A SPEED camera technician has been sacked for putting ‘quantity before quality’ and causing 545 drivers to be wrongly prosecuted. The Blackburn-based police worker was ‘proud’ of catching the most motorists, according to the Independent Police
A TEENAGER who mugged a cabbie and then attacked and threatened another driver from the same firm with a knife has been jailed for three years. Burnley Crown Court heard how Samuel Hoaken's first victim Wajid Hussain thought he had a knife when something
A BLACKBURN man has appeared in court charged in connection with possessing over £2,700 of heroin and cocaine. Mohammed Awan, 18, Whitehead Street, Blackburn was charged with possession with intent to supply heroin, possession with intent to
A legendary Haslingden stray cat well known to residents has been helped by a lady from Clegg Street. The feline who has hobbled around the town for years has now had its injured leg amputated and should be fighting fit again soon. Well done Mrs
A YOUNG reveller who was attacked in a Burnley suburb may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, police believe. The 23-year-old was struck from behind without warning, possibly by a bottle, as he stepped out of a taxi in Brougham Street, in
A COLNE man who chased his girlfriend across north Yorkshire moorlands before throttling her into unconsciousness has been branded a serious danger to women. William Robert Davies, 60, who was given a four year extended prison sentence at Bradford Crown
A BLACKBURN lorry driver involved in a near half a million pound money laundering operation has been jailed for nine years. Andrew Akeroyd made repeated trips abroad and claimed that the thousands of pounds he had amassed were the result of gambling
OWEN Coyle is confident that he has a cracking midfield pairing to tackle the best of the Championship. The Burnley boss was quick to heap praise on Republic of Ireland star Chris McCann almost from the moment he stepped through the doors at
A number of telephone boxes in Haslingden and Helmshore are under the axe due to lack of use and vandalism. Residents of Bury Road, Haslingden can probably thank the vandals for the loss of their service as this box will definitely be removed.
In an attempt to improve safety, parts of Grane Road will be closed between the 7th and 14th July and the 21st to 28th August, although there still seems to be some confusion over these dates. The closure will particularly affect the length from Calf
A BROADCASTER who secretly and indecently filmed a girl at her school is likely to receive a community punish-ment, a judge said. Sentencing for David Blaxhall, 49, was adjourned at court yesterday so his suitability for receiving a community penalty
BOSSES could make motorway changes after a driver knocked down and killed a deer on the M65. Chris Nolan, 52, of Rostle Top Road, Earby, was driving along the motorway’s east-bound carriageway, between junctions 14 and 13, early on Monday morning when
FOUNDERS Day at Walshaw Secondary School, Burnley, usually meant food – and in the summer of 1970 that came in the form of 26 specially-baked cakes. That year, the school was celebrating its 14th birthday. And each form had a cake baked in the domestic
A RECENT Looking Back feature on the last days of steam at Rosegrove proved a sentimental journey back in time for many engine enthusiasts. One reader, Terry Hodgson, of Burnley, who has staged several exhibitions of photographs from the era, sent us
TWO boys, aged 11 and 13, were caught red handed after throwing stones at a bus — which had undercover police onboard. Neighbourhood police officers and plain clothed officers teamed up with staff from the Safer Travel Unit to travel on the Trojan bus
A SUPPLY teacher who claims he was the victim of racist abuse by pupils at a Pendle school has asked why education bosses did not offer him extra support and training. Maths tutor Ajaz Ahmed Ditta alleged he was targeted by a female and male pupil at
MORE than one in three taxis failed safety spot checks in Colne. Officers stopped 22 taxis in Colne last Friday and eight of them failed safety inspections. This is an increase on last year’s figures, where spot checks in October revealed more than
EIGHT youngsters all looking pristine in their uniforms, knock at the door for a lift to school. But it wasn’t any ordinary house, for the Mayor of Blackburn, Alderman Lawrence Edwards, lived there. And he had promised to take them for lessons, that
IN 1924 Miss Elizabeth Gardner returned to her old school, where she had been a pupil before World War I — and stayed for 42 years, 30 of them as headmistress. But her long association with St Oswald’s RC primary school in Accrington, came to an end
A LANCASHIRE Constabulary speed camera technician has been sacked after drivers were wrongly hit with speeding fines totalling £35,000. The action has been revealed at the end of an Independent Police Complaints Commission managed investigation
EASTERN European rhythms were played out in an East Lancashire setting yesterday. The Balkanics Band, who hail from Lancaster but play Balkan and Polish folk music, played at Blackburn Town Hall Square as part of the Celebrate Blackburn festival.
