PAYING council tax has been made even easier for Burnley people. Residents who pay the charge by direct debit can now set up payments over a 12-month period, as well as the normal 10 months, so that they can spread the cost throughout the year. And
A 16-year-old singer has been given a shot at stardom after she was spotted from songs she had released on her personal website. Charlotte O'Connor, from Blackburn, uploaded two of her soulful acoustic songs on to her page on the popular MySpace internet
AN East Lancashire "super racecourse" would cost more than £100million and attract 30,000 people a day, it has been revealed. New details have emerged about the plans, for land around Read and Simonstone, after the organisers spoke about the scheme in
A takeaway shop in Haslingden has been refused planning permission - as councillors fear the area is becoming "takeaway city". An application had been submitted to change the use of a unit in Lower Deardengate from a shop to a hot food takeaway, taking
THE way that MPs voted last week on the reform of the House of Lords was a genuine breakthrough. There's a lot of hot air being talked about the 92 hereditary peers who remain in the Lords, but the status quo is to all intents and purposes an appointed
TAXI drivers, motorists and councillors have raised concerns about how long roadworks are taking in Nelson. Work in Walverden Road and Hibson Road is causing long delays and road users say that although the roads have been dug up and cordoned off for
A PROFESSIONAL gardener will reminisce about her Lancashire student days in a TV programme later this month. Christine Walkden, who grew up at her family home in Harwood Road, Rishton, and is currently showing off her enthusiasm and passion for gardening
IRONIC isn't it? The series which only two weeks ago was voted the greatest TV drama of all time' is relegated to a late night time slot which makes it impossible for most people to watch it. Thank goodness for video recorders or Sky Plus! But should
A POPULAR community worker who was murdered along with her four daughters is to have a trust fund set up in her honour. The "Trust in Remembrance of Caneze Riaz", aims to keep alive the memory of the 39-year-old, who died in a house fire last year.
SCHOOLS across East Lancashire are set to broadcast events and share ideas on the internet following a successful pilot project. Education consultants are working with seven primary schools in the Blackburn area - known collectively as the Action Learning
Where do I start this week? The number of low points is just too overwhelming for one weekly column. Ok so the week was not all bad. The point on Tuesday night against the cider drinkers was well deserved and, if this had been anything but the nightmare
By Sheila Brennan. In the corner of a garden The sun shines through trees Where flowers are attended By the droning busy bees. It's here I like to be Gazing through the leaves Thoughts that stay with me As I feel a gentle breeze. Small birds
THREE CCTV cameras will go live' at Darwen railway station by the end of next week. Blackburn with Darwen Council says the live connection from the cameras to the monitoring and recording station at Greenbank police station will be connected as part
Burnley have sold 2,100 of their 3,353 allocation of tickets for Saturday's big Lancashire derby game against Preston North End at Deepdale. Supporters are reminded that this game is all-ticket. The Turf Moor ticket office will be open between 9.15am
Wayne Thomas has given Burnley a boost by making a quick return to training. The former skipper began jogging yesterday just over a week after going under the knife to repair a damaged knee cartilage. Manager Steve Cotterill said: "Tommo will be there
A shuttle bus service has been launched for people attending Rossendale Council meetings. The council has teamed up with Rossendale Transport to provide an extension to the County Rider Bus Service. The shuttle will take people from Rawtenstall Bus
WELL, on the face of it, it seems like a great offer. Buy a season ticket for 2007/08 and spend season 2008/09 watching Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard and Thierry Henry gratis. Oh, and Robbie Savage too. In fairness to the Turf Moor board
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman believes poor refereeing is undermining their debut season back in the Football League. The Reds boss bemoaned his side's luck again on Saturday after conceding, what he believed, was a harsh penalty deep into
FLYBE, the airline owned by the family of Blackburn Rovers benefactor Jack Walker, is said to be planning a stockmarket flotation. The company is currently privately-owned by a trust set up by the Walkers. But reports suggest Flybe, based in the south
TWO Queen's Lancashire Regiment soldiers have been cleared of failing to ensure their men did not abuse Iraqis in Basra. Major Michael Peebles, 35, and Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 37, both of the Intelligence Corps, were among seven men who faced trial
MOTORISTS caught speeding outside a school were sent into a class to explain why they were driving too fast. Police staged the clampdown outside Lowerhouse Junior School, Liverpool Road, Burnley, yesterday afternoon. Drivers travelling between 30 and
A NEW focal point at the last railway stop in Pendle will be unveiled on Saturday. The Mill Girl statue, which will be placed at Colne railway station on Saturday, has been commissioned by the Colne in Bloom team as part of their plan to brighten up
THE first public meeting of a new political party will be held tomorrow night. Businessman Tony Melia quit the LibDems to set up For Darwen to represent the needs of the town. He said there was much unhappiness over dealings concerning the new academy
RAWTENSTALL-based firm Sponsorbank is on the move. The sports kit and equipment suppliers left its offices at Fallbarn Road to take up residence at the Novaks building, Burnley Road. Director Paul Marr (seen above left with Allistair Carmichael) said
CLARETS boss Steve Cotterill is thinking positively ahead of tonight's game at Southend. Burnley are without a win in their last 16 games, since beating Leeds at the end of November, and the Clarets desperately need a victory to stave off any fears of
IT was not a typical football weekend in the Myles household. These reduced ticket prices are producing some strange consequences. I am beginning to wonder, in fact, if the policy is something of a mixed blessing. For the first time ever the whole
