MURDER squad detectives believe sixteen unsolved street robberies, handbag snatches or muggings in the Duke Bar area of Burnley could hold the key to finding James McParland's killer. They believe further offences have not been reported to police and
PENSIONERS are up in arms about "scandalous increases" in bus fares in Clitheroe town centre. But bus chiefs have said the increase in the price of an OAP return ticket on Stagecoach's "runaround" town centre service is necessary to keep it going. The
RESIDENTS are demanding immediate action to stop more fatal accidents on a stretch of road dubbed 'a killer' by locals. Motorcycle courier Stephen Franks, 28, was the latest victim of the accidents which have plagued Haslingden Old Road, Oswaldtwistle
SUPPORTERS of the Free Deirdre campaign had better not visit the Golden Lion. For regulars at the pub in Higher Wheelton want to keep Weatherfield One in prison for as long as possible. Coronation Street character Deirdre is in prison for fraud after
DETECTIVES appealed for information after almost every school in Great Harwood was hit by burglars targeting valuable computer equipment. Several were hit more than once and Western County Primary School on Rushton Street was burgled three times. Det
A POLICE chief today revealed that heroin-fuelled criminals were a growing menace to the communities of East Lancashire. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Gradwell confirmed that drugs were at the root of most of the criminal activity in the Blackburn area
A MAN accused of killing a hospital boss from East Lancashire faces the death penalty after being found guilty of capital murder. Aaron Foust has been convicted of slaying David Ward at his home in Texas last May. The murder happened a day before Mr Ward
BOYS and girls are set to be taught separately in a bid to improve exam results at a Blackburn school. Beardwood School in Preston New Road is considering the split for lessons in certain subjects and it is thought the system could be popular with parents
POLICE have warned they will continue to get tough over the supply and use of heroin in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale after revelations that some dealers are selling the drug for as little as the price of a pint. In the last two years Pennine division
MORE than £45 million is needed to bring private properties in three Burnley housing blackspots up to standard, councillors have been told. The problem areas - Daneshouse, Trinity/Barclay and Burnley Wood - have the highest level of unfit housing in the
THE people of the Ukraine are smiling again for the first time in years, thanks to the hard work of a dedicated band of East Lancashire charity workers. Workers for International Aid, based in Brinscall and with a branch in Great Harwood, have brought
THE people of Darwen should be very proud of the young stars of the Darwen Youth Theatre and their efforts to help Booth Hall Hospital School purchase a state-of-the-art computer for sick children. On April 6, they provided free, high-quality entertainment
CAN anyone in the legal profession explain to me the difference between a gangster who got 30 years for slaying another criminal and a highly dangerous homosexual paedophile whose 16-year sentence for the savage killing of a boy during a multiple rape
WHEN Deborah Hayes complained about the conduct of Manchester United fans in the upper tier of the Darwen End stand at Ewood Park (LET, April 9), club secretary Tom Finn said that season ticket seats were available in other areas of the ground, implying
A NELSON snooker professional has been fined £800 by the world governing body after testing positive for drugs. Stephen Ormerod, ranked 308 in the world, was also ordered to pay £200 costs after traces of marijuana and Nor-andosterone were found in routine
Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy DESPITE recent warm summers and mild winters the climate of Britain is not really suitable for amphibians. We only have five native species, and not all these are common. COMMON TOAD: Present throughout Lancashire; COMMON
A PIONEERING partnership which aims to transform the lives of young families living on a Blackburn council estate looks set to be launched this month. The Investing in Families - Investing in the Future initiative will target the Shadsworth community.
