I EXTEND my gratitude to the 362 voters in Blackburn who backed my campaign to take politics out of government. I would also like to point out that an additional 30,000 voters also offered me their support by being so sick of politicians that they abstained
THE bodies of a 61-year-old man and his 32-year-old girlfriend have been found at a house in Grimsargh, near Longridge. The alarm was raised after the body of hairdresser Diane Hamer was found inside the property off Longridge Road, at 10.21am yesterday
A SECOND series of top jobs have been put up for grabs by Blackburn with Darwen Council. It is advertising for four directors to take control of its personnel, finance, policy and services departments. The posts have become available months after five
I WOULD like to thank the people who supported the Liberal Democrats in the general and county elections last week. Although I am very disappointed that we did not take the Ribble Valley seat, I am pleased that we held our two county divisions and that
ONLY four days into a Labour government and their first politically red May Day Bank Holiday and just look at what the weather was like! Can we restart the General Election, please? (Only joking, folks). D PRATT (Mr), Plantation Street, Accrington. Previous
TOP entertainers have been lined up for two bumper events to raise cash for St Catherine's Hospice in Lancashire. An open-air firework concert and an appearance by favourite crooner Max Bygraves are the double bill planned to raise cash for the hospice
BARRING a cricketing miracle, Lancashire are out of the Benson and Hedges Cup, writes ANDY WILSON. But coach Dav Whatmore today pledged that they will go down fighting in their last qualifying game against Worcestershire at Old Trafford next Monday. Despite
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT Michael Carr has decided to call time on his ambition to become MP for Ribble Valley after his General Election defeat. The Bacup-based father-of-eight has announced he is putting politics on the back burner so he can spend more time
LOCAL runners who competed in the London Marathon will hand over cheques at the annual general meeting of the Accrington branch of the Cancer Research Campaign. The meeting is on Thursday May 15 at the Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington, at 8pm and all are
OPERA star John Tomlinson is returning to his native East Lancashire next month to raise money for a junior choir. Oswaldtwistle-born bass Mr Tomlinson has sung all over the world and sings leading roles regularly with English National Opera and the Royal
DUXFORD Airfield, near Cambridge, now part of the Imperial War Museum, is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. To commemorate the occasion, the Museum is staging an anniversary air show on Sunday, June 8, where the Red Arrows will be the stars.
THE Pendle MP who romped home to a second term of office at Westminster in the General Election today confessed he was staggered by his party's landslide victory. Labour's Gordon Prentice saw his majority rocket from 2,113 to 10,824, the largest ever
HUNDREDS of jobs could be created if an out-of-town business and leisure development gets the go-ahead. London-based Schroder Properties wants to develop a 14-acre site next to the M61 at junction 8, east of Chorley. The site, near the Botany Bay shopping
SHAMED ex-mayor Peter Swainston has lost his job as vice chairman of Burnley's public protection committee - and has been removed as governor of St Mary Magdelene's RC Primary School. The 48-year-old bachelor quit as civic leader after being convicted
BED bosses have taken delivery of a fleet of new trucks in the hope of giving local residents a quiet night! The seven new £70,000 Scania trucks picked by Barnoldswick manufacturer Silentnight are claimed to be the quietest trucks on the road and have
IT'S GOOD to come home...even when you're a Tory grandee returning from sunny Bermuda to Britain under Labour. The Ribble Valley village of Sabden is a world apart from the island colony. But for the village's most famous resident - apart, perhaps, from
ROY Hodgson may be only two steps from UEFA Cup glory, but he and Internazionale face one giant leap tonight in the Park Stadion, Gelsenkirchen. Suspensions have eliminated three first-team regulars from the first leg of the final against German side
A YOUNG mother today spoke of her horror at being forced to helplessly watch as a teenage sneak thief snatched her 11-month-old daughter. Deborah Jennings, 23, was in the living room of the family home in Hindle Street, Darwen, when the youth barged through
MISSING tickets for a fund-raising concert have now turned up - to the relief of organisers and would-be concert-goers. The tickets for the concert at Bacup Leisure Hall a week on Sunday, fell victim to a missing link between distributors and sellers.
BOOKIE's assistant John Thompson scored a £25,000 soccer stunner against a rival company when he predicted who would win the four Football League divisions - Leeds, Ipswich, Brentford and Burnley. Blackburn health chiefs considered turning their authority
VILLAGE schools in East Lancashire were given fresh hope in their battle for survival, when small rural schools threatened by closure won a limited reprieve from Education Secretary Kenneth Baker, who revised guidelines which said only in exceptional
IN the news we often hear how people in this country have not enough money to live on and how some go hungry, yet when I go out I see cartons full of good food thrown away in the streets. Now I cannot understand people buying food - it is not cheap -
UNITY! That is the Tory watchword now - having learned what disaster disunity brings. So what do we have now, as the race for the vacated party leadership hots up? No fewer than six contenders. To be sure, there might now be seven hats in the ring if
IF LABOUR'S inexperience of power implied a period of quiet settling in, how swiftly we were disabused by new Chancellor Gordon Brown delivering the biggest shake-up of economic policy in decades. For in hiking interest rates a touch - to prevent overheating
DRIVING instructors are falling on hard times - because there aren't enough learners to teach. They claim the new written driving exam has put people off learning and they fear some youngsters will take to the road without licences. Nationally, test applications
CHRIS Sutton's absences have been the crucial reason why Blackburn Rovers go into their penultimate game of the season against Middlesbrough tomorrow night still battling for Premiership survival. And Rovers are prepared to leave a decision on the £5
PROFITS at brewing, pubs and leisure giant Whitbread flowed freely last year. The firm, which employs almost 1,000 people at its two major sites in East Lancashire, saw pre-tax profits rise by 12 per cent to £316 million in the year to March 1, in line
A PROMISE to give the youth of the town a say in its future has come from the new mayor of Clitheroe Coun John McGowan. The town's first citizen for the next two years, outlined his hopes for the borough's future as he received the chain of office in
PENSIONER Nora Davies, from Baxenden, found her grandparents pictured in a new book about Accrington. And she was treated by its co-authors to a traditional lunch at the Park Inn, Accrington, where her grandfather was once landlord. The picture is one
PEOPLE of all ages, from all walks of life, will be covering a mile in any way they choose for the NEXT Macmillion Mile Challenge, sponsored by high street retailer NEXT, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief, between next Saturday Sunday, May 18. All sorts
THE US space probe, Carsine, journeying to Saturn in August, 1999, will be carrying more than 72lbs of plutonium for generating electricity for the instruments on board. In the event of an accident while the probe is only 312 miles above the earth, this
PAUL Stewart could be a shock summer target for Burnley. The striker has announced he will quit Sunderland next week after their final Premiership game of the season at Wimbledon on Sunday. And I understand the Clarets could be poised to bring Stewart
THE Indian Prime Minister has expressed his personal shame at the kidnapping of Blackburn student Paul Wells. Mr Inda Gujral revealed his sorrow during a 30-minute meeting with Paul's father Bob in Delhi. The meeting was the highlight of Mr Wells' latest