POLICE are hunting a driver who sped away after a Sunday morning collision. Officers said the driver pulled out of Chapman Street, off Langroyd Road, Colne, at 8.25 am, hitting the drivers' side of a car which was travelling on the main road towards
RESIDENTS have hit out at proposals for two new shops to be built just outside a town centre. Three petitions have been handed to Hyndburn Council after bosses at Hurstwood Investments submitted plans for the shops and five apartments to be build in
A FIREFIGHTER has been docked a week's wages for taking time-off to donate life-saving bone marrow to a teenage girl. Mark McCracken, 43, of Colne, who works at Blackburn Fire Station, applied for leave to travel to London after being told he was a match
THE dad of tragic toddler Levi Bleasdale has been jailed for four years after burgling homes to fund his heroin addiction. Lee Bleasdale, 23, raided and ransacked two homes, taking a £12,000 haul from one and helping himself to sentimental jewellery
THE George and Dragon pub in Barrowford has won a prestigious award for the quality of its beer. The Beautiful Beer awards are a new scheme, just 12 months old, organised by the British Beer and Pub Association, and open to applications from pubs nationwide
A SEX discrimination case brought by a headteacher against her former school's governors will have its first hearing next month. Heather Jamison, who resigned from Witton Park High School Business and Enterprise College, Blackburn, last year, has accused
A SCHOOLBOY kicked the opposition into touch after winning a national competition to create his own cartoon character. Nine-year-old George Scrivens entered a competition in Kick! magazine to design a new "Likeaball" - the ball-shaped aliens who are
BLACKBURN'S young goal machine Matt Derbyshire has revealed Rovers fear no-one - and he has invited either Chelsea or Tottenham to "bring it on!" Mark Hughes' reward for guiding his side past Manchester City is a mouth-watering semi-final clash with
LANCASHIRE County Council is to move its highways headquarters make way for the Burnley's new £70million university campus. The authority is to spend £5 million relocating after it was asked by Burnley Council to move from its Princess Way site. But
MORE people are having cosmetic surgery at an East Lancashire private hospital than ever before, bosses have revealed. In 2006, 82 people underwent surgery at Beardwood Hospital, Preston New Road, Blackburn, compared to 34 in 2005, a rise of 141 per
LIFT failures said to be causing delays at Royal Blackburn Hospital have now been repaired, bosses have said. Three of the seven lifts at the hospital had broken down, the Lancashire Telegraph reported last week. Marjorie Hooper, spokeswoman for Consort
VAL Robinson OBE was guest of honour as Blackburn Northern Hockey Club officially opened its brand new £440,000 all-weather pitch. The former England and Great Britain international from Accrington cut the ribbon at the Pleckgate Road club to signal
WESTHOLME have a double reason to celebrate after picking up team and individual honours in the Lancashire Sportshall Athletics League. For the Blackburn school were crowned Under 11s champions while Charlotte Flood was named athlete of the match in
AFTER six weeks and nine qualifying rounds featuring 29 primary schools and nearly 400 pupils, St Gabriel's have been crowned the Hall-Stars! The Blackburn and Darwen Primary Schools Sportshall Athletics Championship - now in its fifth year - was the
CHURCH Town were singing from the same hymn sheet as they moved a step closer to winning their first league title. The goals may have come courtesy of Carl McDonald's first half double and Mark Clitheroe's cheeky chip but this victory was down to a fine
CRAIG Aikman has set his sights on a Lancashire call-up after helping England Counties to a 41-10 victory against their French counterparts. The Burnley-born scrum half was given the last 30 minutes of the one-sided match at Blackheath and is now hoping
IT wasn't pretty and Blackburn were far from their best but they returned to winning ways to get their promotion push back on track. After a nine-match winning run was halted at leaders Aldwinians last week it was vital Blackburn bounced back with a
ACCRINGTON Stanley Ladies have teamed up with Accrington and Rossendale College to help develop girls and women's football in the area. The partnership will help the college develop plans to start a girl's football academy while the club will benefit
A MOTHER'S Day tribute has been placed at the site of a horrific car crash as part of a campaign to get young drivers to slow down. Ann Hannon lost her 22-year-old son Matthew on January 9 last year when his Renault Clio clipped a bollard and ploughed
A soldier, honourable and time-serving, and now a minister of the government, tells it like it is and what happens? He gets the sack. Now to me that says it all about today's society. For, as we all know, it's a case of don't discuss it, don't talk
AN environmental database of greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy generation is being set up in a bid to make the North West greener. Bosses at the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA) hope to make the region the greenest in the country with
A FORMER magistrate has died of a suspected heart attack aged 66. Terry Richards, who lived in Clayton-le-Moors, used to sit as a Blackburn Magistrate. He was also a former chief executive of the Blackburn Co-operative Society. Now friends and family
A DAD who committed a catalogue of crimes did it because his life had been a series of traumatic events, Burnley magistrates heard. The court was told how Jeffrey Scott Graham, 29, had gone thieving hours after being given a suspended sentence at the
On Friday 16 March, Oldham Coliseum Theatre will be doing its bit for Comic Relief, and appeal for the rest of Oldham to do the same. On Friday morning, Oldham Coliseum will be holding a cakes and coffee morning for its staff, with all the money raised
PRACTICE has made perfect for a teenage chef who has been named the best in the North West. Blackburn College student, Rebecca Howard, 19, was crowned winner of the North West Commis Chef of the Year Competition. The cook-off saw around 20 students
IF you are a fan of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple or The Pink Panther's Inspector Clouseau then you mustn't miss the Burnley Garrick Club's next production Murdered to Death, on from March 28 to 31. The characters are all delightfully entertaining.
