Archive

  • Cyclists gear up for tour de force

    THOUSANDS of people are set to descend on Colne for one of the main events in the town's sporting calendar. Organisers are gearing up to stage this year's Colne Grand Prix, which will see world-class cyclists battle it out around the town centre streets

  • Banned for no B-test

    A NELSON driver who didn't give a breath test, despite repeatedly being asked by police, paid the price with an 18-month ban. Burnley magistrates heard how Amir Ali, 20, who had jumped from the driver's seat into the passenger side, blew too hard and

  • Summer club for the kids

    BORED youngsters are being offered fun-packed Friday nights thanks to police, Burnley Football Club and the Brunshaw Action Group. The trio have organised weekly summer club nights in the sports hall at Burnley FC from 7-11pm every Friday during the

  • Thief ‘drinking herself into early grave’

    A FORMER drug addict thief who attacked two police officers was spared a jail term by Burnley magistrates. The court was told how jobless Carmen Dean, 37, had now replaced heroin with drink and was getting through four litres of strong lager and two

  • Rubbish blaze in yard spreads to house

    FIRE chiefs are warning of leaving rubbish in back yards after suspected arsonists torched a pile of furniture and left a house badly damaged. Fire crews were called to Beaufort Street, Nelson, at shortly before 3.45am today where they found the house

  • Rud-off

    SOUTH African star Jacques Rudolph has left Todmorden with immediate effect after being called up by the Proteas. Batsman Rudolph played just five matches for the Lancashire League club he joined less than two weeks ago as a replacement for Morne Van

  • Stanley’s French foreign legion

    ACCRINGTON Stanley are set for a double dose of Ooh la la' next season. Romuald Boco became a Reds sensation after signing from Niort last summer. And he is backing friend and fellow Frenchman Julien N'Da to have the same impact as Stanley prepare for

  • Harkins departs for Grimsby

    Blackburn Rovers midfielder Gary Harkins has joined League Two side Grimsby Town. The 21-year-old had failed to break into the first team at Ewood Park despite gaining experience on loan at Huddersfield Town, Bury and most recently Blackpool. Harkins

  • Action time for runners

    ACTION for Blind People needs energetic volunteers from Lancashire to take on the Great North Run. The 13.1 mile run, starting in Newcastle and finishing in South Shields, is on Sunday, October 1 and the charity has 15 guaranteed places up for grabs.

  • Sheep farmer milks award

    A CHIPPING young farmer has won a top award in the Royal Agricultural Show. Simon Stott entered the National Young Farmer Small Producers Award sponsored by Waitrose and Farmers Guardian in March. Applicants had to be under 35 and managing a business

  • Bakery’s sweet success

    Blackburn-based Interlink Foods has seen record financial growth for the eighth year in a row. The bakery firm, based at Sett End Road West in Shadsworth, has seen turnover rise from £98.1million to £130million over the past 12 months, and more than

  • TV review: Big Brother, Channel 4

    WELL what a choice! On one side we had minor celebs trying to ride horses, on another non celebs larking about on a tropical island and then on a third we had would-be celebs lounging about and arguing a lot. Faced with so little to choose from I though

  • Council’s cleaning up its act

    A FIRE station in Oswaldtwistle hit by a blaze is among a list of 40 sites across Hyndburn named by the council for being dangerous or dirty. Hyndburn Borough Council's blighted sites working group is tackling a catalogue of filthy conditions and health

  • Get paid to use property as film location

    Homeowners across Lancashire are being offered the opportunity to see their property on television and earn money at the same time, by a new web-based company. North West Locations is on the lookout for properties to add to its database, which film

  • Poker playing dad turns pro after success

    A FATHER-OF-TWO has turned a hobby into a career by becoming a professional poker player. Arshad Hussain has become the first Englishman to be taken on by international poker company, Pokerstars.com. The 32-year-old impressed the online firm when he

  • Dreadful crime is a problem for all

    THE NEWS that up to 100 underage girls in East Lancashire have been lured into giving sexual favours to men in return for drink, drugs and cigarettes has rocked the community. It's literally every parent's worst nightmare the snatching away of their

  • Health staff gave a brilliant service

    BRILLIANT service! I would like to thank all concered after a sudden heart attack. The quick response of doctors of Witton Surgery, first response paramedic Andy, ambulance staff, casualty Blackburn Royal Infirmary and Queen's Park Hospital. Excellent

  • Development of the cathedral will bring many gains

    I AM grateful to you for printing a selection of letters voicing concern about the Blackburn Cathedral development plan, currently costed at £45 million. As these plans focus on a public space next to the Cathedral which serves the whole region, your

