Archive

  • Filling in the skills shortage

    ANYONE who has tried to hire a tradesman in the past few years will be quite aware of the problem. Finding plumbers, electricians or anyone from a multitude of building trades is no easy task in East Lancashire or elsewhere in the country, especially

  • NHS just as good as going private

    I WOULD like to say thank you for a fantastic NHS. Over the past few years I have been having blood tests to detect prostate cancer at Great Harwood Health Centre. This year I was found to have early stages of prostate cancer. From having a vigilant GP

  • Don't follow in Nazi footsteps

    RECENTLY in the House of Commons our MPs had the difficult task of balancing national security whilst still protecting our civil liberties. I think that they came to the right decision in rejecting the Government's bill to lock people up for 90 days without

  • Snatch of the day

    AN INQUIRY has been launched by Blackburn Rovers after a rival team's tactics were taken from a changing room and sold. Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce was furious after the sheets of paper were snatched from Ewood Park and appeared on internet auction

  • 'Teacher seduced and had sex with boy, 13'

    A HIGH school support teacher took a 13-year-old pupil as her lover for out-of-school sex sessions, a jury heard. Zoe Susanne Morgan, the mother of a 10-year-old girl, took advantage of the boy, knowing he would not complain, a court was told. Morgan,

  • USA star on trial

    BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes is planning to run the rule over United States international Brian Carroll later this week. The DC United midfielder, who played for the USA in their 1-1 friendly draw with Scotland at Hampden on Saturday, has been invited to

  • Collection van theft blow for Aids charity

    A charity collection van has been stolen - just weeks after it was bought to help fundraising efforts for people with Aids. The bright yellow Leyland Daf vehicle, full of charity items like toys and furniture, was taken from Read Street, Clayton-le-Moors

  • Duff may miss out

    Michael Duff faces a race against time to face the Foxes after withdrawing from the Northern Ireland squad with an ankle injury. The former Cheltenham defender had linked up with the Irish for tomorrow night's friendly against Portugal after recovering

  • USA star on trial

    BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes is planning to run the rule over United States international Brian Carroll later this week. The DC United midfielder, who played for the USA in their 1-1 friendly draw with Scotland at Hampden on Saturday, has been invited to

  • Natalie's smooth move

    A DARWEN woman has swapped smooth criminals for smooth walls. Natalie Arthur used to pound the beat as a Police Community Support Officer with Lancashire Constabulary, equipped with handcuffs and a truncheon. These days, however, the 21-year-old is more

  • Teen hid drugs under his bed

    A TEENAGER who chipped in with friends to buy drugs was left to carry the can when he was found with a stash of cannabis resin. A court heard how more than two kilos of the drug were discovered when police searched Christopher Hodgson's bedroom in Greenside

  • Shoe shop's bid for 'hey day' gets boot

    ONE of Blackburn's best-known firms is locked in a planning row after being refused an extension. Paul and Marilyn Rigby, who took over the Tommy Ball's shoe shop, Hart Street, in June 2004, wanted to build a three-storey add-on. But the scheme was refused

  • Snatch of the day

    AN INQUIRY has been launched by Blackburn Rovers after a rival team's tactics were taken from a changing room and sold. Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce was furious after the sheets of paper were snatched from Ewood Park and appeared on internet auction

  • Ludicrous to raise car park charges

    I AM writing this letter in total disbelief and astonishment after reading (LET, November 9) that Blackburn with Darwen Council is to put parking charges in Blackburn town centre up by 28 per cent in the run-up to Christmas. Over the past few years all

  • £500m boost for pensions

    AEROSPACE giant BAE Systems is set to inject £500million into its main pension fund to help plug a £2.8billion black hole. Sources at BAE Systems today confirmed reports that the payment, expected to be a mix of cash and assets, was being considered.

  • Snatch of the day

    AN INQUIRY has been launched by Blackburn Rovers after a rival team's tactics were taken from a changing room and sold. Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce was furious after the sheets of paper were snatched from Ewood Park and appeared on internet auction

  • Business burns on day of brother's funeral

    A GARAGE owner watched his business of 35 years burn down - just hours after attending his brother's funeral. John Allen said he felt "absolutely sick" watching the blaze at Allen's Coachpainters, Clayton-le-Moors. The incident is being treated as suspicious

  • Grace out to explore the art of Asia

    A CLITHEROE art gallery curator is preparing for a prestigious research fellowship to southern Asia. Grace Whowell, 33, co-ordinator at the Platform Gallery in Station Road, Clitheroe, has been selected from curators across the country to take part in

  • Clarets close on keeper

    BURNLEY are close to landing a Championship goalkeeper on a month-long loan. Clarets boss Steve Cotterill has spent the past week contacting managers up and down the country to try to land a replacement for Brian Jensen in time for Saturday's clash with

  • Clarets close on keeper

    BURNLEY are close to landing a Championship goalkeeper on a month-long loan. Clarets boss Steve Cotterill has spent the past week contacting managers up and down the country to try to land a replacement for Brian Jensen in time for Saturday's clash with

  • All change on town skyline

    ONE of Darwen's best-known landmarks will be pulled down next April and replaced by housing. The Belgrave Mill factory, in Bolton Road can be seen from various parts of the town and employed a large majority of its residents for more than 160 years. But

  • Raid finds sword and drugs

    A THREE foot sword and a quantity of heroin and cannabis were recovered when police raided the premises of a Blackburn business. But today the owner, Shakeer Patel, said the sword was a display sword which he intended to mount on the wall. And although

  • Trouble at double for crash pair

    POLICE who stopped a car which had been in a crash in Darwen got two convictions for the price of one, magistrates heard. The woman driving when the car was stopped was over the limit but the man behind the wheel at the time of the collision was a disqualified

  • Lancs signs were dumped at border

    ACTIVISTS who pulled down the county's Welcome to Lancashire signs have dumped them on the border with Yorkshire. Members of CountyWatch, formed to combat the gradual destruction of England's county boundaries, visited Lancashire at the weekend and yesterday