Archive
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Would yew believe it?
OVER the last few weeks I have been discovering more and more about the folklore of British plants. It is amazing how often you see yew trees growing in churchyards. Have you ever wondered why this should be? To understand the importance of the yew we
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Pal came clean over washer cash theft
A FRIEND gave himself up at the police station after hearing that his pal was being questioned about theft of cash from a washing machine meter, a court was told. Blackburn magistrates heard that Mark Anthony Lonsdale went to the police station and admitted
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Bus station desolation
BADLY lit, dismal areas surround you if you happen to be waiting at Blackburn bus station. There is no information or any representative official which allow you to obtain up-to-the minute information of delays, arrivals and departures, for example, of
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No faith in justice
THE anonymity being guaranteed by the courts for James Bulger's killers has caused a not unpredictable reaction. The most disturbing aspect of the argument in favour of retaining this anonymity is the acknowledgement that the boys' wellbeing, and possibly
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£1 million down the drain
COUNCIL finance chiefs have come under fire after they wrote off almost £1million in debts in a matter of minutes. Unpaid council house rents, council tax and business taxes make up most of the cash being abandoned by Blackburn with Darwen Council, leaving
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Rovers victor against valient Preston
Blackburn 3 Preston 2 Rovers were on fire in the first half, the Preston defence and midfield never in touch with Rovers' repeated attacks. Rovers were totally dominant in the first 20 minutes to earn them their first three, Jansen and Hughes claiming
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CHC campaign gains support
THE battle to save community health councils is continuing to gain support. The second reading of the NHS Bill which includes proposals to abolish the health service watchdog organisations was going before the House of Commons today. Chairman of the Burnley
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Mum's 'gift' was stolen
A MOTHER of four stole a mini scooter as a Christmas present for the daughter she had not seen for two years, a court was told. Burnley magistrates heard how former heroin addict Michelle Hartley, 29, had lost contact with her youngsters and family but
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Shotgun death: three quizzed
DETECTIVES investigating the shotgun death of Iain McKay have arrested three men and discovered weapons in raids on two homes. The three, all in their 20s from addresses in Burnley and Padiham, were arrested early yesterday and were today being questioned
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Firm rising from ashes after fire
A PINE firm wrecked in a £4million blaze may be operational again within a fortnight. The fire started in the first-floor accessories department of the purpose-built 100,000sq ft Pine Direct warehouse, off Accrington Road, Rosegrove, Burnley last Thursday
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£5.5m to shape schools of future
A £5.5million education shake-up in Burnley to create new schools and merge and refurbish others received a mixed reaction from teachers today. The controversial changes will take education well into the 21st Century and ensure a top class education for
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With a name like that, Angela's on to a winner!
IF you are going to run a travel agency what better name to have than A Holliday? Angela Holliday and her staff at Going Places, Blackburn, proved they are a "soaraway success" by picking up three internal awards for holiday sales and customer service
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Asbestos may have caused death, inquest told
A WIDOW is waiting to hear if her husband died as a result of exposure to asbestos. An inquest heard how Jack Heys, 58, of Grindlestone Hurst, Nelson, died three days after Christmas when he collapsed on the stairs at home. Mr Heys was a fabrication worker
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Triple tragedy father killed himself
A FATHER who suffered three family tragedies took his own life on the day of his mother's funeral, an inquest was told. An inquest heard how Tony Hart, 44, of Carlton Street, Nelson, lost his son, Andrew, two years ago in a car crash. That tragedy was
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Gala returns - but at a new venue
COLNE Gala is on the comeback trail -- set to make a welcome return after a year's absence. Gala officials who called off last year's major social event because of lack of backroom support in staging the show bounced back today to announce a June 23 date
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Five years ago
TWO friends ended up being separated by police after both had too much to drink in a Burnley night club. Mark Leslie Saddington, released that day from the army, and Martyn James Stevenson, ended their night at Zanzibar's by being handcuffed and taken
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Ten years ago
WHEEL clampers moved in at a Blackburn hospital after fears that lives were being put at risk by traffic congestion. Emergency 'ambulance only' areas had been blocked by parked cars and vehicles left in no-waiting zones had stopped fire engines and ambulances
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£10,000 cash injection at Crossroads
