NEW friendships have been formed between Darwen and Sweden after a schoolgirl from the town released a balloon. Keeley Hutchinson, ten, who attends Avondale Primary School, attached her name and address to a helium balloon and released it at Sudellside
Like it or not, summer is fast approaching and we all know what that means... flashing the flesh, baring our lumps and bumps and being seen in public with just a strip of Lycra to protect our modesty. We investigate fun ways to get in shape for summer
A FATHER and daughter met up for the first time in nearly 24 years - thanks to an appeal in the Lancashire Telegraph. Donna Simpson, 28, of Barnstaple, Devon, contacted the Telegraph last month as she searched for her father who lived with her in Darwen
BRENDAN Flood has become used to success en route to earning his millions - so he does not intend to fail at Turf Moor. The Clarets director is prepared to invest part of his self-made fortune on Burnley, with the hope of steering them back to English
A FORMER bank manager and football club vice chairman has appeared in court and denied theft and deception charges involving £127,000. Mark Gidlow, 45, of Brownlow Street, Clitheroe, pleaded not guilty to 23 charges covering a period from March 1998
FAMILIES have reacted furiously after they say their elderly relatives were told they had six hours to leave their care home before its shock closure. Relatives said they were telephoned yesterday afternoon and told that 15 pensioners, all women, some
A REWARD is being offered to catch two men who robbed a Burnley jewellers. David Marsden Jewellers, Keirby Walk, Burnley, has offered a reward of up to £2,000 for information leading to the arrest of the robbers and the recovery of items stolen. Detectives
BURNLEY may have to part with up to £1 million if they want Eric Djemba-Djemba to return to Turf Moor next season. Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is believed to be looking to offload the midfielder in the summer, along with former Sunderland and
UNION leaders believe proposed hospital red-undancies have evolved into a battle of "staff versus cash". Unison and The Royal College of Nursing have teamed up to make the comments in an open letter to Jo Cubbon, the chief executive of East Lanca-shire
PLANS for a pagan music festival - dubbed a 'mini-Glastonbury' - have been lashed by residents who fear it will wreck the countryside and encourage drug use. Organisers of the three-day Shamania festival between Burnley and Colne have not yet been licensed
FORTUNATELY or unfortunately, depending on how you prefer to look at it, money talks in football. And it looks like Burnley will have more to say in the new season with news of the lengths director Brendan Flood is prepared to go to in a bid to make
CLASHES between Burnley and Blackburn Rovers generally offer no shortage of controversy. Even as far back as 1891 the rivalry between the neighbouring football sides was intense. So much so that the game on December 12 that year had to be ended early
TRAFFIC calming measures could be introduced on a busy road after several accidents were caused by speeding. Bosses at Lancashire County Council want to put speed bumps along Coal Clough Lane, between Cog Lane and Nairne Street, to try and cut down on
A POSTMASTER has raised thousands of pounds for Pendleside Hospice by selling books from his post office. Steve Harvey, of Rosehill Post Office on Manchester Road in Burnley has been raising money for Pendleside Hospice by selling books to his customers
HEALTH chiefs have decided how they will spend an unexpected multi-million-pound windfall presented to them by the NHS. East Lancashire Primary Care Trust (PCT) had been ordered, like similar bodies, to pay £8.2million into a central NHS fighting fund
BOSSES at a popular music shop that was badly damaged in a suspected arson attack have scrapped plans to reopen temporarily. Musical instruments worth £100,000 were damaged in the blaze at the Music Box shop, Whalley Road, Accrington, last month. The
ALMOST £33,000 has been paid out in legal fees as a result of compensation claims by staff at an East Lancashire hospital trust. Payouts of up to £2,300 have been awarded to medical staff following four cases recorded against Whalley-based Calderstones
STUDENTS turned up at their leavers' do in a limousine - made from cardboard! Four lads from the upper sixth form at St Wilfrid's CE High School and Technology College, Blackburn, came up with the wacky idea to make sure their goodbye was memorable.