EAST Lancashire was turned into a winter wonderland with another heavy snowfall overnight. The weather took its toll and among accidents was a collision between two cars in Preston New Road, Blackburn, and a shunt involving three cars in Mosley Street
The John Blunt column GOING off the tenor of the debate, it is, of course, natural that some observers confuse the annual conference of the National Union of Teachers, with which the Silly Season always commences at this time of year, with that of the
FRIENDS and former parishioners of a popular priest who died on Good Friday, aged 60, are invited to pay their last respects at a mass. The Rev William Gornall, known to friends and parishioners as Father Bill, was born in Darwen and attended Darwen Technical
RAY Ingleby today received a formal rejection of his takeover offer for Burnley Football Club. The New York-based tycoon has been sent a short faxed statement from Clarets chairman Frank Teasdale. Speaking from Chicago, Ingleby's right hand man, David
CHRIS Sutton has been given the all-clear after X-rays on a foot injury revealed no broken bones. And the Premiership's top scorer is now optimistic of returning to help Blackburn Rovers put their UEFA Cup bid back on track against Euro rivals West Ham
PETER WHITE looks at Blackburn's faltering challenge for a European place HAS the great revival run out of steam? Or can Blackburn Rovers still bounce back to claim the European place that they have promised to achieve for so much of this extraordinary
A FIREPLACE firm is blazing a trail in a national awards scheme. Blazes Fireplace Centres, based in Burnley, is in the running for an award in the British Franchise Association's Franchisor of the Year Awards. Blazes are now the UK's largest living flame
ENGINEERING group Dowding & Mills - owners of Bacup-based Bootham Engineers - has reported a slump in profits. Although sales and profitability from the firm's UK operations rose, results from Australia and the USA fell short of expectations. Pre-tax
A SHARP fall in export orders among local companies has been uncovered by a major survey. The North West Chambers of Commerce survey, which hundreds of East Lancs companies take part in, also found that growth in domestic markets was starting to slow.
TWO pals came down to earth with a bump when they tried to play Tarzan - and each broke their left arm. Adam Smith, 8, and Simon Ormerod, 9, both of Dukes Street, Oswaldtwistle, were playing on a rope swing near Tinker Brook. Adam, a pupil at St Paul's
SUPERBIKE ace Neil Hodgson is adamant he is not a cheat after a stop-go penalty ruined his chances of picking up points in the British round of the World Superbike Championship. The Burnley racer was punished with a 10 second penalty for jumping the start
WITH reference to N Dean's comment (Letters, April 9) regarding parking charges in Accrington, that I should check my figures. I would ask him to cast his mind back to just before the introduction of the Poll Tax when a petition with 6,500 signatures
EVIDENTLY, the government finds itself in a cleft stick over the response to juvenile crime. It was, after all, elected on a strong anti-crime ticket but it now seems ambivalent over the lock-'em-up approach to persistent young offenders. For though it
APART from its sheer impudence, something else ought to be recognised about the demand by Britain's biggest teaching union, the NUT, for the equivalent of a four-day week and the threat of industrial action in pursuit of it. And that is this is not the
DETECTIVES are hunting thugs who used baseball bats during a vicious assault on a 20-year-old man. Their victim suffered head injuries during the frenzied attack in Powell Street, Darwen, at 11.30pm on Monday. The man is thought to have been approached
A SPONSORED pool marathon smashed the world record and gave several people in Bacup a sleepless night! The record for number of frames played in 24 hours was 276, but Bacup father and son Sean and Darren Booth notched up a new unofficial record of 297
A GRAND ball, charity cabaret and sponsored walk organised by Clitheroe's French Connection group raised £2,000 for the SuperScan Appeal. The cheque was presented to SuperScan representative Mary Barnes at the ball held at the home of Clitheroe landowner
The Entertainers - The Milltown Brothers TROUBLE at the mill cruelly stole a chart topping place from one of the brightest bands to come out of East Lancashire. But today we can reveal how the Milltown Brothers are back and going for gold. At the height
HILL farmers in East Lancashire have been working full-time to protect the spring lambs from the late snow blast. Several inches of snow fell across the area creating a Christmas card scene but causing few problems except to the sheep farmers who were
Valerie Cowan Surfs the Net IT'S the toughest challenge on earth. The summit of Everest, 29,028 feet above sea level, eludes all but the fittest. But next month amputee Tom Whittaker aims to become the first disabled mountaineer to make it to the top
REFORMED drug addict Stephen Smith used to shovel amphetamines into his mouth like Smarties, funding his addiction by crime. After running with gangs from the London underworld - mixing with the likes of the Kray Twins - and robbing the homes of the rich
HOUSING officer Patrick Collins believes crime-ridden estates across the UK can turn over a new leaf - through the power of gardening. Patrick, 31, has tried out his theory on the Hall Carr Estate in Rawtenstall and, more recently, on Bacup's Pennine
BELFAST-born Jenny Grimes left her adopted home in Langho for an emotional trip to Northern Ireland as history was being made. Ribble Valley's mayor met Ulster Unionist MP Ken Maginnis, and stayed in the Europa - reputedly the world's most bombed hotel
CHRIS Waddle has called on the claret and blue chorus to unite behind his team as Burnley prepare for Saturday's crunch clash with Fulham. Sections of the travelling support showed their anger as Burnley crashed to a 5-1 defeat at Wigan on Monday. But
