Archive
-
Date
Students don't worry about loan debts
STUDENTS in the North West are among the most debt-ridden in the country - and most of them don't care. According to a new survey, they owe about £1,537 to the student loan scheme, compared to the national average of £1,324. Students in the area also
-
Date
MPs' noses in the trough
IT was with absolute disgust that I read that Janet Anderson, our supposed Labour MP, voted to accept a 26 per cent increase in salary. As a pensioner and lifelong member of the trade union movement and Labour Party, I am appalled at the hypocrisy of
-
Date
Come on, show us your honey
THE cream of the county's agriculture, horticulture and crafts will converge on Astley Park again this month for the Royal Lancashire Show. The three-day event, starting on Friday, July 26, will transform the peace and tranquillity of the park into a
-
Date
Adults must give a lead on drugs
ADULTS are being urged to take a more hard-hitting approach to warning teenagers about drugs. It follows a shocking report which reveals that nine out of ten youngsters are ignorant about the effects of drugs such as Ecstasy. Many are unaware that 'E'
-
Date
10 YEARS AGO: Listed mansion to stay
A 1,000 name petition failed to persuade councillors to pull down a listed Georgian mansion house. Magistrate Mrs Marjorie Smith collected the signatures to call for the derelict council-owned Oak Hill Park Mansion, Accrington, to be demolished and not
-
Date
Pay rise
SO, of our region's MPs, Jack Straw, Peter Pike and Janet Anderson voted against a three per cent pay rise and, therefore, for an increase which is nine times the inflation rate. Maybe this bodes well for all workers if Labour become the party of government
-
Date
Potholer's body is discovered
RESCUERS have recovered the body of Rossendale potholer Nicola Dollimore who died tackling one of Europe's deepest caves. Nicola, 30, was invited to join the trip to the 3,800ft Gouffre Berger near Grenoble at the last minute when another team member
-
Date
Plastics firm bought in £2.5m joint deal
A PLASTICS firm has been snapped up as part of a £2.5 million deal. Blackburn-based Building & Engineering Plastics has been bought, along with a Midlands-based firm, by the British Fittings Group. BEP, which also has an office in Scotland, supplies
-
Date
Charity pair at Palace
TWO women who have raised thousands of pounds for cancer research over the last 30 years are off to Buckingham Palace for a royal garden party. Rita Flynn and Marion Walsh, members of the Darwen branch of the Cancer Research Campaign, will be honoured
-
Date
Off their trolley
TWO flower power shoppers have been "mugged" by mindless vandals. Hyndburn Council came up with an eye-catching tableau of a flower-filled shopping trolley and two life-size figures to brighten up Accrington town centre. But less than two weeks after
-
Date
Complaints? Get mobile
I AM currently looking into customer service in the mobile telecommunications market, and initial research of mobile subscribers reveals that a number of contracted customers are unhappy with the service they receive. This is reflected in the national
-
Date
M-way misery threatens holidays
DRAINAGE and resurfacing work could create motorway misery for holidaymakers from East Lancs this week. Traffic chaos is expected as various closures will be made from today to rectify problems along the busy M6 stretch from Samlesbury to Broughton during
-
Date
Drunken bus stop robber hunted
A DRUNKEN robber is preying on defenceless teenagers in the town centre and stealing valuables and cash. The crook, who operates around Blackburn bus stops, is believed to be responsible for a series of incidents so far this year. Now police have appealed
-
Date
Boro issue hands off warning over Barmby
ANY hopes that Blackburn Rovers might be able to set up a transfer swoop for Middlesbrough's England star Nick Barmby look slim. The forward has again been linked in speculation with a possible move to Ewood to join up with his international team-mate
-
Date
Farleys' legal aid franchise
SOLICITORS Farleys has been granted franchise contracts by the Legal Aid Board for its Blackburn and Accrington offices. The contracts are awarded to legal firms following stringent audits carried out by the board. "In view of the radical reforms taking
-
Date
Optimism down
BUSINESS optimism in the North West is at one of the lowest levels in the country. Hope for new orders, employment and exports are down on the previous quarter in the Dun & Bradstreet report out today. Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000
-
Date
Cable box contract
CABLE specialists Thorsman has won a major contract. The Blackburn-based firm is supplying more than 2,200 cable boxes for two new office developments in Manchester and Lincoln. The boxes are used to feed power and phone cables to office desks . Converted
-
Date
Tower an eyesore