A memorable evening is guaranteed as Burnley Youth Theatre presents a new adaptation of the timeless Canterbury Tales on April 7 and 8. The story, which has been adapted by youth theatre participant Anna Marsland, 19, and drama leader Philip Hindle is
A DOCTOR has been accused of carrying out "unnecessary and indecent" examinations on two women patients. Dr Shakir Hasan Laher, of Pringle Street, Blackburn, denies all the misconduct allegations against him. He has been brought before the General Medical
Firefighters were called to help free a woman who became trapped in her bedroom when the door handle fell off. The woman contacted emergency services from her mobile telephone in a "frantic" state as her baby and young daughter were in the other room
WHAT is happening to our justice system in this country? A man drinks 10 pints of beer and two glasses of whisky and crashes into another car leaving the male driver paralysed for life. The man is only given an 18 month prison sentence which means he
ROBBIE Savage is confident Blackburn can gatecrash this year's FA Cup final. Rovers were handed another difficult draw in the semi-final against either Tottenham or Chelsea. Both the league champions and Manchester United were kept apart. Sir Alex Ferguson's
I WENT to my local the other day for a quiet drink. Having purchased a pint of the finest cask bitter I put the money on the bar, "not enough" said the landlord. "Pardon," I said. "It's gone up 10 pence a pint." As I looked round the pub I realised
RE the Lancashire Telegraph March 8, Councillor Dave Smith has a few difficulties. Firstly, the "new" leisure centre does not have any planning consent yet. Secondly, the Redearth site is not available for his sports hall. Thirdly, he has forgotten
IT WAS with disbelief that I heard recently in the news about on-the-spot fines for speeding. It was pointed out in the feature that repeat offenders would not incur points on their licence and could continue to speed as long as the fines were paid.
STEVE Cotterill has admitted his delight after midfielder Chris McCann put pen to paper on a new three-and-a-half year contract. The 19-year-old star, who faces Southend in a vital Championship clash tonight, has cemented his place in the Clarets side
FANS will be allowed in free of charge to Stanley's make-or-break match against Torquay on Saturday. Reds manager John Coleman has said the club's future in the Football League depends on whether they win or lose against the Gulls. And chairman Eric
Rossendale Players have turned their hands to a thriller for their latest production, in Waterfoot from March 24 to 31. Wait Until Dark, written by Frederick Knott and directed by Carole Anne Connolly, is set in the late 1960s in a basement flat in
A CONFECTIONERY firm has seen record sales over the last six months thanks to a move into the health food market. National firm Glisten, which runs its confectionery division from Hill Street, Blackburn, has revealed that in the months ended December
Monday's FA Cup semi-final draw was, of course, conducted in a right and proper fashion, but I would have put my mortgage on Rovers not drawing Watford. But in reality all that matters is that we are actually still in the competition. If we are
A car burst into flames after an electrical fault sparked a fire in the engine of a Vauxhall Corsa yesterday. Fire crews were called to the incident on the A56 southbound close to junction eight of the M65 at 3.15pm. Nobody was injured.
FIRE chiefs have slammed yobs that were blamed for a series of six rubbish fires over the space of seven and half hours. Peter Ashworth, watch manager at Burnley fire station, said the service was called out to the fires all around the Coal Clough
A young couple fled a ground floor flat out of the window after arsonists set fire to mattresses left outside their Blackburn home. A man, thought to be in his 50s, was left trapped inside the flat next door in Temple Drive, Audley, as he was unable
THE founder of Darwen Morris Dancers and several original members are being sought for a 50th anniversary party. Agnes Appleyard, who set up the troupe, and women from the original set-up as well as old photographs are wanted for the event at Ewood Park
A BLACKBURN school is appealing for help to send its pupils to a global puzzle solving contest. A team of seven children from Hawthorns Junior School are set to fly the flag for England during a three-day Destination Imagination competition in Knoxville
