PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice is backing a Commons Bill which would ensure that all his constituents get access to digital television and end the area's position as a broadcasting 'black hole'. He is angry that terrestrial TV reception in the area is patchy
A VOLUNTARY youth worker has launched a one-man campaign to secure a safe haven for 400 young victims of the crisis in Kosovo. Mike Ashworth, of Mill Hill, Blackburn, wants to arrange for the group to live in Blackburn for a year. He is calling on representatives
YOUR favourite newspaper has hit the headlines by winning two top awards in a week. The Lancashire Evening Telegraph has been rewarded for its great community coverage with the Cancer Research Campaign's regional media award. The prize comes days after
CATHEDRAL bosses are meeting to decide whether to sell shares in defence firm British Aerospace, amid a row between the church and aerospace workers. The Church of England has announced it is to sell £10 million-worth of BAe shares because they don't
BILLY McKinlay's season is over, after a specialist ordered the Blackburn Rovers midfield man to rest his troublesome groin injury. But the good news for both McKinlay and striker Chris Sutton, who was also examined, is that neither player is expected
Blackburn Drama Club present "The Anniversary," Blackburn College Theatre, 7.30pm. Adult Craft Workshop - Tatting for beginners, Burnley Mechanics, 7pm-9pm. The Magic of the Musicals with Marti Webb and Dave Willetts, King George's Hall, Blackburn, 8pm
A SCHOOL'S 1,000 pupils paid a silent tribute to victims of the Hillsborough tragedy. Children at Rhyddings High School, Oswaldtwistle, observed total silence during the last 15 minutes of the school day. Some of them were taking part in a sponsored silence
Calder Vale 10pts Warrington 10 DESPITE facing promotion chasing Warrington, Vale took the game to their opponents in a thrilling game at Holden Road. Some excellent scrummaging from the Vale pack kept the momentumn going, with prop Richard Summersgill
BLACKBURN Cathedral bosses face a dilemma over the "free" shares it will receive in the defence firm, British Aerospace, as part of a takeover deal - as it conflicts with the Church of England's ethical investment policy that avoids arms industries. But
I AGREE with Mike Bamber's remarks about Kosovo (Letters, April 6. Why can't we keep our noses out of the affairs of foreign countries? Remember how the First and Second World wars began. Remember the millions killed: Germans, Italians and Japanese, with
IN THE semi-finals of the Under 14s Cup competition Mill Hill St Peter's and West End overcame Blackburn Dynamos Boys and Great Harwood Rovers respectively to book their place in the final. Both games were closely fought affairs with the results going
MANY thanks to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph for making my son's day so special. When he found he had won a free place in your Manchester United Soccer School competition (LET, March 24), he was over the moon - so much so that we have booked a place
FROM 1959 to 1964, I was a schoolmaster at Slim School, a British Army children's school, in the Cameron Highlands, Malaya. A great friend and colleague was Brian Macdonald, who went back to the UK at the beginning of 1961, returning to the Burnley area
TO boost their election campaign in Hyndburn, the Tories are circulating a leaflet containing a lot of disinformation and that on housing was grossly distorted. For instance, our rent collection is 98.2 per cent - a figure below the District Auditor's
A YOUNG mum was due to appear in court at Burnley today charged with child neglect. Georgina Shackleton, 23, of Bar Street, Duke Bar, Burnley, and formerly of Fielding Crescent, Blackburn, is charged with the neglect of her sixteen-month-old son Jack.
