Archive

The Lib Dems have suffered their first loss of the night in the Horwich and Blackrod ward. HORWICH & BLACKROD John Raymond Barrow (Con) 1,325; Peter McGeehan (Lib Dem) 731; Isabel Seddon (Lab) 1,162; Majority 163.

Labour councillor, Margaret Clare has retained her seat in the party stronghold of Harper Green. HARPER GREEN Margaret Clare (Lab) 1,182; Dave Connor (Lib Dem) 419; Robert Tyler (Con) 719; Majority 463.

Deputy council leader Linda Thomas has retained her seat in the Halliwell ward. HALLIWELL Martin Grindrod (Con) 517; Martin McLoughlin (Lib Dem) 463; * Linda Thomas (Lab) 1,802; Majority 1,385.

A MAGNIFICENT solo effort from Josh Howard helped FC United complete a superb a league and cup double. The former Manchester United trainee struck with just nine minutes remaining to help the Rebels overcome Curzon Ashton in the League Challenge Cup

POLLING stations in Bolton have closed and ballot boxes are now being reurned to Bolton Arena where votes will be counted. The Bolton News will provide live coverage of the results for the 2007 local council elections as they are announced. More later

STUART Humphreys tried his best to celebrate Leigh RMI's great escape from relegation on Saturday, but the stresses and strains of keeping his side in the Conference North had left him physically and mentally drained. Humphreys was the one who had always

SAM Allardyce has been warned not to even think of stripping Wanderers of their prized assets, if he gets another management job. Newcastle United are hotly-tipped to make a move for the former Whites boss, who quit the Reebok on Sunday after seven and

West Ham striker Carlos Tevez is clear to face Wanderers, despite fears he would not be allowed to play following fresh problems with a loan contract. The Hammers, who were fined £5.5million by the Premier League for failing to reveal the full details

KEVIN Nolan believes he can become a better player under Sammy Lee. The Wanderers' captain, who developed into one of the Premiership's brightest midfield prospects under Sam Allardyce, was stunned by the events of last weekend but delighted when chairman

A GANG of crooks fled empty handed after ransacking a store during an attepted robbery.. The would-be thieves, who are thought to be of eastern European origin, struck at Costcutter in Little Lever. Up to seven men came into the store and began asking

A 21-YEAR-old woman was told by magistrates to wear a longer skirt when she next appeared in court. Lindsey Rodgers, of Bury Road, Bolton, was told her denim mini-skirt and skimpy vest top were not appropriate attire for court when she appeared before

MP IVAN Lewis has admitted being "concerned" about the problems uncovered in a BBC documentary looking into maternity care in Manchester. The health minister and Bury South MP, who has Government responsibility for maternity care was speaking before

MANCHESTER based band Fury UK have released their second album on independent label Rocksector Records. "Face of Adversity" is available to buy online from Rocksector Records or from Vibes Records, on Princess Parade in Bury. They mix hard rock and

AN animal charity is looking for people to sponsor some of its resident pets. As well as finding homes for abandoned animals, Pets in Need, based in Turton Road, Tottington, also houses a selection of animals on special retreat, which can be sponsored

CLONE Roses singer Gavin Scott has said he would have doubts about a Stone Roses reunion - despite the fact that they are one of his favourite bands. "I think it's better left as it is - there's more euphoria," he says. "But then on the other hand,

AN 80-year-old woman has been knocked down by a hit and run driver. The incident happened in Market Street, Little Lever, at around 1.15pm. The area was packed with members of the public and school pupils. The woman, named by members of the public

AN angry mother has hit out after a judge chose not to jail a flasher who exposed himself to her teenage daughter. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said her daughter has been suffering nightmares ever since she was approached by Ian

A JUNIOR football club is hoping a car boot sale will help raise the pounds needed to allow its players to spend a penny. Daisy Hill Juniors are bidding to raise £9,500 to install a drainage system to changing room toilets alongside their pitch off Leigh

A WOMAN who suffered a serious leg break after slipping while on a woodland walk was stretchered to safety by Bolton Mountain Rescue. Twelve team volunteers went to the aid of the 50-year-old St Helens woman, who was on a footpath leading from High Bullough

