Archive

  • Red card for terrace idea

    FOOTBALL fans and club officials at East Lancashire's two big clubs have come down hard against plans to bring back terracing. Stadia throughout the land were ordered to go all-seater after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. But now the previously unthinkable

  • Accident boy fights for his life

    A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy was today fighting for his life after a road accident. Joe Dewhurst, of Central Avenue, Clitheroe, ran into a Vauxhall Frontera in Henthorn Road. Today his parents, Amanda and Dave, were at his bedside at Pendlebury Children's Hospital

  • Traders told to keep pavements clear

    REGARDING the Darwen trader's remarks on A-boards (Letters, October 7), Blackburn with Darwen Council now says that no boards, signs, flowers, plant pots or anything will be allowed on the footpath. They are going to stop everything on the pavement and

  • A town in debt calls for help

    SPECIAL advisers are urgently needed for a town where the level of debt is almost double the national average. Haslingden Citizens' Advice Bureau say help is desperately needed for families who are sinking further and further into debt and need a way

  • Warning over £11m highway crisis

    THE road network in Blackburn and Darwen is near to collapse and urgent action is needed to stop hundreds of streets crumbling. And highways experts claim an £11 million shortfall in funding over the last nine years has led to the crisis in the borough

  • FIVE YEARS AGO: Fans' peace pledge

    FANS of the Norwegian ice hockey side Valerengen pledged a peaceful visit to Blackburn. They had a reputation for trouble and a few skinheads - one with a Chelsea FC tattoo - had made the trip for the European Cup quarter finals at Blackburn Arena. Police

  • Monty Python hits town

    WHICH is the Monty Python department of Blackburn with Darwen Council responsible for banning traders' advertising A-boards outside shops? This hard-working section is probably to be found on the upper floors of the town hall, next door to the Department

  • Right that Britannia should not be scrapped

    UNLIKE the last government which promised £60million for a new royal yacht, this one is clearly convinced that there are better things on which to spend public money. After all, at the election, did not Tony Blair win plenty of cheers when he announced

  • Day hospital for the elderly to stay open

    HEALTH campaigners have won their fight to save the day hospital for the elderly in Burnley. The "patient power" victory came today as health bosses announced a deal which will keep the 30-place Burnley General Unit open until at least April 1999. Health

  • Home in time for funeral

    A FATHER has explained his decision to take his two children away for the night on the eve of their half sister's funeral. Mother Michelle Eatough, 31, of Company Street, Rishton, yesterday appealed for her son Mark, 12, and daughter Samantha, eight,

  • CLARETS: We can still reach play-offs, says Waddle

    AMBITIOUS Chris Waddle sets his sights on Carlisle United at Turf Moor tomorrow and vowed: "We can still reach the Second Division play-offs." And today Waddle made this appeal to the fans as Burnley go in search of their first Nationwide League win in

  • Euro MP warns of threat to defence

    EURO MP Mark Hendrick has called for urgent action to protect the defence industry and thousands of Lancashire jobs. The Lancashire Central MEP told Labour supporters that employment in the industry had plunged by 100,000 in Europe since 1984. He said

  • SUPERBIKES: Fogarty counts seconds

    CARL Fogarty faces a frantic battle to hang on to second place in the World Superbikes Championship this weekend. The twice world champion from Blackburn is being challenged strongly by old rival Aaron Slight, the New Zealander whose Castrol Honda team-mate

  • A load of tripe!

    THE Blackburn and Darwen Council spokesman who replied to my query (Letters, October 3) about the variation in taxi fares from the black cab rank in Church Street, Blackburn, to Feniscowles, said: "Hackney Carriage fares are calculated according to the

  • Traders refuse to chip in for Christmas lights

    TOWN centre shopkeepers have been slammed for failing to support Christmas. The refusal by traders in Rawtenstall to help pay for Christmas lights in the town centre was described as "abysmal" by Rossendale councillors. Rawtenstall Chamber of Commerce

  • Top Tory wants tighter vetting

    A CONSTITUENCY boss who saw her party's local Parliamentary candidate exposed as an undischarged bankrupt has called for tighter vetting and monitoring of candidates by Conservative Central Office. Win Frankland, chairman of Hyndburn Conservative Association

  • Health alert over children's teeth

    WE were sorry to read two letters from parents whose children suffer from dental fluorosis. We are concerned that there could be a number of other children in this area who also have this problem. Dental fluorosis is a permanent discolouration of the

  • NON LEAGUE: Haslingden offered lifeline

    HASLINGDEN have been offered a lifeline from North West Counties League neighbours Ramsbottom if they are forced to quit their Ewood Bridge home. Their current ground has been put on the market after owners Ewood Leisure ceased trading in summer. Now

  • Clever chefs bridge the soccer divide

    MAMA Mia! East Lancashire football fans are bracing themselves for a pizza the action when a feast of international soccer is served up on Saturday night. And one restaurant has devised a culinary clash aimed to keep both sets of fans happy Nigel Coates

  • DNA checks on mystery corpse

    THE Foreign Office today confirmed that human remains discovered in the Indian state of Jammu Kashmir were unlikely to be those of Blackburn student Paul Wells. A spokesman said dental records had been used to check whether the body found in a remote

