PART of the M65 was closed after a man threatened to kill himself by jumping from a canal bridge. Police said the 18-year-old from Burnley was spotted by members of the public on the edge of the canal bridge near Junction 10 of the motorway just after
MORE than 1,600 East Lancashire families faced having their homes repossessed last year as the 'ticking time bomb' mortgage crisis took hold. New figures show that the number of people on the brink of losing their homes for failing to keep up with repayments
ENGINEERS have hailed a new lights system on a notorious roundabout as a success. Traffic at Whitebirk round-about flowed freely at rush hour yesterday morning as the overhead traffic lights were used for the first time. And in the evening there were
Haslingden Community Link on Bury Road looks set to become the base of Rossendale Radio if sufficient funding can be found during the next two years. If all goes to plan the radio station will be broadcasting to the local community by the summer of 2009
A COUNCIL'S champion for young people is calling for free range eggs to be introduced in the kitchens of all Lancashire's schools. Lancashire county councillor Sean Serridge said the use of "cruelty-free" eggs in cooking would provide more nutritious
A 21-YEAR-OLD man found lying on a grass verge with back and head injuries is making a good recovery. The man was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital and doctors stitched up a large back wound after he was found close to Rakes Bridge, Lower Darwen, around
The Lancashire Crimestoppers charity is looking for school pupils to help them get their message across to younger members of the community. The anonymous crime reporting charity wants pupils in secondary schools to design and produce a poster, leaflet
COUNTY council bosses have defended their office in Brussels after it was branded a waste of money. The authority's ruling Labour group spoke out after it was revealed that the office was costing taxpayers almost £130,000 a year to maintain. Opposition
ROSSENDALE Radio can officially hit the air waves after being granted a five-year community licence. Project coordinators Tony Nixon, Brendan Hamer and Paul Teague, were delighted yesterday to hear that OFCOM - The Office of Communications - has agreed
TWO teenagers mugged a former schoolmate on his way home from a mosque and filmed the attack on their mobile phones. Burnley Crown Court heard Wahid Hussain, 19, and Aftab Hussain, 15, threatened their victim Kabir Mohammed and left him half naked
YOUNG bikers are being urged to watch a new road safety DVD before getting on to a motorcycle or scooter. The short film was produced in conjunction with Lancashire's RideSafe BackSafe team, Drivesafe - Greater Manchester's Casualty Reduction Partnership
A FINANCIAL consultant who stole from customers after getting them compensation for mis-sold endowment mortgages has avoided jail. And a judge refused to disqualify Christian Obasi from being a company director after saying the case involved "lack
A 21-year-old woman who invited her new neighbour in for a drink ended up biting her on the arm during a row over a mobile phone. Blackburn magistrates heard that Megan Alexsandra Horner borrowed the mobile phone to send a text message but then refused
CCTV footage is being examined by police investigating an alleged attack on a 43-year-old Preston man in Darwen. The man was found unconscious with serious head injuries when police were called to Darwen Bus Station, Church Street, shortly before midnight
REM are to play at Old Trafford Cricket Ground on Sunday, August 24. Lancashire say they are able to hold the concert on that date as it will take place after the county's last home fixture of the season. The county's last home match of the 2008 season
POLICE seized over 77 litres of alcohol from underage drinkers - including a 14 year old - in Burnley at the weekend. Eighteen Burnley officers patrolled the streets to tackle teen drinkers causing anti-social behaviour within local communities, as part
A POPULAR music shop which was badly damaged in an arson attack is set to reopen after a massive rebuilding project. Musical instruments worth £100,000 were ruined in the blaze at the Music Box, Whalley Road, Accrington, last April. Fire investigators
A TAXI driver feared for his safety when an iron bar dropped out of the sleeve of his fare as he was looking for his money. Blackburn magistrates heard that Mohammed Sulema began screaming at his passenger, before speeding off with the passenger door
The number of days lost to illness at Lancashire's County Hall is falling, but targets are still being missed. Sickness absences in the last quarter of 2007 fell to 2.60 days per employee. That is above the government target for the period of 2.25
Libraries will be buzzing on Thursday 06 March as they celebrate World Book Day. Blackburn Library and Darwen Library are both holding coffee mornings where book lovers can chat about their favourite books (and those they hate!) The theme of the events
A WOMAN who handled a high value haul of stolen goods from a house burglary is awaiting sentence. Burnley magistrates heard Heidi McIntyre, 32, knew the property was from a house. She had a previous record for dishonesty and had offended whilst on bail
ACCRINGTON Stanley have beefed up their defensive options by snapping up Charlton Athletic centre-back Paulo Monteiro on a month's loan. Monteiro will team up with fellow Addicks defender Aswad Thomas, who is also on loan at the Fraser Eagle Stadium
DARWEN Vale High School pupils marked the Chinese New Year with a Mandarin calligraphy workshop. Students at the Blackburn Road school have been getting a taste of the world's most widely spoken language since September, when native speaker Ke Li joined
BURNLEY'S Besart Berisha is on the comeback trail ... and he proved it by running the Blackpool Half Marathon yesterday. The Clarets star clocked 1:41:34 for the 13-mile race, finishing 392nd out of 1,186 runners. More importantly, the winger came
A charity coffee morning will be held in the Library Theatre in aid of the Mongolia Rally on Saturday, March 1. There will also be a table top sale and cake stall from 9am to 3pm.
