A YOUTH club has been temporarily closed after fears of violent clashes between gangs of youths. The club, at Accrington Road Community Centre in Blackburn, was shut on Monday night on the advice of police after dozens of teenagers descended
BURNLEY has again been revealed as the cheap house capital of Britain in a national study. 12 streets in the East Lancashire town are among the 20 cheapest places to live in the entire country, according to property website Mouseprice.
A MOTORIST has slammed ‘ridiculous’ clampers who targeted his car despite his parking permit being on display. Mark Alker was shocked to discover his Vauxhall Corsa had been clamped outside his flat at Paddock Top Mews in Colne. He immediately
ROSSENDALE’S ski slope will close at the end of March after council bosses pulled the plug on funding. But members of a Social Enterprise Trust set up to save Ski Rossendale in Rawtenstall are working behind the scenes to re-launch the 40-year-old
A MAN was brutally attacked in the grounds of Clitheroe Castle has said he feared he could have been killed. Robert Sellers was taking a shortcut through the grounds after a night at the Swan and Royal pub when he was punched by Wayne Jeffries
A LITTLE girl battling a rare genetic condition will use her ‘unstoppable spirit’ to star in a fund-raising ballet performance. Seven-year-old Enola Halleron-Clarke is one of just 82 people in the UK with Mucopolysaccharidoses or MPS, which
India dumped three-time defending champions Australia out of the World Cup on Thursday to set up an eye-catching semi-final with Pakistan. Yuvraj Singh was the star for the co-hosts in Ahmedabad, hitting a calm, unbeaten 57 to guide his side to a five-wicket
A MOTORIST and his passenger had to be airlifted to hospital after a road smash on the border of Burnley and Todmorden this afternoon. A red Vauxhall Astra and a white Ford Transit van collided in Kebs Road, Cornholme, close to Cliviger wind
BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder Jason Lowe has joined League One outfit Oldham Athletic on loan until the end of the season. The 19-year-old links up with former Rovers striker and Oldham boss Paul Dickov for the last eight games of their season
In the third part of our exclusive five-day series, Mike Phelan talks about the greatest moment in his playing career – beating Barcelona to lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991. MIKE Phelan looked around at Rotterdam’s De Kuip Stadium
A MEMBER of Ramsbottom Pool and Fitness Centre is doing an all-night swim to raise money for charity. Lance Corporal Peter Williams, right, will embark on his 12-hour marathon on April 17 in a bid to raise money for the Lilly MacGlashan Cancer Appeal
A 30-year-old man was accused of using cheques belonging to his employer at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court. Carl Anthony Greaves, of Peel Close, Blackburn, faces 12 charges of fraudulently making false representations involving £8,544. The court heard
AEROSPACE giant Rolls-Royce has won a £120million order from Turkish Airlines. The deal will see Rolls supply Trent 700 engines for three Airbus A330 planes. Fan blades for the engines are manufactured at Rolls’ Barnoldswick plant, which employs
BURNLEY have swooped to bring in Everton centre back Shane Duffy on a month’s loan before tonight’s transfer deadline. Clarets boss Eddie Howe had his eye on a number of targets and moved swiftly to bolster his defence with the addition of Duffy.
