SUFFERING one of its biggest back-bench revolts last night -- against its plans to part-privatise the air traffic control service -- the government would do well to pay heed. For with the suspicion that privatisation of the rail service contributed materially
COMING on the eve of the opening today of the public inquiry into the Paddington rail disaster last October in which 31 people lost their lives, the announcement by the Crown Prosecution Service that no-one will be charged in connection with it could
CUB Scouts have been busy collecting items to fill an Aquabox which they have presented to Blackburn Borough Rotary Club. The Cubs, from Leamington Road Baptist Church, Blackburn, got involved with the Aquabox project, by collecting various items over
THE National Meningitis Trust is looking for volunteers to run in the New York Marathon on November 5 and the Trust has a number of places available. Contact me on 01453 769024 or e-mail zoeh@meningitis-trust.org, uk ZOE HURWORTH, Events Organiser, National
HAS anyone travelled along Montague Street, Blackburn, recently? I have and was shocked to see blue metal structures displaying 'Bank Top Urban Park.' Has Blackburn with Darwen Council got an excess of money for these "blots on the landscape?" When some
MOST of us would like to be more supple and flexible in our movement and muscle tone. It's something that athletes and ballet dancers strive for throughout their careers. But for a small number of people, being too flexible and even double-jointed can
THEY said the Titanic was unsinkable and Labour thought they were, too. Yet in this election Labour certainly hit an iceberg. Was it not pathetic, New Labour blaming a low turnout for the people's rejection of them? One Tory gain in Blackburn with Darwen
SCHOOLS and community groups entering the Grimewatch competition this year could win a bonus to help their projects take shape. The Grimewatch team has joined forces with home improvements giants Wickes to give away £1,000 in vouchers to deserving projects
SO you think you could be a Grimewatch winner? Then read on. There are categories to suit all kinds of environmental projects. Prizes are awarded for initiatives by schools, businesses, community groups and local authorities. Individuals who make a special
PROMOTION party-time is in full swing in Burnley where the Clarets' various supporters' clubs honoured the players at an awards ceremony at Turf Moor last night. And tonight, thousands more fans will get the chance to congratulate Stan Ternent's team
HEALTH watchdogs were today meeting bosses of a due-to-close Burnley nursing home to win assurances that patients would be safely moved to new homes. Alarm bells sounded for Burnley Community Health Council chiefs when they heard the 11-residents Burnley
THOUSANDS of people are hoping their number will come up this Friday. For that's when the first weekly Hospice Care for Burnley and Pendle lottery draw will be made. The draw will make someone £1,000 richer every week and 32 other smaller prizes totalling
A TEENAGER told how she joked with friends to keep her spirits up as she clung to the side of a quarry face waiting to be rescued. Lisa Geddes' friends even rang her mobile telephone but the 16-year-old from Nelson refused to let go of the grass and bushes
THE brakes look set to be put on the controversial A56 villages by-pass in Pendle -- for now. County councillors were meeting today to decide which one of four possible new road schemes should get the go-ahead and are expected to choose the M6 link from
A TOWN on tenterhooks began a four-day countdown to the biggest sporting occasion for more than 80 years. A late victory for Manchester United meant Blackburn Rovers fans has to sweat it out before they knew if the club was to be crowned Premier champions
A NEW men's hairdressers named Sweeney Todd received its first customers -- and they turned out to be the boys in claret and blue. Burnley FC stars, Andy Cooke and Paul Weller dropped in at the new salon in Water Street, Accrington to be the first toget
THE father of a young woman who was slashed in the back on a night out in Accrington has put up a 'substantial' reward to help catch her attacker. The man, who has asked for his family not to be named for safety reasons, hopes his offer of cash for information
FIREFIGHTERS tackling a massive blaze at an East Lancashire garage say their bid to save the building was hampered because of a poor water supply. Although the blaze at Haworth Street Garage, Accrington, was just 100 metres away from Whalley Road and
MUSIC-LOVING high school pupils have hit the big time with a national tour. Pupils from St Augustine's RC High School, Billington, will play their part in the musical Song of Creation at London's Royal Festival Hall on Monday. The choir and musicians,
Junior Claret and Blues' player-of-the-year: Andy Payton. Shooters Arms Clarets' player-of-the-year: Andy Payton. Accrington Clarets' player-of-the-year: Andy Payton; special achievement award for passing 200 career goals: Andy Payton; special achievement
CLARETS goal machine Andy Payton swept the board at Burnley's end-of-season awards but then insisted: "It's not all about me." Payton's 27 goals spear-headed Burnley's promotion success and earned him a dozen trophies at last night's Turf Moor presentation