HERE are the lucky winners in our most recent competitions to bag tickets to Blackburn Rovers home games. Bet24 Rovers V Chelsea competition Mr D Fox, Blackburn; T Thomasson, Blackburn; Mrs L Wilson, Darwen. Bet24 Rovers V Middlesbrough competition
TRIBUTES have been paid to a Barnoldswick woman who collapsed and died in the 100-degree heat of the Australian outback. Pamela Plant, 54, of Manchester Road, was taken ill in the Kalbarri National Park, in Western Australia while trekking with her
Rossendale is to have a new Community Radio station,Radio body Ofcom announced today.The licence will last for a period of five years.The station will serve the towns of Bacup,Haslingden,Ramsbottom,Rawtenstall,Whitworth and surrounding villages.See tomorrows
A COLLECTION of more than 300 unique farming antiques went under the hammer as a farmer decided to sell up. David Hollings, 56, said he had spent his life building up the collection, which included classic tractors and even an old stone water bottle.
Interested in local history or feeling creative? Why not join one of these local groups which meet regularly at the library. The reading and writing groups are free to join and meet 2pm to 4pm on the 4th and 2nd Wednesday of every month (respectively
AN alcoholic spat at a police custody sergeant after he had been arrested to prevent a breach of the peace. Burnley magistrates heard that Michael Simmonite, 59, said to have had a drink problem since he was a child, abused the victim and then spat,
A SPATE of scrap metal thefts from farms and other rural properties have led police to urge residents in the Ribble Valley to be vigilant. Police said that numerous properties have been targeted over the last month and large quantities of scrap metal
FORMED just over a year ago, The Lancashire Hotpots are becoming a word of mouth sensation. Not bad for a flat-capped comedy folk band singing about great Lancashire institutions as the Chippy Tea, weekly line-dancing and pints of mild. Their act also
The PACT Surgery for March 2008 in Oswaldtwistle will be held at Harvey Street Youth & Community Centre on the 3rd March 2008 at 1pm until 2pm. Please feel free to come along and express your concerns or any other issues within your community, if you
Hyndburn Borough Council is to tackle dog fouling with a £57,000 cash boost that will pay for 80 special deposit bins and a worker to empty them. The council now wants to know where residents think the bins should go. Council leader Peter Britcliffe
This first of many meetings to discuss the 'Trout in the Town' project was held at the Cotton Tree at 8.00 pm on Wednesday 13th February 2008. Those present were: Jerry Stanford - Friends of Ball Grove. Lee Preston - Environment Agency. Andrew Pritchard
We would like to announce that during the half-term break we were able to get hold of a vast range of sports equipment for the use at Burnley Wood Youth & Community Centre, Glebe Street. The range of equipment varies from table tennis, pool table and
A-level students from Stonyhurst College flew to Belfast to meet leading politicians from the major power-sharing parties on a day visit to Stormont. The group was the first in Lancashire to pay a visit.
