WITH an estimated one in three drivers nationwide being nabbed by them 2003 will be remembered by many as the year of the speed camera. Some praise them for reducing accidents but many more say they are being positioned cynically with making money for
Nature Watch, with RON FREETHY I ENJOY my annual (at least!) winter visit to Martin Mere at which time up to 20,000 pink-footed geese roost on the reserve. This is why nobody should rush to leave but wait for dusk when huge numbers of wildfowl come in
A disabled child brings big challenges to a family. But a group of parents have united to share their experiences. Organiser Jo Fitzgerald spoke to JENNY SCOTT. . . A LITTLE boy sits in his wheelchair stroking the soft, grey fur of a chinchilla. It's
SPEED and excitement, bruising collisions and pumping dance music. It can mean only one thing -- ice hockey. Blackburn has one of the North West's premier ice hockey venues and a team worth shouting about. Reporter SIMON HAWORTH went to his first-ever
QUEEN'S Lancashire Regiment troops on duty in Iraq and job cuts made for worrying reading in East Lancashire in the middle part of 2003, but world champions Neil Hodgson and Will Greenwood, Pride of East Lancashire winners and news of investment provided
REGARDING the 'new look' Corporation Park -- I don't think so -- why oh why have the flower beds at the entrance to the park been demolished to make way for boring paving stones. These flower beds were a credit to the gardening staff of the park and such
SHEILA Brennan (LET, December 26) is very loud in attacking medical research, but is remarkably quiet when it boils down to telling us what we should use instead of animals to give hope to people with serious illnesses. We'd be interested to hear how
A BUSINESSMAN was so fed up with racing motorists failing to slow down past his firm he went to the extreme measures of designing and installing his own speed camera -- with a striking resemblance to the real thing. And the response Heath Kershaw, 32,
THE father of missing Burnley boy Daniel Entwistle today revealed that he attempted to commit suicide following his son's disappearance and the subsequent break-up of his marriage. David Entwistle told how the heartache of Daniel's disappearance led him
IAN Knott has some pretty big boots to fill as Adam Bristow's replacement in the Leigh Centurions team. Bristow's three seasons at Hilton Park established him as one the best overseas players the club has ever had and his departure at the end of the last
Ewood Eye, with NICK SMITH HAPPY New Year? Try telling that to Barry Ferguson! No doubt still wincing, like the rest of us, with the excruciating pain of the shattered kneecap he suffered at Newcastle on Sunday, all the Scot has to look forward to in
THE father of missing Burnley boy Daniel Entwistle today revealed that he attempted to commit suicide following his son's disappearance and the subsequent break-up of his marriage. David Entwistle told how the heartache of Daniel's disappearance led him
THE Lancashire Evening Telegraph prides itself on being at the very heart of the local community -- and this year has been no exception. We've embarked on a series of campaigns which have involved thousands of people -- culminating in the first ever Pride
AN MBE in the New Year's Honours list went to Walter Read who set-up the British Red Cross centres throughout East Lancashire. Mr Read created 14 centres in Rossendale, Burnley and Clitheroe. And a young soldier shot dead by an IRA sniper was from East
POLICE have issued a description of two youths who robbed an 81-year-old woman on Boxing Day. The pensioner was pushed to the ground by the thugs as she walked near the junction of Henry Street and Tanpits Road, Church. She was returning home from shopping
THE parents of a man who murdered his police officer wife and then is believed to have committed suicide today said "something must have snapped in his mind." Police discovered the bodies of Clare and Richard Mace at their home in Sefton Close, Clayton-le-Moors
A BUSINESSMAN was so fed up with racing motorists failing to slow down past his firm he went to the extreme measures of designing and installing his own speed camera -- with a striking resemblance to the real thing. And the response Heath Kershaw, 32,
RESIDENTS face a six-week wait for county councillors to decide whether a patch of land at Irwell Vale should be registered as a village green. Members of Lancashire County Council's commons and town green sub-committee heard evidence about land at the
IT'S taken two years but a grandfather and grandson duo have raised the Titanic! Nobby Clarke, 67, and 11-year-old Cory Robinson have shown they are ship-shape when it comes to model building by completing a model of the legendary doomed ship. The nimble-fingered
