A GOVERNMENT minister has urged Lancashire's transport chiefs to put together plans for daily rail services from Rossendale. Transport minister Derek Twigg said the Government was prepared to consider' plans for re-opening the Rawtenstall to Heywood
OWNERS of luxury cars are being encouraged to fit tracker devices to their vehicles after a sports car was stolen from the drive of a Pendle house. Thieves broke into a house in Laund Gate, Fence, using a locksmiths device to bust the lock and get
A HISTORIC graveyard in Nelson where some of the town's founders are buried has been painstakingly restored. A small team of volunteers have worked to clear the graveyard at St John's Church, Barkerhouse Road, after it had become overgrown with knotweed
OFFICERS from the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch are set to launch an investigation after a film on terrorism was found in the home of a suspected Burnley drug dealer. Police seized the DVD entitled Terrorism and Jihad: An Islamic Perspective'
A SUPERMARKET cashier and her partner who raided the premises in the early hours, costing her bosses almost £14,000, have walked free from court. Burnley Crown Court heard how Sonita Nelson, who has a previous conviction for stealing from her employees
A TEENAGER who sexually attacked two girls in the street in Burnley was today starting a 12-month jail term. The 17-year-old's first victim was a 14-year-old on her way to school. Five months later the defendant targeted and followed a 16-year-old girl
FIRE crews spent more than two hours tackling a blaze at a house in Burnley earlier today. They were called to the burning house, under renovation, in Abel Street at 2.55am. Firefighters from Burnley and Nelson were initially called because one of Burnley's
RIBBLESDALE Senior League side Earby are searching for a new professional after Mohammed Ayub was refused a work permit. Despite being the paid man at Applegarth for the past two seasons, Ayub's application was turned down by immigration officials because
ACCRINGTON Stanley's squad might be on the small side this season, but the players are still giving manager John Coleman selection headaches. The Reds boss was forced to shake up his starting 11 at Crawley on Saturday following the suspension of Robbie
STATISTICS, it is often argued, can be manipulated to prove anything. Yet it's difficult to read anything but misery into the stats relating to Burnley's fall from grace over the past couple of months. On Boxing Day last year, Ade Akinbiyi scored the
Rovers live on Sky. They're generally four words that strike fear into football fans the world over as they look at their subscription costs and wonder why they bother. To be honest, they'd be quite right to feel less than enthusiastic about us too given
Burnley defender John McGreal has been named as one of the top 50 players in the Football League. The 33-year-old appears at number 37 in the list, which appears in the new edition of FourFourTwo magazine. Former Clarets striker Ade Akinbiyi is ninth
BURNLEY today admitted they would be prepared to rename Turf Moor in a bid to attract major investment. The cash-strapped Clarets are investigating every avenue in a bid to attract more sponsorship and take the club to the next level. Chief executive
Mark Hughes hopes his Blackburn players will get the reward he believes their efforts deserve as they continue to chase their dream of European football. Rovers' Champions League aspirations suffered a set-back on Sunday at White Hart Lane, where they
BLACKBURN Rovers today dismissed speculation linking Steven Reid with a shock move to Manchester United. Several newspapers have carried stories claiming the Republic of Ireland international is a £6 million summer target for United manager Sir Alex
CASTING for The Rossendale Players' landmark production of Much Ado About Nothing will begin tonight. The Players' long history has had many highlights of outstanding productions often achieved against the odds of a nomadic existence. And at the end
WORKERS laid off from a computer factory which once made Time branded computers have been awarded 90 days pay by a tribunal but might not see any of the money. Around 200 staff at VMT, based on the Time Technology Park, Simonstone, were laid off in
PAUL O'Grady was back on our screens last night with his teatime chat show and the winning formula which has kept grannies and students alike glued to their screens hadn't changed. You can imagine the producer planning the show, clipboard in hand, running
THREE mystery Good Samaritans in a town plagued by juvenile nuisance have proved that not all local teenagers are bad. The 14-years-olds came to the rescue of people living in the Marsh House Lane area of Darwen when snow brought the street to a standstill
UNION bosses fear college jobs will go if adult courses are axed because of finance cuts. Funding for courses used by students aged 19 and over as a stepping stone back into education are set to be slashed at East Lancashire's five colleges Blackburn
I DON'T know about you, but I just can't picture a metre. A yard, yes that's from my nose to my finger tip. It's just the same with inches. But talk to me in centimetres and I lose the plot. I know these measures have been with us for a long time but
CHILDREN are set to be regularly weighed at schools in East Lancashire. This follows a pilot scheme in Blackburn and Darwen in which pupils are routinely measured. The Government has said NHS authorities in England should monitor the height and weight