A SKIRMISH between Roundheads and Royalists will be re-enacted this weekend by the Sealed Knot Society at Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham. The Society is setting up a 'living history camp' at the historic hall off Burnley Road. The event has been organised by
TWO burglars who raided a school annexe both tried to cover up for each other when police searched a house and found stolen property. Burnley magistrates heard how young mum, Sharon Louise Martin, 28, and Terence David Ratcliffe, 31, each tried to claim
The people of Burnley give their views on plans to demolish the town's landmark Keirby Hotel and relocate the bus station as part of a massive redevelopment scheme PLANS which could lead to Burnley's landmark Keirby Hotel being pulled down have been greeted
FORGOTTEN man Paul Smith is set for a shock comeback before the end of the season. The Clarets winger has had a wretched run of luck with injuries over the past couple of years, culminating in surgery to both his knees earlier this season. His last game
OWNERS of East Lancashire's historic buildings are being offered a helping hand by a conservation expert. Michael Brennan, of Manchester Road, Accrington, has just completed the William Morris Craft Fellowship - a nine-month course on the conservation
DEBENHAMS has seen its first half profits jump by three per cent to £79.4 million as it continues a crackdown on costs during difficult market conditions. Sales in the twenty six weeks to February 27 dipped 1.9 per cent before recovering in the final
PRINTING group St Ives saw sales and profits pull ahead in the first half of its financial year despite continuing tough trading in some markets. But the group, which owns a factory in Blackburn which prints CD inserts, said the music industry continued
THE wet weather which has blighted the winter's junior soccer programme has already started to take its toll on the new cricket season. But what happened at last week's Hyndburn and District Boys' League Under-13s Red section football match between Brunlea
DETECTIVES investigating the rape of a schoolgirl in a Pendle churchyard are following a number of leads after a nationwide TV appeal for information. More than 20 callers contacted the police after details of the incident and a man officers want to question
STANDING in for Tony Blair at Prime Minister's Question Time, deputy premier John Prescott showed himself up as a dunderhead - and was laughed out of the House. Rightly so, too. For he revealed he had not a clue about the new withholding tax the EU plans
VOLUNTEERS got together to clear rubbish from the River Darwen at Hoghton Bottoms. The clean-up was organised after a large quantity or rubbish - including tyres and shopping trolleys - was washed down the river from further upstream. Local people, who
The opinions expressed by John Blunt are not necessarily those of this newspaper I HAPPENED to be in the departure lounge at Manchester Airport last month when, just prior to the disclosure of his plunge into bankruptcy brought on by the horrendous legal
A TEACHER who was one of the first in the country to achieve a Masters degree in special needs teaching has taken up a deputy head post at Moorland High School, Darwen. Judith Berry is looking after personnel and guidance at the Holden Fold school. She
ARMED police surrounded a Clitheroe house today after reports that a man with a harpoon gun, an air rifle and a knife had locked himself inside after a row with his wife. They went to the scene at 2.50am after a phone call from the house in Conway Avenue
FORGOTTEN man Paul Smith is set for a shock comeback before the end of the season. The Clarets winger has had a wretched run of luck with injuries over the past couple of years, culminating in surgery to both his knees earlier this season. His last game
THE number of locum doctors being used to treat patients in East Lancashire health trusts is being reviewed, following the publication of a damning report today. According to an Audit Commission study, entitled Cover Story: the use of locum doctors in
ARMED police surrounded a Clitheroe house today after reports that a man with a harpoon gun, an air rifle and a knife had locked himself inside after a row with his wife. They went to the scene at 2.50am after a phone call from the house in Conway Avenue
FOUR teachers and a priest have been charged with offences of indecent assault at a top preparatory school. The five, who are not being named, were arrested by police at locations across the country yesterday. And a police spokesman today said more arrests
MAGISTRATE May McNamee told the town her age when she hosted a special birthday party. For May, who retired from the Blackburn bench after a 20-year stint, was having a 70th birthday party - without presents. A tireless worker for the Francis House Children's
JANET Entwhistle made history on an otherwise miserable day for Lancashire at Lord's yesterday. Entwhistle, who became Lancashire's first-ever female committee member when she was elected during the winter, took advantage of the MC's decision to allow
