A FINANCE boss’ fall from grace is complete after he was banned from being a company director for five years. Last year, insurance broker Graham Darby 45, was banned from trading by the Financial Services Authority amid concerns over how his firm, Ambrose
FIVE thousand public sector jobs in East Lancashire could be axed by Britain’s next government, union bosses fear. The region’s workforce of town hall officers, health staff and even teachers could be slashed as political leaders attempt to
FORMER midwife, health visitor and magistrate Lois Rimmer is the new Mayor of Ribble Valley. Coun Rimmer, who represents the Langho and Dinckley ward, was sworn in as mayor tonight at the town hall in Church Street, Clitheroe. She said
A FORMER Labour councillor-turned independent said his family was being 'torn apart' after his support kept the Conservative group in charge of Hyndburn. Coun Malcolm Pritchard, whose daughter Clare is the borough's Labour deputy leader, said the wrangling
DARWEN traders have described the three-day market building as 'a horrible concrete bunker that needs pulling down'. Carlo Ricioppo was responding to deputy council leader Tony Melia’s claims the 1975 building had been ravaged by rainwater
A CENTRE which looks after victims of rape and sexual assault from across Lancashire has been caught in a funding row. The Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) Centre, in Preston, is a jointly funded venture between Lancashire Constabulary and
EIGHT out of 11 pubs tested during a police operation in Rossendale sold alcohol to underage youngsters. Officers organised the test purchases as part of a crackdown on underage drinking prior to the world cup starting next month. A teenager was sent
A CHILD pyschiatrist has pledged to address concerns about the NHS shake-up affecting Burnley General Hospital after securing a Lancashire County Council seat. Dr Misfar Hassan has acknowledged the continuing unease over the closure of the
A DARWEN man has been cleared of allegations that he sexually assaulted three teenage girls. Peter Taylor, 44, of Bolton Road Darwen, was yesterday not found not guilty by a jury of four charges if sexual assault following a trial at Preston Crown
FARAK AJAIB showed his class to win the CFS Burnley Snooker League singles final. Despite giving Kevin Catlow a 44 lead in the handicap system, the European Under 19s champion ran out a 4-0 winner. Ajaib never looked back after rattling up a 83 break
THE Accrington and District Boys League has held its first batch of end of season cup finals. Wilpshire Wanderers beat Rossendale United Boys 3-1 in the under 12s final with Mill Hill racing to an emphatic 8-0 win over Church FC in the under 14s.
ACCRINGTON Girls and Ladies FC Under 17s suffered spot kick heartache after losing to old rivals Readstone United in the North Valley League Final. Accrington started brightly but paid the price for missing a string of early chances - including a penalty
EMILY Smith is one of four Stonyhurst College pupils who has been selected to play hockey for Lancashire. Emily, from Hurst Green, was picked for the county under 15s and was part of the team that won the North of England Tournament. The team, which
TALKS are continuing to determine the political control of Blackburn with Darwen council. Last week’s local elections left Labour on 31 seats, two off an overall majority, having gained three on their rivals. But they can still be kept out by the
AS the dust settles on the General Election, four first-time MPs are getting to grips with their new jobs. The new recruits, aged 29 to 66, are among 226 new Members of Parliament who are being shown the ropes. Just Labour’s Jack Straw
A MAJOR donation is set to be agreed by county councillors for the £3.5million campaign to improve Blackburn Cathedral. Cabinet members will be asked on Thursday to hand over £250,000 to the cathedral’s chapter. The Church of England is aiming to improve
EAST Lancashire’s annual food festival will be ‘bigger and better than ever’ this year, organisers have promised. Bosses are currently putting the finishing touches to the fifth annual event, set to take place across the region between August
A MAN who 'talked dirty' over the internet with an Accrington schoolgirl and arranged to meet her for sex was trapped by the girl's uncle. Burnley Crown Court heard how Philip Toth, now 19, had exposed himself on his webcam to the 13 year-old. But
IF you can grin and bear with some of the characters, some of which take the word “nauseating” to a whole new level, you’ll love A Chorus Line. Yes, this is one of those shows that falls into the VERY American category. That said, the music is
MRS Brown, Dublin’s acid tongued matriarch, is back for another hilarious outing in How Now Mrs Brown Cow. The creation of Irish comedian Brendan O’Carroll, this old battleaxe certainly calls it how she sees it. Nobody, and I mean nobody, delivers