A SCHEME launched at the Royal Bolton Hospital to crackdown on violent and agressive patients and visitors is being copied across the UK. The first national pilot scheme to hand an £80 on-the-spot fine to violent patients in accident and emergency at

SLIPROADS at three of the M61's major junctions are to be improved as part of a £430,000 scheme to reduce accidents and conjestion.. Bolton council has approved a programme of works for junction four at Kearsley, junction five near Hunger Hill and Westhoughton

A BOLTON artist has bagged a nationwide art prize - and a £5,000 cheque. Former Bolton School pupil Mark Melvin beat 2,000 other hopefuls to the prestigious Mercury Art Prize - although he admits that he never expected to win. The 27-year-old, who studies

A CRACKDOWN on off-road bikes across Bolton has led to 25 machines being seized in the past month - and unclaimed vehicles facing the crusher. Police have begun using new powers which allows them to confiscate bikes being used illegally without first

MAY Day celebrations were in full swing at a primary school as youngsters marked the start of the month in the traditional manner. A maypole was put up in the grounds of Lord Street School in Horwich, and children spent the morning and afternoon enjoying

A HEADTEACHER has welcomed news that the road outside his school is to be made safer after two car crashes in a fortnight. Ken Howell, headteacher at Smithills School, has been calling for action over a dangerous stretch of Smithills Dean Road for four

EIGHT times Grammy award winner Lauryn Hill is heading to the UK. The singer will appear at the Apollo, Manchester, on Tuesday July 10. Having initially established her reputation as the most visible and vocal member of The Fugees, she launched her

A SCRAPYARD owner has vowed to rebuild his business after his office was destroyed in an arson attack. Sadam Shahid, aged 27, who runs S&S Motors, in Derby Street, Daubhill, said his computer, paper files and keys to all the vehicles were lost in the

SCULPTORS will compete to create a Fred Dibnah memorial statue in bronze. The Bolton and District Civic Trust are drawing up a shortlist of seven sculptors from across the country, and will ask them to design a permanent tribute to the TV celebrity steeplejack

A BANANA war has broken out in Bolton supermarkets. Store bosses are peeling back prices, and putting pressure on independent greengrocers. Asda cut the price of loose bananas by 17p last month, to 68p a kilogramme. Competitors, Sainsbury's, Tesco and

SAM Allardyce had the Bolton public in the palm of his hands throughout his seven and a half years as manager of Wanderers. And not much has changed since he quit. His announcement on Sunday seems to have had the curious effect of turning people into

YOU'VE got to hand it to Manchester City for hitting Joey Barton with their own internal discipline whenever he misbehaves. But surely the time has come for the Blues to get rid of him. He injured one of his team-mates this week with a punch during

IN these boring days of efficient football, you long for a team full of flamboyant players. Just imagine a side featuring Pele, Best and Wright-Phillips. Well, there is one at Southampton. Unfortunately, the Pele is a Portuguese defender, Best's christian

FOOTBALL gave Alan Ball a rousing send-off last week. Far too rousing, in fact. Ball deserved every ounce of the respect which was paid to him at every football match throughout the country. It was just a shame that he wasn't honoured with silence

RESIDENTS living in a technology "vacuum" in Horwich are calling for an answer on whether they will get broadband. Homeowners on The Meadows estate, near the Middlebrook Retail Park, were promised a broadband internet connection before Christmas. Engineers

THE University of Central Lancashire's European-funded marketing project, Designlab UK, has revealed it is already on target to save North-west businesses more than £150,000 on their marketing support, less than six months after it was officially launched

COMPANIES are being urged to keep up with competitors over the increase in mobile working. Research by Microsoft research revealed that 73 per cent of people consider the ability to work flexibly a deciding factor when choosing a new job, while 52 per

VEHICLE paint sprayers in the North-west vehicle paint sprayers are 96 times more likely to develop occupational asthma than other workers. The Health and Safety Executive has issued a health alert about the dangers of breathing in harmful chemicals

BUSINESSES are being urged to ensure they are ready to comply with the national smoking ban. Under the Health Act 2006, almost all enclosed public places and workplaces will become smoke-free from July 1. This includes offices, factories, shops, pubs

BUSINESSES that want to take advantage of Bolton Wanderers' growing presence in China have been invited to an information day to hear about expanding the town's links on a football-led trade mission. Steve Bellis, a director of Lynx International, the

