ALIEN visitors have been have been checking out life on Earth in the Morecambe Bay area. That's just one explanation for the dozens of sightings of unidentified flying objects reported to Lancaster's UFO network (LUFON) since December. Bright lights and
LANCASTER City new boy John Whittaker looks set to make his debut for the buoyant Blues in today's game. Whittaker has come to Lancaster as part of a swap deal that has taken City striker Jimmy Bell in the opposite direction to Manchester club Ashton
I LIVE in Chilliwack BC, Canada, and we have television show named Discovery. Viewers are frequently asked to send in questions and last week they were asked the question as to how they put the caramel in chocolates. I lived in the Manchester area for
RIVAL football fans will be sitting together at Bloomfield Road this Saturday (February 3). Workers from British Aerospace's Hull site will join BAe Warton Blackpool supporters in the West Stand as the Seasiders take on Hull City. The two sets of fans
A CRIMEBUSTING cat from Blackpool stunned her owners when she trapped a bungling burglar. Now, the fearless feline has been shortlisted for an Arthur award in a nationwide search for Britain's bravest moggies. Bianco's owner Cathy Greenwood definitely
YOUNG Chavala Parker is the envy of all her classmates after revealing a family secret - her uncle works with chart-toppers Boyzone. Ten-year-old Chavala and her friends from King Edward VII and Queen Mary school in Lytham are big fans of the Irish heart-throbs
MUSICAL heart-throb Darren Day is returning to Blackpool for a brand new stage version of Summer Holiday - but mystery surrounds the exact dates of his performances. Darren will play the lead role in the Opera House's summer season show, a £1.5million
REGARDING Burnley Labour Councillor Marcus Johnstone's criticism of Blackburn Rovers boss Jack Walker and his claim that legitimate tax-saving schemes are a greater scourge than Social Security benefit fraud (LET, January 25). This clearly shows his complete
REBUILD plans are being drawn-up for fire-hit Pennington FC. The Howe Bridge-based club which caters for two senior and three junior teams is embarking on a fund-raising drive to repair fire and vandal damage. And two senior Atherton soccer clubs have
DARWEN shopkeepers and market traders fear their livelihoods are under threat. And they are pessimistic about the future unless the council invests more cash and promotes the town to stem the tide of closures. As the Darwen town hall gets a facelift to
HOSPITAL staff have got the thumbs-up for their skills in treating patients with minor injuries - from their top critic! SLIC campaign leader Cllr Brian Jarvis and volunteer Jim Croft toured the minor injuries unit after being invited by staff who were
THE Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has singled out one of Preston's trendiest nightspots for their Good Beer Guide 1996. Wall Street pub in Fishergate is to be listed after winning praise for its Greenalls Original bitter. General manager Andy Longman,
COUNCIL officers lit a fire under smokers with a controversial policy to make them kick the habit. Plans are being pursued to cut the problem of frequent fag breaks and weed out persistent puffers. Hyndburn's personnel committee members ordered health
APPEARING in the BBC TV show 'The Generation Game' with zany comic Jim Davidson may seem a half-baked idea to some folk. But for Richard Waterfield, boss of Leigh based Waterfield's bakery, it is becoming a habit. For Richard will be appearing on the
FURIOUS Leyland residents threatened with an eyesore on their doorstep have taken the unprecedented step of making a video of themselves in a bid to get their message across to councillors They have aired their grievances on film as they step up their
-A BLAST of Siberian shivers was enough to prevent Bamber Bridge from travelling north east to Bishop Auckland for Saturday's Unibond League fixture. On Friday it all seemed well, but overnight snow hit the Durham area with vengeance and any possibility
FIRE chiefs in Preston are warning motorists not to block the way of the emergency services as it could cost lives. The warning comes after problems of fire engines being delayed was highlighted in the Citizen last week. Fire fighters attending a blaze
DOES anybody know who Mike Collins is or where he might be? Gordon Buchan urgently needs to speak to him to finish his research into the Glenn Miller mystery. Last time he spoke to him, Mike was living in the Preston area. Gordon believes he holds the
TOUGH new powers to deprive criminals of the profits of selling counterfeit goods have been welcomed by trading standards chiefs in Preston. The legislation means officers can now apply for a confiscation order which allows them to probe the criminal's
RESPONDING to the Unison campaign against Bury Council's library closure policy local MP David Sumberg said this week that he is appalled that they are considering substantial cuts in the service. "I join with Unison, the public workers' trade union,
ALL the volunteers at Hospital Radio Metro would like to thank the companies who kindly donating goods, money and gifts for our Christmas Appeal. All the donations (in whichever form) went towards either competition prizes, or goods which we distributed