WHEN Nora Ephron wrote When Harry Met Sally she pulled off something of a masterstroke, because she created a romantic comedy that appeals to both sexes. Harry’s view of relationships is stereotypically male as he tries to bed every woman in sight
THE plight of a former Stonyhurst College pupil is at the centre of the latest production for Blackburn Drama Club from May 12 to 15. The Winslow Boy is based on the real story of a father’s fight to clear his son’s name. The boy, Ronnie Winslow
A SCHOOL community is anxiously awaiting a decision on a £1million investment by county education chiefs. Plans to overhaul Padiham Green CE Primary have reached the final hurdle, with cabinet member Coun Susie Charles expected to decide on the project
A BACUP-born opera singer is scaling the heights of his profession with his latest international performance. Rossendale’s Sean Ruane was flown to Barbados to perform at the 20/20 cricket World Cup less than 12 months after opening England’s successful
A BLACKBURN primary school has been placed into special measures after Ofsted officials discovered it had not made significant improvements since its last inspection. Hawthorns Junior School, St James Road, Blackburn, was rated inadequate, or grade
After the highs of a double winning weekend last week, Nelson were beaten for the second time in two days as East Lancs won at Seedhill. David Pearson made a career and club best of 139 while Nathan Rimmington was among the wickets. East Lancashire
Church were big winners as they hammered Rishton by nine wickets at Blackburn Road. Rishton innings CR Lambert lbw b Wolfenden 14 K Andrews c Hussain b Bentley 17 CA Smith run out 0 Agathagelou c and b Woodcock 20 T Hamill c Mirza b Woodcock
Enfield celebrated a good win over Lowerhouse at Dill Hall Lane, claiming a 21-run success. Enfield innings M Ahmed c Heap b Howells 4 A Hassan c Cottam b Heal 61 Bracewell c Bailey b Heal 19 LL Jackson lbw b Finch 4 Z Afzal c and b Heal
IT’S not until Billy Ocean starts to list some of his hits that you begin to realise what a successful artist this genial singer really is. He’s had number one singles on both sides of the Atlantic and songs such as Love Really Hurts Without
Haslingden are the leaders with five wins from five and an impressive strength in depth. Graham Knowles’ men racked up 274-5 at Todmorden with Lee Ingham (78) and Mohsin Imtiaz (52) leading the way with the bat. They then knocked over Todmorden
BURNLEY are bang in form and roared to their fourth big win of the season on Sunday. In fact in-form Burnley won their match before the second-half of the Clarets' game next door had started. Steve Brunt’s men rolled over Colne, who are still awaiting
BLACKBURN Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson has missed out on a place in England's provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup. As expected, Fabio Capello has to opted to select Robert Green, David James and Joe Hart as his three goalkeepers for
Ramsbottom were beaten for the first time this season as Vinny Hanson’s Rawtenstall starred at Bacup Road in Sunday’s shock of the day. Keith Roscoe and Andrew Payne claimed four wickets each as Rammy were bowled out for 128 when chasing Rawtenstall
A ROSSENDALE racer wowed the crowds as he clocked the fastest time at a national karting competition. Wesley Robinson, 31, flew round the Daytona Manchester track quicker than any other driver in the Vauxhall VXR Power Events Karting Challenge last week
Reigning champions Accrington got back to winning ways as they beat Bacup at Lanehead. They batted superbly to ease past Bacup’s 237 with six wickets in hand. Bacup innings PAP Gallagher b Clarke 71 A Taylor lbw b DN Ormerod 30 Smith
AN advertising firm has changed its name as it shifts its focus to the internet. Altham-based CW Advertising, along with sister company ITFX, is now Creative World to cash in on lucrative online advertising. Managing director Clive Woods said: “Our
MARK Bolton has lavished praise on record breaking batsman David Pearson after the East Lancashire star put a double entry into the history books over a memorable weekend. The veteran batsman became only the third man in Lancashire League history to
WHEN the cause is just, the Lancashire Telegraph takes pride in helping readers and organisations. Your favourite daily newspaper is always prepared make a stand for the community it serves, be its voice when needed and support appeals and individuals
LOAN star Jack Cork believes Burnley are capable of making a swift return to the Premier League, and hinted that Turf Moor may not have seen the last of him. The 20-year-old signed off his temporary stint on Sunday with a goal, helping the Clarets to
BRIAN Laws says he is determined to fight tooth and nail to keep Burnley's best players and re-group after the summer for another promotion assault. That includes Robbie Blake, who he is eager to tie up on a new deal. “We want to keep our best players
