A NELSON plumber is preparing for a busman’s holiday to help repair a home for disabled orphans in Ukraine. Father-of-two Eddie Padgett, 49, from Barley, is jetting out to Kiev next month, armed with pipework and toilet bowls, to maintain bathrooms he
A CRUNCH meeting has been arranged so campaigners can demand answers on Rossendale’s regeneration. Members of the borough’s civic trust will meet on Friday in Rawtenstall to try to set out a “clear vision” for the future. Among the items on the agenda
A MAN died 12 days after being attacked outside his own home - but the yobs who set on him have never been charged. John Coupe, 76, of Melville Avenue, Blackburn, was punched in the head and knocked to the ground, fracturing his lower spine
ALMOST half a million people from across world have joined online groups in support of an 89-year-old war veteran who was battered by burglars. Since Bob Schofield was left with horrific facial injuries after confronting burglars at his home in November
FIVE area councils across a borough could be replaced — amid claims residents are being ‘abandoned’. Hyndburn Borough Council is reviewing whether to redistribute thousands spent on running area councils such as Peel and Barnfield, Rishton, Clayton and
This Saturday, 4th April, is the CricketForce day at the Edenfield Cricket Club. The club is appealing for volunteers as there is a lot of work to do from 10am onwards. Just a few of the tasks are: assembling the net, fixing up new sponsor boards,
A MOTHER-in-law kept her sons’ wives imprisoned in the family home for years and treated them like ‘slaves and dogs’, a court heard. The three women, who were also her nieces, came from Pakistan as part of arranged marriages and were kept in Pringle
Rawtenstall Neighbourhood Forum was told that crime rates had fallen by a third in Rawtenstall and Haslingden during the past four years. Well that's obvious isn't it. One only has to look around! Maybe it's just me who's hallucinating.
A HEALTH group trying to cut the number of suicides is set to reach out to depressed men aged 15 to 35 — at a football match. Volunteers from the Campaign Against Living Miserably charity, known as CALM, will spend the day raising awareness
A site in Haslingden is being considered as one of 35 potential sites East Lancashire to cope with growing mountains of waste. Jamestone Quarry near Grane Road in Haslingden is a favoured possibility.
A “HIDDEN” £25 fee is to be added to the cost of getting married in Lancashire’s register offices. Last week County Hall announced wedding prices had been frozen because of the recession, claiming the cost had remained the same for eight years
HEADTEACHERS have hailed a pioneering scheme which hands three Burnley superschools a cash boost. Under a Government scheme backed by county education bosses, Shuttleworth College, Sir John Thursby College and Unity College will each be given
A PIECE of overgrown wasteland in Darwen is to be transformed into 40 allotments after a two-year campaign. The land, off Rose Hill Street, was used as allotments until 1996 but a lack of interest and anti-social behaviour problems resulted in them being
A SHOE trail is being created to celebrate the valley’s links with the footwear industry. People will be directed from Rawtenstall town centre to the nearby Panopticon artwork, at Top o’Slate by giant footwear markers. Students at All Saints
A MAJOR factory is being shut with the loss of 260 jobs. The closure of CD manufacturing plant by Entertainment Distribution Company (EDC) has been called the most significant blow to the manufacturing sector in the area since the recession began.
A BLACKBURN man is travelling the country to encourage more people to sign up as organ donors after his sight was saved by a transplant. Computer consultant Shabbir Lorgat, 29, of Lammack, who received a corneal transplant seven years ago after developing
A BLACKBURN primary school has achieved an award for its commitment to creating a safe, healthy and environmentally friendly school. St Francis Primary School in Feniscowles was given the Blackburn with Darwen Safety and Environment Quality
BLACKBURN with Darwen’s library service has become only the third in the country to win an award for the quality of its study support provision. The award, Qiss accreditation, is more usually given to schools and for a library service the recognition
BLACKBURN Rovers fans are being offered the chance to ‘get up close and personal’ with manager Sam Allardyce – as well as helping to raise money for an excellent cause. The club are staging ‘An Audience With Big Sam’ at Ewood Park on Thursday
BURNLEY have won the Press Association Sport Best Matchday Programme award at the 2009 Football League Awards. The club received the award at a gala dinner at Grosvenor House, Park Lane on Sunday in front of more than 800 attendees from clubs, sponsors
Night Flyer and Kingpest is one of the most talked about theatre debuts at Edinburgh Fringe 2008. The extraordinary and original Paper Cinema projects intricate, hand-drawn puppets onto the silver screen to tell a fairytale-like story accompanied
AN INVESTIGATION has found that Burnley Council owes no money after it emerged a cafe it owns does not pay business rates. A probe was launched last summer into why the Stables cafe, Towneley Park, was not included on a list for the rates paid by most
Pheonix Textiles is a Lancashire based group of textile artists whose work incorporates contemporary techniques and mixed media. Their first exhibition at Rossendale Museum, explores two diverse themes - Geometric Fluidity and Queen Elizabeth I. The
AN AWARD-winning farm park is set to open next week despite its owner suffering a setback. Just days before the Thornton Hall Farm Country Park opening, John Harrison has broken his foot in a motorcycle accident. John, who runs the park with his wife
A BLACKBURN nursery has proved it is one of the best in East Lancashire by gaining top inspection results. Kennedys Kidz, Preston New Road, was awarded an outstanding, or Grade 1, mark by the Government’s education watchdog Ofsted. The
MR Dependable Graham Alexander has been hailed as the model professional as he looks to get over his Dutch disaster for Scotland. Burnley’s veteran ever-present won his 38th cap for his country in the disappointing 3-0 defeat in Holland at