Workington 4 Rossendale United 0 DALE boss Micky Graham was brimming with pride last night despite his side crashing to a heavy defeat. After four players cried off just hours before kick off, United were forced to make the long trip north with a patched
IN highlighting the nine-fold rocketing of the housing benefit bill to more than £9 million a year in his own constituency in less than a decade - much of which is tipped into the pockets of rogue landlords - Pendle MP Gordon Prentice is also pointing
ALBERT Morris, 'Bombs not the answer' (Letters, April 8), rings a bell when he says that after the Second World War, all military experts agreed that bombing a country never achieved anything. But didn't the use of the atomic bomb against Japan bring
RONNIE Davis has big ambitions for Baxenden, firmly believing the Jennings Ribblesdale League club can climb out of the doldrums this summer. The Australian has returned to the professional ranks at Back Lane after a season playing as an amateur for Little
TWO championship titles were settled this weekend in the Memorial Sunday Football League. In Division One, Heys Inn secured the title after a comfortable 7-1 win over bottom club Clarence Hotel, and in this match Heys goalkeeper Paul Edwards decided to
BARRY Spencer got Ribblesdale Wanderers off to a flying start with a career-best haul in the Jennings Ribblesdale League. And the all-rounder, who claimed 6-33 in an opening day derby win over Whalley, believes Wanderers can stay the pace again to mount
RESULTS - Tuesday April 13: U12s: Blackburn Boys Club 4, Blackburn Academy 4; Lammack Jnrs 2, Oswaldtwistle Jnrs 5; Oggy Hospur 1, Blue Star 7; Rossendale Valley 5, Whalley Jnrs 0. U15s Red: Revidge Youth 4, Darwen Town 1. U15s Blue: Feniscowles St Paul's
MARK Williams paid Ian McCulloch a glowing tribute today after the Accrington-based professional made an impressive debut at The Crucible in Sheffield. Welshman Williams may have defied a stomach bug to run out a fairly comfortable 10-4 winner in their
REGARDING Lancashire dialect (Soapbox - LET, April 13), three phrases which spring to my mind when discussing it are: 'In Dickies' meadow (meader)' meaning 'in lots of trouble.' It's a 'Darren' phrase that I heard when I first came to Darwen in 1977.
YOU asked for dialect phrases at the end of Jim Atherton's Soapbox article (LET, April 13). I always remember one which my maternal grandfather said to me about 1926 when I was five. One teatime, I offered him some slices of fruit loaf. He looked at me
BILLY McKinlay's season is over, after a specialist ordered the Blackburn Rovers midfield man to rest his troublesome groin injury. But the good news for both McKinlay and striker Chris Sutton, who was also examined, is that neither player is expected
SIMON Bergara has been appointed area manager of Skipton building society's Blackburn branch. Simon joined the society in 1989 and worked in Sheffield before moving to Colne as branch manager in 1997. Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some
BUSINESS managers are now better prepared to tackle the millennium bug thanks to a course. The intensive session was staged by Blackburn College and aimed at managers within small and medium sized companies. "It will equip them with the information needed
FARMERS in East Lancashire will be given tips on how to plough their way through the business field at a seminar to be staged later this month. Blackburn-based accountants PM&M and Clitheroe feed manufacturer B Dugdale & Sons are hosting the free
"I have cried. I cried at that film Shenandoah when James Stewart came back from the civil war" - Hard man Peter Reid, boss of promoted Sunderland, shows he is really an old softie at heart. Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and
Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy THE subject of this week's column is very much concerned with badgers. After a warm Easter, winter decided to strike back with a vengeance. Snow covered the hills and late April felt like January! The day to day weather,
DON'T mention Darren Barton's latest "injury" to the former British 125cc champion - it's something of a sore point so to speak. You see a rather delicate problem has left next Sunday's ride at Oulton Park in jeopardy and Darren is desperate not to miss
Peter White sees the funny side YOU wouldn't expect to find the chief executive of Premiership sponsors Carling replacing divots at half time on the pitch at Ewood or Anfield. But Eric Whalley clearly likes to believe that his sponsorship of the EW Cartons
ROGUE landlords milking East Lancashire's rented homes market have pushed Pendle's housing benefit bill to more than £9million a year, it was revealed today. The borough's MP, Gordon Prentice, said the council's housing benefit bill has rocketed from
NO DOUBT, when he is asked to speak to this or that group with a special interest, the Bishop of Blackburn must scratch his head now and then, wondering how best to commune with his audience. But wasn't it a pearl that the Right Rev. Alan Chesters came
CHILDREN as young as seven, it turns out, are being drilled by their parents for the national school tests and mums and dads are buying so many revision guides and practice papers that they are in the best-seller charts at the bookshops. Yet some teachers