THE number of people who are killed or seriously injured on Lancashire’s roads has fallen by nearly 20 per cent for the first three months of the year. Figures released by Lancashire Constabulary show that there were 150 people killed and seriously
BRACE ace Shaun Watson bagged a brilliant double but his Ivy Hotel were forced to hang on for dear life before lifting the Sports Council Cup on Saturday. The strike star’s double appeared to have handed Ivy the silverware, especially when
A mother-of-five has been crowned ‘Mum of the Year’ after a touching tribute from her seven-year-old son. Heather Murphy, from Fern Gore, Accrington, said she was ‘stunned’ to scoop the title in a competition run by the Oswaldtwistle-based charity
JIMMY Waddington and Dean Emmott will contest the Moorhouse Golden Cue final. Waddington twice came from behind to beat Niki Murtaugh 3-2 in a final frame decider at Ighten Leigh. The second semi final was a marathon affair with Emmott
LAMMACK Girls Under 15s made up for the disappointment of missing out on the league title by winnng the cup for the fifth consecutive year, beating Academy 6-2. In what was a very competitive final, Academy took the lead but the scores were
MORE than 1,200 youngsters will take to the stage next month in a momentous musical gathering. The massive Making Music spectacle takes place at lakes leisure Kendal from June 7-10 and features 29 primary schools from across South Lakeland.
HUNDREDS of cyclists from all over the country got on their bike for this year’s 112-mile Fred Whitton Challenge in near perfect weather conditions. The gruelling marathon raised £65,000 for charity last May, and organiser Paul Loftus believes
BRAD Miller will never forget his five-star show at Turf Moor as Blessed Trinity continued their utter domination of the Keighley Cup. The striker bagged five goals as Blessed Trinity lifted the cup for the thrid successive year - and the previous
ISHAQ Kanmi is a 'rotten apple’ whose crimes have shocked the wider community. That's according to Coun Salim Mulla, who said he was close friends with Kanmi’s factory-worker father and housewife mother who are ‘appalled’ at their son’s arrest and
Talks between union leaders and Rolls-Royce bosses over changes to working practices at the firm’s Barnoldswick plant are continuing. Unite union representatives said last year they fear workers may need to agree to controversial changes in order to
AN EAST Lancashire finance expert has warned that the region’s publicly-listed firms could take a hit if Britain’s party leaders fail to agree a power deal soon. The markets have so far coped well with the hung parliament and yesterday Conservative leader
BRIDGE Inn blew away Park’s cup hopes in a devastating opening spell as they scored three times in 15 minutes. Despite a bright start from Park, Bridge punished their rivals with a combination of fine finishing, a touch of luck and a goalkeeper
JUST when you thought it was all going to be over and that we could get back to the job in hand, like trying to make our once-great country great once more, what do we get — arguments. Oh, sorry — diplomatic discussions — all weekend about who’s going
APPLICATIONS for Blackburn College’s further and higher education have increased. So far the University Centre has seen its applications more than double from 441 last year to 922 this year. And applications for further education courses have increased
A BUSINESS leader has backed an East Lancashire college which has created a course to encourage entrepreneurship. Chief executive of the area’s chamber of commerce Mike Damms said entrepreneurial spirit had been ‘neglected’ and was ‘dormant
What a strange election. Suddenly it turned into a three-horse race. The media went bananas about a hung parliament with all the Tory tabloids launching a crazy attack on Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. The last opinion polls were still forecasting
AS the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Southwest Neighbourhood Board we feel strongly that we find it necessary to reply to the comments made by political parties who state that the boards are not working or think they are a shame. Here a few comments that
I would like to pay tribute to the voters in Meadowhead who showed faith in me. Working hard over the last three years, I know that this ward is full of assertive residents with opposing views, evidenced by the close result. The turnout was 63.3 per
It’s good to see progress for faith schools at last. Islamiyah School, Blackburn, is doing a great job of educating young women from the Muslim community, as Ofsted noted in their last inspection report. Now one of their teachers has won ‘Muslim school
PUPILS are being tested far more than in previous years. Some headteachers feel frustrated with the controversial SATs exams and have decided to ditch them. They feel the exams for 10 and 11-year-olds would be better replaced by internal assessment.
