OLD MONEY: Twenty pensioners were refusing to pay a rent increase. The old folk who lived in sheltered accommodation at Taylor House, Brandlesholme, claimed that in the past rent increases had been covered by the DHSS but this time they had received nothing and could not afford the £11.50 that was being asked.

FIRE WAGE FOR A FIRE DAY'S PAY: The National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire Brigades met to discuss firemen's wages. The union's proposals were that a qualified fireman should be paid an annual salary equal to the average weekly pay of adult males plus ten per cent to take account of the range of skills in the job description and also to recognise the physical hazards and dangers faced by firemen carrying out their duties.

GUNPOWDER PLOT: While searching through a storeroom at Bury Museum, assistant Ken Howarth found nearly a quarter of a pound of gunpowder. Soldiers from the Army Disposal Unit at Liverpool collected the powder in a specially constructed bag.