A PACKAGE of support aimed at helping ethnic businesses is set to be unveiled. An advice service aimed specifically at the sector is being launched on February 19 under the Action for Haslingden Partnership banner. "The support service has been set up
SIXTEEN homes and a pub were evacuated during gas scare which lasted nearly 14 hours in Altham last night. More than 30 residents were moved out of the area along with staff from the Walton Arms pub during the alert in New Row, Burnley Road. Most evacuees
RESIDENTS on Harwood Bar caravan park in Great Harwood can live in their mobile homes for 52 weeks of the year with the blessing of Hyndburn Council. But the concession on planning permission looks unlikely to end the plight of families who face having
I HAVE always been proud that I was born a Blackburner, but I am beginning to wonder if the price of being one is becoming too high. Blackpool Council managed to negotiate unitary status and cut its level of council tax. Blackburn, on the other hand,
REGARDING T Lundy's remarks (Letters, January 30) on my complaints about bin men, I don't put myself on a pedestal and I am not patronising. The dustmen chose to do the job, so why can't they follow the rules and put bins back where they belong? My husband
ACCUSED of reneging on promises to ban age discrimination against job-seekers, the government is now "proceeding with issues to ensure better practice and standards." That flowery officialese will cut no ice with campaigners for legislation or the thousands
Drive & Stroll, with Ron Freethy - this week in DENBIGH I RECENTLY went to the birthday party for a man who has always been a hero of mine. Actually, he was born in 1841 and died in 1904 so I was a bit late to speak to him personally. Until a few
KEVIN Gallacher is out of Blackburn Rovers' Premiership clash with Tottenham Hotspur at Ewood tomorrow, with the strained stomach muscle that has affected him for some time. Rovers boss Roy Hodgson revealed today that he will have to select a new partner
Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur - Peter White's big match preview DAVID Ginola has been destined to be labelled 'luxury' or 'legend' ever since he first set foot in the Premiership with Newcastle United. And, when Christian Gross moved in at White
SHOPKEEPERS have been left with a bad taste in their mouths after being tricked by a conman selling fake whisky. The trickster filled bottles with vinegar and water and sold them to unsuspecting shopkeepers. Shops in Great Harwood and Rishton have been
PROMOTERS of a "Best of British" Blues music tour were left red-faced after hitting the wrong note with their Pendle venue. Promotional fliers for the Blues Band tour of Britain printed the wrong venue for the group's date in Colne on February 19. The
CATERER Michael Robinson has been left in hot water by thieves who stole his cooking utensils. And he is offering a £500 reward to try to recover the equipment, worth £5,000. Self-employed caterer Mr Robinson, 35, runs Excelsior Catering Services in Whalley
A STORM blew up after councillors were offered private medical insurance with a company owned by the deputy leader of the Conservative group. A letter sent to all Ribble Valley councillors offered insurance with a company owned by Coun John Cliff. But
POLICE who seized cannabis on the M6 worth £1.2million have charged a man who runs a business in Nelson with a drugs offence. David West, 34, of Newton-with-Scales, near Preston, who has premises in Nelson, was today due to appear before magistrates in
A ROW blew up after a firm were given a £20 million grant to upgrade a plant in the South East - four months after closing a Blackburn paper mill with the loss of 160 jobs. In a Commons debate Blackburn MP Jack Straw attacked the Swedish firm SCA, former
A WALKING enthusiast who was plucked to safety from the Scottish mountains spoke today about his nightmare ordeal. William Bateson, 43, of Woodcroft Avenue, Rawtenstall, became separated from his friends in darkness on a descent near Ben Nevis. Mr Bateson
FLAMBOYANT nightclub owner Margo Grimshaw today declared: "I will help save the Lewis Textile Museum." Blackburn club and pub owner Margo wants to start a fund to raise the £10,000 needed to keep the Lewis Textile Museum building open. Controversy is
A 12-YEAR-OLD boy left brain-damaged after he was knocked down by a car today won £1.65 million in damages. Gavin Boast, then four, had been collecting conkers with friends when he was struck by a car in Heys Lane, Blackburn in 1989. He suffered serious
A TOP doctor has welcomed plans to scrap the controversial policy of releasing mentally-ill patients into the community. Consultant psychiatrist Dr Michael Launer said it was time for mental health experts to regain their status and recharge their self-esteem
VICTORIA all-rounder Ian Harvey will be Ramsbottom's professional in the E W Cartons Lancashire League this summer. Harvey showed up well for Australia in the recent internationals against South Africa and New Zealand and Ramsbottom believe they have
REGARDING Jim Todd's remarks on bikes and cars (Letters, January 21), I don't think that it is very often that a car goes off the road and hits pedestrians. Cyclists, however, ride along the pavement as though they have the right of way and expect pedestrians
PLEASE would you thank your readers for me - for their letters of advice on acquiring a stair-lift for my husband who was suffering from cancer, after you printed my plea for help (Letters, December 19). I was very grateful for them. The Social Services
A DISTURBING sense of confrontation fills the air as the latest battle in Blackburn's taximen's war with the town hall tonight now threatens to pitch drivers against each other. That is because the 12-hour strike planned by private hire drivers in protest
IN response to the letter from Donald Barnes of the Blackburn Artists' Society and other correspondents about the future of the Lewis Textile Museum. Most of the contents of Mr Barnes' letter and many of the other letters and stories which have appeared
Political Focus, with Bill Jacobs AS Tony Blair and Chris Smith start to sort out the National Lottery chaos left by Richard Branson's libel victory, they could well reflect that this is yet another fine mess that Margaret and John got them into. Right
Friday Folk ARTISTIC director Ken Bradshaw is leaving the hairdressing department of Blackburn College on the crest of the wave. Students stormed to victory in the first competition of the season just days before their coach Ken was due to fly out to
AMNESTY International is launching a new local group for Blackburn and Darwen. The human rights organisation launches a new local group at Blackburn Library a week tomorrow. It will join more than 300 other branches in the UK campaigning for the release
CHRIS Sutton is ready to take any flak coming his way, following his refusal to play for England B next week. And his Blackburn Rovers boss Roy Hodgson said it would be business as usual as far as he was concerned at club level. Sutton, the top English
ANDY Payton will be fit to continue his burgeoning partnership with Andy Cooke as Burnley bid to shoot down Preston North End in tomorrow's derby clash at Deepdale. The respective strike pairings could hold the key to success with Burnley's front two
Preston North End v Burnley - Peter Oliver's big match preview DAVID Eyres hopes to slow Burnley's momentum but not push them off the rails when he meets his former club at Deepdale tomorrow. Eyres still has plenty of affection for the Clarets, who sold
