A new business scheme has helped a Waterfoot firm boost sales via the internet. Rossendale Forme and Knife Company has seen year-on-year sales improve by over 35 per cent and puts much of that new business down to its website, www.rossforme.co.uk.
A SECURITY guard at Burnley bus station was viciously assaulted after he asked a man to stop smoking. Today detectives appealed for help to catch the thug behind the savage attack. And they have released CCTV pictures in a bid to help them find the
TWO Nelson car dealers have jumped on board a police scheme to put the brakes on number plate theft. Perry's Peugeot and Walker Farrimond Citroen have signed up to support Pendle police's "Safe Plates" initiative which involves the free fitting of tamper
The annual Pendle Witch Way walks will be held on Saturday, April 29 with two strenuous walks of either 25 or 12 miles around the picturesque area of Pendle Hill. The walks start and finish at the Scout and Guide headquarters in Fence. Entry fee is £6.50
BUOYANT Accrington Stanley chairman Eric Whalley believes the town is ready to embrace League football after a weekend of non-stop celebrations. The Reds chief admitted he was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who lined the streets for yesterday's
STEVE Cotterill insisted that Burnley let down the travelling fans by failing to show up at Millwall. The blazing boss exonerated striker Andy Gray when laying the blame for Saturday's 1-0 defeat at the feet of his team. But every other player incurred
Foggy Petronas Racing finished the third round of the Superbike World Championship at Valencia, Spain with scant reward for their continued efforts. After the joy of qualifying on the front row, Steve Martin again had to battle hard for the team's only
Tottenham Hotspur are the latest Premier League club to be linked with a summer swoop for Blackburn Rovers' leading scorer Craig Bellamy. Spurs boss Martin Jol is said to be plotting a double raid on Rovers, with Bellamy and Lucas Neill the two players
BLACKBURN Rovers today played down speculation linking them with a summer move for Juventus striker Fabrizio Miccoli. A report in the national Press claimed Rovers manager Mark Hughes was lining up a surprise £3.5 million swoop for the 26-year-old, who
THIS is the Burnley soldier killed 92 years ago in a bloody First World War battle whose remains may have finally been found in Belgium. Private Walter Robinson, 30, who lived in Stanley Street, died along with four other Lancashire Fusiliers three months
INCIDENTS of vandalism in Oswaldtwistle have gone down following a police operation to crack down on criminal damage. The town was the first target in Hyndburn police's "Who's Wrecking Your Neighbourhood?" campaign to combat the nuisance crime, which
A BUSINESSMAN let rented units to be turned into a £300,000-a-year cannabis farm because he was scared of the criminals behind it, a court heard. Preston Crown Court was told that when Christopher Rowbottom learned what was taking place in units at Hampden
A THIEF who helped himself to £7,000-worth of jewellery from a man's house been jailed for 11 months. Burnley Crown Court heard Joseph Cummins, 27, and an accomplice took the haul, belonging to the man's mother, after they were invited back to his Haslingden
A CONVICTED child sex offender who repeatedly groped an Accrington schoolgirl and paid her not to tell anyone is starting an 18 month jail term. Burnley Crown Court heard how Robert Llewellyn, 48, had a previous conviction for attempted rape against
LANCASHIRE students are heeding the advice about the dangers of binge drinking a new survey has found. The National Union of Students' poll of 1,000 students revealed 59 per cent of those quizzed in Lancashire change their behaviour when they see responsible
HAVING read the reference to grumpy old men' by your TV critic (LET, April 15) it occurred to me that most of the contributers to your letters page are grumpy old men. I, on the other hand, am so laid back, I find it hard to maintain my balance. However
The Tories have revealed in 2004, five people died a result of hit and run accidents on Lancashire's roads the highest figure in eight years. There were also 63 serious injuries from motorists who failed to stop after incidents. Shadow Transport
Chemist retail giant Boots will open a new out-of-town store at Blackburn's Peel retail park. The move is part of a commitment to open 12 new stores across the UK over the coming year. When finished, the new store will join leisure outlets including
