FOLLOWING last week's column about water I had several phone calls. One asked how does wildlife cope in floods. This set me off on another riverside ramble, this time along the Ribble at Ribchester. From the primary school not far from the church and
I FOUND a stand of the Giant Hogweed growing on the riverbank near Ribchester. I looked closely at the stem and in the heat of the day it looked to be sweating. The plants were around 10 feet high and the flower head makes it look like a giant umbrella
A TEACHER has been jailed for 12 months for offences including child ill-treatment. Daoud Studholme was told by a judge that the only appropriate sentence in the case was imprisonment. The 44-year-old, of June Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to two
TWO men have denied committing a robbery in the Blackburn area where Royal Mail bags are alleged to have been stolen. Michael Corcoran and Michael Philips both denied robbing a Post Office employee of a quantity of bags, containing registered post, on
WELL, what a wonderful thing -- to have a musical event at Corporation Park, right on my doorstep; a chance to hear real live music in a great setting and in Blackburn. I would like to congratulate the council for putting on the Arts in the Park event
THE account of John Duckworth's retirement as head of St Silas's School in Blackburn (LET, July 18) took me back nearly 70 years to when I went to the school in 1934. In the last 100 years the school has had only four heads -- William Clough, Ambrose
HIGHWAY chiefs could be forced to build a controversial by-pass from Atherton through the countryside to avoid a town centre becoming swamped with traffic. The council is under pressure to extend the A5225 link road for about two miles beyond Atherton
BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness is weighing up a move for Slovakian international striker Robert Vittek. The 21-year-old hit-man, who recently played for his country against England, has been recommended to Souness by an agent. And Rovers plan to fly him
EWOOD new boy Steven Reid today revealed it took him less than a hour to decide he wanted to become a part of Graeme Souness's Rovers revolution. Reid joined Blackburn earlier this week in a £1.8 million deal from Millwall after signing a four-year contract
THE 29th annual Worsthorne art and crafts fair opens with a special private preview this Friday night. The fair, which is held in St John's Church, Worsthorne, will then be open to the public every day from Saturday, August 2 to Sunday, August 10, from
A MULTI-million pound plan to develop Padiham Weir into a canoeing and fishing centre has taken a step closer to reality. The site, which will be named Red Rose Rapids, will see the abandoned weir developed into a regional centre for canoeing. Part of
BURNLEY'S DIY school has closed after the remaining pupils were finally found mainstream class places, but education bosses were warned: "It could happen again!" A row over the distribution of school places in the town is set to blow up once more in September
Bury 5 Oldham 0: HOT shot Chris Porter strengthened his claim for a first team spot with an impressive hat-trick as Bury's strong pre-season form continued with a 5-0 mauling of Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night. Latics arrived at Gigg Lane in dire need
A BANNER advert for a new hot-food takeaway in Manchester Road, Nelson, has been refused by councillors because it would detract from the appearance of the conservation area. The applicant, Mr Z Ashraf, said the sign would only be temporary for around
AN empty building in Nelson could soon be used as a corner shop after councillors ignored planning advice and decided it would become part of community life. The end of terrace, at 25 Barkerhouse Road, has been vacant for many years and was previously
AN engineering firm has moved to new premises thanks to a £22,000 grant from the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA). KRH Engineering Ltd, which was based in Church Lane, Kelbrook, has relocated to a larger site on Crow Nest industrial estate
RESIDENTS in Colne and Brierfield are being urged to help shape the future of their towns during a community consultation exercise in August and September. Local people's views will help to develop a strategy to deal with housing market difficulties and
A FUNERAL director stopped by police late at night gave a positive breath test but didn't give a further sample after his arrest, a court was told. Burnley Magistrates heard how Robert Lambert, 52, smelled of alcohol. He at first told officers he had
OUR Pride campaign is aimed at celebrating the good things of East Lancashire. But, while the area has plenty of admirers, it also has its critics. John Kimmons Walton, a historian at the University of Central Lancashire, lived in East Lancashire between
THE number of people setting up business in East Lancashire was on the up according to figures from Lancashire County Council. They revealed those in self-employment had risen 21.9 per cent between 1983 and 1993.