I AM sick and fed up with our hypocritical and pathetic council. If the un-elected, so-called "leader" of the bunch of headless chickens would consult the English Dictionary, no doubt she would be amazed to discover that a "museum" is a permanent reminder
RE the closure of the Lewis Textile Museum. The leader of the council is quoted as saying: "We don't have a hangman any more." The big problem with politics in Blackburn in that we don't have a local born leader any more. ROY HIGGINSON, Stuart Close
RE: Museum to shut four years after being saved.' I am appalled that the council can abuse a donation like this. The building and exhibits were donated to the council to create a lasting image of the history of the area. For the council to close the
IN the proposed closure of the Lewis Textile Museum we see yet again the boorish and iconoclastic Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council at work. It is prepared to close a very important piece of civic culture at the drop of a hat, yet it has spent a
WHAT a disgraceful state of affairs the Lewis Textile Museum closure is. I have spent most of my working life in textiles, as have many people in Blackburn and now the council is getting rid of our heritage to save a mere £23,000 per annum. What a stupid
The prospective candidate for the position of minister at Christ Church, Longridge and Fulwood Methodist Church has been named as the Rev Hilary Collinson, of Kirkham. Mrs Collinson's husband, Stephen, is also a United Reformed Church minister and they
SCHOOL pals have said prayers for the family of a 16-year-old who died when the Land Rover he was driving crashed into a bridge. Luke Makinson, of Moorland Avenue, Clitheroe, was at the wheel of the vehicle when it hit a wall on the Downham Road bridge
BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw is fighting to get fit after being hit by a flu-like virus. Mr Straw said it was the worst illness he has had for years. He was confined to bed last Wednesday until yesterday, meaning he couldn't carry out his constituency surgeries
A masterplan for Accrington which seemed doomed for the sake of £75,000 looks set to have been saved after council bosses found funding for the project. The plan, described as the blueprint for the survival of the town, was in serious doubt. Now, if
AN asylum seeker stopped by police claimed he was a friend of Osama Bin Laden. Blackburn magistrates heard that Sarbast Saleh Hidayat said he was making bombs and had a gun in his shoe. He admitted he had been drinking but said he was driving in a straight
Channel 4's Shameless' actor Jody Latham is to make a guest appearance at the launch of a new teen disco at Heaven and Hell nightclub. Jody, from Burnley, plays Lip Gallagher will answer questions from clubbers, dance and serve drinks at the launch of
GARAGE bosses who painted over part of a community mural put up to help children celebrate the Millennium have apologised for their actions. Residents in Great Harwood were appalled to find that the mural in Queen Street was in the process of being whitewashed
A SEX attacker has been jailed for life for raping a schoolgirl at knifepoint just 90 minutes after sexually assaulting another teenager. Martin Eatough, 24, of Mitton Street, Oswaldtwistle, struck in Blackburn town centre last June. Sentencing him,
POLICE in Lancashire are leading the way issuing more conditional cautions than anywhere in the country. In just over a year, the force made almost 300 Conditional Cautions for a range of offences from minor criminal damage to assault, theft, burglary
A SHORTAGE of top dogs has left police sniffing around Europe for the best four-legged recruits. Due to competition from every other UK police forces, the RAF and private security companies, Lancashire Constabulary is finding it increasingly difficult
SMOKERS are being urged by East Lancashire health bosses to quit their habit on No Smoking Day tomorrow. Advice sessions will be held throughout the area to help people who want to give up. The NHS' stop smoking service, which helps more than 3,000
A SCHOOL could be forced to axe two teachers if plans to cut subsidised buses go ahead, the headteacher warned today. Staff at St Anne and St Joseph's RC School, Sandy Lane, Accrington, said that 60 pupils could be set to leave the school after two bus
AN ARREST warrant has been issued for a doctor who is accused of fondling a patient in her hospital bed after he failed to return from India. Dr Naveen Shivan, 34, was due to stand trial yesterday charged with indecently assaulting a 16-year-old patient
I LOVE old railway lines and enjoy following footpaths close to them. I often write in these columns of strolls along the tracks close to steam railways. The linear trail following the disused track between Colne and Skipton has its delights but what
HAVING decided to combine my loves of walking and steam trains, my route from Ramsbottom to Rawtenstall along the River Irwell filled me with excitement. The walk links two East Lancashire railway stations and I returned via the steam train after the
THE Cotton Tree Inn, at Colne, takes its name not from the cotton industry but from the old name for the black poplar tree. This grows on riversides and is very rare these days. The pub has recently been renovated and is aiming to cater for walkers
A WEEK or so ago I followed the Irwell Valley between Rawtenstall and Ramsbottom. The route is shared by the East Lancashire Railway and so you can stroll one way and travel by steam railway on the return. While exploring the railway I learned that