Hungarian international goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly has become Burnley's first summer signing. The 31-year-old, who was released by Crystal palace at the end of last season after contract talks broke down at the preliminary atage, has signed a two-year
A NEW piece of artwork has been installed at an award-winning centre. The giant "smile", cast in fibreglass, will welcome visitors the £28million St Peter's Centre, in Burnley. Funded by the Arts Council and Lancashire County Council, the £6,000 piece
A LEADING Liberal Democrat councillor has accused the Labour group of delaying regeneration. Councillor Tony Greaves told Pendle Council's Executive Committee that residents in the Whitefield area of Nelson had seen few changes since the Elevate programme
THE NUMBER of specialist teachers needed to teach foreign children English in Lancashire's schools has increased by 40 per cent since 2004. Bosses at Lancashire County Council said the extra staff were needed due to the high number of East European arrivals
PEOPLE who flout the smoking ban in pubs face a ticking off from an automated alarm system. The system is set to be introduced in pubs across Burnley and Padiham as there are fears that if landlords tell people off for smoking it could provoke trouble
FIRE chiefs have made good on a promise to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in accidental fires across East Lancashire. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service had been charged with trying to ensure there were no more than 33 such casualties
A CONTROVERSIAL academy is running massively over budget before a single brick has been laid, a leaked document reveals. More than £15million has already been spent on Darwen's controversial academy, bringing the expected cost to over £48million, compared
BUS users are being warned of disruption as a major shopping centre revamp gets under way. The £60million expansion and re-development of Blackburn town centre is due to start in October after being delayed for a year. Now, to allow preparatory works
A SOCIAL housing scheme has been given a prestigious award for high levels of safety and security. Twin Valley Homes has been given a Secured by Design certificate for phases one and two of their Lincoln Road development in Blackburn. Phases one and
HE may look like a cartoon character but Andrew Marr has to be one of the most charismatic presenters on TV at the moment. Since he left his post as the BBC's political correspondent, broadcasts from outside Number 10 haven't quite been the same. Fans
LANCASHIRE Cricket Club has backed the campaign to raise awareness of the search to find missing Madeleine McCann. The team wore special yellow and green bands of hope' wristbands at Monday's Friends Provident Match against Leicestershire which was abandoned
A KICK boxing coach has helped to slash youth nuisance by offering free classes. Police say Alf Love has won the respect of youngsters in the Stacksteads area, and by getting them involved in the sport, has reduced the level of anti-social behaviour
The schools are on half-term this week, which is excellent news for people like me who cherish the extra five minutes in bed thanks to the drastic ghost-town effect on the morning traffic. But I imagine staff and pupils at Great Harwood Primary School
TRADERS from Darwen Market were seen by millions of people today on GMTV. Camera crews from morning television show GMTV headed to Darwen earlier this month after producers of the show heard about market traders' support for the Five Star Scanner Appeal
A MAN has been arrested as part of a special crackdown on alleged crime being committed on the railway. David Carter, 34, from Burnley, was picked up by officers from British Transport Police (BTP) who were out in force on Saturday at Preston Station
It was absolutely fantastic to read the comments made by John Williams with regards to his vision for Blackburn Rovers. I would love to see Blackburn, or Blackburn with Darwen if you like, as a genuine football town in every sense of the word. I
A FIRE caused by cigarette embers emptied into a bin, caused severe damage to carpet and furniture. Firefighters were called to the scene of the blaze, in Waddington Avenue, Burnley, at 12.30am on Monday, where they found the bin was on fire and the
BLOOD donors in East Lancashire could help the NHS with a 25,000 donation target by the end of June. The plea has been issued by the National Blood Service as it announced a new set of dates when blood donor medics will be touring the area. While an
WIND farm planners have announced they hope to build a mast to take detailed measure-ments of the gusts on an East Lancashire moorland site. German-based EnergieKontor UK Ltd hopes to build 24 giant wind turbines on the moors between Oswaldtwistle and
TALKS were taking place today in a bid to avert strike action at a mental health hospital over night shift rotas. Nearly 100 staff are involved in a dispute between Unison and management at Whalley-based Calderstones Hospital NHS Trust. Night-shift
Michael Vaughan, of Darwen, sent in this picture looking staight up at the India Mill chimney, Darwen, after airliners left their signature across the sky.
THE man in charge of regenerating Burnley's housing market has accused the town's MP of trying to score cheap political points' after she said the ruling coalition was spending Elevate cash too slowly. Coun Martin Smith, executive member for housing,
A RUBBISH fire spread to the roof of a house on Sunday. The rubbish was set alight at an empty house in Keighley Avenue, Colne just after 11pm, and quickly spread to the building's roof. A passer-by called fire-fighters, but police said the fire could
EFFORTS to help the community have helped a Darwen pub win the Thwaites Best Community Local Award. The Punch Bowl Inn Roman Road, beat off competition from more than 350 Thwaites establishments and will go forward to a grand final in December, where
RECYCLING in Pendle is about to be extended again - with residents being urged to back the new scheme. The controversial doorstep collection scheme for recycling, which began in 2005, will now include red bags for old clothes and other textile items.
