HOW dare the Americans criticise our Anne Robinson and her accent? What do they know about dialect? Obviously these people have never been down south in their own country, or heard how a New Yorker speaks. They would not know what a dictionary was even
ATTENTION! Wallsuches old bleachworks, Horwich, is under attack by Redrow Homes. Ably spotted by Geoff Tindle (BEN, May 3). Redrow Homes are homing in which a salvo of 30 homes with garages, augmented by a broadside of 111 more, while blinkered Horwich
FURTHER to repeated reports in the BEN about teenage drinking in Bolton, I would like to describe an individual case as witnessed by a neighbour of mine only a week ago. A jogger found a lad of about 16 lying face down in a hedgerow, the face swollen,
ISN'T it great how the sight of a few daffodils can kid us into thinking that spring is on the way? Off we toddle to the garden centre. Out come the gloves, forks, spades and newly polished good intentions, and we're outside digging in compost. The trouble
CHORLEY FM will take to the airwaves this summer after a two week licence was granted for a radio station in the town for the midsummer festival. Chorley Borough Council and the Community Radio Group applied for a temporary permit, and last week they
FOOTIE fan Sean Modlin is over the moon after his beloved Fulham stormed through Nationwide Division One to clinch a place in the Premiership next season. Sean, 12, lives in Brookside, Coppull, but you're more likely to find him bellowing shouts of support
ROYAL Lancashire Show bosses have decided to go ahead with the prestigious event despite the earlier threat of cancellation due to the foot and mouth crisis. In a meeting at Chorley's Hartwood Hotel members of The Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society
A MASKED gunman pointed a pistol at the head of waitress and pulled the trigger in a dramatic robbery at a prestigious Bolton restaurant. Staff and customers cowered in terror after two men, wearing balaclavas, burst into the Yu and You Cantonese restaurant
Chorley 1 Guiseley 1 DESPITE the encouragement of cheerleaders from a local girls' junior football team, the Magpies could not conjure a victory from their final match of the season. In the end it took something of a fluke goal to rescue a point for Chorley
SPRING is busking out all over the Egerton area, as the town's top acoustic musicians add a second weekly gig to the area. In addition to their successful Sunday night sessions at the Cross Guns, Bolton's Buskers Ball will also be holding a regular Thursday
THE team selling the facilities at the 98-bedroom Village Hotel & Leisure Club is operating from a sales cabin at the site. The hotel, on Watefold Business Park, Bury, is not due to open until the autumn. But sales manager Linda O'Connor and her team
CUSTOMERS picked up an amazing bargain at a Westhoughton company when a website pricing error allowed them to buy a computer printer for ONE PENNY. Dabs.com which describes itself as Europe's leading IT e-tailer, discovered that the May 2 boob offered
A LITTLE Lever woman has secured a second chance to become the UK Chemical Industry Young Person of the Year. Janette Shaw, aged 27, reached the final last year representing the South West of England, but did not win. She worked for Contract Chemicals
A TEENAGER accused of attacking a 68-year-old Radcliffe man has appeared before magistrates again. The 15-year-old, who also comes from Radcliffe, is charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent against pensioner Eric Conwell during an incident
FORMER fireman George Heyes, found guilty of a string of sex attacks, had his sentence adjorned today at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester. Heyes, 44, of Bamburgh Close, Radcliffe, faces further delays before being sentenced. The former acting
FIFTY workers were evacuated from a Radcliffe flooring factory after toxic fumes escaped from an overheating machine. Around 25 fire officers tackled the incident at the premises of James Halstead in Leicester Road yesterday evening. A machine which breaks
A MAN accused of sending obscene cassette tape recordings through the post has been committed for trial to the Crown Court. Gerald Banyard, aged 47, of Highfield Road, Edenfield, faces two charges following incidents alleged to have happened within days
A GROUP of supermarket staff will be proving girl power rules the day when they abseil down Manchester Town Hall. The four-strong women team from Asda in Horwich will be raising money for the Royal National Institute for the Blind when they soar down
A VAN driver was arrested after he was involved in four crashes within five minutes last night. In the first incident, the flat-backed Ford Transit van was involved in a collision with a Fiat Punto being driven along Bury Road by Louise Hamer, 26, of