COLIN Hendry's decision to quit Blackburn Rovers left staff at a printing firm with a headache. LBH Litho, of Glenfield Park, had spent seven months working on a tribute book for the Scottish international's testimonial year -- only for Hendry to move
RESIDENTS in the Miller Fold area of Accrington are invited to the inaugural meeting of the Heart Works Allotments group to mark the completion of a community project. The allotment, in Miller Fold Avenue, Accrington, transformed waste land into a haven
YOUNGSTERS in Great Harwood can look forward to a summer of fun and creativity thanks to a range of programmes arranged by the police. Officers have devised a variety of activities to take the boredom out of the school holidays. Sports fans will be able
AMBITIOUS proposals to build a new multi-million pound out-of-town bus station in Accrington look set to be put on hold because it would cost too much. But alterations aimed at improving traffic flow and ease congestion have been ranked as high priority
POURING rain and traffic jams took the shine off the first day's action at the Royal Lancashire Show. As Royal guests The Earl and Countess of Wessex met exhibitors, many visitors were sitting in their cars as the sheer volume of traffic threatened to
BURNLEY striker Gareth Taylor could be sidelined for more than two weeks following the eye injury sustained against Leeds. The Clarets striker is finally due to leave hospital today after suffering bleeding behind the eye in Sunday's 4-2 Turf Moor victory
FIFTH place on the Westmorland Road Rally was enough for Malcolm Grisdale and Bob Hargreaves to retain their lead of the Wingates Signs SD34 Championship. The Pendle DMC pair finished just over four minutes behind winner Jon Lawson and Chris Pringle after
THERE has been a general welcome for the plan to make taxi drivers take tests in maths and English in order to improve communications and reduce the risk of rows with passengers over fares and directions. I am sure the scheme proposed by council officers
BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness is weighing up a move for Slovakian international striker Robert Vittek. The 21-year-old hit-man, who recently played for his country against England, has been recommended to Souness by an agent. And Rovers plan to fly him
A 41-YEAR-OLD Darwen man was due to appear at Preston Crown Court today accused of trying to kill his former partner at her Padiham home. Andrew Michael Procter, a father of two, is charged with attempting to murder Lesley Keirby on July 16. He also faces
TOWN Hall engineers have closed part of Blackburn Road, Haslingden, after discovering that a former shop was in danger of collapse. A passer-by reported last week that a crack the width of a hand had appeared in the front wall of 166 Blackburn Road. Keith
TWO brothers were due to appear at Preston Crown Court today charged with the murder of a Rawtenstall man. Paul and Andrew McDonald are alleged to have killed 25-year-old David Taylor. Paul, 21, of Lavender Hill, Rawtenstall was arrested after Mr Taylor's
FUN scenes from Jurassic Park could soon be attracting young swimmers to Haslingden Pool as part of a new programme involving a huge dinosaur and extended hours. Either an inflatable dinosaur or a floating submarine will be bought for the baths after
AN anonymous businessman with deep-rooted Stacksteads connections is hoping to ensure the village retains its doctors' surgery, after submitting an outline planning application for a new site. Plans to move the surgery from Farholme Lane, Stacksteads,
RANCID food, swarms of flies and used toilet tissue... these were the sights awaiting council workers clearing a jailed Blackpool pensioner's home. As reported in The Citizen (July 17) court bailiffs arrested 66-year-old Dennis Bostock -- nicknamed The
CONFUSION surrounds the closure of doomed Fylde post offices after county councillors said they had agreed a two week stay of execution which was then denied by postal chiefs. Lancashire county councillors claim they were told by postal watchdog -- Postwatch
POLICE are still appealing for witnesses to a brutal attack on a lone woman near Stanley Park in Blackpool at the weekend. The 22-year-old woman is still recovering in hospital after a man battered her with a brick and left her for dead on West Park Drive
A TANKER was pulled over on the M6 after leaking fuel early today. A passing motorist alerted police officers, saying fuel was coming from the tanker, which was travelling southbound between junctions 32 and 31a near Broughton at just before 7.30am. Officers
A DRINK driver who killed a teenage passenger in a car crash was today slammed for "stealing" the youngster's life. The father of 13-year-old victim Shane Cook spoke out after the man behind the wheel of the Ford Orion when it hit a tree in the early
A BURNLEY woman is preparing for a War of the Roses court battle after a Yorkshire council gave her a parking fine when she was eight months pregnant. Lynsey Vickers was heavily pregnant when she parked her car in Huddersfield's Market Hall car park on
THE grieving partner of a council worker struck down by a brain tumour has thanked 2,000 work colleagues planning to raise money in his memory. Vivien Ratcliffe said she felt overwhelmed at the support she has had after Martin Etherington's death, with