SHOCKED staff at a Blackburn takeaway today told how they thought a man was joking when he wandered shakily into their business claiming to have been kidnapped. Pratim Soni was bundled into the boot of his own car at knifepoint on Boxing Day. The Preston
AFTER 14 years of helping youngsters cross the road safely outside Wesley Methodist Primary School in Radcliffe, Irene Council is hanging up her lollipop. As she prepares to move to her new home in Morecambe with husband Ron, Irene's only wish is that
A THIEF threatened to strangle a 12-year-old girl if she did not hand over her mobile phone. The teenage victim was walking in Pyramid Park, Knowsley Street, Bury, on Monday at 3.30pm when the man grabbed her. He held her in a headlock until she handed
Aladdin, King George's Hall, Blackburn. Until January 11. Wycoller Valley Walk meet Pepper Hill Barn Study Centre, Wycoller, 1.30pm. 'Echoes of War' -- painting exhibition by Robert Perry, Blackburn Art Gallery, Museum Street, Blackburn. Until February
THE grave of 16-year-old Ralph Bolton carries a poignant inscription: "Greater love hath no man than he who layeth down his life for another." Ralph and his two companions died in a blizzard on Darwen moors just before Christmas, 1917. HAROLD HEYS tells
SO we can't have a cat because we can't hear if it is hurt or needs anything? What does this woman think deaf people do with babies - get an EXTRA LOUD babycom? My cat lets me know when she wants something. We manage thanks. I think I've made my point
COUNCILLOR Andy Kay of Blackburn states on the front page of December's Shuttle that Church Street has been pedestrianised. How is it then that there is also a car park complete with traffic lights there where I and other people have been nearly knocked
I THINK teaching senior citizens about the internet as you recently reported and how to use it is outstanding. Anyone who wants to email me in the mountains of Northern Alabama will get an answer. I was stationed in Blackburn in 1944. I remember the mills
I AM profoundly deaf myself and have had loads of cats. Deaf people should be able to have any pets. They have got good eyes and can give animals love, warmth, food in their belly, and a home! Deaf people can read and see what is wrong with animals. I
THE UK Noise Association would like to hear from any of your readers who have experienced noise problems caused by anti-social students. We are currently compiling a report into this issue which has been brought to our attention in recent years. It often
The Martin Dobson column IT'S long been accepted that footballers celebrate Christmas and New Year in May. Everything is put on hold as training and matches take precedent over the traditional festivities. But hearing the comments from some of the top
Turf Talk, with DARREN BENTLEY KNOWING you have a problem is one thing. Knowing exactly how to solve it is a whole different ball game - and the industry I once worked in gave me a taste of what it must be like to feel like Stan Ternent at present. As
BLACKBURN defender Craig Short today said he wants to carry on playing in the Premiership for another season. Short's current contract with Rovers is due to expire in the summer but manager Graeme Souness has already hinted he wants to offer the 35-year-old
AN inquest into the death of a taxi driver who died in a crash has been opened and adjourned. Munawar Hussain, 44, of Barden Lane, Burnley, lost control of his Hackney Carriage on ice outside the Glory pub in Burnley Road, Loveclough, about 1.30am on
HLB AV Audit, the Southampton-based accountants appointed by the Government to audit the parish council's accounts, have written to the parish clerk to say they have not completed the audit as required by December 31. Earlier in the year, the audit forms
A CHEF accused of deserting his kitchen in the middle of the Christmas Day rush today insisted: "I wasn't drunk!" Michael Docherty, 49, cook at the George and Dragon in Barrowford, was sacked by landlord Paul Jennings who believed he had abandoned his
BARNOLDSWICK Baptist Church helped to celebrate Christ's birth in the stable in Bethlehem with a special service held on Sunday. This year dancers from the Jane Wheeler ballet school in the town took part in the carol service at the church. The service
THE new bells at Accrington Parish Church were to ring for the first time ever to bring in the New Year as residents celebrated in the street. And at one dance in Nelson bagpipers were set to accompany the singing of Auld Lang Syne as East Lancashire