A CHARITY providing respite care for families with disabled children has received a £10,000 boost from the Lloyds TSB Foundation. Hyndburn Crossroads, based in Union Road, Oswaldtwistle, provide trained care attendants to help with many aspects of care
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Families gain £10 a week
HYNDBURN MP Greg Pope believes thousands of local families will benefit from the new children's tax credit. The new tax break will be worth up to £520 a year from April. Some 7,900 families in Hyndburn alone are set to gain £10 a week from the tax cut
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Friendly Frier's sizzling success
A CHIP shop owner has 'cod' it all sewn up after becoming the first in the area to scoop a prestigious award. Steve Wood, of the Friendly Frier chip shop on Hindle Street, Darwen, has received the Friers Quality Award. He is the first in Blackburn and
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Birthday ski trip just went downhill
BIRTHDAY holidaymaker Helen Warburton today told how her French ski trip ended in a nightmare of delays when her group of 22 friends were heading for home. The holiday party, who went to the resort of Meribel, claim they had to load and unload their own
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Daily not to be rushed
WEST Ham transfer target Christian Dailly today insisted he will not be rushed into a decision over his future. The Scottish international defender met Hammers boss Harry Redknapp yesterday for talks over a £1.7 million deal. But the 27-year-old centre
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Buy-out 'fever' reaches a record high
BUY-OUT "fever" among Britain's largest companies reached a record high last year, according to the latest research available. The value of larger (that is £10 million plus) UK management buy-out (MBO) deals reached just under £20 billion. Although the
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Retailer's profits beat the weather
DISCOUNT retailer T J Hughes has unveiled an improved Christmas trading performance despite being hit by adverse weather conditions. The group, which has the majority of its outlets in the north of England including Blackburn and a recently-opened store
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Strategy insight for groups
COMMUNITY groups were given a better understanding of how to run their groups as a business during a 12-week course run by East Lancashire into Employment (ELE). The training course, entitled Mind Your Own Business, was aimed at community businesses to
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Ready, steady, escargot! It's snail racing
IT'S eyes down and fingers at the ready for the latest craze to be sweeping Lancashire's pubs -- snail racing. The lettuce munchers more well known for leaving a slimy trail across your garden path have been given a racy new image, courtesy of Guinness
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Lottery windfall benefits oriental treasures
MORE than £1million has been given to North West arts projects in the latest round of grants, including almost £29,000 for Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery. About £10,000 will be used to restore 40 Japanese prints from the Museum's collection of 1,100
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Heart op for ex-Rovers star
A FORMER goalkeeper who served Blackburn Rovers for more than 16 years is recovering from a triple heart by-pass. Clitheroe-born Jim Furnell (pictured), 63, is already up and about at Blackpool Victoria Hospital only four days after his operation on Saturday
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Trophy hopes
BURY have the chance to put their poor League form to one side in their first ever meeting with Kidderminster in the LDV Vans Trophy Competition. The Shakers have plunged from second place in the table, winning just 6 points from the last 39. Bury boss
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Moyes fuming
David Moyes has hit out at Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond after he revealed the Preston boss made a loan bid for transfer-listed Dan Petrescu. "I made an enquiry for several players and Dan was one of them. "Geoffrey Richmond put out a conversation
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Clitheroe's Double act
FLEETWOOD 0 CLITHEROE 3 ONE of non-league football's most prolific double acts guided Clitheroe safely through to the third round of the Marsden Trophy. The home side were all at sea as Lee Cryer and Neil Spencer paved the way to glory for Dave Burgess's
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Bacup penalty woe
SKELMERSDALE 1 BACUP 1 (aet) BACUP were left to rue a late, injury-time penalty miss as Skelmersdale forced a replay in the Marsden Lancashire Challenge tie. Bacup's David Esdale won a penalty with two minutes of extra time to go but captain Damien Moran
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Baxter battles back to book quarter final spot
RONNIE Baxter is the new favourite for the Embassy World Darts Championship after coming from behind to beat Martin Adams in the second round at the Lakeside last night. Fourth seed Baxter lost the opening set for the second game in succession, but as
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Events in east Lancashire on Thursday, January 11
Sequence dancing, Accrington Town Hall, 7.30pm. Hyndburn Speakers' Club, Accrington Town Hall, 7.15pm. Blackburn Flower Club, Trinity United Reformed Church, Brownhill Road, Blackburn, 7.30pm. Practice night. Hyndburn Local History Society, lecture room
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Grieving Ken deserves an explanation
IMAGINE the distress of bereaved husband Ken Douglas -- already mourning the loss of his wife, Jean, just after Christmas, he is now to miss her burial. He claimed the grave dug in the family plot at Darwen Old Cemetery was not fit for her to be buried