A PRIMARY school which was controversially closed is to be turned into a £210,000 vocational learning centre. Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive members approved the educational re-use of the Highercroft Primary School building, Fishmoor Drive
Nurses have launched a petition against NHS job cuts and the impact they will have on patients. Steve Flanagan, the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) Regional Director for the North West is calling on local nurses and the public to sign-up and support
Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle has condemned the county council over proposals to close a respite care centre that helps the parents of disabled children from all over Lancashire. The MP protested about the decision to shut the Maplewood Centre in Bamber Bridge
A ROSSENDALE-born businessman has become East Lanc-ashire's first billionaire, it has been revealed. Property tycoon John Whittaker, who owns development Peel Holdings, is now the North west's second-richest person, with a fortune of an estimated £1,300million
A MAN has been banned from approaching strangers and asking for money under an Anti Social Behaviour Order. Blackburn magistrates imposed the ban after hearing how Tanveer Ahmed smooth-talked his way into loans' from complete strangers on the pretext
Shoppers were evacuated from The Mall in Blackburn yesterday after a fire alarm was set off. A spokesman for the fire service said it was a false alarm set off when a shopper mistakenly thought they had smelled smoke. Shoppers were allowed back inside
A fire chief today issued a warning not to leave televisions on standby after a man had to be taken to hospital when his TV set on fire. The blaze started shortly before 1.30am today when an electrical fault sparked the fire in a bedroom in Pringle Street
A 37-YEAR-OLD man was stabbed with a knife during a "serious assault" in his Accrington home. Police were called to an address in Willows Lane after reports of windows being smashed shortly after 1pm yesterday. The man was today described as being seriously
A TEENAGER has died of a brain tumour, six years after she thought she had won her battle for life. And today the family of Lois Greene, 19, who was so embarrassed by her illness that she changed her name, said they wanted everyone to know her story
THE magic of the movies will cast its spell over Rams-bottom as cinema-goers flock to the new community cinema. The Real 2 Reel Cinema (R2R) will be based at the town's Civic Hall and has been formed by a group of local people with the idea of becoming
A GANG of up to 30 armed youths went on the rampage, smashing cars during a night of violence. Police were called to Burnley after dozens of people phoned to say a mob with baseball bats, metal pipes and golf clubs was attacking vehicles in the Duke
IN the hostile confines of the New Den, there is no hiding place. When Millwall fans boo their own player of the year as he steps up to receive his award, it's safe to assume that visiting players will have more than Cockney rhyming slang ringing in
IN a season where Accrington Stanley have provided one of the most romantic sporting tales of all time, football has rarely taken a back seat. But 90 minutes of action against Tamworth was just the curtain raiser for an evening of more celebrations as
Lancashire began their one-day season with a comfortable 69-run victory over Leicestershire in the C&G Trophy at Old Trafford. Despite giving the visitors hope by setting a modest target of 195, the red rose county produced an energetic display in the
Neil Hodgson improved to take fifth place in the second of the weekend's races in the American Superbike Championship. Two races made up the second round of the championship at the Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama. Ducati rider Hodgson
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill has revealed that Northern Ireland international Steve Jones may be a summer target. The admission follows reports in the national press that he was pursuing the Crewe player. he said: "I haven't seen the newspaper reports
FURIOUS Burnley manager Steve Cotterill reckons that facing the fans is the perfect punishment for his players following the weekend defeat at Millwall. The Clarets' six-match unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt at the New Den, where a lacklustre
A SURPRISE party was held for 61-year-old former barmaid Vanessa Lucas after she completed 26 years at The Farthings pub in Blackburn. Friends of Vanessa Lucas, of Pemberton Street, rallied round to give her a good send-off after the pub was taken over