  • First dog foul case in court

    Marco Freeston, of Edgar Street, Accrington, has been fined £75 with £50 costs for failing to remove dog fouling. The prosecution was part of a new crackdown by Hyndburn Council. Coun Peter Clarke said: "This prosecution is the first of many and serves

  • Two years for drug dealer

    A COCAINE dealer who claimed drugs were just for leisure purposes has been jailed for two years. A court heard how Robin Haworth, 20, insisted he took drugs for recreation and his supply was not commercial. Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt told the defendant

  • Clarke on attack over failed merger

    Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke has blasted the government over the collapse of the Lancashire and Cumbria merger. Mr Clarke was the architect of plans to slash the number of forces in England and Wales from 43 to as few as 17 by 2008 before he

  • Force needs another chief constable

    THE shock collapse of the police merger means that Lancashire police needs to find a new chief constable. Since Paul Stephenson left in February, 2005, to became deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police in London, the force has been without a permanent

  • Anger about collapsed police merger

    THE collapsed merger of Lancashire and Cumbria police was branded a farce after it was revealed the project was "doomed from the start." Tens of thousands of pounds of public money and hundreds of hours of senior officers' time have been spent on the

  • 'Don’t fall prey to sex attack' warning

    POTENTIAL victims of rape and sexual assault in Lancashire are being warned to take sensible precautions to protect themselves this summer. The warning comes from police as part of "Operation Summer Nights" the county's major crackdown on crime and

  • Quake aid song

    AN EAST Lancashire-born earthquake victim has recorded a song for the natural disaster which rocked Java earlier this summer. In 1995 Marc Jardine was shaken awake in his bed by the Great Hanshin earthquake one of the most devastating ever to hit Japan

  • ‘Cannabis farm near police HQ’

    THREE men launch-ed a £70,000 cannabis production line after setting up in an industrial unit just yards from a police station, a court was told. The operation was uncovered when police raided Waverledge Business Park, Great Harwood, and a house in Park

  • Driver fled crash scene

    A MOTORIST caused a midnight head-on smash then fled, leaving his girlfriend to take the blame, a court was told. Burnley Crown Court heard how Graham Grundy, 23, had been drinking. But Grundy who later had allegations of driving without due care and

  • Chance to learn about county services

    VISITORS to Rawtenstall will have the chance to find out more about the services provided by Lancashire County Council this weekend. The council's mobile information unit will be visiting Asda on Saturday between 10am and 4pm when councillors and officers

  • Riders in a storm

    HORSE riders fighting to get a bridleway made official told a public inquiry they had been using the route for 50 years. The inquiry into the proposed bridleway from Bankside Lane in Bacup to Tunstead Crescent, Stacksteads, got underway at Bacup Leisure

  • Merger sought for new school campus

    COUNCILLORS will be asked to approve plans to merge Barden infant and junior departments as part of the new multi-million pound Barden Learning Campus in Burnley. The decision tomorrow by Lancashire County Council could also rubber-stamp the merger of

  • Council worry on hospital changes

    BURNLEY Council has called on East Lancashire Hospitals Trust bosses to reconsider hospital shake-up plans after delivering a devastating final judgement on the proposals, it emerged today. In a response to a consultation which ended this week, the council

  • Missing woman ‘safe and well’

    A woman missing from home and last seen in Burnley has been found safe and well, police said today. Shamin Akhtar, 30, was last seen at the town's bus station and police feared she may have been kidnapped. A 72-year-old man from Nelson was arrested

  • TV bid for mill restoration

    TV viewers are to be given the chance to help save an important piece of East Lancashire's textile heritage. Higherford Mill, in Barrowford, will be one of three buildings from the North bidding for viewers' votes in a new series of BBC's Restoration

  • Body in house death mystery

    MYSTERY still surrounds the death of a Colne man who lay dead in his house for several weeks after tests failed to show how he died. An inquest yesterday was told how Carl Turner, who had not been seen by his family since before Christmas, had been

  • Art reflects well on pupils

    BUDDING young Picassos have been let loose to create their own masterpieces at Rossendale Schools Art Exhibition. And organisers of the borough-wide contest say they have been staggered' by the quality of the pupils' artwork. Students from Fearns

  • Binman thief facing prison

    A COUNCIL binman is facing jail after raiding the Nelson home of an Alzheimer's victim while collecting waste as part of recycling scheme. Daniel Reid, 19, of Hapton, got into the house of his elderly victim after making contact with her while working

  • Danny’s set to go Dutch

    Burnley defender Danny Karbassiyoon joins Dutch top-flight side AZ Alkmaar on trial today with a view to a permanent move. The 21-year-old defender, one of four transfer-listed players at Turf Moor, struggled to break into the Burnley squad last season