A SPATE of broken wheelie bins in Darwen is being investigated by the borough council. A dozen bins in the Perry Street area have split down one side, and most residents have been told to pay £29 for replacements. Resident John Duerden, 33, said
YOUNG musicians from Pendle can get a turn in the limelight in memory of a tragic singer. Bands and solo performers will be given slots across Colne’s Blues Festival bill this August in tribute to Jessica Foxley, who worked in the box office at the
THERE are some performances that are simply too good for words, as anyone who is lucky enough to be at The Lowry this week will testify. For me, Derek Jacobi’s King Lear is one of the all-time greats. This is fantasy theatre and if you’re lucky
A 23-YEAR-OLD man who had a row with a store detective stormed into the shop with a screwdriver in his fist and demanded to know where the security guard was. Blackburn magistrates heard Karl Sharples approached Asim Raza and tried to punch him in
AN EAST Lancashire council has been named the best in Britain. Blackburn with Darwen beat off competition from across the country to be named council of the year at the prestigious local government awards in London. Kate Hollern, the
A MOTORIST has been arrested following the death of a pedestrian who was struck by a car in Chorley yesterday. The 62-year-old woman was hit by a Peugeot 106 travelling along the town centre bypass, close to Water Street at around 5pm, police
JJB Sports, the high street store founded by former Blackburn Rovers player Dave Whelan, has avoided administration after its landlords accepted a new deal. The sportswear chain has gained approval for a share agreement which will see landlords get
DAVID Dunn is ready to hand Blackburn Rovers' relegation fight a massive boost after targeting an Arsenal return. The talisman midfielder has been out of action since tearing a hip muscle in the 0-0 home draw with Newcastle back in February but is now
FIFTY youngsters marched on Colne Town Hall in 1966 in protest at the closure of their youth club. They were angry at the authority’s decision to close down their Sun Street club, the only non-denominational meeting place in the town. Although the
CLOG making was for many years Rossendale’s main industry. But as fashion footwear took a hold, the craft had all but disappeared. By 1966, though, Rawtenstall’s Whittaker Park museum had built up a collection of almost every type of clog ever made
A BURNLEY ballet mistress, who began by giving lessons in her own front room when she was only 12, had made big strides by 1966. For she held the biggest prize-giving ceremony in her career that year, before 800 people in Burnley’s Locarno ballroom
Amid fears that the old cemetery chapel, in Blackburn Road, Padiham, faces demolition, historian JACK NADIN researches its heritage. IT was in the autumn of 1865 when Mrs Starkie, of Huntroyd, laid the foundation stone for the chapel which was to be
BUILDING worker Harold Taylor, 18, was saved by a colleague from certain death on a Blackburn building site in 1965. He had been clubbed on the head by a heavy iron chain and pulley which had fallen from a crane job, as he worked 30ft up at Thwaites
DOES anyone know how Cherry Tree, in Blackburn, got its name? The story we have starts back in the mid-1700s with the Boardman family, of Feniscliffe. In 1759 William Boardman died, leaving the house to his son, Robert, while he bequeathed a place
ON June 8, 1940, the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, and her two escorting destroyers, the Ardent and Acasta, were sunk off Norway by German battleships. The sinkings cost the lives of 1,531 men and it is said only 40 survived. Most of them have
FORMER Claret Gary Parkinson is making good progress in his battle to regain mobility and communicate with loved ones. His wife Deborah has told supporters that the 43-year-old, who is battling back after suffering last September, now has a
A PADIHAM firm that specialises in transport refrigeration products has received a boost from Rosebud Business Solutions. The company, based on Shuttleworth Mead Business Park, has received funding from Rosebud, which is backed by Lancashire County
A PENDLE developer has been named as the construction partner for a prestigious hotel redevelopment in East Lancashire. Nelson-based Barnfield is working with bosses at Stanley House Hotel in Mellor to build extra rooms and a spa complex. The link-up
THE Dales will be featured in a new television series starting on Monday. The ITV show looks at the stories behind a summer in some of the Yorkshire Dales National Park’s remote communities. Comic actor Adrian Edmondson will present
THE famous Thwaites shire horses trotted off with a clutch of prestigious awards at the recent Annual Shire Horse Society Show. The heavy-weight dray horses won seven top awards at the show, held in Peterborough. Possibly the most poignant award
AFTER falling in love in the heat of war-torn Iraq, an East Lancashire RAF airman and his bobsleigher bride chilled out at their ice wedding. Instead of a church, a hot sandy beach or a stately home Leigh Cockman, 31, from Sabden, and Kerry