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Bets on for kids' charity
THE money was flowing freely at a local hotel with many of the guests well on their way to being millionaires. Roulette wheels turned and dies were cast during the Casino Night at Fernhurst Hotel, Ewood and the money just kept piling up. However all was
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Excuses are pathetic
REGARDING your story about Mr Tom Ashton slipping and breaking his arm in the subway in Blackburn (LET, January 4), how long would it have taken one man and a couple of barrow loads of salt and grit to do the whole of the subway? A couple of hours at
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Slower must be safer
LINDA Preston (Letters, December 8 and 19), complains about older drivers and thinks they are more likely to cause accidents than younger, faster drivers. Reading the Lancashire Evening Telegraph six nights a week for some 16 years, I have seen increasing
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Accent must be on progress
MR A Walmsley (Letters, January 3), really needn't lament the "corruption" of Standard English. This remains the accepted written form, and, despite the many delightful regional accents, virtually the only spoken form in the UK. The advent of the radio
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Gritting standard high
REGARDING the regrettable accident to Mr Tom Ashton, who fell during the icy conditions which prevailed in Blackburn over the holiday period (LET, January 4), may I first, on behalf of the council, wish him a speedy recovery? I felt that it was important
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Shotgun death: three quizzed
DETECTIVES investigating the shotgun death of Iain McKay have arrested three men and discovered weapons in raids on two homes. The three, all in their 20s from addresses in Burnley and Padiham, were arrested early yesterday and were today being questioned
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Bus lifeline for cut-off villages
BUS services have been arranged to ensure three villages are not cut off when the main road between Burnley and Todmorden closes for major repairs. The A646 at Ratten Clough has been restricted since last March because of a land slippage caused by heavy
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Lottery history scheme
PEOPLE are invited to relive the history of Pendle at a special exhibition to be held later this month. Funded by the Millennium Commission Lottery Project, the 'Remembering Pendle' exhibition will feature numerous local organisations that held events
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Jazzmen support welcome a return
PENDLE Jazzmen's loyal band of supporters are on a high note now that they can hear their favourite music more often. After their regular Friday night slot at the Holden Arms pub in Haslingden was cut to just one a month, the performers' fans -- who had
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'Drive carefully' plea on danger road
A COUNCILLOR has called on drivers to lead the crusade for safer driving on a danger road. Coun George Griffiths made his plea just days after a woman cheated death when a bus crashed into an outhouse moments after she had left the building. Although
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B-test farmer faces travel trouble
FARMER John Towler spoiled his unblemished driving record of 43 years when he failed a breath test when stopped on his way home from the pub. Blackburn magistrates heard the loss of his licence would be a major inconvenience for Towler, who lives in a
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Security firm's sales pitch worries old folk
POLICE lay in wait at a pensioner's house after residents complained of being targeted by "aggressive" telesales people. Three elderly householders in the Ribble Valley contacted the police after receiving calls, later discovered to be from a Southport
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Never tempted to reach for the Sky
AFTER a disastrous dummy run in round three, the television companies have finally got their act together for the next stage of the FA Cup. Of course one man's meat is another man's poison (or as a spokesman for Manchester City once famously put it at
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Little Glen take on United!
GLEN Little could put himself in the frame for a return to the Clarets starting line-up at Gillingham on Saturday after testing himself against some of the cream of the country's defenders today. Burnley went to Manchester United's training ground for
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When will they see the light?
I DON'T know whether in Coun Paul Browne's complaint about his town getting 'second-class' treatment there is a touch of the chip-on-shoulder complex that has marked many a Darrener's view of Big Brother Blackburn ever since its shotgun marriage with
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Five-star excuse is rubbing salt in the wounds
THEY have, of course, got to start somewhere, but isn't it a pity that the first of Blackburn with Darwen's town hall sections to be assessed for new hotel-style star ratings for its service is the obscure policy department, of which few will have heard
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This wheelie is problem of council's own making
OUT of Blackburn with Darwen Council's overall expenditure, the £56,000 cost of replacing the 2,000 wheelie bins stolen from householders last year may not be so tremendous. It would be roughly equivalent, I'd say, to providing a dozen or so councillors
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Little Glen take on United!
