overdoses. Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen (Drug and Alcohol Action Teams) DAAT's, have launched the OD 999 drive in a bid to reduce the number of deaths from overdoses
A FATHER and son carried out a violent attack on a woman after their family had suffered prolonged provocation, a court was told. David Ronald Todd and his teenage son David John Todd struck Collette Walsh days after she was released from jail for intimidating
MARK Hughes has laughed off speculation linking Morten Gamst Pedersen with a summer switch to Old Trafford. And he has warned potential suitors of the Norwegian wing wizard to forget about trying to snatch him on the cheap. Reports have suggested an
MANAGER Steve Cotterill requested that the Turf Moor roof be raised when Andy Gray finally got back on the goal trail. When the popular hitman obliged with his 11th of the season - ending a two-and-a-half month barren run after returning from injury
EVER noticed how money seems to gravitate towards people who have no idea how to spend it wisely? Last night's Marbella Belles is a perfect case in point. The show follows the lives of five British Barbie doll-like women: Jo, Lisa, Barbs and two Louises
Fire crews were called to a gas leak in a living room at a house in Warner Street, Haslingden, at 7.30pm yesterday. The defective gas fire was made safe by fire fighters.
Firefighters were called to two separate large grass fires last night - one of which was started by a disposable barbecue. A group of young men were having a barbecue at Cranberry Moss at the top of Cranberry Lane, Darwen, when the fire spread to grassland
SIXTY people have been arrested during a week-long operation aimed at disrupting serious and organised crime in East Lancashire. The arrests were made after a series of co-ordinated police raids across Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble
A NELSON man will face a re-trial after a jury failed to reach verdicts on three sex charges. Terence Marshall, 34, of Rakehouse Road, denied two charges of indecency with a teenage girl and one of indecent assault, at Preston Crown Court. Last week