My Nan had a nasty abscess on her finger. My grandad, told her to go to the doctor’s. “If I do,” she replied, “there will be nothing to eat tomorrow. We’ve only half a crown left”. So my granddad got his cut-throat razor, sterilised it over the gas
AS THE NHS celebrates its 60th birthday, its first East Lancashire patient has called for a return to traditional values. Evelyn Croak, 80, of Cemetery Road, Darwen, was just 20 years old when she was rushed to the Blackburn Royal Infirmary
MORE people across East Lancashire are visiting the dentist. New figures released by the NHS Information Centre have shown that 257,152 people visited the dentist between March and December 2007, up almost 7,000 from the previous six months. But only
LANCASHIRE captain Stuart Law claimed Andrew Flintoff should return for England “as soon as he is ready” after helping his side to victory yesterday. Flintoff finally rediscovered some batting form to hit a swashbuckling 62 not out as Lancashire beat
MICHAEL Hunt endured a cruel stroke of luck which cost him a place in the next stage of the Open Championship at the regional qualifier, over his home course Pleasington. The Lancashire County player, who broke the amateur course record of 65 in the
FORMER England and Lancashire cricketer David Lloyd is preparing for a second game of the season with Accrington CC. The Sky Sports commentator is set to be involved in this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash with Rawtenstall, after recovering from a hamstring
Oliver Aspden and Eleanor Markendale were winners for the Lancashire Schools’ Team at the North West Schools’ Combined Events Championships. The pair also qualified for the English Schools’ Championships where they will be joined by North West medallists
Peter Matthews and Candice Taylor will make their International debuts, repr-esenting Great Britain in the European Mountain Running Championships at Zellam Harmersbach in Germany a week on Saturday. Their selection follows a recent trial race at Sedbergh
TOM Bradshaw was on top form at the fourth round of the Henderson Formula Palmer Audi series, scoring an impressive first race victory at his home circuit of Oulton Park. An incident-packed qualifying run in changing weather conditions saw 19-year-old
IT may be halfway through the year, but that hasn't stopped Paul Blanchard launching his bid to win the 2008 SD34 Rally Championship. The Nelson driver retired from the opening round, the North West Stages, after blowing the engine on his Nissan Micra
DRVING a souped-up Citroen Saxo is the ambition of many a teenager. But Chris Warburton is living the dream of racing one - and he’s only 15. And the Leyland youngster is a force to be reckoned with in the SaxMax Championship, where he’s currently
The month of July will be offering cycling fans a multitude of opportun-ities for spectating their sport, including a brand new cycle race in Blackburn town centre. Starting tomorrow, the Blackpool Weekend offers racing on the main promenade with the
PAUL Ince will meet up with John Williams today and map out what he hopes will be a blueprint for success at Blackburn Rovers next season. Suitably refreshed following a short break on the continent, Ince is back in the country and ready to put phase
ADMISSION prices for Burnley’s home friendly against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on August 2 (kick-off 3pm) have been confirmed. Only the Bob Lord and James Hargreaves upper tier will be open for this final game of the pre-season campaign, at a cost
BURNLEY manager Owen Coyle insists he has not made a fresh approach for Celtic striker Derek Riordan. Reports from Scotland suggested a £750,000 move to the Clarets was imminent for the 25-year-old. But Coyle stressed that although he remained an admirer
TWO East Lancashire libraries are set to be given a makeover in a £1.1million scheme this year. Under Lancashire County Council’s Library Regenerate programme both Briercliffe Library, Jubilee Street, Burnley, and Oswaldtwistle Library, in Union Road
A POSTAL worker is claiming he was subjected to racial abuse for seven years before he was sacked by the Royal Mail. Former postman Abdul Musa was at the centre of a major race relations investigation at Blackburn’s Canterbury Street sorting
THE Mayor of Burnley is opening two brand new facilities in Queens Park this weekend. Councillor Ida Carmichael will cut the ribbon on the park’s exciting new children’s cycle track at 12.30pm on Saturday. The innovative new track is
BURNLEY MP Kitty Ussher has unveiled measures designed to improve the role of community banks in East Lancashire. East Lancashire is home to a number of credit unions, offering loans and savings facilities for people often overlooked or blacklisted
RESIDENTS in Burnley will get the chance to have their say on the design for a brand new community college. Local people are being encouraged to put forward their ideas for the Hameldon Community College, which is to be built on the former
HOUSEHOLDERS in Rossendale are being offered help with planning extensions or alterations to their homes. Rossendale Council has put together a document to help people understand issues to consider before carrying out extension plans. These make up half
AN ALLEGED dealer accused of being involved in drugs sales in Oswaldtwistle was ‘high up’ in the chain of supply, a court was told. Mumtaz Khan, 51, was said to have provided a man named Kevin Barsky with amphetamine which was then sold to
A CAMPAIGN to keep Todmorden Town Hall intact has been joined by the Victorian Society, which says the town’s library should stay in its present building, in Rochdale Road. A study for Calderdale Council suggested closing the library and moving books