FEATHERS are flying in two Darwen streets after an "invasion" by problem pigeons. Residents are so fed up with the noise and mess caused by the birds they have signed a petition calling for council action. David Aspin of Cavendish Street, said: "We are
POSH pooches mixed with much-loved mongrels at a Rossendale fun day to celebrate National Pet Week. There was even a chance for proud owners to get into the act with a fancy dress class for dogs and their owners. The show, at Haslingden Sports Centre,
ARTHUR Taylor climbed into a car left with the engine running outside a takeaway and crashed it into the vehicle in front as he tried to drive it away. Blackburn magistrates heard that minutes earlier he had been seen stealing from another car before
COWBOY contract gardeners who dump rubbish indiscriminately are putting the householders they work for at risk of prosecution. The warning comes from North West Water staff based at Rivington where a lot of garden waste, such as tree and shrub debris,
A WORRIED mother is waiting for news of her son who is among the first British troops to enter war-ravaged Sierra Leone. Royal Navy helicopter engineer Anthony Caine, 20, is on the leading helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, which has been sent as back-up to
By DANY ROBSON PADIHAM FC will get an indication about whether they will play First North Western Trains League football next season on May 22. The Storks won the West Lancashire Football League Division One and are hoping to make the step up. "There
I HAVE been upbraided by Blackburn with Darwen's chairman of regeneration, Councillor Andy Kay, for having imputed that the council was funding the latest (and, at £100,000, surely the most expensive) work of 'public art' planned for Blackburn when, at
OF ALL the insulting waste to date of National Lottery revenue on crackpot 'good causes' -- from funding the breeding of fatter edible guinea pigs in South America to buying pub lunches for East Lancashire folk afflicted with arthritis -- the biscuit
WOULDN'T any sane pub landlord put a stop to it if a 6ft father of two dressed up as a woman made his customers feel uncomfortable as 'she' drank at the bar and upset women customers by using the ladies' toilet? Yet banning transsexual 'Lisa' Jones on
Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy Ashen tree, ashen tree Pray buy these warts of me EACH month I have been exploring an East Lancashire woodland and my latest visit was blessed with blue sky and bright sunshine. The only problem was the presence of a cool
I HAVE no words to describe the morons who daubed the Cenotaph and Sir Winston Churchill's statue with graffiti. The Cenotaph is a symbol of the fight against fascism and all those opposed to a free society. Yet, these thugs saw fit to desecrate it. If
IT IS, of course, quite incorrect of 'Name and address received' to accuse me of misleading the public. (Letters, May 5). The leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Malcolm Doherty, has made it quite clear that the 'cabinet' will not take decisions,
REGARDING your article (LET, April 29) about Ukranian refugees who came to Britain after the Second World War and Blackburn Council leader Malcolm Doherty's experience of two families being housed by his parents. When the Ukranians and Polish came to
YOU should be commended for having the courage and integrity to rubbish all the facts (LET, May 1) about the needless death of yet another motorcyclist at the hands of someone else. Motorcyclists have for a long time now, been stuck between a rock and
READING about people being stopped on those small, motorised scooters and how the police regard them, made me think that if they need a licence, then this puts my granddaughter and her friends in a similar position when they play out on their motorised
SUPERCILIOUS arrogance and a know-all attitude are the hallmarks of many of today's politicians. And no trio exemplifies these detestable traits more than the three stooges at the head of the Liberal-Democrats' Messrs Kennedy, Hughes and Bruce. These
PUPILS have been warned not to walk to and from Burnley schools alone after a 13-year-old girl was the victim of a sex attack. The indecent assault victim, a pupil at Ivy Bank High School, was walking along a path linking Sycamore Avenue with Gannow Lane
THE Royal Ordnance factory in Blackburn could finally be about to close -- ending more than 50 years in the town. Bosses are understood to be working on proposals which would see work transferred away from the Roman Road site which was once the town's
TODAY we launch the 2000 Grimewatch Awards. The annual awards are the highlight of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's environmental campaign. Now in its 12th year, the competition celebrates the efforts of all those people who work to improve the East
BLACKBURN Rovers today ruled out a move for Wimbledon striker John Hartson. The former Arsenal striker was linked with a £7m move to Ewood Park in today's national press. But that is nonsense. Manager Graeme Souness said: "There is absolutely no truth