A DRUG user from Bolton who had been told there would be no more chances after shoplifting in Rochdale and Bolton, failed to attend court after committing a further offence during the period of a deferred sentence. Magistrates at Rochdale yesterday ordered
PERSISTENT offender Peter Fortune blatantly ignored his bail conditions from previous court appearances to once again cause criminal damage at his former girlfriend's home. Fortune, 30, appeared before Bury magistrates for the third time to plead guilty
TWO friends helped save a neighbour's life - after knocking on his door to borrow a tea bag. Brave Michelle Lewis, aged 28 and Rachael Naylor, 21, dragged Kevin Moss unconscious from his third-floor flat in Park Road, Heaton, last night after fat in a
ADLINGTON are stuggling to arrange their National Knockout Cup game against Cumbrian outfit Millom. The Bolton Association side are still involved in the Lancashire Knockout competition against Great Harwood but there is a set date for that fixture on
ASTLEY Bridge new pro Dheeraj Jadhav couldn't quite believe the atmosphere after last week's win over Westhoughton. What he did not understand was just how long the Bridge supporters had been waiting for such celebrations. It was back in September 1999
It was with great sadness that Graham Barrow from Heath Charnock died while participating in the 2001 London Marathon. Graham was running in the marathon to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. As with thousands of others Graham took part in the marathon
YET another letter from K Ball. Where on earth has this man been for the past 30-40 years? Surely he must have had his head buried in the sand. It seems he was not aware of how farm animals are reared and transported until the foot and mouth epidemic
THE following is a list of duty chemists: M D Rimmer, 22 Runshaw Lane, Euxton, Monday to Friday, 5.30-6.30pm; S P & D B Fishlock, 6-10 Carrington Centre, Eccleston, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 5.30-6.30pm, and Thursday 5.30-6pm; Scholes
BATTLE lines are being drawn as voters in Bury South prepare to go to the polls on June 7. Labour's Ivan Lewis is defending a 12,381 majority after capturing the Bury South seat from the Conservatives in 1997. Insisting every cross will count more than
BOLTON election candidates are relying on a new weapon to stamp out apathy at the ballot box -- the post box. Dwindling turnouts, as low as 62.5 per cent in Bolton South-east for the 1997 poll, have become a mounting source of concern for politicans.
MOVES to allow top health bosses extra powers to handle bigger cash budgets have sparked fears of corruption. New structures are being put in place to allow the chief executive of Wigan and Bolton Health Authority, Dr Tom Mann, to sign cheques up to £250,000
MILLIONS of television viewers shared in the highs and lows of an ex-Leigh schoolboy's retirement celebrations. Retired police sergeant Dick Base, a former Leigh Grammar School pupil and Tyldesley RUFC forward, was the star of the show in a prime time
MOTHERS Gill Pearl and Ruth Boff were so "brassed off" with their lives that they learned to play the saxophone. And now they have formed a band called -- Brassed Off. They were inspired to learna new skill by the desire to use their brains Both had scaled
A COLD wind kept the fish low in Monday's Bank Holiday match on Shore Top. The Outwood water offers little in the way of windbreaks and fishing sometimes can be at the mercy of the elements. Trevor Bevin made the most of his peg when he took skimmers
IN the 40 years since I was born, I have resisted the temptation to vandalise property, steal cars and mug people. In view of my responsible behaviour, I have written to Tony Blair, asking him to send me my vouchers for a free CD and training shoes. Mr
I AM disappointed, but not surprised, that Gary Titley, the Labour MEP for the North-west, should confuse racism and nationalism. The Basque region of Spain is proudly nationalist, but certainly not racist, in that anyone not for Basque is against Basque
ON Thursday last week, I was honoured to present a petition of 10,000 signatures of protest to the Ministry of Defence on behalf of the animals who are being senselessly killed by the Government. The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) has been exposing
YOUR readers may have noticed a rash of correspondence in these pages over the last few weeks on the subject of hunting with hounds. To make matters clear once and for all, I trust what follows will be of interest. Firstly, the RSPCA firmly believes that
LITTLE Islay Evans, from Euxton, was in Chorley at the weekend raising money for the Red Cross. Islay, six, is pictured here in Chapel Street showing off the charity's trendy new collection box.