GLEN Little could put himself in the frame for a return to the Clarets starting line-up at Gillingham on Saturday after testing himself against some of the cream of the country's defenders today. Burnley went to Manchester United's training ground for
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Confusion hits the e-mail trail
TWO thirds of Lancashire businesses have no formal staff e-mail policy despite recent high profile cases in other parts of the country of lewd messages leading to staff being dismissed. The lack of formal policy is being blamed on confusion about current
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Last chance to grab mementos
WORKMEN at a former technical school are offering people the chance to gather mementos from the building before they are thrown out. Tables and chairs in good condition were left in Darwen Technical School when it closed and as the classrooms are cleared
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Medals mark 20-year milestone
TWO firefighters are to be honoured for their good service. The men from Accrington and Rawtenstall Fire stations, will get Long Service and Good Conduct medals and certificates from the High Sheriff of Lancashire, Rodney Swarbrick. Station Officer Andrew
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Rescue team's helping hand
ROSSENDALE Search and Rescue Team went on a mission of a different kind when they paid a visit to Calf Hey Reservoir at Helmshore. The life-saving team were not called to help save lives but to help train a group of German students on their trek to become
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Who are the newlyweds in the wardrobe?
A SECOND-HAND wardrobe turned out pretty as a picture when brothers Martin and William Thomson decided to clear it out. They discovered a forgotten wedding album tucked away in a box at the back, and now they want to find the true owners. William was
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The moon's a big red balloon!
STAR gazers turned out across East Lancashire to see the moon turn red during the lunar eclipse. Clear skies throughout most of the region gave an excellent view of what turned out to be one of the brightest and most colourful eclipses of the moon in
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Straw pledge over police on beat
THE number of police officers on the beat in Lancashire will continue to rise according to Home Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw. The promise came after Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle pressed Mr Straw for reassurance on police recruitment in the county
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Hospitals' clean bill of health
HOSPITALS in East Lancashire have got a clean bill of health in a survey which criticised filthy toilets, peeling paint, inedible food and smelly wards at other NHS Trusts across Britain. Blackburn Royal Infirmary scored an average three marks out of
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Farmers warned over sheep dip
SHEEP farmers in East Lancashire who illegally dump sheep dip on their land could face a spell in prison or fines of up to £20,000. Toxic substances from dip compounds are responsible for polluting 250km of rivers in the North West, including part of
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£1 million down the drain
COUNCIL finance chiefs have come under fire after they wrote off almost £1million in debts in a matter of minutes. Unpaid council house rents, council tax and business taxes make up most of the cash being abandoned by Blackburn with Darwen Council, leaving
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Public 'misled' over petition
A LEADING councillor has accused objectors of "trawling" for support in a bid to convince people there is widespread opposition to the redevelopment of Blackburn town centre. Coun Ashley Whalley, Blackburn with Darwen Council's regeneration boss said
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Rossendale prove more than a match for Leigh
LEIGH RMI 1ROSSENDALE 0 ROSSENDALE gave a good account of themselves against Conference outfit Leigh RMI in the Marsden Lancashire Challenge Trophy and came agonisingly close to forcing extra time. The first half saw a confident Dale performance, missing
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Ramsbottom shown the Gate
SQUIRES GATE 2 RAMSBOTTOM UTD 1 (aet) A BELOW-strength Ramsbottom crashed out of the FA Marsden Trophy with a below-par performance against NWCL Division Two leaders Squires Gate. Neither side created any clear-cut chances in the opening 20 minutes although
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Stanley hit for five
LANCASTER CITY 5 ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0 STANLEY crashed out of the Lancashire Marsden Challenge Trophy in one of their worst performances under John Coleman's managership. To add insult to injury they ended the game with only 10 men following the second
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Rovers victor against valient Preston
Blackburn 3 Preston 2 Rovers were on fire in the first half, the Preston defence and midfield never in touch with Rovers' repeated attacks. Rovers were totally dominant in the first 20 minutes to earn them their first three, Jansen and Hughes claiming