TAX experts at Cowgill Holloway have warned entrepreneurs across Bolton to take advantage of a tax evasion amnesty. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is offering a partial amnesty to people who admit to having evaded tax by moving funds to offshore bank

BOLTON construction company Hargreaves has built a new supermarket in record time. Using new techniques, the £2 million, 17,000sq ft Aldi project was completed in 26 weeks - six weeks earlier than it would have been using traditional building methods

BOB the Builder will be in Manchester City Centre to launch a special party. The New Children's Hospital Appeal is celebrating its first birthday - and it wants everyone to join the party on Saturday, May 12 in the city's Albert Square. Clowns and celebrity

THE major work to set up my urban garden is now done. The garden has been levelled and the boxes put in place. Around the boxes and on all three levels I have spread various colours of stones and pea gravel for a maintenance free garden. I have a plastic

A SECOND town council has withdrawn its backing of a Bill to save community shops, post offices and services, blaming campaigners' treatment of Ruth Kelly. Westhoughton Town Council has joined Blackrod Town Council in deciding against supporting campaigners

ORGANISERS of a day of charity races are calling on people across Bolton to help break last year's record number of entries. The people behind the Horwich Carnival Races need to attract more than 750 runners and 260 cyclists if they are to set an all-time

The Bolton News TV Bulletin for May 3, is available to view.

A WORKSHOP launched to discuss this year's smoking ban has been hailed a massive success. Council and health bosses have organised a series of sessions for Bolton businesses in the run up to July 1, when the ban on smoking in enclosed public places and

EDUCATION Minister Alan Johnson went back to school yesterday to see how a once failing primary has turned around. Mr Johnson was invited to Washacre School in Westhoughton, which was placed in special measures in the spring of 2004 for a year. Now

MISS out on that coveted item when the Kate Moss collection went on sale yesterday? Well never fear - Topshop online has got new stock in of some of the best items. Black skinny jeans, stripey skinny trews and stripey hotpants are back in stock, along

A BOLTON man's home became infested with thousands of flies for two months after a sewer pipe burst. Martin Ormrod, aged 41, spent each day sweeping and vacuuming dead flies from his floor, cupboards, shower and windowsills. It became so bad, he had

A CHILLING ghost story described as "the Emerald Isle meets the Sixth Sense" is to be the next production staged by The Octagon. Shining City is written by the award-winning Irish playwright, Conor McPherson, who recently enjoyed critical acclaim with

COMMUTERS could benefit from a £3 billion public transport overhaul for Greater Manchester. A fleet of 500 new buses, bigger and better trains and American-style yellow school buses, which pick-up children from outside their homes, could be heading

A PIONEERING project aimed at curbing anti-social behaviour in Farnworth got young people off the streets -and involved in making a film. The "Weekenders Project" led by the council's Farnworth Inclusion Team, was launched following complaints about

A MAN who left schoolgirls traumatised after exposing himself has been spared jail. Ian Kirkland, aged 30, of Blenheim Road, Breightmet, was ordered to complete a sex-offender probation programme and banned for life from working with children. A judge

KNIFE-WIELDING robbers threatened and tied up two shop workers before fleeing with a large amount of cash. Darren Gibson was locking up McColls newsagents in Car Bank Street, Atherton, when two masked men ran in at 9.50pm on Sunday. One held an 8in

PLEASE tell me you have been watching Any Dream Will Do, (BBC1 Sat nights). For the sake of those who, bizarrely, have not wished to spend their evenings in the company of Andrew Lloyd Webber, I will explain. Currently, on the BBC, 12 young men are singing

MULTI award winning singer-songwriter-pianist Norah Jones is to tour the UK this summer. Norah will appear at the Apollo, in Manchester, on Saturday August 25. It will be one of only three British dates on her European tour. The tour is Norah's first

BOLTON boasts a true mix of different cultures living together. Michael Carroll of the Bolton Multicultural Arts Group spent four and a half years collating and editing revealing individual stories for a fascinating new book "Meet the Family . . .". Here

THE problem of chewing gum on our streets was highlighted once again in The Bolton News (Friday April 27). The only solution on offer was an increase in price. Perhaps a bit of lateral thinking is needed, together with a slight change in the law. The