BUS operators Stagecoach North West have been slammed for 'unfairly' hiking fares for the third time in just 18 months in the Clayton area. Clayton-le-Woods councillor Bill Mellor said the increase added insult to injury as the previous rise affected
ALL Seasons Leisure Centre was forced to temporarily close its swimming pool after a fault was discovered with the ventilation system. The Chorley pool, pictured here, shut on Friday, May 4, after a supervisor discovered the fault in ducting attached
NAUGHTY gnome Wilf, the soccer club pal, has shown that size really doesn't matter after apparently producing a whole team of offsprings. Wilf 'scored' regularly, it seems, during an absence from his Chorley FC Social Club home from where he was kidnapped
HUNDREDS of BEN readers voted The Flag Inn at Bromley Cross as their Pub of the Year. See our special Pub of the Year file on the news left link for the other nominations.
A 16-YEAR-OLD girl spotted offering sex for sale in Bolton's red light area was taken off the streets by the police -- after she was reported by older prostitutes. The teenager was surrounded by other anxious vice girls in the Shiffnall Street area who
DEAN Holdsworth offered thanks and paid tribute to Sam Allardyce today when he revealed: "I don't think I would be here but for him!" As Wanderers stood on the threshold of the Premiership, record signing Holdsworth reflected on the transformation in
HIS father was a youth striker with Wanderers who did not quite make the grade. But the future of Owen Hargreaves, the 20-year-old Canadian-born star of Bayern Munich's comprehensive victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday could not be brighter. Dad Colin
BOLTON landlady Ann France is waxing lyrical -- and she'd like to stop! Ann, who runs the Blundell Arms in Chorley Old Road with husband Neil, has dozens of half-burned candles that she'd like to give away. "We burn candles in the pub each evening," explained
FIREFIGHTERS were forced to cut a dress ring off a women's finger last night. Fire chiefs say Amanda Higginson, of Oakdale, Harwood, arrived at Bolton North Fire Station at 4am after her finger swelled up so much it woke her up. Firemen used cutting equipment
A PLAQUE commemorating the world-beating achievements of Golborne's most famous son went missing immediately after being unveiled. But the tribute to late boxing world champion -- the late "Battling Blacksmith" Peter Kane -- is in safe hands. The "missing
SAM Allardyce - once sacked by West Brom - will hold his head high when he returns to the Hawthorns on Sunday. "It was an experience - and a bitter one," the Wanderers' boss recalled of his dismissal, "and I was out of the game for 18 months. "But I've
LANCASHIRE were locked in a tight Championship contest at Leicester today after another disappointing performance by their batsmen. They slumped to 199 all out, losing all 10 wickets for 154 yesterday after Mike Atherton and Mark Chilton's opening stand
KIERON Purtill fears his season is over because of a persistent shoulder injury. The Leigh Centurions' half back is likely to need more surgery, effectively ending his chances of playing again this season. The club captain at Hilton Park has struggled
NEIL Turley is on the verge of putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract which will safeguard his Hilton Park future until the end of the 2003 season. Turley's try-scoring exploits in this season's NFP competition have alerted Super League predators
WITH regards to your recent article on the Government's plan to introduce baby bonds, I would like to make my own comments on this scheme. Personally I don't think anyone is going to benefit from it at all, only those who turn 18 in over 18 years' time
A DOCTOR has described the standards of care as "poor" at Leigh nursing homes. Dr Deepak Trivedi, chairman of the Leigh Primary Care Group, told health authority members that nursing homes are failing to provide simple medical equipment and he is now
FORMER colleagues of a former Bolton town planner who was crushed under a bus after the driver refused him entry have wished him a speedy recovery. David Hogg, 60, fell under the wheels of a First Manchester single-decker bus in Rochdale after first falling
A PENSIONER from Bury suffered fatal burns after his dressing gown and pyjamas caught fire, an inquest was told. Retired father Frank Moore, aged 73, who had been putting a piece of wood on the fire last Christmas, never gave an explanation for what happened
A COUNCIL chief vowed today: "We must build bridges of confidence to beat Bolton's prostitution problem." Cllr Frank White, chairman of the crime and disorder partnership, insists the police, social services and health authority must continue to work
CLUB captain Nick Daws has warned that this season's Bury team could fall apart if the situation at the club is not sorted out soon writes Steve Canavan Daws spoke from the heart about the club he loves and told how he wants to be a Gigg Lane player in