A former church is to go up for sale after closing more than a year ago. Huncoat Methodist Church, Marshall Avenue, closed its doors due to falling attendances. The building was taken over by the Accrington and Haslingden Methodist Circuit so the
Darwen suffered a heavy defeat against a side that had started the season badly, not winning a match for the first 20 games, but were now one of the division's form teams. The hosts took the lead on 17 minutes. Bamber crossed the ball to Southward, whose
Lancashire county council is finally set to unveil its new chief executive. The successful candidate, who will replace outgoing boss Chris Trinick will be announced in front of the council on Thursday. Mr Trinick has not revealed his future plans
New Nelson boss Nik Jackson-Cooney saw his side receive scant reward for their efforts in their derby clash against Ramsbottom. On the half hour, Rammy came close to scoring when Matt Eckersley's corner found Anthony Johnson in the area, and the striker's
STRIKER Liam Garbutt smashed home a superb hat-trick as Colne thrashed Flixton at Valley Road. Colne were always the dominant side against their Greater Manchester opponents. Garbutt scored twice in the first-half - with Gavin Cooper also adding his
Bacup dominated the early stages against Glossop and took the lead on 15 minutes. Excellent play involving Dean Repullo, Steve Stott, Davey Luker and Tony Carroll resulted in Danny Hartley attacking the loose ball in the penalty area to score from close
Defensively, Padiham were not at their best as they went down at home to Staffordshire side Stone Dominoes. Danny Brown exposed Padiham's back-line on eight minutes when his run down the right left five players stranded before his low hard cross found
ROSSENDALE maintained their unbeaten record against local rivals Clitheroe this season with a feisty draw at Dark Lane. The Stags got off to a flying start in just the second minute of the game when striker Phil Eastwood cracked a low shot past Blues
PENDLE'S Mum of the Year will help launch Nelson's new Tesco Metro store today. Kathleen Commons, of Townhouse Road, Nelson, will be guest of honour at the official opening of the Leeds Road store. Mrs Commons, who was chosen as the worthy winner by
The times for the next Pact meeting for Darwen Central and Belgrave areas are 5:30pm till 6:30pm on Monday 10th March 2008, at Knott St Community Centre, Knott St, Darwen. This is your opportunity to come along and get to know your local officers and
LONG-serving magistrate Trevor Procter has stood down after reaching the compulsory retirement age of 70. And a gathering of colleagues, court staff, and court users, heard that as a result of mandatory retirement, the Blackburn bench will lose more
Burnley boss Owen Coyle was frustrated the Clarets were unable to make more of their chances at Plymouth to avoid a fifth away loss of the season. "I know the reason why we've lost it, we've made big, big individual mistakes at each of the goals," he
From the 31st March, The Rainhall Centre is hosting a display created by Pendle Artists. It will include pieces of ceramics and jewellery and will remain at the centre until the 29th of April. The Rainhall Centre is open Monday until Friday from
TWO new horses have been added to Lancashire Police's mounted section. Seven year old Downham has made the journey from Somerset while eight-year-old Darwen has come locally from Mellor. The horses have both done a month's trial and have been on patrol
Cyclers of all ages are invited to join in on a pedalling picnic through Hyndburn on Sunday 9th March. The bike ride is organised by Cycling Projects and the PROSPECTS Foundation. Riders are to meet at the Primary Care Trust Car Park on Eagle Street
Cyclers of all ages are invited to join in on a pedalling picnic through Hyndburn on Sunday 9th March. The bike ride is organised by Cycling Projects and the PROSPECTS Foundation. Riders are to meet at the Primary Care Trust Car Park on Eagle Street
Cyclers of all ages are invited to join in on a pedalling picnic through Hyndburn on Sunday 9th March. The bike ride is organised by Cycling Projects and the PROSPECTS Foundation. Riders are to meet at the Primary Care Trust Car Park on Eagle Street
Cyclers of all ages are invited to join in on a pedalling picnic through Hyndburn on Sunday 9th March. The bike ride is organised by Cycling Projects and the PROSPECTS Foundation. Riders are to meet at the Primary Care Trust Car Park on Eagle Street
THE Mayor of Pendle watched as the trophies were being made for the borough's first ever business awards. Coun Allan Buck went to Merc Engineering in Barrowford to see the specially-designed aluminium and glass awards in production. He was shown the
THE term legend is so overused it has almost lost meaning. But last night, the Beeb staged a tribute to one man who genuinely deserves the epithet. Yes, good old Brucie - 80 years young and still going strong. I just hope that if I get that far, I've
A COMMUNITY centre is playing host to a laser shooting game as a reward for youngsters. Mill Hill Community Centre, New Chapel Street, Blackburn, has been running a six-week youth inclusion programme for youths in Mill Hill. As a treat for the youngsters
BURNLEY manager Owen Coyle hopes to have strikers Ade Akinbiyi and Andrew Cole available for selection for tomorrow's home game against Coventry City. The front men both missed Saturday's defeat at Plymouth Argyle through illness and injury. Cole had
BLACKBURN Rovers boss Mark Hughes praised his players after they demolished Bolton at Ewood Park yesterday - but then admitted they now face an almighty battle to qualify for Europe. Feeling refreshed after a sunshine break in Florida, Rovers got back
A very good welcome back after the half-term holidays. B.W.C.A.G, along with the Neighbourhood Police Team organised a two day skiing session at Ski Rossendale under the GUNS, GANGS AND KINIVES FUNDING. We were able to take ten youths of ages between
If you're still waiting for your boyfriend to pop the question, wait no longer. Act now, for this is the week when, traditionally, women can propose marriage. Legend has it that on February 29 - which only happens every four years on Leap Year - a woman