PARAMEDICS treated a woman driver at the scene of an accident at the East Lancashire Railway's Bolton Street station last Thursday afternoon. Fire services and the police also rushed to the scene near St. Mary's Place where the woman, identified as Christina
PRESTON Borough Council has had to U-turn its policy of giving free parking passes to charities because it's costing them thousands of pounds in lost revenue. So far this year, they have given passes to several Preston voluntary organisations including
CHARACTER is what champions are made of - and Preston North End showed plenty of it on Tuesday January 30 to get out of jail at Darlington. Trailing 1-0 North End looked dead and buried ten minutes from the final whistle, then Kevin Kilbane exploded into
DESPITE the absence of a traffic commissioner and a lack of action from the Government transport transport bosses in Greater Manchester have acted to improve standards on local bus travel. The traffic commissioner enforces bus regulations and standards
BLACKBURN'S new £6 million development on the site of the former wholesale market will be completed by this autumn. Construction work on the three-acre plot, to build a modern bingo hall and Benefits Agency office block, is part of a City Challenge project
AT 5.30am most of us are tucked up under the duvet deep in the land of nod. But for Preston farmer David Clarke of Seamark Farm, Haighton,his long working day is just beginning. And life for the 54-year-old farmer isn't getting any less hectic as he has
POOR performances from British Rail have led to Greater Manchester Transport chiefs withholding another £1.4 million from local rail services. This brings the total to £3 million withheld over the last two years, on an annual budget of around £33 million
POLICE are becoming increasingly worried at the number of bogus officials preying on defenceless pensioners. And they believe there could be gangs working in the town - with one in particular striking three times in four days. On Saturday January 27 at
LEARNING that Ofsted inspectors were to label Summerseat Residential School as failing, education leaders in Bury have decided to close the building down. But alternative plans have already been drawn up to ensure that children with emotional and behavioural
ANYTHING can happen in a super-charged 'derby' game - and Bolton manager Colin Todd hopes it does! The former Derby and England defensive giant brings his struggling Wanderers to Ewood on Saturday February 3, vowing they will not be lambs to the slaughter
YOUR priceless free weekly is going from strength to strength as it moves into a new era. Our newspaper group is now part of a new and exciting multi-media group, Newsquest Media Group Limited formed in the New Year. And your favourite local newspaper
WORK on St. Marie's Roman Catholic Church in Silver Street, Bury, is nearing completion. A full renovation of the roof has meant re-tiling it and replacing timber in the structure where necessary, and the job began last November. The historic church was
COUNCIL tax payers in the Ribble Valley could be facing an overall increase of around 8 per cent on the tax next year. As councillors struggle with tight budgets and a reduction in the standard spending assessment, members of the policy and resources
PLANS revealed last Thursday to reclaim and regenerate the Kirklees Valley in Bury could include some housing and other developments. Vision For The Valley, an in-depth report to the Borough's development services committee, shows provision for footpaths
A NEW entertainments venue in Darwen has been granted a public entertainments licence by Blackburn Council. The licensing committee agreed to a licence from 11am to 1am Mondays to Saturdays, and noon to 1am on Sundays for Marigolds, a set of function
BECAUSE of a significant increase in referrals Bury and Rochdale Health Authorities are being recommended to defer some patients until the next financial year. The recommendation came at a meeting of the authorities yesterday (Wednesday) as the Journal
LAST WEEK the Bury Journal reported briefly on a total of three criminal acts in which the victims had cash stolen. We also published reports on 11 burglaries, four car thefts and seven instances of cars being broken into. In terms of cash people in Bury
POLICE issued a warning after thieves made off with potentially lethal drugs. They feared youngsters might have mistaken some of the tablets for sweets. More than 800 tablets and two bottles of medicine were stolen from chemist Ian Espley's car outside
SNOOKER ace Jimmy White is on cue to pocket a pile of cash for a cot death charity. The people's champion will be playing an exhibition match against a guest opponent during a celebrity snooker showcase at Hyndburn Sports Centre on Tuesday, March 5, at
A CAMPAIGN to raise cash for a new wheel chair for a charity worker is well on its way to reaching its target. An appeal was launched last year to raise cash to buy an electric wheelchair for fund-raiser Ellen Small, of St James' Estate, Darwen. Ellen