FIREFIGHTERS have issued a warning about tumble dryers after a fire which they said would have had serious consequences if it had been in a house. A crew from Nelson Fire Station attended the blaze in Smith Street in the town, at 3pm yesterday, when
HEALTH chiefs in East Lancashire are drawing up an action plan which will help them to meet tough new Department of Health waiting list targets. Health trusts have been told that before the end of next year they must treat all patients within 18 weeks
Please can I ask one thing of the parents of the small minority of children (and it is a small minority of, I suspect, non-residents' children) who are mindlessly and systematically destroying the play area on the Greenfields development in Darwen: Please
I AM from Blackburn and was transferred to Burnley General Hospital since the Royal Blackburn was full. I was looked after by Caroline, a student nurse, Andrea, a staff nurse and Mr Pardha, the consultant on Ward 24. And I couldn't have had better care
A GOVERNMENT promise of 3,000 extra matrons, but in less than five years no more than half are on duty? Management consultants cost £31million and this has risen to £500million between 2004-2006. There was also £22million wasted on financial turnaround
THE thug who bit the head off a live chicken and then posted the despicable act on the internet site YouTube, should be named and shamed. His photograph and full name and address should be shown on the front page of all local papers. He should be prosecuted
A SHOPKEEPER whose novelty bank notes were seized by Trading Standards has branded the move as "political correctness gone mad". Blackburn with Darwen Council confiscated hundreds of pounds worth of novelty notes from an un-named store in Blackburn and
STEVE McClaren sent out mixed signals when he announced his England squad for the games against Brazil on Friday night and Estonia next week. After a terrific debut for England's B team at Turf Moor last Friday night, David Bentley deservedly received
A CONSERVATIVE MP has given his "100 per cent" support to grammar schools after Tory party chiefs' decision to ditch them. Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley, spoke in support of Tory Europe spokesman Graham Brady who was slammed by party chiefs for defending
ABOUT £1,500 has been raised for a footballer put out of work through injury. Bacup Borough boss Brent Peters said the money was still being counted but it could even total up to £1,700. Karl Stanley, 32, a self-employed fitter from Edenfield, has been
FLYTIPPERS are being warned that they will be brought to justice after a woman was prosecuted for illegally dumping rubbish sacks close to her home. Janet Pollard, 44, of Warwick Drive, Padiham, admitted she had dumped the sacks when interviewed by enforcement
David Bentley will find out today if his season will be extended into next month when Stuart Pearce names his England Under 21 squad for the forthcoming European Championships. The Rovers midfielder was included in the original 30-man squad that was
BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes has put a proven goalscorer at the top of his wish-list. The Rovers chief met chairman John Williams yesterday to discuss his transfer budget for the summer, and he said signing a striker with a proven track record was his
Padiham have moved quickly to secure the services of their record-breaking pro Kashif Siddique for another two years. Siddique, 25, smashed a league record of 233 in Saturday's game against Ribblesdale Wanderers as Padiham amassed a record-breaking 355
A WEEK is a long time in cricket. Ask Clitheroe skipper Simon Coulter. Before the Bank Holiday weekend, The Chatburn Road side were sitting pretty in the league with defeat against Padiham in the Ramsbottom Cup the only blot on their copybook. But defeats
KWIK Save is to close one of its East Lancashire branches - but four others in the area have survived the axe. Unions have hit out at the decision to close the Station Road store in Clitheroe and claimed staff should have been consulted more over the
AN INQUEST jury will continue its deliberations today into the death of a 14-year-old Burnley boy who hanged himself in a privately-run secure unit. Adam Rickwood was the youngest person in Britain to die in custody when he was found hanging by his shoelaces
Steve McClaren is facing a major Euro 2008 defensive headache after Rio Ferdinand and Michael Dawson were ruled out of next week's crucial trip to Estonia. With Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Jonathan Woodgate and Micah Richards already missing, it leaves
NEW Accrington Stanley goalkeeper Kenny Arthur is looking forward to fulfilling an ambition to play in the Football League. The Scotland international ended a 15-year association with Partick Thistle when he signed a 12-month contract with League Two
CHANGING the time of a council's planning meeting will mean that members of the public are shut out, according to opposition councillors. For the past couple of years the meetings have been held by Blackburn with Darwen Council at 7pm on Thursdays.
RESIDENTS can have their say about the proposed closure of several libraries at today's meeting of Lancashire Local Burnley. Other issues for discussion at the meeting include traffic calming schemes at Coal Clough Lane and Thursby Road Area, waiting