THE pathetic concrete tower, topped with its equally absurd metal spire, plonked on the unfinished Blackburn Cathedral, is a cheap compromise and a mockery of the original architecture. Another Sixties disaster, like the shopping precinct, it also is
-
Date
Strike fear at brewery
WORKERS at one of the area's largest companies, Whitbread, could soon be voting for strike action. It follows a row between a union and management over a contract company operating at the Samlesbury site. Kammac has rented space at the brewery since March
-
Date
Tied-up woman tells of 'madman'
A HORRIFIED manageress today told of the terrifying moment when a "madman" tied her up and robbed a restaurant of more than £1,000 in cash. Barbara Mullin, 22, was grabbed from behind by an attacker who pushed a sharp object into her back and threatened
-
Date
5 YEARS AGO: Bus services slashed
BUS services were to be slashed across East Lancashire as the Ribble company axed 40 drivers. The cuts were to hit passengers in Blackburn, Burnley, Clitheroe, Preston and Chorley, with town-to-town services bearing the brunt. Details of the cuts were
-
Date
Workwear firm's high summer
FABRIC experts Carrington Career & Workwear are enjoying a summer of success. A new safety fabric launched by the Barrowford-based firm has led to a sales boom in Europe with Sweden currently top of the export league. Carrington's high visibility
-
Date
CRICKET: Elworthy in talks over Lancs future
LANCASHIRE delayed selection for today's AXA Equity and Law League clash with Warwickshire at Edgbaston until further clear-the-air talks with Steve Elworthy. The South African paceman demanded a meeting with coach John Stanworth yesterday after being
-
Date
CRICKET: Accrington CC in Sleep link
ACCRINGTON are thought to be interested in Peter Sleep, who was in impressive Marsden BS Lancashire League action again on Sunday with Ramsbottom. The vastly-experienced Sleep could well be seen as an ideal professional at a club where they have undergone
-
Date
Flow water cash towards users
YOUR friend and ours, North West Water, is in the dock again, this time accused of tax dodging. For, says East Lancashire MP Janet Anderson, the company, now part of giant United Utilities, has paid virtually no mainstream corporation tax since privatisation
-
Date
No smokescreen over dangers of tobacco
THERE is much farce - and some would say, stupidity - in the revised rules on smoking in Blackburn district hospitals now being proposed to health chiefs. For, in addition to the ridiculous detail that would have staff going in disguise to light up in
-
Date
Police defend delay over IRA bombers' car
POLICE bosses have defended their actions after the car used by the IRA Manchester bombers was left on a town centre side street for more than three weeks. The red Ford Granada was abandoned in Preston shortly after the explosion that ripped through the
-
Date
Campaign to highlight swim perils
A CAMPAIGN to prevent children swimming in dangerous waters is to be launched almost a year to the day after a Blackburn student drowned in a local reservoir. Jonathan Ashebu, 16, of Lytham Road, Blackburn, died on July 30 last year after trying to swim
-
Date
Have a cig, nurse, but not in uniform
MEDICAL staff desperate for a cigarette could be allowed to smoke in hospital grounds for the first time in more than a year - providing they go in disguise! The relaxation of the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care NHS Trust's strict no
-
Date
Pike rapped over pay
A BURNLEY Labour councillor has slammed the town's MP, Peter Pike, for bringing politics into "public contempt" by voting himself a mammoth 26 per cent pay rise. Coun Marcus Johnstone, prospective Labour candidate for the Ribble Valley, says the new £43,000
-
Date
GOLF: Beauty and the beast
COMPARED to the magnificent scenery enjoyed by some of its Open rivals, not even the best friends of Royal Lytham and St Annes could describe its golf course as a beauty. In terms of the challenge it presents, however, it's definitely a beast, from being
-
Date
Do as I say, not as I do
MAY I express the warmest congratulations to our Labour and committed socialist MP, Mr Peter Pike, on the wonderful news of his impending 10-times-the-rate-of-inflation increase in his salary. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer - eh, Mr Pike?
-
Date
Shadow of fear
THE young usherette busily swept the cinema floor, unaware that she was being watched from the shadows. She froze when she sensed someone's presence at the doorway. It was a terrifying moment that the pretty 17-year-old had dreaded for months. "I looked
-
Date
Heath looks poised for double swoop
BURNLEY boss Adrian Heath is on the brink of snapping up two new players - with even more likely to arrive at Turf Moor before the new season starts. It has been a long haul for the new manager this summer but his plans finally seem to be falling into