A substantial reward is being offered for help with the arrest and conviction of a Saints fan who assaulted a barman following a row in a Preston pub. The incident occurred at the Coachman's public house in Church Street, Preston, on Saturday, January
A 3,000-STRONG angling association is facing possible legal action after allegedly ignoring environmental rules set by the council at a popular beauty spot stretch of water. St Helens Angling Association, which has 2,000 senior members and 1,000 juniors
COUN Marcus Johnstone (LET, January 25) is a prime example of an unthinking councillor who cannot see beyond the end of his nose, but appears to be a financial expert. That he should attack Jack Walker makes it abundantly clear that he has a massive chip
PUPILS at a Ribble Valley school tried to sample the delights and difficulties of living in a multi-cultural community during an equal opportunities day. Year nine, 14-year-olds who will shortly be choosing their options for GCSE courses, spent a day
ANYONE still clinging to the slim hope that the world might not yet have gone completely mad must have had their faith seriously challenged by the Sarah Cook affair. Sarah is the 13-year-old Essex girl (she HAD to be an Essex girl) who wed an unemployed
IAIN TILLS is an entrepreneur with a conscience. The 22-year-old has combined his interest in the environment with his business ambitions and set up East Lancashire's first organic fruit and vegetable delivery service. Red Rose Organics is an innovative
WITH snow and ice causing postponement last Saturday, Saints have re-arranged their daunting Fourth Round Silk Cut Challenge Cup tie at Castleford for this Sunday, February 4, kick-off 3.30pm. Visits to the confined Wheldon Road pitch have rarely proved
SETTLING in nicely and overwhelmed by the warmth of the fans. That was the glad-to-be-here message from Saints' new coach Shaun McRae as he wished me "G'day!" at Knowsley Road on Tuesday afternoon. WHITTLE: As the first-ever Australian coach at Saints
IWAS amazed to read your report (LET, January 25) describing how there is no teaching staff representative on the governing body of Accrington and Rossendale College because the elected representative, Mr Wilf Finch, was thrown out three months ago, on
A GROUP of Burnley residents who are campaigning to stop a housing development near Towneley Park say their protest is gathering momentum. The people of Richmond Avenue, together with members of the Towneley for the People campaign group, say there is
SOCCER campaigners were this week urging Burnley fans to put pressure on the club's directors by turning their backs on the pitch at the next home game. Organisers say the silent demonstration, planned for the game against Crewe on February 10, is an
A CAMPAIGN aimed at reducing the number of children poisoned in the home has been launched by health experts in East Lancashire. Medics have warned of the vital need to dispose safely of potentially poisonous medicines and chemicals stored in houses.
WATER watchdogs have pledged to ensure the public's voice is still heard following the merger of North West Water with Norweb. The North West branch of OFWAT is planning to forge closer links with the electricity watchdog in the region to make sure services
PENSIONER Albert Hindle was kicked and beaten in his own home by youths who escaped with nothing more than a packet of tobacco. The three young thugs left him unconscious after beating him to a pulp. Albert, who is 63, was attacked when he answered his
BURNLEY council will hold urgent talks with bus giant Stagecoach if, as expected, Pendle council decides to sell its half share of Burnley and Pendle Transport. Behind closed doors on Tuesday night (January 30), councillors voted in favour of meeting
JIM Harvey's two new signings were standing by for their debuts as the Shrimps visited Gateshead in the GM Vauxhall Conference last night. The vast experience of new Shrimps stars Steve Foley and Paul West is expected to add steel and know-how to a Morecambe
CAGED crusader Chris Tague has vowed to stay locked in his home made prison cell - despite an offer of extra cash if he agrees to leave. Last week we revealed that Chris had moved into an enormous steel cage built inside his front room from scrap metal
PETER McEllhiney, the trainer of Warren Stowe and a host of local fighters, died last night after suffering a heart attack during Derek Wormald's failed bid for the European title in Birmingham. At the end of the seventh round McEllhiney, who was working
THE adventure of a lifetime awaits a Blackpool man who is helping to raise the Titanic. Bill Bissett is playing a major part in a project to recover the legendary liner from the bottom of the Atlantic after nearly 80 years. He is one of a 40-strong team
A DARWEN couple are warning parents that the killer meningitis virus could strike their children. Neil and Shirley Williamson spoke of their relief and joy after their baby daughter Natalya fought back from the brink of death after developing meningococcal
CAMERA crews are set to invade the streets of Darwen again as filming begins on a second series of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. The first series of the detective drama is being screened on BBC1 at 9.30pm on Wednesdays. The first three episodes pulled