THE police’s latest tool to combat cocaine use is to be welcomed. A flashlight which illuminates traces of the drug bright green is a very simple idea. But the devices will enable police in Blackburn, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale to know who has
Camelot Theme Park has been saved from receivership and will reopen in May. The park, which went into receivership in February, will re-open on Saturday, May 23. The announcement follows the purchase of the site by The Story Group, based in Carlisle
THIS is going to sound really harsh but I’m going to say it anyway: If Danielle doesn’t pull herself together sharpish no-one is going to want her as a daughter. She is fast becoming the most annoying person living in Albert Square, and with Bianca and
A YOUNG boy was rushed to hospital after being hit by a car in Rossendale. The seven-year-old was left with cuts and bruises following the collision in Burnley Road East, Whitewell Bottom, at around 3.50pm on Sunday, police said. He
THE new High Sheriff of Lancashire will be officially sworn-in next week. Caroline Susan Reynolds will continue an office stretching back to at least the middle of the 10th Century. The appointment of High Sheriff is made by the Queen, in her right
Parents of pupils at Mount Carmel School are reminded sign their child’s student planner. They should also remind their children to take the planners to school and to write their homework in them each day. Can parents ensure their child wears
LOWERHOUSE have stated their intent ahead of the new Lancashire League season by snapping up Australian Test star Jason Krejza as their professional. The Liverpool Road outfit were rocked 12 days ago when their original choice Damien Wright was stopped
PLANS for a £12m leisure centre in Darwen is on track but council bosses will review the development again in September. Councillors have revealed that the Darwen Leisure Centre development will be ready for its December opening. But Blackburn with
THE desire to start up a business is as strong as ever, regional development chiefs have claimed. Funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), the Northwest Business Angels service follow a similar concept to the BBC programme Dragons’
HOSPITALS in East Lancashire look set to fare badly in the Healthcare Commission’s annual assessment scores. Bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospital, will be given a zero score for emergency
TEACHERS from a Blackburn special school will be taking part in a 90ft charity abseil. Eight members of staff from Newfield School will be travelling to Hodge Close near Windermere on April 25 at 1pm. The money raised will go towards the specialist
CAN I express my thanks to all the market traders I met during a visit to Darwen market for their most friendly and hospitable welcome. We hear of local town centres across the nation struggling from the credit crunch, but Darwen Market seemingly is
When you read the letters in the LT there are so many negative views about the NHS and I am guilty of the same thoughts. We can’t get away from the fact that what people are saying is actually true but I have been prompted into telling you about the
IF you get camera-caught exceeding the speed limit, stay positive. Take comfort in the knowledge that four vehicles-plus, per hour in Plantation Street, Accrington, are being driven one-handed because the driver is on the mobile. That is four to one
I AM a regular bus user on the No 1 route and 225. However, since the changes to the timetables we now only have four buses per hour, not as logic would think one every 15 minutes. The No 1 leaves the circus for the cemetery at a minute before the hour
NEW uniforms to allow fire service workers to wear traditional cultural and religious clothing have been announced. It is hoped the move will increase the number of ethnic minorities joining the service in Lancashire. Nationally less than five per cent
DESPITE economic woes continuing to plague the high street and shoppers worrying over spare cash, a rural business centre is bucking the trend. Figures just released from Backridge Farm, Twitter Lane, Waddington, have revealed that on-site retailers
Norman Tebbit once said, ‘Get on your bike, and get a job’, but that would not be much good at the moment for there’s no work and no likelihood of any for a while. At one time some of you might have had a Raleigh or even a Triumph motorbike
UP to 100 youngsters have been “running rampage” at a popular Darwen park causing damage and intimidating walkers. Harry Duxbury, chairman of the Friends of Bold Venture Park, said problems were so bad at the site that people were put off from
CHRIS Samba has urged Marseille loanee Gael Givet to commit his long term future to Blackburn Rovers after admitting his Premier League transition has stunned everyone. Rovers chairman John Williams has already revealed no talks will be held
ACCRINGTON Stanley defender Colin Murdock could be set to quit football in the summer - to take up a job as a solicitor. The 33-year-old central defender, with 34 caps for Northern Ireland, has returned to the Stanley starting line-up with
PHIL Eastwood is calling on his Rossendale United men to roll their sleeves up and dig in for the battle for UniBond League survival as they face a massive clash with Warrington Town at Dark Lane tonight. The Stags have been pulled right into the relegation
BURNLEY legend Leighton James thinks the Clarets will need three more wins to secure a play-off place – and he thinks victory at Derby on Saturday could prove vital. Owen Coyle’s Burnley side return to action at Pride Park at the weekend following
COCAINE-using clubbers were refused entry to a Blackburn nightclub after a high-tech ‘magic torch’ device revealed they had been sniffing the drug. Officers shone a special torch at customers that showed up traces of the drug on people’s hands and faces
LEROY Burrell, Matthew Hayden, Rubens Barrichello. These are all men who have stood at the forefront of their field without being the greatest, yet none were criticised in quite the same way as David Beckham. Football has never claimed to
