POLICE officers in Greater Manchester will be issued with bulletproof vests from March next year. The vests - known as 'covert body armour' - will be worn under uniforms by 5,500 officers on the beat. Today the Police Federation welcomed the announcement
A WORRIED couple have appealed to their missing 13-year-old daughter to come home. Heather Patterson of Crescent Road, Great Lever, has not been seen since she went out at about 11.30pm on Friday. Heather's dad David, 41, said: "We're really worried.
ROADS engineers have been blasted by councillors after they recommended putting an access road near the brow of a hump-backed bridge. Planning vice-chairman Cllr Peter Finch hit out as plans for flats on Highfield Road, Farnworth, were turned down. Developers
CAMPAIGNERS hoping to bring the railway back to Horwich are hoping to enlist the support of the town council. Following a hugely successful public meeting attended by more than 80 people in the town last week, three of the organisers are planning to address
TWO local Tory MPs are being targeted by Labour in their bid to force MPs to disclose their outside earnings. Bolton North East's Peter Thurnham and Bury South David Sumberg are still undecided on how they will vote on the issue on Monday. Today a Commons
A FAMILY from Atherton came face to face with movie superstar Patrick Swayze this morning when they were guests of the week on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast. Teacher John Hodgson and wife Janice, with children Justin, 26, Carrie-Ann, 18 and Gareth, 15
ATHERTON LR rose to sixth in the Unibond First Division last night following a superb 3-2 victory at Curzon Ashton. Curzon had been the form club of recent weeks but it counted for little as Rovers took a two-goal lead in the first half. Tony Pemberton
A CRACKDOWN on trunk road building could be the death knell for the M62 "motorway from hell" widening. Chancellor kenneth Clarke is understood to have ordered a block on major road schemes to pay for tax cuts. This would affect more than 300 schemes,
A NEW course launched at Bolton Institute three weeks ago is already reaping rewards for its young graduates. Since starting on the Job Search Skills course, several graduates have been asked for interview and some have even left the course after receiving
FARNWORTH accountant Robert Jackson, has been elected to the Council of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA). Robert, 42, from Bury, is the managing partner with Thomson Morley Jackson, which, based in Farnworth and Manchester, is
BOLTON is gearing itself up for National School Meals Week - with pasta, a cuddly dinosaur and Olympic standard athletes. The week, which starts on Monday, is being launched in London today, and is aimed at encouraging more children to eat school lunches
THE Diocese of Manchester is set to sell its retreat and conference centre - due to lack of interest. The finance committee of the Bishop's council and the Diocesan Board of Finance are recommending that the "for sale" sign goes up at Crawshawbrook Retreat
A BOLTON councillor has made a plea on behalf of bus users travelling to Bolton General Hospital. Cllr Pauline Spencer urged Bolton Hospitals Trust to call for a single town centre bus stop with a regular service to and from the hospital, which will be
SIR: I refer to the sad closure of Bolton's only town centre sports centre - Silverwell Street. For the users and ratepayers, why were the facilities not kept open until the new college facilities on Manchester Road were opened? It is another 10 months
SIR: Most readers will remember the TV crime series adapted from real life stories and concerned a special group of Police Officers which was set up to combat the terror caused by such villains has Scarface, Al Capone and others. This force became known
BOLTON Combination were unlucky to go out of the North West Inter League Alliance to holders Preston District League by 2-1. They conceded a soft goal before finding themselves on the wrong side of a dubious penalty. Most teams would have buckled but
A SHOP in Ramsbottom has won the title of Best Food Shop in the country. Expert Henrietta Green's "Food Lovers' Guide to Britain for 1996-1997" names the Ramsbottom Victuallers shop in the village's Market Place as the nation's top food shop. This important
FEARS were growing today for the safety of an 86-year-old man who has been missing for two nights. Police are searching for Frank Bleakley who disappeared from Seymour House residential home in Astley Bridge on Monday afternoon. They fear the great-grandad
WHAT have they got to hide? That will be the question on everyone's lips if MPs do not vote to disclose their outside interests and earnings. A Commons select committee of MPs has rejected the aspect of the Nolan Report which proposed that MPs should
25 YEARS AGO RECORDING star Tony Christie makes a welcome return to Bolton's Club Empress next week. The Cromwellian Club will feature Welsh comedian Dave Swann, and at the Casino Club, Strictly for Cash,the vocal-music-comedy group fast making a name
ALAN Stubbs will have a special "get-out" clause in his new three-year contract but he is confident he will never need to use it. The Burnden star, happy to have made his peace with the club he was once so determined to leave, is convinced Wanderers have
TORQUAY UNITED 0 BURY 2 IMPROVING Bury continued their climb up the table with a comfortable win at managerless Torquay last night. The Shakers, fresh from hitting five at Mansfield on Saturday, produced another professional performance to pile on the