AGE Concern Preston and South Ribble is organising a course about Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance and who is entitled to it. It's on April 26 at 4.30pm at Arkwright House, Stoneygate, Preston. Call Judith Culshaw on 01772 253079 for
COUNCILLORS will tonight (Thursday February 1) decide whether to block the introduction of North West Water's pre-payment Smart Cards into council housing stock. The North West Local Government Forum Against Poverty strongly opposes the scheme, which
VILLAGE shopkeepers in the Ribble Valley could be in line for a Government cash handout to improve their businesses. The Rural Development Commission has launched a new scheme to provide shops in Lancashire and Cheshire with advice and assistance to keep
Preston College's soccer team is off to play in a top-class tournament in the USA. They entered the same competition in Phoenix, Arizona, last year and did so well they're taking on the Yanks again. Eighteen players and four staff fly out on February
THIS week, 'The Journal on the Net' has put two former school pals in touch with one another across the Atlantic. Steve McRea from San Remon, California, spotted The Journal story on tiny tot Elinor Prescott, then contacted us asking if her father was
DAVID Lee is the Happy Wanderer who could easily have been a Rover - twice over! Saturday's big Ewood derby between Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers will probably mean more to the 28-year-old winger than anyone on either side. For the local boy who
PANTOMIME in Leigh is a little like the cinema. You only really appreciate it when it's gone. Fortunately, unlike Manchester where 'Aladdin' - the big show at the Palace - has closed three weeks ahead of schedule, it's still with us. And this week St
BUSINESS park plans should be aimed at derelict sites rather than Golborne farmland. Irate locals backing the moves to create a £60 million business park and 2,000 jobs but say it should be zoned for an "ugly" area rather than green fields off Stone Cross
TWO bogus officials conned their way into a partially sighted pensioner's home last week. The men, who claimed they were from the waterboard, stole a small quantity of cash from the 80-year-old woman's house in London Road, Preston. Sgt Andy Dickinson
Enda Brady talks to PNE boss Peters on the final push! Preston boss Gary Peters can't wait to get back to league action and the tense fight for promotion at the top of the table. "There's a long way to go yet," said the workaholic who has turned North
POP group Simply Red's gold disk will be the talking point at Preston College's grand auction tomorrow (February 2). The disk is just one of a number of items, including old and new crockery, which is being auctioned to raise money to send a group of
THE governor of Preston Prison has hit back at a new report which puts it among the top five most crowded prisons in the country. Richard Crouch claims the report was based on inaccurate data and rather than being seriously overcrowded, the prison is
HOW you hold the golf club is very, very important and will have a great bearing on ultimately how well you play the game. While teaching it never ceases to amaze me how many people overlook their grip in the search to improve their game. A good grip
IN the early hours of Tuesday morning a snowball thrown at a window sparked off a fight. It was thrown at a house in Lincoln Drive, Bury, and resulted in a father and son rushing out to confront a man. The argument that followed turned into a fracas,
ARE you a vintage car buff? If so, your help is urgently needed to brighten up Leyland's centenary celebrations. The British Commercial Museum needs volunteers to help restore their historic and vintage cars and buses. Roger Bullough, the museum's manager
A WORRIED parent has called for Balshaw's High School in Leyland to change its 'outdated' policy of banning girls from wearing trousers for school. The mum, who didn't want to be named, complained to the Citizen that her daughter constantly comes home
A CHARITY which specialises in helping children with dyslexia wants to set up classes in Preston. Right to Write claims one in 25 youngsters is dyslexic but their problems are often not recognised by schoolteachers. It says children suffering from the
AN 18-YEAR-OLD girl, orphaned since the age of four, was found dead in her bed where she had been kept prisoner for most of her life. The girl - known as Eleanor - was buried back in 1586, but her spirit lives on in the room where she died. If, that is
AS I write this letter, I have been listening for over five hours to a house alarm on the opposite side of the street. It went off at 3.30pm and when I contacted the developer, Holden Homes, around 4pm, I was assured that the alarm was on a battery system
MD FOODS is investing more than £8 million in its dairy plant at Bamber Bridge, near Preston, to bring it into line with the best in Europe. The cash injection will provide state-of-the-art equipment, a new canteen, more offices, and will secure jobs