A COUPLE of months ago I visited the village of Mellor and passed close to the old Roman signal station on the hill. The Old English word for Mellor means a bare hill. At one time the valley of the River Ribble was a swamp above which was a dense forest
THERE was frost on the ground and a flurry of snow in the air as I set off from the car park and along the footpaths winding through woodlands and close to a meander of the River Calder. I always look for a balance between history and natural history
BRIERFIELD was "nobbut" a hamlet until the 19th century when it became a large village making its living from cotton mills and coal mines, which explains why the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was diverted to pass through Brierfield. In the late 17th century
THERE are two delightful strolls leading upstream and downstream of Grindleton Bridge. Over the river there was once a ford (called Grindleford) and although the stone bridge is not one of the most attractive the views from it are spectacular especially
WE say that we are good conservationists today and the Victorians were not. We should be careful not to pat ourselves on the back too hard or too often. There is a move afoot by politicians these days to bring our towns into the countryside by developing
FOLLOWING my recent visit to Alkincotes in Colne several people suggested that I took a close look at Marsden Park in Nelson. Nelson itself was created as as result of the Industrial Revolution but before that there were two ancient villages of Great
I'VE lost count of the number of times I have written about Whalley in these columns but this week I discovered one or two aspects which I should have known more about. Over the past few weeks I have been looking at Alms houses without knowing of a
SUMMER is the perfect time to enjoy canals because colourful pleasure craft are always on the move and boaters are friendly folk. A circular stroll around Greenberfield Locks at Barnoldswick -- around three miles -- is a sort of Rolls-Royce sandwich
Wiswell is a very pretty and unspoiled village once famous for its damson crop. It was also the birthplace of John Paslew who became the last abbot of Whalley. He was executed on the orders of Henry VIII for resisting the dissolution of the monasteries
I have enjoyed strolls around the Ribble estuary at Lytham and at Freckleton and also explored Shap Abbey up in the Lake District and mentioned that in Victorian times there was a spa which died out but at one time almost rivalled Buxton or Harrogate.
THIS week I explored the Upper Reaches of the Ribble. At Stainforth I found two settlements for the price of one! Stainforth is overlooked by the limestone lump of Winskill and around it is an assortment of boulders called erratics brought down by
RE the closure of the Lewis Textile Museum. The leader of the council is quoted as saying: "We don't have a hangman any more." The big problem with politics in Blackburn in that we don't have a local born leader any more. ROY HIGGINSON, Stuart Close,
RE: Museum to shut four years after being saved.' I am appalled that the council can abuse a donation like this. The building and exhibits were donated to the council to create a lasting image of the history of the area. For the council to close the museum
I AM sick and fed up with our hypocritical and pathetic council. If the un-elected, so-called "leader" of the bunch of headless chickens would consult the English Dictionary, no doubt she would be amazed to discover that a "museum" is a permanent reminder
Mark Hughes hopes his Blackburn players will get the reward he believes their efforts deserve as they continue to chase their dream of European football. Rovers' Champions League aspirations suffered a set-back on Sunday at White Hart Lane, where they
OFFICERS from the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch are set to launch an investigation after a film on terrorism was found in the home of a suspected Burnley drug dealer. Police seized the DVD entitled Terrorism and Jihad: An Islamic Perspective' during
A HISTORIC graveyard in Nelson where some of the town's founders are buried has been painstakingly restored. A small team of volunteers have worked to clear the graveyard at St John's Church, Barkerhouse Road, after it had become overgrown with knotweed
A SUPERMARKET cashier and her partner who raided the premises in the early hours, costing her bosses almost £14,000, have walked free from court. Burnley Crown Court heard how Sonita Nelson, who has a previous conviction for stealing from her employees
GARAGE bosses who painted over part of a community mural put up to help children celebrate the Millennium have apologised for their actions. Residents in Great Harwood were appalled to find that the mural in Queen Street was in the process of being whitewashed
A SEX attacker has been jailed for life for raping a schoolgirl at knifepoint just 90 minutes after sexually assaulting another teenager. Martin Eatough, 24, of Mitton Street, Oswaldtwistle, struck in Blackburn town centre last June. Sentencing him, Judge
SCHOOL pals have said prayers for the family of a 16-year-old who died when the Land Rover he was driving crashed into a bridge. Luke Makinson, of Moorland Avenue, Clitheroe, was at the wheel of the vehicle when it hit a wall on the Downham Road bridge
Burnley defender John McGreal has been named as one of the top 50 players in the Football League. The 33-year-old appears at number 37 in the list, which appears in the new edition of FourFourTwo magazine. Former Clarets striker Ade Akinbiyi is ninth.