PARENTS having difficulties in getting their children into the primary school of their choice are justified in asking local councillors if school closures have added to the problem. Parental concern comes against a background of a doubling of the numbers

MOST people believe the increasing amount of traffic on our roads to be a major problem. Despite this, we continue to use our own vehicles to travel short distances to work or into town because we deem the public transport system to be woefully inadequate

I AM increasingly concerned at the appalling state of the peak-hour railway service from Bromley Cross station to Bolton and return. Until recently, I felt fortunate to live close to a local railway station. However, my two sons now regularly use the

IN response to Cllr Nick Peel's letter, "There is no place for racism in Bolton". I have never ever seen examples of such bad racism as there is in Queens Park at night, when gangs of Asian youths will chant racist slurs on innocent dog walkers. Does

HAVING read Cllr Sean Hornby's letter regarding speed humps, I thought that maybe he had an understanding of the situation, then I realised that he has not even begun to grasp the issue at all. Cllr Wilkinson, being an ex fire chief, knows only too well

MR Riley's letter of April 25 is highly misleading. There is absolutely no question of access to planning documents being denied, rather the contrary, as access has been greatly improved over the last 12 months following the implementation of the council's

CLLR Robert Wilkinson highlighted that there is clear evidence to suggest that many of the "speed humps" constructed within the borough over the last decade or so are substantially larger than intended (and than legislation permits), The Bolton News,

MORE parents are having to fight to get their child into the primary school of their choice. The numbers of parents having to appeal decisions by Bolton Council over school places has shot up by more than 100 per cent compared to last year. Tory councillors

LABOUR was battling to hang on to power in Bolton today as the town went to the polls. Voting began at 7am as weeks of campaigning drew to a close. The polling stations will close at 10pm when the ballot papers will be taken to the Bolton Arena at Middlebrook

ONE lucky shopper could be £10,000 richer if they can crack the code of the secret safe at The Market Place shopping centre this weekend. The full-size safe will be hidden somewhere in the centre, and hunting it down will give shoppers the chance to

GUESTS will be invited to dance the night away at the Mayor of Bolton's charity fund-raising finale. Cllr Walter Hall is hosting a glittering charity dinner dance to raise money for his annual charity appeal as his year as mayor draws to a close. The

HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds worth of fake Lacoste trainers have been discovered by police. Around 6,500 pairs of counterfeit "Swerv" and "Sento" trainers have been found in boxes on 22 pallets at a warehouse unit in the Lostock Industrial Estate,

THOUSANDS of mourners including greats from the world of football are due to attend the funeral of World Cup legend Alan Ball. The 61-year-old member of the victorious 1966 England squad was found dead at his home in Hook Lane, Warsash, Hants, last week

A FIVE-year-old boy has been suspended from school - for having tramlines shaved into his hair. The parents of Oliver Slaven say they have been told he cannot return to classes at St Catherine CE Primary School in Horwich until the lines have been removed

A TRUSTED council finance officer who stole nearly £30,000 from the estate of a dead pensioner has escaped a jail sentence. Sarah Gardner, aged 28, moved money between bank accounts belonging to Judith Kirby, aged 60, whose financial affairs she looked

WANDERERS are ready to put behind them a week of distraction and train their focus back on a Uefa Cup spot. The race for the three available European positions has now reached frenetic pace - not that you would have noticed around the Reebok Stadium,

WITH 10 years of experience in the job, there is not a lot Neighbourhood Services team leader Kevin Wright has not seen or had to remove from the streets of Bolton. "We come across all sorts - dead animals, packs of rats, bags of used syringes. It can

YOUNGSTERS in Darwen are being warned after a large amount of alcohol was seized by police. They seized 79 bottles of beer, 80 cans of lager, 12 bottles of cider, six bottles of vodka and a variety of other bottles of alcohol from teenagers. Insp Andrea

A teenager was last night charged with the murder of a 12-year-old girl who was shot dead in her own home. The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with the murder of Kamilah Peniston, who was gunned down in her home in

To hear the full interview, listen to our podcast, above. BURN the Mona Lisa singer Nick Miller has revealed his most embarrassing on-stage moment. The singer remembers throwing himself off the sound rig at the band's debut gig - only to knock