A TOWERING giant which has dominated the Huncoat skyline for more than 40 years bit the dust at high noon yesterday. A loud blast shook the ground and the 350ft chimney crumpled and crashed to the ground. The collapsing chimney disappeared in a huge cloud
A COMPANY says it will appeal after councillors turned down a request for a new access road and staff car park. Residents were against the plan by Darwen plastic moulding firm Weltonhurst on the grounds of highway safety. And councillors on the planning
MIKE Newell was set to sign for Birmingham City this afternoon for £775,000, with a Press conference called at St Andrews to announce the deal. The Blackburn Rovers striker travelled to the Midlands this morning to take the usual medical tests. And Birmingham
THE family of a brave young woman who has lost her battle with cancer today urged people to help ensure her dying wish comes true. Debra Holden, 33, died at home in Elgar Close, Blackburn, after becoming increasingly ill over the last 14 weeks. But today
PREGNANT Conservative Parliamentary candidate Geeta Sidhu today hit back at critics who claim she is not properly married. Miss Sidhu, who will fight the Blackburn seat held by shadow home secretary Jack Straw, is expecting a baby on October 13. The 29
DOMINICK Cork fired a warning to Lancashire after inspiring Derbyshire's second win in two days at Old Trafford. "We're going for the treble," said England's ace all-rounder, looking forward to the big NatWest quarter final next Tuesday. Cork hit 34 from
WOMAN'S Hour, BBC Radio 4's longest running magazine programme, celebrates its 50th anniversary with a nationwide bus tour which is in the county this week. The programme's health initiative Best of Health! will tour for six months offering health advice
A HOLIDAY in the sun ended in a nightmare for two East Lancashire women. Both were hit in the legs by shrapnel from the Basque terrorist bomb blast at a Spanish airport. Marie Carradice, of Bright Street, Colne, was badly injured as the blast ripped through
THE future of Stacksteads Youth Club was secured after county council funding was agreed for an extra worker. The 52-year-old club faced an uncertain future when Lancashire County Council budget restrictions cut the number of youth and community workers
I CAN accept the fact that our MPs have voted themselves a massive 26 per cent rise. I suppose that if I was offered a three per cent rise or a 26 per cent rise, then I would obviously choose the 26 per cent. However, what I can't abide is the sanctimonious
A BUS war has broken out between neighbouring municipal bus companies. There were angry confrontations between busmen yesterday when Rossendale Transport started running buses at the same time as Hyndburn Transport on the Accrington to Bacup route. Accusations
HUNDREDS of bathers are ignoring warnings and risking their lives in canals and reservoirs as temperatures soar during the current heatwave. Alerts issued by the Health and Safety Executive have gone unheeded as bathers cool down in East Lancashire waterways
THE two correspondents (Letters, July 15 and 17) who seek to ridicule Duncan McVee's always interesting and knowledgeable contributions to "Your Letters," I find pathetic. Being diehard Tories, presumably they are satisfied with their Government's achievements
SARAH Ferguson today became the Duchess of York in a family wedding watched all over the world. Her bridegroom Prince Andrew was created Duke of York by the Queen on his wedding morning. Originally it was not a state occasion - the Queen regarded it as
BLACKBURN Hawks have emerged victorious in their struggle with ice hockey's governing body to run the new Northern Conference and still remain part of the BIHA. The seven clubs so far confirmed as members - Hawks, Dumfries, Fife, Murrayfield, Paisley
WHAT goes on at the Burnley and Pendle Racial Equality Council? Certainly, it seems to be the opposite of the harmony that is supposed to be its watchword. For, on top of a mass resignation by around a quarter of the bodies belonging to it, three members
THE 21st-CENTURY strategy unveiled today, to make the North West into a world-class centre for the production of high-quality goods and services, is a back-to-the-future vision aimed at putting our region back in the big league. And that is where it belongs
A CONTRACT of £100 million securing hundreds of defence jobs in Lancashire has been announced. British Aerospace has been awarded a contract to service the RAF's Tornado GR4 aircraft in a ground-breaking deal. It is the first time private companies have
THE mystery fate of a massive king oak tree which once stood in a Ribble Valley wood has been revealed - by the man who chopped it down over half a century ago! Villagers in Hurst Green have been trying to piece together the history of the tree which
FEARS are mounting over the safety of an East Lancashire soap fan who went missing eight weeks ago. Police are renewing their appeal for information about Brookside fan David George Adams, 27, who disappeared from his home in Walnut Street, Blackburn,
I MUST take issue with you over your comments on smoking in hospitals (LET Opinion, July 16). May I remind you that many patients in hospital are elderly, and many may have terminal illnesses? If they have been lifelong smokers, then to stop them is not
DEFENCE Minister Michael Portillo's plan to sell off 60,000 military homes has been given the go-ahead. The £1.5 billion raised is to find further election sweetener tax cuts. However, the homes are to be sold to private firms which will then lease them
ARMY experts exploded a live bomb found in the middle of a footpath on top of Pendle Hill. The blast boomed out above the village of Sabden sending up a cloud of black smoke. Walkers were urged to take care if they came across more unexploded mortar bombs
ARE you at odds with your brother or sister? Have childhood rows continued into adult life? Or do you have step or half-siblings? How did you cope with a new family structure? I am researching a TV documentary and would like to talk to anyone, old or
JOHN Howarth, who quit Blackburn Rovers just a couple of weeks ago, has been appointed secretary at Burnley. The 49-year-old official, who lives in Clayton-le-Moors, said he had felt it was time for a change after spending almost 26 years at Ewood. He
"SHE'S never been the same since she's had the op. She can't cope with losing her womanhood." These are the kind of cruel whispers that haunt women who face having a hysterectomy. Like childbirth, the hysterectomy process doesn't finish when you leave
THE drinks are on lucky landlord Terry Egan who won a brand new Peugeot 106 in a competition at his local service station. Terry, landlord of The Swan in Bacup, uses the Market Street Service Station every day for newspapers and petrol. And his loyalty
