Soccer night misery: A 600 name petition was drawn up by fed-up Fishpool residents who said match nights had become reminiscent of the wartime blitz. People living near to the Gigg Lane football ground blacked-out their homes and sat on the stairs in case soccer hooligans hurled missiles through their windows. The petition demanded urgent measures to combat the problem.

EIGHT LIVES LEFT: A bumpy ride on the front of a car ended for a cat when it fell off and was hit by the car's rear wheels. The animal fell off as the car passed workers at Campbell Technical Works, Walshaw. It was rescued by the RSPCA and taken for treatment and a reunion with its owner.

KITTEN KITTY: Two Ramsbottom schoolboys who followed two women home after watching them abandon five kittens were commended by Bury Magistrates. Nigel Hamer (14) of Pot Green, and Marcus Parker (17), of Birch Grove, also learned after a court hearing that they would share part of a standing reward offered by a group of Bury animal lovers.

BACK ON DUTY: Bury's 57 firemen were among the Greater Manchester strikers who voted by a massive majority to call an end to their nine-week-old dispute. At a special meeting in Manchester, 80 per cent of the region's 1,800 fire fighters voted to accept the employers' 10 per cent wage increase.