TRADING standards officers in Bury have helped to earn the region international acclaim for tracking down pirate goods. The counterfeit cracking team based at Bury Council is part of the Trading Standards North West Intellectual Property (NWIP) Focus
A LOOK at events, from amateur theatre to rambles through our beautiful countryside. Slaidburn Silver Band in Concert, Hark to Bounty Inn, Slaidburn, 7.15pm. Royal Lancashire Show, Salesbury Hall Farm, Ribchester, 9am-6pm. French Market, Church Street
FLYING Fraser Snape's total domination of the North Lancs Road Club's time trial series continued after making it 12 wins out of 12. The Simonstone flyer has won every race he has competed in this season -- missing one due to work commitments -- and leads
MR CONSISTENCY, Mohammed Rizwan hit his ninth consecutive half century as Gujrat closed the gap on leaders Little Harwood. Rizwan hit an unbeaten 75 as Gujrat moved to within four points on the defending champions who slumped to only their third defeat
IT'S been a record-breaking season for George Ehrhardt on the fells of East Lancashire and beyond. For the 25-year-old Todmorden Harrier became the first man to win all four of the club's fell races -- and now he has set a best ever time in the Widdop
IAN Cordingley is not a man to rest on his laurels let alone put his feet up, sit back and relax! For it has been a busy 12 months for a man on a mission to rejuvenate junior cricket in East Lancashire. Ian has done his fair share to improve the game
GRAHAM Dean (Letters, July 22) "cannot understand the amount of effort" some Darwen people have put into trying to change the name of the Blackburn Motorway Services off the M65. The reason is simple -- the services are not in Blackburn. Geographical
REGARDING Mr James Grubb's praise for a new hospital to be built at Queen's Park, Blackburn (Letters, July 23) we still have two very good hospitals as yet, but with a long waiting list which I am led to believe is not only due to bed shortages but also
THE Rail Regulator Tom Winsor's proposal to delay improvements to the West Coast main line is preposterous, illogical and unbusiness-like. The growth and profitability of businesses in Liverpool and other destinations along this route are being penalised
THANKS for reporter David Higgerson's brilliant article on the Fashionable Winos (LET, July 18) -- at last someone giving our best local band the support they deserve instead of just nit-picking over a name! Why should the guys in the band change their
A MAN has died and a woman is seriously injured following a crash in Charnock Richard. The head-on collision between a Toyota Celica and Vauxhall Astra happened at about 6.30am on Wednesday on the A49 Preston Road close to the junction with Chorley Lane
BURNLEY'S DIY school has closed after the remaining pupils were finally found mainstream class places -- but education bosses were warned: "It could happen again!" A row over the distribution of school places in the town is set to blow up once more in
BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness has escaped another touchline ban after a Football Association disciplinary hearing into an altercation with a match official last season. Souness, who has received two touchline bans in the past 18 months, was effectively
LUCAS Neill today said Steven Reid's move to the Premiership was long overdue after the Millwall midfielder finally fulfilled his lifetime ambition earlier this week. Reid joined Blackburn on Monday night after Graeme Souness coughed up £1.8 million for
LIFE could be a bit more colourful across the country thanks to a new business based in Burnley. Colorlogic UK has been set up as the sole distributor of specialist hair colouring products produced by Italian company Farmen. Proprietor Stephen Hall who
THE Environment Agency is urging residents in a Burnley street plagued by fly-tipping to shop anyone they see dumping rubbish. Billington Road, which lies between Burnley Cemetery and Rossendale Road industrial estate has a long-standing problem with
A BURGLAR who escaped with a £4,000 haul from a home in Burnley is behind bars for 15 months. The town's Crown Court heard that Mark McNulty, 43, who was arrested after leaving fingerprints on a smashed window, sold the stolen property for heroin. Recorder
THE Campaign to Protect Rural England has launched The Countryside Character Campaign which aims to raise awareness that landscape character is a precious resource worth protecting. An I Spy survey has been designed to discover what people value in the
BURNLEY Football Club has revealed a BNP councillor could be allowed back into Turf Moor - despite him being banned for life from the ground. The club was responding to concerns raised by council leader Stuart Caddy that Luke Smith's ban from the ground
A YOUNGSTER who didn't grow for four years has undergone a pioneering procedure to help her live a normal childhood. Twelve-year-old Alice Henry, of Alma Street, Padiham, has spent years of her life in severe pain with a rare and crippling form of arthritis
PLANS for a new community centre in Nelson suffered a setback at the first hurdle when councillors failed to make a decision on planning permission. Members of the Nelson Committee were unable to approve or refuse the proposal for outline permission to
MORE than 90 Pendle youngsters who represented the borough in the Lancashire Youth Games earlier this year are to be presented with certificates. Pendle Mayor, Councillor Mohammad Iqbal, will make the presentations at a special ceremony for the children