PROSECUTORS have agreed to drop a football banning order against a man from Accrington. John Graeme Heywood was arrested and charged with a public order offence in the wake of York City's home match against Accrington Stanley last month. Heywood pleaded
HEALTH warnings are everywhere. Now there's a call for information about the dangers of excessive drinking to be displayed on bottles and cans, as well as in pubs, supermarkets and off-licences. A good idea. But let's not stop there. I don't think we
PARENTS will be contacted at the touch of a button in a ground-breaking scheme at an East Lancashire primary school. Helmshore Primary School in Gregory Fold,has become the first in Lancashire to install the new technology. Bosses plan to test it for
I AM trying to locate some long lost uncles in the Clitheroe area. My mother, Elsie Margaret Masters, grew up in that area but moved away when she married an American soldier in World War II. She died 30 years ago but she may have three brothers (James
I WRITE in reference to the article about a bus driver sacked for playing a game at wheel. As a bus driver myself for the past 15 years, I have seen many changes to the way in which I am expected to do my job to a professional high standard. I am faced
IT was a 44-year wait for a party but players, officials and thousands of fans made sure it was worth it. Accrington Stanley, the team that went bust in 1962, will return to the Football League next season. And it was clear the entire town couldn't
CORPORATION Park is to be given a flowery tribute at one of the world's best-known horticultural shows. Blackburn with Darwen Council has unveiled its design for the RHS National Flowerbed Competition part of the RHS Flower Show to be held in June at
A GLAMOUR model has revealed the key to her heart a drink down her local in Darwen! Brunette beauty Natalie Yates has been modelling for just over a year after signing to London agency Supermodel. But, despite loving life in front of and away from
Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans has condemned an "obscene" National Lottery award of £30,000 to the Manchester United football club to help make their staff more fit. He said that one of the richest football clubs in the world did not deserve to hit the
ALMOST 200 runners took part in Witton Park's annual fun run to raise money for East Lancashire Hospice and other charities. The Blackburn event, organised by Blackburn Borough Rotary Club, has been going for 20 years, and this year's was as popular
THE owners of the former Apollo Cinema in Blackburn have applied for planning permission to turn the venue into a pub. But the Rossendale based Hurstwood Group, which has put the historic venue up for sale, has revealed the plans will just give the company
FOUR men travelled to the Ribble Valley from Liverpool with the specific intention of stealing quad bikes. Blackburn magistrates heard the men activated the alarm at KIA Motorcycles in Chatburn and ran off when police, including the force helicopter,
A 17-YEAR-OLD girl suffered burns to her face, arms and legs after accidentally setting herself on fire. Emergency crews said the accident happened as the teenager was burning rubbish in the back yard of her home in Belthorn where the family run a cattery
Brooklyn Elementary school music teacher Cannonball Jane is settng a great example to her pupils as to how it's done on this double A-side release. First track Take It To Fantastic is a fresh concoction of old school jazz, Latino dance, with a dash
Bisbee Blue is the name of a fine turquoise drawn from the rock near the town of Bisbee, Arizona, and this song heavily mines the potential metaphors. Bisbee Blue is taken from their new album, Garden Ruin, and it is sweet alt-country, with a light
Master electroclash remixer Tiga seems finally to have hit the big time in his own right, with an incredible response to his debut album Sexor. Though still quite mainstream by the Canadian's standards, this fragrant slice of synth-pop it isn't as
Trouble Sleeping sees The Perishers try to coax us into a melodic, stress-free ambience. Devotees of TV shows such as The OC and One Tree Hill may already be familiar with The Perishers as they have provided music for the shows. And while Embrace
The second full-length album from the Michigan three-piece - and quite an eclectic one at that. From the indie-pop Reagan to the frenetic Up-tight, Whirlwind Heat are what we've been missing - alt-rock with punk attitude and pop sensibilities that
The now-defunct Beta Band was one of the most influential and underperforming bands of the turn of the millennium, with a blend of styles that came to be known as folk hop. King Biscuit Time is the baby of Steve Mason, the Betas' former frontman, and