AS the curtain falls on the season I can scarcely believe all that has happened to our club in the last 10 months. To be honest, if you had offered me another year of progression up the league and 61 points at the start of the season I would have snatched
A METAL worker lost his finger when it became trapped in machinery at a Burnley tool manufacturer, magistrates heard. Victim Paul Whittaker was working on a metal component when the horrific injury happened at CMA Tools, in Westgate, the Reedley
AS someone once remarked, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. It would take a particularly cockeyed view of the season to argue that most of the best stuff was before Christmas, while most of the worst stuff came after the advent of
“THE Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades.” The much-heralded breakthrough for the Liberal Democrats may have proven a false dawn but Sunday confirmed that the recent Rovers surge was not a flash in the pan. While Blackburn’s excellent away win
Alison Leonard is the British Universities and Colleges Champion in the women’s 800 metres. The Birmingham University student clocked 2:09.24 for victory by a third of a second over Rose-Anne Galligan at Bedford. Although the time was not fast by her
The Pendle and Bur-nley Grand Prix has opened with victories for Gary Shaw and Mollie Ralphson at the Great Hameldon Hill Fell Race in Accrington. Clayton’s Shaw was the only athlete to break 40 minutes for the six miles as he won with half a minute
Sam Allardyce will step up his search for a striker after his budget was finalised following Blackburn Rovers' 10th place Premier League finale. Lens’ Aruna Dindane, Portsmouth’s Frederic Piquionne and Polish striker Robert Lewandowski are
CLITHEROE faced a Bradford City legends team in a match to raise money for a Burns Unit appeal set up in the aftermath of the Valley Parade fire disaster. The match was especially poignant as it was held just before today's 25th anniversary of the
ANGLERS using a Darwen reservoir have claimed maintenance measures are damaging fish stocks. Earnsdale Reservoir, set in 17.5 acres of moorland, has been used for trout fishing for 130 years. But recently the owner, United Utilities,
JEROME ‘Lights Out’ Lawton showed just why he is so highly rated in the ABA English Schoolboy rankings with another impressive victory. The Sandygate ABC fighter, ranked seventh in the country, was up against George Brennan at the Lifestyle
HAPTON eventually got their hands on the Allan Mason Cup but they were forced to work extra hard to do so. It appeared that Matt Hesmondhalgh’s early strike was going to be enough to separate the side’s until Danny Lee’s free kick levelled
Garry Flitcroft, the former Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers Premier League midfield star, is Chorley's new manager. Chairman Ken Wright broke the news after returning from holiday on Monday. He said: "We feel it is a sound appointment
Tottenham are considering an £18m bid for Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano as manager Harry Redknapp targets a world-class forward to boost the club's chances in the Champions League next season. Manchester City are weighing up an offer for Sunderland's
ACCRINGTON Stanley are likely to hand longer contracts to players this summer in a bid to avoid a repeat of the Michael Symes scenario. Stanley signed Symes on a one-year contract last summer and could now be set to lose him on a Bosman free
AROUND 50per cent of schools in East Lancashire refused to allow their pupils to sit the Government’s SATs tests yesterday, unions claim. And the National Association for Headteachers identified Pendle as a key area opposing the Government
FORMER Burnley boss Owen Coyle is plotting a reunion with Wade Elliott at the Reebok Stadium. I understand the Bolton Wanderers manager is ready to line up a bid for the Clarets winger and raid his old club, possibly as early as today. Elliott has
BLACKBURN Rovers look set to spend part of the summer Down Under as they prepare to make their first ever pre-season trip to Australia. While the details are still to be finalised, the club have been lined up to compete in a high-profile four- team tournament
SHOAIB MALIK will join Lancashire for their Friends Provident t20 campaign which starts in June. The former Pakistan captain is available for all of Lancashire Lightning’s t20 fixtures and will join his new team-mates ahead of their opening