  • We won’t Settle for second best

    THE 2005 season has proved to be something of a watershed year for Settle Cricket Club. After winning the Ramsbottom Cup, the Marshfield outfit made it a double after nicking the league title in one of the closest finishes in Ribbledale League history

  • Alan’s the main Mahon for Clarets

    Now the World Cup is over, we can look forward to Burnley once again with the new Championship season fast approaching. It was nice to see them beat Accrington Stanley on Saturday, although pre-season results are irrelevant in my book. Still, supporters

  • Shamed Zidane acted like complete nutter

    FAIR play to Italy congratulations to them for winning the World Cup. I thoroughly enjoyed the World Cup final. It was a great game and the Italian celebrations after the penalty shoot-out were fantastic. There was a lot of emotion on the pitch afterwards

  • Rovers back in business

    IT was all systems go at Brockhall yesterday as Blackburn Rovers players returned for their first day of pre-season training. Mark Hughes and his coaching staff put Rovers stars through their paces at the club's training complex, with summer new boys

  • Aussies in Rovers talks

    ROVERS boss Mark Hughes is confident that Australian World Cup stars Lucas Neill and Brett Emerton will extend their stays at Ewood Park. Both have new contract offers on the table and Hughes is hopeful they will put pen to paper once they return to

  • Church thanks to Canon and Brownie leaders

    A LONG-SERVING church canon and a group of Brownie leaders were honoured by a congregation. Canon George Moore, the organist and lay canon of St Silas', Blackburn, was given a farewell ceremony before Sunday services to say thank you for his time with

  • Council ‘good sports’ over taxi sign

    An Accrington driver has thanked Hyndburn Council for allowing him to advertise his jujitsu club on the side of his cab. Jaff Ali, of Richmond Hill Street, had already put the magnetic sign on to car for the Ydachi Kempo Jujitsu Schools, which has bases

  • Speed is key to success

    THE Royal Blackburn Hospital opened on Saturday next to Queen's Park Hospital, Haslingden Road. We spoke to staff and patients in the radiology and pathology departments to find out how blood and nuclear physics lies at the centre of its operations.

  • Bring back the old phone trolleys

    I SEE the patients of our new super hospital will have to wait a little longer for their bedside ornaments. Something that is nice to look at but of no real use. The bedside telephones are so expensive that £10 just drops away and for the poor person

  • Name and shame all these perverts

    IN the LET of July 6, it said: "Since June 2005, 65 warning letters have been issued to men in the Blackburn area for harassing children." Why? Surely what these perverts are doing in grooming and having sex with under age girls is against the law.

  • Florist blooms in award scheme

    A DARWEN florist's has reached the finals of the National Flower Shop of the Year Awards. Hodkinson's, of Duckworth Street, successfully completed round one of the competition, achieving a Silver Award of Excellence. It now goes head-to-head with

  • Thug jailed after years on the run

    A DARWEN robber who attacked a disabled pensioner has been jailed after years on the run. David Thompson, 27, of Olive Lane, attacked and robbed an 80-year-old man, keeping him a prisoner in his own home. Preston Crown Court heard that the robbery took

  • U-turn likely on town centre road changes

    TRAFFIC chiefs look set to do a U-turn on a controversial road system in Blackburn town centre. It comes after two of the town's longest established companies claimed they had lost up to 25 per cent of their business since the introduction of a system

  • Child victims need our help

    TWO children's charities are fighting for extra help to protect East Lancashire's victims of underage sexual grooming. The work of The Children's Society and Barnardo's was highlighted following the launch of the Evening Telegraph's Keep Them Safe campaign

  • ‘Fish kill’ pollution probed

    AN unknown substance has polluted and killed more than 200 fish and other water creatures in Barrow Brook, Whalley. The substance, suspected of being dumped illegally, has been traced to a road drain 300 yards from the A59 in Whalley. The Environment

  • Punter punched

    A punter was punched in the face after going in to an Accrington bookmakers to place a bet. The man was in Ladbrokes Ltd on Broadway at around 8pm on Saturday when he was attacked by another man who walked in off the street. It is thought the assailant

  • Roof plunge boy lucky to be alive

    AN 11-year-old boy is "lucky to be alive" after falling 30 feet through a derelict roof in Accrington. Fire crews said Jake Frankland and his friend were "playing a deadly game" when they strayed from the New Era youth club in Paradise Street while waiting

  • Danger not to be sneezed at

    Hay fever sufferers at the wheel may pose a risk to themselves and other road users at this time of year. A sudden burst of sneezing can often cause a driver to lose concentration and vision for a considerable distance. A bout of eight or nine sneezes