FOR months I have been trying to get more benches put in the shopping precinct in Blackburn. Up to now, I have seen just one, which will seat four people. Lots of old people and disabled use the precinct and I have seen many an old person having to lean
RECORDS were sent in this week by Carol Smith, Jacqueline Winstanley, V Southgate, Warren Houghton, John Clegg, Brian Connoley, Brian Barnes, Jenny W Lee, Mrs Horsfield, Harry Clough, Vera Brown, Peter Mason, Carl Jenks (who is eight), Sheila Clark (who
SAD indeed to learn of pensioners being hectored and hassled by young louts (Opinion, July 15) on the Green Park bowling greens in Blackburn. A large part of the overall problem is the disturbing lack of police visibility in public. Where are the bobbies
THE Mayor of Blackburn today told how she was seconds away from being struck by the potentially lethal lightning bolt which yesterday brought terror to a Buckingham Palace garden party. Councillor Mary Leaver and her party had just moved away from the
ANDREA Holt's Olympic dream has fallen apart in the preliminary round of the women's table tennis doubles event in Atlanta. The Ramsbottom star (pictured below) and her doubles partner Lisa Lomas were defeated by German pair Olga Nemes and Jie Schopp
KIM Rostron fired a first round 77, three over par, in windy conditions at Little Aston to lie joint 13th after the first round of the English Women's Amateur Strokeplay Championship. The Clitheroe ace was in fine position going into today's second round
LANCASHIRE will look to their experienced players to drag them out of their poor run at Cardiff tomorrow. They were considering calling up 21-year-old all-rounder Richard Green for his first Championship game of the season against Glamorgan. But coach
READ bounced back into championship contention in the Vaux Ribblesdale Cricket League, with their vital win over leaders Barnoldswick. But James Peterson, the Barnoldswick professional, discounts suggestions that Read have gained any advantage going into
THOUSANDS of Lancashire workers may face a summer of agonising uncertainty after a cabinet split between Defence Secretary Michael Portillo and Chancellor Kenneth Clarke over the award of £3.5 billion worth of defence contracts. Hopes of a decision before
A STEADY hand at the helm is needed to help North West businesses navigate the tricky waters ahead, a survey advises. The latest North West Chambers of Commerce economic survey, which includes responses from East Lancashire firms, highlights a slowdown
WITH them having previously doled out hundreds of thousands of pounds to projects involving homosexuals and prostitutes, not to mention millions for toffs' opera, it can hardly be a great surprise that the National Lottery Charities Board considers that
A TERRIFIED woman was abducted from the street and subjected to a serious sexual assault after being driven to a secluded cemetery. The 33-year-old victim has told police how she was enticed into a car by two Asian men in the Stonyhurst Road area of Blackburn
I DON'T know if seasonal excitement has an adverse effect on sensible people, but Liberal Democrat Coun Paul Browne's outburst (LET, July 17) is not what I would have really expected from him. While the issue of MPs' pay has aroused a lot of ardour and
THE bravery of cancer sufferer Ragen Lonsdale inspired cyclists Arthur Mayor and Stephen Birtwistle to take on a gruelling 256-mile trip. The duo rode from Blackburn to Scarborough and back to raise funds for the Ragen appeal. It is aiming to send the
DEFENCE Secretary Michael Portillo was today desperately trying to force the Cabinet to place vital orders for the Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft and two new RAF missiles as North West MPs demanded an early decision. Mr Portillo is locked in a battle
LANCASHIRE engineering firms are being invited to join a trade mission to Iran. The Engineering Industries Association's staging the event to help firms break into a lucrative market. Iran has a well developed industrial infrastructure with a significant
A TEAM of treasure hunters won a brand new car - but just for a weekend! The group from Ashworth Moulds accountants in Burnley won the use of the Rover car after coming first in the Pendle Business Club treasure hunt competition. The prize was donated
A HERO lorry driver was praised today after hauling a drowning boy to safety when he was spotted lying face down in a canal. Peter Almond turned guardian angel for the second time in his life when he dragged five-year-old Billy Lynch from the canal at
BATTERED East Lancashire Sailing Club is counting the cost of wrecking attacks. The club, beside Rishton Reservoir off Blackburn Road, has been hit by a spate of vandalism and shed break-ins. An immobilised safety boat moored in the middle of the reservoir
BURNLEY boss Adrian Heath today revealed the name of one of his twin German targets - Hansa Rostock striker Torsten Boer. And the boy from the Bundesliga will join up with the Turf Moor squad for training tomorrow. But Heath also suffered a cruel blow
A FORTY-acre site on the outskirts of Darwen has been earmarked for a massive leisure development including multiplex cinema, bowling alley, restaurants, bingo hall and nightclub. The site stretches from the rear of Darwen Football Club's Anchor Ground
ANGRY hospital unions were fighting back after being 'mugged' of cash by regional health bosses. Staff at Brockhall Hospital had voted overwhelmingly to oppose the closure of five wards to save £500,000. They hoped to send a delegation to regional headquarters
SCORES of nurses were facing the dole after nearly 350 hospital jobs were axed. Bosses at the Brockhall and Calderstones mental handicap hospitals today spelled out the cost in human terms of the shutting down of the Brockhall unit in April of the following
WE'VE had the mad cow crisis, and now boffins claim there could be a mad lamb crisis. Laboratory experiments have shown sheep can develop the disease after eating heavily contaminated offal from cows. Agriculture Minister Douglas Hogg says we mustn't
A CAMPAIGN to introduce fair rents in the private housing sector is being initiated by a Darwen councillor. Coun Dave Smith was shocked to discover a house in Hindle Street, Darwen, owned by the council, is let for £41.49 a week. Yet other homes on the
HOLLYWOOD, Cannes...Blackburn. A group of young film-makers have put their town on the map after their 40-minute production was hailed a resounding success at an international festival. And one of the members of Blackburn-based Generation Next Company
A TRAILBLAZING savings and loans group has scored another first - in its own write! For thriving Nelson Community Credit Union has launched its own newspaper - the first regular credit union journal in the region. 'Communique' will go out free to the
THERE was more speculation over Tim Sherwood's future today, as the player's agent Eric "Monster" Hall was at Ewood for a meeting yesterday. Arsenal are known to have made an inquiry for Sherwood, but have not yet followed that up with a firm bid. Blackburn
WALT Meadows (Letters, July 18) made my blood boil. When the politicians - of all flavours - wanted a pay rise, they voted for it themselves. The workers at Liverpool Docks, the firemen, and the postal workers do not have the option to vote themselves
MANY kind hearts were touched by the case of 63-year-old spinster Freda Fentriss-Ellerby, who, weeping uncontrollably as she was parted from her beloved animals, was evicted by a posse of police, court staff and bailiffs from the tumbledown farm which
POWER bills plummeted when council chiefs switched on to cutting light and heating costs. They targeted Burnley's top ten energy-using buildings - from recreation centres to town halls - and saved £277,000 in just three years. Energy conservation chiefs
THE real outrage of the death of seven-year-old Sophie Hook was that she was raped and strangled by a monster who was known to be a social misfit and a menace. He had been interviewed no fewer than five times over allegations involving children. It is
A PIONEERING riding therapy centre for the disabled has been granted a seal of approval by one on Lancashire's leading clergymen. The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Rev Alan Chesters, has become a trustee of Lord's House Farm Centre, Rishton. The centre,