LIFELONG Accrington Stanley fan Darren Woodhead reckoned he could write the book on the club -- so he has. The 33-year-old's book charts the Reds' history from when the club re-formed in 1968, and his work has won the praise of club chairman Eric Whalley
MORE than half a million pounds has been earmarked for road humps and signs to make Hyndburn's roads safer. The £514,000 will be spent on 14 schemes across the borough in Accrington, Oswaldtwistle, Great Harwood, Altham and Church. But because of a backlog
DELIVERY Driver Gary Hutchinson was too early when he visited a Longridge pub from which he had previously been barred, a court was told. Blackburn magistrates heard that Hutchinson was told the landlady had moved to Spain. But Catherine Munz had not
POLICE have released the name of a man wanted in connection with a recent spate of burglaries in the Ribble Valley. Keith White, aka Keith Davis, 48, from the Peterborough area, is believed to have stolen cash and jewellery from a number of houses in
NOTTINGHAM Forest new boy Michael Stewart has revealed he snubbed Burnley to get further away from Old Trafford! The Manchester United midfielder yesterday agreed a season-long loan at the City Ground, despite the Clarets appearing to be early favourites
FIVE class wins from five events have put Steve Johnson in pole position to win this year's British Autotest Championship. Victory on the fifth round of the series, held at the Wheels Adventure Park in Birmingham, has handed the Accrington firefighter
A NEW Tesco Express Store is set to help save Bury FC. The Save Our Shakers Appeal Trust, which was set up to help save Bury FC after it went into administration, will be presented with a £500 cheque at the opening ceremony at the store in Brandlesholme
THOSE citizens who wondered what value for money they might get from the £60,000 anti-rumour department that Blackburn with Darwen Council set up to stop fibbers painting it in a bad light will be glad to see it hard at work putting the record straight
BURNLEY striker Gareth Taylor could be sidelined for more than two weeks following the eye injury sustained against Leeds. The Clarets striker is finally due to leave hospital today after suffering bleeding behind the eye in Sunday's 4-2 Turf Moor victory
CAMPAIGNERS say their fight to close a path leading to the new M65 services is back on. Redvers Road residents were angered by the use of a path at the end of a street which takes people straight to the services. Stuart Chelton, of Redvers Road, said:
POLICE are warning Darreners to keep their car keys hidden after burglars took car keys and a car after breaking into a house on Warwick Avenue. Police believe the two burglars broke in around 5.15pm on Sunday to find car keys. DC Mussarat Khan of Darwen
A MAN whose home was used as a "safe haven" for armed Post Office robbers has been jailed for 18 months. The masked men had a double-barrelled shotgun and a gas cylinder was used to smash a security glass to gain access to a counter area at the London
BIG Brother-style surveillance has dramatically cut crime levels in Darwen in the first two weeks of school holidays -- but fires in the town have more than doubled. CCTV surveillance of 14 primary schools and the two high schools is credited with the
POLICE were called to a three vehicle smash on Grane Road near to the Duke of Wellington pub at just after 9.30am today. The crash was believed to involve two cars and a lorry and police said there had been injuries, although it was not known how serious
PLASTIC flowers have been banned from all Church of England graveyards in a bid to improve presentation. But today vicars pledged not to be 'too zealous' in enforcing the rules, which have been laid down nationally by the Church of England. According
COUNCILLORS will meet tonight to decide whether to introduce compulsory English and maths tests for new taxi drivers. It is hoped the move would put an end to breakdowns in communication between driver and passengers -- which have in the past led to confrontations
STAFF at Blackburn's new lap-dancing bar are being made to sign secrecy contracts to make punters feel comfortable using the venue. And punters have been hit by a unique rule as well - mobile phones must not be used in the venue, which opens tonight.
ROAD surfaces are to be repaired using the very thing which makes them wear away in the first place - car tyres. An East Lancashire council is testing a new form of road resurfacing which not only uses worn-out tyres but also reuses bitumen. Until recently
THE owner of a crime-hit garage, where a teenage boy was crushed under a bus, says he warned police that it was an accident waiting to happen. Craig Orrell, owner of vehicle repair shop Read Commercials, in Queen Victoria Street, Mill Hill, was speaking
A MOTHER today told how a nightmare ordeal at the hands of her brutal husband had left her with a legacy of love -- her seven-week-old daughter. Susan Brown, 36, revealed how little Frankie Leigh is the result of a one-night stand she had during a bout
GORDON Armstrong is looking forward to meeting up with his former team-mates at the Interlink Stadium tonight. But if Glen Little and co think they will be handed any favours by Accrington Stanley's no-nonsense midfielder, they'd better think again! The