A PROTEST was staged outside Darwen Town Hall over the proposed job cuts at Akzo Nobel. Earlier this month, bosses of the Dutch firm announced that 109 jobs were to go at the Hollins Road site, which employees 600. Production of its industrial paints
THERE are lots of buzz words in local government. Jargon leads the way while action trails in behind. Best practice and core values, empowerment and governance, stakeholder and functionality; words which usually have two main objectives: a) Keep the
A Colne man accused of offences under the Explosive Substances Act is due to make a first appear before crown court today. Peter Hill, 23, a former Territorial Army trooper in the Royal Armoured Corp who went to Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, was
RESIDENTS living on the site of the new Darwen Academy site are being offered a second independent survey to help agree a price for their homes. Blackburn with Darwen Council has offered to pay for an independent valuation for the 10 residents left in
MY WIFE and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the residents of Preston Old Road, Cherry Tree Lane, Kirkstone and Keswick Avenues, who have and still are supporting me in my application to have my path closed. Thanks also to the
BLACKBURN Rovers winger Morten Gamst Pedersen admitted to feeling relieved after his year-long wait for a Premiership goal finally came to an end against Bolton Wanderers yesterday. The Norwegian international hadn't scored in the league since he bagged
WE have just received notification about the new weekly collection of refuse in the burgundy bins and I note from an article in the Lancashire Telegraph that Councillor Andy Kay has expressed concern that the new weekly collections will cost an extra
A CONVICTED burglar suspected of stealing hundreds of pounds worth of alcohol from supermarkets is being hunted by police. Officers are appealing for the public's help in tracing Colin McKenzie Kelter, 36. Kelter was released on licence from prison
THE letter Privatise hospitals to solve crisis' (LT, February 7) quoted the railways as an example of the success of privatisation. An opinion that would be viewed with incredulity by many long-suffering railway passengers across the UK. None more so
CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron has hinted he would consider scrapping the multi-million pound housing regeneration scheme in East Lancashire. Asked whether a Tory government would abandon housing market renewal schemes, he said it would be looked
OWEN Coyle refused to blame individuals for defeat at Plymouth Argyle, insisting: "We'll win, lose and draw together". Goalkeeper Brian Jensen's blunder gave Lilian Nalis the opportunity to put the Pilgrims in front. James O'Connor got Burnley back
Refugees from 9 different countries, who have settled and made lives for themselves in East Lancashire, are being awarded certificates this week at the Bank Top Access Point. The celebration, which is taking place on Wednesday 27 February, is to acknowledge
...then why not join the Blackburn & District Bird Club on Monday March 3. They hold their indoor meeting at St Silas Church Hall, Preston New Road. Sophie Leadson talks on Gravel to Grebes and the site manager at Brockholes will be updating the
Accrington Stanley's winless run is now three games after the Reds were beaten by Stockport County for the second time in 2008. As at Edgeley Park in January, the Hatters scored twice without reply, and as before the game could hardly have been described
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman is hoping to bring a defender in on loan in time for tomorrow night's home game against Brentford. Coleman refused to name his target following Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Stockport, a game which saw Stanley lose
Come along to Great Harwood Library on Friday 7th March, 2008 and natter about books with our fabulous "Natterbooks" events. Come and share a cup of coffee, and chat with us about your favourite books and authors. The event starts at 1.00pm and goes
On Thursday 13th March, 2008 Arda Lees will be presenting a fascinating talk on the English Language, at Great Harwood Library. The event starts at 10.30am - and best of all, it's free! Come along and enjoy this super coffee morning talk.
A NEW traffic light system that marks the end of a multi-million pound road improvement scheme underwent its first trial-run yesterday. Work to install overhead lighting on Whitebirk roundabout, Blackburn, has been ongoing for the past three weeks
THE 41-year-old singer, now seemingly out of favour with both pop and RnB lovers, was always going to find it hard to make an impact with her 10th studio album. But with songs as totally unmemorable as Feedback, Luv and Rock With U, she's on a hiding
IT'S a little bit back to her roots for Alison Goldfrapp and long-time collaborator Will Gregory. There's a more homely feel to this album than the out-and-out electro pop of two previous releases. But the invention remains as strong as ever. Stand-out
THE cynic in me looked at the calendar and, lo, Mother's Day is round the corner. Here you get the Dorian Grey-like Osmond sibling singing famous love songs, including Puppy Love. It's all very pleasant and Donny no doubt floats the boat for fans
TWO taxi drivers were allegedly robbed in Whitworth last night. Police said they were called to addresses in the town by taxi drivers claiming to have had money stolen. In the first incident police said £25 was taken from a driver at 8pm. Officers
THOUSANDS of pounds worth of damage were caused to three recycling skips targeted by arsonists last night. Fire crews from Burnley were called to the Sita Recycling site off Rectory Road at around midnight. Crew manager Dave Robinson, of Burnley Fire
As we approach the midway point of Lent and purchase our gifts and cards for Mothering Sunday, Richard Tanner explains the history surrounding the fourth Sunday in Lent and asks if it is an opportunity to break our Lenten fast. Lent seems to be progressing