  • Holiday pair tell of jet 'door open' scare

    HOLIDAYMAKERS have spoken of the horror as their plane prepared to take off and they were told the cargo doors were open. The plane, taking tourists home from Ibiza, was approaching take-off speed when the captain spotted a light alerting him that the

  • Healthy deal for firms

    FIRMS can take advantage of a healthy deal struck by the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce. As part of its campaign to negotiate bulk discounts for members from major suppliers such as phone companies and energy suppliers the Chamber has joined forces

  • Crime-buster cash must be found

    DESPITE the outstanding success of the Hyndburn Community Warden scheme, there is a real danger that it will come to an end when the funding runs out in March, 1998. The scheme has resulted in a 50-60 per cent reduction in crime, received a national award

  • 'We will become a centre of educational excellence' says head

    A SECONDARY school head told parents that while the school was not yet perfect, it was on the road to being so and moving towards becoming a centre of educational excellence. David Farrant, head of Walton High, Nelson, told an audience of parents, past

  • CLARETS: I have never believed in managers, says Knighton

    Burnley v Carlisle United - Tony Dewhurst's big match preview WHEN Michael Knighton took over as the first tracksuit chairman in the Nationwide League it certainly raised a few eyebrows up and down the land. The sacking of manager Mervyn Day after seven

  • Back to base or Tories will pay a high price

    Political Focus, with Bill Jacobs THIS week it dawned on the Tory Party - by deliberately destroying local government's power it had pulled up its own roots. Speaker after speaker in Wednesday's debate on party reorganisation stressed the need to rebuild

  • Facts about cash for arts projects

    UNFORTUNATELY, Mr G Hindle, of Ward's Ices, Darwen Market (Letters, October 7), has got his facts wrong regarding the Labour-controlled council wasting money on "metal trees, statues, sculptures," etc. The total cost of the public arts projects was £68,000

  • Stranded holiday couple talk Turkey

    A FURIOUS couple on holiday in Turkey say they have been left in the dark after their tour operator went out of business. Bill and Vanessa Moore are among thousands of British holidaymakers stranded abroad after their tour operator, London-based Sun Tours

  • TEN YEARS AGO: Shock teaching claim

    LANCASHIRE children were having lessons from staff who did not have an O-level in the subject they were teaching, it was claimed. According to Mike Niland, secretary of the county's second-largest teaching union, Lancashire's staffing policy was not protecting

  • A drop of what you fancy really does do you good!

    AFTER the so-called French Paradox, which sent sales of red wine soaring when scientists said it kept the tickers of the over-indulgent lot across the Channel in trim, there comes a discovery that will gladden the hearts of Englishmen. For the boffins

  • Government should sort out roads folly

    COUNCIL tax payers in Blackburn and Darwen are given a jolt today in the form of an £11million bill for the legacy of neglect on the town's roads that the new self-run council is picking up. For that is by how much road repairs in the town have been underfunded

  • Church scheme needs your unwanted furniture

    UNWANTED furniture in Clitheroe is to be given a new lease of life thanks to a scheme involving the town's churches. Margaret Bleazard, of Fairfield Drive, discovered during her three-year training as a lay reader that the town was short of a furniture

  • Traffic calming sparks a fury

    FURIOUS residents walked out of a council meeting and threatened to lie down in the street in a protest over a new road scheme. Before the meeting at Burnley town hall last night, the delegation waved placards opposing the highway plans for the Stoneyholme

  • Mining a rich seam of history

    Drive & Stroll, with Ron Freethy: Earby ONE of the most underrated towns in our area is Earby. The local authority produces a splendid packet of leaflets which suggest a variety of walks. These are The Four Churches Walk, The Villages of Kelbrook

  • School bus hit by tractor

    A PARTY of schoolchildren escaped when a tractor towing a slurry trailer ran into the back of their Blackburn bus. The worst injuries suffered were a cut a finger and torn nerves. Blackburn Transport's Doug Nicholson said: "There were three pupils sitting

  • Threat to businesses

    I AM an old-established (37 years) greengrocer in Padiham town centre. I make a very attractive display of my goods which takes up 18 inches of the pavement which is actually guttering where the public cannot walk. We are being threatened by the Council

  • ROVERS: Campaign on ice for Gally

    BLACKBURN Rovers hitman Kevin Gallacher is facing a desperate race against time to be fit for Scotland's decisive World Cup qualifier. Scotland manager Craig Brown will give his most lethal striker a fitness test on his injured Achilles before Scotland

  • Nurse Rachel's tonic is Full Monty every night!

    NURSE Rachel Haworth has found her own stress relief tonic - watching The Full Monty every night for the last week. Rachel, from Rawtenstall, admits some people think she's crackers, but, she says: "It is the funniest film I have ever seen and Robert

  • NON-LEAGUE: Cuddy carry it on?

    HE was at Manchester City alongside Rodney Marsh and Franny Lee, made his Football League debut as a 16-year-old, has played at Wembley twice in the FA Trophy final and represented England at semi-pro level three times against Scotland, Holland and Italy

  • WORLD CUP SPECIAL: Hodgson's fluent in Italian football

    How Ewood's boss is helping England before tomorrow's showdown in Rome ROY Hodgson's Roman mission is not simply to talk Italian-it's to talk football too! Hodgson's value to England's hopes of World Cup glory tomorrow can't be underestimted. The Blackburn