Ricky Ponting regained his form with a terrific century to power Australia to 260 for six in the World Cup quarter-final against India in Ahmedabad today. Ponting, whose previous highest in this year's tournament was 36, hit 104 off 118 balls to anchor
A 17-YEAR-old charged with a knifepoint mugging has appeared at court. The youth, who cannot be named, is accused of robbery and breaching an ASBO. He allegedly held two 16-year-olds at knifepoint in Mill Hill and took phones and a games
COLLEGE lecturers across East Lancashire have gone on strike today in a row over changes to pensions. University and College Union (UCU) members at Accrington and Rossendale, Blackburn, Burnley, and Nelson and Colne colleges have walked out
SEVERAL families left high and dry by the collapse of a housing regeneration project in Brierfield have been offered fresh hope of a new home elsewhere in the town. Residents still living in the Clitheroe Road area have been offered the chance to secure
CHRIS Samba insists the never-say-die spirit embodied by fit-again Phil Jones could prove a telling factor in preserving Blackburn Rovers’ Premier League future. Teenager Jones ended a three-month absence from the Rovers first-team picture
AN off-licence in Pendle is facing a second crackdown after being allegedly caught selling booze to an under-age drinker. Police licensing officers are asking councillors to take action against Zed’s Mini Market, in Colne Road, Brierfield, for selling
A PADIHAM firm that specialises in transport refrigeration products has received a boost from Rosebud Business Solutions. The company, based on Shuttleworth Mead Business Park, has received funding from Rosebud, which is backed by Lancashire County Council
RESIDENTS have slammed a decision not to ban lorries from using a busy rural link road. Lancashire County Council has decided not to impose a weight limit on the B6236 Haslingden Old Road after the plans were opposed by Hyndburn councillors. Residents
FLYTIPPERS who dumped 10 slot machines in an alleyway have been branded ‘bandits’ by residents. The game and fruit machines were rolled off a flatbed transit truck near Maudsley Street, Accrington. The alley, which provides access to
A 78-year-old Nelson woman, taken to hospital after falling while walking her dog, died after delays to surgery, an inquest has heard. Sheila Chaffer, of Garrick Street, Nelson, desc-ribed as “a fit, active and healthy woman”, broke her hip after she
REGARDING speeding, and motorists who have no common sense when on the roads, it’s about time that our local police spent a few hours in the daytime clocking the speeding cars going along Gannow Lane, Burnley. I have reported this matter to the police
Residents in Pendle are being urged to only put out recycling bins for collection when they are more than half full. The move is intended to make vehicle collections rounds more efficient – but bin lorries will still cover the same routes. Councillor
I KNOW I am always harping on about the NHS and its shortcomings, but just at this moment I have to eat my words. I have just received the most excellent care in the day unit at the Royal Blackburn Hospital. The staff just couldn’t do enough for
A high-risk sex offender who went on the run will be returned to prison. Convicted rapist Gary Wolstenholme, 30, breached the terms of his release when he went missing from his Accrington home on Tuesday. He handed himself in at Blackpool Police
As your local UKIP MEP, I am pleased to hear that Chorley Borough Council will be taking on board the responsibility of cleaning up many of the dirty street signs that have been left neglected. Road signs are essential for providing information regarding
ALMOST everyone has multiple bins and boxes for waste collections these days. On top of that there are council recycling centres where people can take extra household waste and large items. Councils also have services for trade waste. Businesses
The Premier League will oppose moves to reintroduce standing areas at top-flight matches. The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) is to launch an online petition calling for the return of standing areas in the top two divisions of English football
Blackburn Rovers favourite Tugay has taken temporary charge of Galatasaray after Gheorghe Hagi was sacked by the Turkish club yesterday. The former midfielder, 40, was Hagi’s assistant.
A DISABLED cyclist from Padiham is gearing up for time trials in a bid to land a place in the national team. Barry Whittle, 44, has suffered from spina bifida since birth, which has left both his legs partially paralysed. But he started
BRIAN Easton is determined to give Danny Fox a run for his money if he is picked to fill the suspended left back’s boots. Fox will start a two-match ban for accumulating 10 bookings when fixtures resume after the international break with the
ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman does not expect to move into the loan market before tonight’s transfer deadline. Striker Terry Gornell was carried off with a gash in his leg at Crewe on Tuesday. Gornell had six stitches in the wound below his
Burnley have been given 2,800 tickets for the Championship game against Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday, April 30, 12.45pm. Supporters with 2,600+ loyalty points can apply for Postal Applications from April 4.