LANCASHIRE lass Gracie Fields became a Dame in the New Year's Honours. And an MBE went to 57-year-old Blackburn man Arnold Cresswell for his work in the world of science. Mr Cresswell, who was a scientific officer with the Institute of Aviation Medicine
PLANS to build 65 homes in Clayton-le-Moors look set to be approved despite a council freeze on building new houses. Norwest Estates, which has offices on Blackburn's Greenbank Business Park, has applied to resurrect a development on the site of the former
HOLA! Traders in Radcliffe are looking forward to a prosperous new year after Seville was named as their Spanish partner for an exclusive retail twinning project. The town is one of 14 in Britain selected to join a project that forges links between matched
IT WAS party time for Walter Robinson when he clocked up his 100th birthday. The former livestock farmer joined fellow residents and staff of Henley House retirement home in Accrington for a right royal knees-up as he was presented with his telegram from
POLICE have launched an investigation after a blood stained coat was found hidden in rubbish bins at the back of a hotel in Samlesbury. The blue and white coat was found at 8am behind The Tickled Trout Hotel, in Preston New Road, yesterday. The coat is
POLICE in Whalley today appealed for help after an incident which left two men in need of hospital treatment. The men, aged 21 and 49, had told a gang of teenage yobs off after spotting them play-fighting and rolling across the bonnet of a car in George
BURNLEY keeper Brian Jensen has just one New Year wish - more clean sheets! The Dane has suffered a severe recent case of what boss Stan Ternent calls "net rash", with the only shut-out in his last 19 games coming in November's 3-0 home win over Reading
Rovers cult hero GLENN KEELEY tackles the big issues. . . WE'RE just hours away from making another set of New Year resolutions, but Blackburn Rovers shouldn't need that long to figure out what theirs are going to be. Top of the list should be to make
BLACKBURN defender Craig Short today said he wants to carry on playing in the Premiership for another season. Short's current contract with Rovers is due to expire in the summer but manager Graeme Souness has already hinted he wants to offer the 35-year-old
BURNLEY keeper Brian Jensen has just one New Year wish - more clean sheets! The Dane has suffered a severe recent case of what boss Stan Ternent calls "net rash", with the only shut-out in his last 19 games coming in November's 3-0 home win over Reading
A CHOPPER-MAD Rossendale man is hoping to get the 1970s cult bikes back on the road -- when he launches a club dedicated to the bikes. Retro bike enthusiast Anthony Kurtis, is hoping to revive the once-fashionable bikes by starting up a website and club
THE achievements of 2003 rank among the best ever for Radcliffe Swimming Club. And there has already been talk of increasing the capacity of the trophy cupboard after the club's remarkable performances this year! Under the guidance of chief coach John
A 44-YEAR-OLD Blackburn woman was arrested after her car was found in a roadside ditch - just four days after she failed a police breathalyser. Blackburn magistrates heard that Elizabeth Ann Whittall again failed the road-side test and that both readings
BLACKBURN'S BMI Beardwood Hospital has said a fond farewell to its Cyprus-bound radiology manager after 16 years of valuable service. Margaret Murtagh, from Brownhill, Blackburn, has jetted off to relocate in Paralimini, on the Mediterranean island of
A BUILDING worker who drank at least 15 pints after finishing work for Christmas was later found asleep in a stranger's house, a court heard. Blackburn magistrates were told that Andrew Goulden was originally arrested for burglary, but it was later accepted
A CONVICTED burglar on the run for almost four weeks was today back behind bars after being arrested on Christmas Day. Lee Peter Holden, 26, whose last address was Roebuck Close, in Galligreaves, Blackburn, was arrested near the scene of a suspected break-in
LANCASHIRE County Council has called on people to think about the rubbish created every day in the county and make a new year resolution to "recycle more in 2004". Each household in Lancashire produces around one tonne of rubbish in a year - that's the
EAST Lancashire's World Cup winning rugby union stars led the local list of success in the New Year's honours list. Every member of the squad which lifted the Webb Ellis trophy in Australia last month is recognised today and coach Clive Woodward is knighted
RESOLUTE Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman has urged his side to be tough enough to beat Morecambe for the second time in a week. The Reds earned maximum points from their Boxing Day clash with Jim Harvey's fellow play-off challengers. Rory Prendergast