PRESTON'S Health Promotion Unit has teamed up with the Well Women Centre in a bid to protect women against cervical cancer. According to Elaine Robin, coordinator of the latest screening programme, women are failing to go for regular check-ups and more
THE harsh weather derailed Preston's planned tussle with Bury on Saturday, so Gary Peters will be hoping to get the show back on the road against Wigan Athletic - and their three star Spaniards - this week-end. The Latics have always proved difficult
HUNDREDS of workers were left reeling after a new wave of job cuts hit East Lancashire. A total of 169 were to be axed at Rists in Accrington and another 40 jobs were to go at Blythe Chemicals in Church and Hapton. The redundancies were the latest blow
ANGRY Northern officials have warned the Rugby Football Union that plans to centralise control of regional sides against touring teams are a recipe for disaster. Fran Cotton, chairman of the North's playing sub-committee, has sent a letter to Twickenham
GREAT Harwood have signed former Barnoldswick professional Chris Killen as their pro for the coming season. The Vaux Ribblesdale League side regarded Killen's experience as crucial as they have a young side for the 1996 campaign. Killen, from South Canberra
BULLY for Lancashire's chief constable, Pauline Clare - keeping her promise to put more bobbies on the beat. An extra hundred of them, no less. True, some of the increase is down to the government coming up with the funds for more officers. But that is
THE four per cent pay rise recommended for nurses may be an inflation-busting increase, but it seems unlikely that it will cure their blues - or the trickle-down bad effect on patient care. For a survey by the Royal College of Nursing reveals that in
RUGBY LEAGUE supporters don't come any more loyal than John Andrews. He has been watching Leigh since he was in short trousers. And on his 80th birthday the Hilton Park men laid on a special surprise to repay that loyalty. Past and present players - plus
BURNLEY will be tripping the light fantastic with the installation of a new state of the art floodlight system at Turf Moor. It means the removal of all FOUR floodlight towers at Turf Moor - a landmark in the town for the past 39 years. They were opened
SWIMMERS from the Atherton club just missed out on a century of points in their first team outing of the 1996 season. But they were still good enough for second place at Bury Annual Invitation Gala, youngsters from five clubs participating, and the 11
RUGBY star David Leatherbarrow has paid an everlasting tribute to his Grandad. The 15-year-old youngster has just signed for Widnes at the outset of a blooming career in Rugby League. But his No 1 fan missed his big moment. "Grandad Thomas died last September
A MAJOR initiative to help bridge skills gaps in East Lancashire is to be officially launched next month. The Modern Apprenticeships scheme aims to offer school leavers improved employment and training prospects and help firms attract the people they
A DRUG smuggler who carried Ecstasy and Speed worth £5.6 million into Britain has been jailed for six years. John Moore, 23, of Dunmail Avenue, Moss Bank, who says he was sucked into the crime by others, smuggled nearly 400,000 Ecstasy tablets worth £5
HAVE the powers that be totally lost the plot or what? I thought everybody was working together towards helping Morecambe and Lancaster regain a little stability, economically speaking - and what do they do? They make it practically impossible to get
POLICE are hunting a gang of teeny thugs who shot at a 12-year-old boy with an air gun in a row over a soccer ball. The youngster's ordeal began at about 3.30pm on Sunday, January 28, when he and three friends were confronted by another group of four
THE Marsden BS Lancashire League last night agreed to change the rules over amateur-professional status. Clubs had become increasingly frustrated by a ruling which stated that a player would be regarded as a professional if they had played one first class
CAMPAIGNERS are gearing up for the 1996 national No Smoking Day. The March 13 event will help smokers who want to ditch the dreaded weed. Last year, an estimated 40,000 smokers gave up for good on No Smoking Day. This year, organisers are setting up telephone
THE managing director of a Burnley paint firm will swop emulsion for wind propulsion when he competes in a trans-world yacht race in the autumn. Dexter Paints boss Neil Eatough, 54, will be a crew member on a yacht in the BT global challenge, a nine-month
The Clarets travel to Brentford on Saturday knowing that their form is as unpredictable as the off-pitch issues which now seem to be reaching crisis point. Burnley supporters have been through a lot over the last couple of weeks. Harry Potts' death put
SCOTTISH star Eoin Jess is back in the Ewood Park frame. That's the view of the national newspapers who have concluded the transfer-listed Aberdeen midfield international would be ideal replacement for David Batty, should Newcastle meet the asking price
MUM Denise Silverwood has blasted power giants NORWEB for cutting off the electricity without a word of warning. Despite urgent telephone calls, mother-of-six Denise, of Brierfield, was left without heat or light for 16 chilly hours. Her biggest worry