BLACKBURN Rovers today announced a major new sponsorship deal with Time Computers. The Ewood club have signed a four-year deal with the nation's number one computer manufacturer and retailer to replace their existing contract with CIS Insurance. And Rovers
Rovers manager Graeme Souness is urging fans to remain positive despite Sunday's result against Manchester City. The Ewood chief was fuming with the way his side crumbled in the last half hour as City secured a return ticket to the Premiership. But now
PUPILS have been warned not to walk to and from Burnley schools alone after a 13-year-old girl was the victim of a sex attack. The indecent assault victim, a pupil at Ivy Bank High School, was walking along a path linking Sycamore Avenue with Gannow Lane
A RUNAWAY minibus carrying five nursery children and with the driver slumped at the wheel was stopped from crashing into on-coming traffic by the quick action of Christina Smith. The nursery officer was praised at an inquest held in Burnley into the death
TWO Burnley toddlers were recovering in hospital today after being struck down by suspected cases of meningitis. The youngsters, both aged three, were admitted to Burnley General Hospital on May 8. An East Lancashire Health Authority spokesman said both
BRAVE shopkeeper Barbara Khan returned to work today less than 24 hours after fighting off an armed robber -- in the second vicious attack on her in five years. Barbara, 51, was hit on the head with a metal bar five times yesterday lunchtime in her Stoneyholme
A WOULD-be conman, who tried to get goods from a petrol station with a stolen credit card, went to another town so he would not be recognised. Burnley magistrates heard how Stephen Cross, 21, was identified on video recorded in the service station when
THE horror of death caused by asbestos was described at an inquest in Burnley. Company director John Michael James Judge, of Coppice Close, Nelson, who once worked mixing asbestos dust by hand, died fighting for his last gasp of breath. His daughter Sharon
COUNCILLOR Malcolm Doherty was installed as the new Mayor of Blackburn. He named MASC - the Mayor's Appeal for Shared Care - as his charity for the year. Cash from the appeal would go to buy specialised furnishings and fittings for a new "home-from-home
HYNDBURN MP Greg Pope cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony of a doctor's surgery in Accrington. Among other people attending the ceremony at Dr Tanku V Suryanarayana's (pictured on the left) Eagle Street surgery in Blackburn Road were patients
A TEENAGER who has been arrested more than 70 times is set to be served with the first Anti Social Behaviour Order in Hyndburn. The Great Harwood youth is due to appear at a preliminary hearing at Hyndburn Magistrates' Court on May 23. The police and
A BREWERY'S tie-up with King George's Hall has proved to be just the ticket for Blackburn schoolchildren. Whitbread's Beer Division in Shadsworth has stumped up £5,000 sponsorship so that lucky youngsters from 30 local schools can get discounted tickets
THREE North West farmers will travel to London tomorrow to campaign about the plight of the region's farmers. The National Farmers' Union members will join representatives from across the country to ensure farmers' very real fears and concerns are made
UNIVERSITY teachers from Mexico called into East Lancashire to see how science is taught in British schools and colleges. A team of 10 physics and chemistry teachers from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico City are on a three-day visit to Queen
UNIVERSITY teachers from Mexico called into East Lancashire to see how science is taught in British schools and colleges. A team of 10 physics and chemistry teachers from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico City are on a three-day visit to Queen
THE family of a five-year-old girl who died from a brain tumour have raised £2,455 for the hospital that tried to save her life, and a plaque is to be erected in her memory. Laura-Jayne Haworth died in July last year just two days after she was diagnosed
BUS services were thrown into chaos today as drivers staged a strike over pay. Drivers at Stagecoach Ribble called a one-day strike after pay talks broke down and have warned there could be further stoppages. Services across East Lancashire were badly
THE Royal Ordnance factory in Blackburn could finally be about to close -- ending more than 50 years in the town. Bosses are understood to be working on proposals which would see work transferred away from the Roman Road site which was once the town's
CARL Fogarty has backed World Superbike championship leader Noriyuki Haga's claims that he is innocent over a positive drugs test. Traces of the banned substance ephedrine were found in the urine of the Japanese Yamaha rider after the first round at Kyalami
GLOUCESTERSHIRE may be the holders of the Benson and Hedges Cup, but they will not be relishing the prospect of a semi final against Lancashire. John Crawley's one day veterans drew on their vast pool of experience to see off Durham at Old Trafford yesterday
SATISFYING as it was to see bossy Tony Blair and New Labour given a bloody nose in the council elections, I am far from sure that we were seeing a Tory revival, despite all their impressive gains. As the abysmal turnouts showed, what we witnessed were