“WHEN you go down to the woods to play, you’ll be sure of a big surprise,” go the opening lines of one of my children’s (and my) favourite nursery rhymes. However, when we did go down to the woods to play, the ‘big surprise’ wasn’t the nice ‘Teddy
AFC Darwen Football Club is launching a pioneering scheme for elite apprentices as a way of boosting its fortunes. Head of coaching Andrew Smith is looking for 22 local 16 to 18-year-olds to form a youth team who will be paid £75 a week to complete
EVENTS taking place in Blackburn, Burnley, Darwen, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale for Thursday, March 24 and the days ahead. What's on today 10am-6.30pm - Textile historian Janet Rae is appealing for former workers at
A MUSLIM Miss Universe contestant has said she will not be bullied out of the competition despite receiving death threats. Shanna Bukhari, 24, who was born in Blackburn, said she feared her life could be in danger after her decision to enter the British
A MECHANICAL engineer from Bacup who set a friend’s tutu on fire has been ordered to pay his victim £3,000 in compensation. Victim Stephen Barton was left with burns to his legs after the grass skirt was torched in the beer garden of the town
TOWN centre businesses have reacted with anger at restrictions which they claim will ‘cripple’ trade when the EDL come to Blackburn. Final details of road closures should be confirmed in the next 24 hours, but shops close to Mincing Lane and Northgate
POLICE raided five houses in Burnley yesterday morning as part of major crackdown on crime in the town. Officers executed search warrants at houses in Smalley Street, Reed Street and Laithe Street, in the Burnley Wood and Healey Wood areas,
A BLUE plaque is set to be unveiled at the former Nelson home of cricketing legend Lord Learie Constantine. Proposals have been drawn up for commemoration at Lord Constantine’s home of 19 years, in Meredith Street, Walverden, four decades after the
CRIME scene investigators in Burnley have taken the first step on the way to becoming the next Gil Grissom or Horatio Cain. Former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector Steve Gaskin has been leading students at Hameldon Community College through the
THESE shocking pictures show how fly-tippers have turned a Burnley neighbourhood into a dumping ground. Dozens of bags of rubbish, settees and mattresses have been left strewn around Burnley Wood. An appalled resident even found a wheelie
A SHOPKEEPER said he feared for his life as he used a golf club to tackle a knife-wielding robber. Bashir Patel, 52, sprang into action after the man lunged at him with an eight-inch kitchen knife. He was working behind the counter at
Cardiff City boss Dave Jones is looking to sign Marlon King from Coventry. Real Madrid's former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says that his next job will definitely be back in England. Everton boss David Moyes is ready to hijack Bolton's move for
EMBATTLED Australia captain Ricky Ponting has won the toss and his side will bat in the World Cup clash of the big guns today. Ponting, under fire Down Under, called right ahead of the quarter-final heavyweight clash with co-hosts India. Both sides
COLNE’S Steven Burke had to settle for a bronze medal last night after his Great Britain team pursuit squad finished third on the opening day of the Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland. After qualifying third fastest, Britain
ONE of road rallying’s most famous and iconic cars has returned to action after 50 years – all thanks to the efforts of Rishton’s Steve Entwistle. And fans were delighted to see the return of ‘Orange Box’ at last weekend’s Northumberland and
Winning the Scottish Rally Championship’s lady co-driver title is no easy task, especially for someone who doesn’t come from north of the border – but Paula Swinscoe is giving it her best shot. Swinscoe, who lives and works in Withnell, contested
* The last of the Manchester Indoor Open Meetings will be held on Saturday at 9.30am at the Sportcity Stadium. Unlike the previous meetings, this event is for U15s only. You can download an entry form or enter online at Graham Fecitt’s site www.race-results.co.uk
Blackburn Harriers have finished ninth in the Northern Mens’ 12 Stage Road Relays qualifying for the National Championships alongside Rossendale Harriers who were 20th. There was agony for the men from Clayton-le-Moors though as they finished 27th,
Steve Duxbury is “the beating heart of Rossendale Harriers” according to club chairman Graham Wright. For more than two decades, Duxbury has served the club as athlete, coach and administrator, and on Saturday it was his turn to take the plaudits
New Bacup Cricket Club paid man Jon Jon Smuts will be welcomed to Lanehead with a pre-season beach party on Friday, April 22. All members are invited to attend the party.
CSMA and Accrington Motor Sports Club had a full entry for last weekend’s AutoSolo and Autotest at the Blackburn and Darwen M65 Services where, unusually, the top results were taken by a brace of rally drivers. The event was split into four
* The Lancashire Schools’ Intermediate Girls’ Team won the ‘R Brown Trophy’ at the English Schools’ Cross Country Champion-ships on Saturday. They finished fourth, the Red Rose County’s best result of the day, when their best six positions were added
Ian Stott of Great Harwood scored a great win in the Ribble Valley Cycle Racing Club Circuit of Longridge Fell, even pushing this season’s prolific winner Jimmy Wright into third place. Stott, riding in the colours of Blackburn and District CTC, clocked
England all-rounder Michael Yardy has left the World Cup squad and returned home as he is suffering from depression, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Thursday. The 30-year-old Sussex man, who has played a bit-part role during the tournament
Matt Prior is at a loss to explain his lack of runs as a one-day international opener, but remains convinced he can crack the case. England's wicketkeeper-batsman is one of three options to go in first with captain Andrew Strauss in Saturday's World
Tim Bresnan has had a precautionary scan on his calf, but England are optimistic he will be fit for their World Cup quarter-final against Sri Lanka. Bresnan has suffered minor discomfort in his right leg and it was decided on Wednesday to conduct an