A SCHOOLGIRL was sexually harassed while riding on a Burnley bus. The 12-year-old was on the 106 service in the town when a man sat next to her and touched her on the leg. He then asked her if she wanted to kiss him and attempted to
PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice believes the Government will act to reimburse all those who lost out as a result of the 10p tax rate abolition. The MP was backing an amendment to the Finance Bill, which puts the Budget into law, in a bid to put pressure on
CAMPAIGNERS in Brierfield have promised to to clean up a small corner of their town. People living near the spare land, in the Woodclough Platts area, off Clitheroe Road, are anxious the site does not become an eyesore. So with the backing
THE creative talents of Lancashire youngsters were celebrated during Wonderful Opportunities Week (WOW). All last week, WOW saw primary schools open to local communities to show off the work children do and the creative opportunities on offer
A MAN found dead in a derelict substation was had accidentally taken a drug overdose, an inquest heard. Stephen Trent, 32, had been on 24-hour release from a rehab centre in Coventry and had been due to meet family in Accrington on the day
FOLLOWING a Lancashire Telegraph investigation into the grooming of girls for sex by gangs of men, the police, council and other agencies set up a special operation to combat the crime. We spoke to one of the victims helped by staff from Engage
A FORMER footballer is preparing to trek to Mount Everest base camp to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. In March, fitness fanatic Chris Ingham will embark on one of the most gruelling physical challenges year he has faced yet. The 17-day
A stunning floral display celebrating 125 years of the Boys’ Brigade has taken pride of place at the King Street roundabout in Accrington. Council gardeners have been busy putting the final touches to the display in which an anchor is outlined in yellow
COUNCILS bosses have launched a bid to find a private sector partner to build and remodel nine secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen. Seven groups of contractors – or consortia – took part in a special bidder day to find out more about the
FIFTEEN off-licences were put to the test as part of a summer crackdown on underage drinking in Blackburn and Darwen. PS Abid Khan and PC Emma Turner from the neighbourhood policing team, together with Stephen Dundon from Blackburn with Darwen
TWO Clayton-le-Moors women will travel 60 miles while handcuffed together in aid of cancer patients. Sisters-in-law Jackie, 41, and Julie Bowker, 35, will start their “Great Escape” fundraiser from Strangeway’s Prison in aid of Macmillan Cancer
A NEGLECTED footpath has been transformed by a team of workers on probation. The path, off Beardwood Brow, Beardwood, was worked on by teams of four or five ‘low-risk offenders’ serving community service orders over two weeks. The offenders
IF town hall bureaucrats are so desperate for something to do that they have to suggest the future demolition of new Sea Cadet Corps headquarters because it won’t fit in, I can help them. Why not the new Town Hall, Blackburn College, the Royal Blackburn
SERGEANT John Holden – son of Thomas Edward and Mary Holden, Accrington – was a young RAF wireless operator/air gunner whose aircraft crashed close to my native village in Normandy during the night of 9/10 June, 1944. I would like, if possible and
MAY I suggest to David Pearson (LT, June 27) that it is not just a Labour Government which has failed to provide our armed forces with the proper equipment. For example, back in 1982 a Conservative Government sent a British task force 8,000 miles to
ONCE again we have town planners living on another planet re the new Blackburn market. How on earth can they compare Blackburn Market now or in the future with Bury? Blackburn has been at the bottom of the country’s markets for years. I have
A 40-year-old woman has appeared in court in connection with an incident at the offices of Blackburn MP and Justice Secretary Jack Straw. Zaurian Luqman, of Eyebrook Road, Bowdon, Altrincham, is charged with assaulting special branch officers
A WOMAN having a boiler fitted in her home found a 50-year-old copy of The Lancashire Telegraph — which carried a report about a boiler exploding. Julie Richards, 43, of St.Michaels Close, Feniscowles, Blackburn, found the newspaper under lino
Friends of Sunnyhurst Wood are busy with a range of projects to improve the beauty spot. Members met Rebecca Cleaver from Ponds For People to discuss a management plan for the newly-restored Ellis Gibson pond. President Denis Gillibrand, said: “Foliage
THIS year’s Big Picnic at Hoddlesden will go ahead, it has been confirmed. The event, on the village’s Millennium Green, was in doubt because of a lack of volunteers. But after appeals in the Lancashire Telegraph, helpers have came forward
A FORMER runner from East Lancashire who was severely injured in a car crash is set to compete in the world championships – for handcycling. In July 2005, Steve Clemence, 49, of Butts Mount, Great Harwood, suffered severe leg injuries when
The case of a schoolboy who suffers from a rare muscular disease was raised in Parliament yesterday. Ribble Valley Tory MP Nigel Evans called for more awareness and help for sufferers of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle wasting disease that afflicts
AN East Lancashire businesswoman has given her voice to one of Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park’s latest characters. Mother-of-two Debbie Reynolds, 33, has provided the voice for Cath the Cat, who is one of six brand new Creature Discomforts characters