BLACKBURN Rovers today dismissed speculation linking Steven Reid with a shock move to Manchester United. Several newspapers have carried stories claiming the Republic of Ireland international is a £6 million summer target for United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
WORKERS laid off from a computer factory which once made Time branded computers have been awarded 90 days pay by a tribunal but might not see any of the money. Around 200 staff at VMT, based on the Time Technology Park, Simonstone, were laid off in July
A GOVERNMENT minister has urged Lancashire's transport chiefs to put together plans for daily rail services from Rossendale. Transport minister Derek Twigg said the Government was prepared to consider' plans for re-opening the Rawtenstall to Heywood line
BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw is fighting to get fit after being hit by a flu-like virus. Mr Straw said it was the worst illness he has had for years. He was confined to bed last Wednesday until yesterday, meaning he couldn't carry out his constituency surgeries
AN asylum seeker stopped by police claimed he was a friend of Osama Bin Laden. Blackburn magistrates heard that Sarbast Saleh Hidayat said he was making bombs and had a gun in his shoe. He admitted he had been drinking but said he was driving in a straight
WE all know technology has helped police to track down criminals and bring them to justice. However, despite the sophistication of some of their equipment, one of the police service's most trusted aids doesn't need to be maintained by technicians But
IN the proposed closure of the Lewis Textile Museum we see yet again the boorish and iconoclastic Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council at work. It is prepared to close a very important piece of civic culture at the drop of a hat, yet it has spent a fortune
WHAT a disgraceful state of affairs the Lewis Textile Museum closure is. I have spent most of my working life in textiles, as have many people in Blackburn and now the council is getting rid of our heritage to save a mere £23,000 per annum. What a stupid
UNION bosses fear college jobs will go if adult courses are axed because of finance cuts. Funding for courses used by students aged 19 and over as a stepping stone back into education are set to be slashed at East Lancashire's five colleges Blackburn,
AN ARREST warrant has been issued for a doctor who is accused of fondling a patient in her hospital bed after he failed to return from India. Dr Naveen Shivan, 34, was due to stand trial yesterday charged with indecently assaulting a 16-year-old patient
BLACKBURN Rovers today dismissed speculation linking Steven Reid with a shock move to Manchester United. Several newspapers have carried stories claiming the Republic of Ireland international is a £6 million summer target for United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
FIRE crews spent more than two hours tackling a blaze at a house in Burnley earlier today. They were called to the burning house, under renovation, in Abel Street at 2.55am. Firefighters from Burnley and Nelson were initially called because one of Burnley's
A TEENAGER who sexually attacked two girls in the street in Burnley was today starting a 12-month jail term. The 17-year-old's first victim was a 14-year-old on her way to school. Five months later the defendant targeted and followed a 16-year-old girl
STATISTICS, it is often argued, can be manipulated to prove anything. Yet it's difficult to read anything but misery into the stats relating to Burnley's fall from grace over the past couple of months. On Boxing Day last year, Ade Akinbiyi scored the
Rovers live on Sky. They're generally four words that strike fear into football fans the world over as they look at their subscription costs and wonder why they bother. To be honest, they'd be quite right to feel less than enthusiastic about us too given
A masterplan for Accrington which seemed doomed for the sake of £75,000 looks set to have been saved after council bosses found funding for the project. The plan, described as the blueprint for the survival of the town, was in serious doubt. Now, if Hyndburn
I DON'T know about you, but I just can't picture a metre. A yard, yes that's from my nose to my finger tip. It's just the same with inches. But talk to me in centimetres and I lose the plot. I know these measures have been with us for a long time but
BURNLEY today admitted they would be prepared to rename Turf Moor in a bid to attract major investment. The cash-strapped Clarets are investigating every avenue in a bid to attract more sponsorship and take the club to the next level. Chief executive
RIBBLESDALE Senior League side Earby are searching for a new professional after Mohammed Ayub was refused a work permit. Despite being the paid man at Applegarth for the past two seasons, Ayub's application was turned down by immigration officials because
BURNLEY today admitted they would be prepared to rename Turf Moor in a bid to attract major investment. The cash-strapped Clarets are investigating every avenue in a bid to attract more sponsorship and take the club to the next level. Chief executive
THREE mystery Good Samaritans in a town plagued by juvenile nuisance have proved that not all local teenagers are bad. The 14-years-olds came to the rescue of people living in the Marsh House Lane area of Darwen when snow brought the street to a standstill
A SEX attacker has been jailed for life for raping a schoolgirl at knifepoint just 90 minutes after sexually assaulting another teenager. Martin Eatough, 24, of Mitton Street, Oswaldtwistle, struck in Blackburn town centre last June. Sentencing him, Judge
AN ARREST warrant has been issued for a doctor who is accused of fondling a patient in her hospital bed after he failed to return from India. Dr Naveen Shivan, 34, was due to stand trial yesterday charged with indecently assaulting a 16-year-old patient
