THE inquests have already opened, and the bigwigs at the ECB are all set to dust down the cheque-book to try and remedy the problems that have blighted this disastrous Ashes tour for England. However, all the meetings and money in the world won’t get
Having ended 2006 with a tight, hard-fought 2-1 win over the Mobilx Newcastle Vipers on New Year's Eve, Manchester Phoenix coach Tony Hand is expecting a big effort from his players this weekend as the Phoenix take on the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield
A leaked Department of Health document, marked restricted, exposed the true extent of cuts being driven forward because of the mis-management of the service. The document reveals that Ministers are trying to claw back the NHS deficit by shedding 37,000
A FAMILY who raised a magpie chick in their home now believe the same bird is regularly visiting the grave of a son who died at the age of four after an asthma attack. The chick was rescued by Barry Hobson, the uncle of tragic Dylan Lomax, and was reared
IT is clearly not necessary to have won the FA Cup to appreciate that it is still regarded as the most romantic of sporting contests. Neither Sam Allardyce nor, surprisingly, Sammy Lee, ever had the honour of picking up a winners' medal. But the Reebok
SAM Allardyce is expected to make more than just the one enforced change to his starting line-up for tomorrow's FA Cup Third Round tie at Doncaster Rovers. Wanderers will be without the suspended Ivan Campo when they take on the in-form League One side
CHILDREN watched in horror as a man beat his dog to death in the street. A man, thought to be in his twenties, was said to have dragged the Staffordshire Bull Terrier crossbreed through Levens Drive, in Breightmet, before stamping on its head until it
RESIDENTS are campaigning to make sure that their landlords cannot chop down a 40-year-old tree. An application by Platt Hill Residents' Association would, if successful, see Bolton Council issue a preservation order on the ash tree. Granting the order
AN experienced deep sea diver who died during an expedition in Scotland had an epileptic fit, an inquest heard. Hilary Lyon, aged 39, was exploring a wreck with Bolton Sub-Aqua Club when she got into difficulties on July 15, 2004. Bolton Coroners Court
CONTRACT rebel Dwayne Mattis will not be rushed out of Gigg Lane on the cheap, according to Shakers boss Chris Casper. Although the 25-year-old midfielder has turned down a 12-month offer to stay at the club, Bury have still been able to brush off offers
WHY would a club pay £5 million for a player in January when they could sign him for nothing in July? At best, he would be available for 16 Premiership games, which equates to £312,000 per match - plus wages. But that, the rumour mill would have us
UP TO 50 jobs are hanging in the balance at Card Warehouse shops in the Bolton area after the owner of the discount greetings card chain went into administration. Peterborough-based Greeting Card Group, which also operates Cardfair stores, called in
BOLTON'S Little Darlings have been presented with their stunning portraits. Corah Hill, aged three, and seven-month-old Sienna-Mae Wilson, were crowned champions of The Bolton News competition in October last year. The pair won a seven-nights Haven
WELCOME to the New Year! If 2006 was the year for new music to make ripples, this year it's all about waves so big even Patrick Swayze in Point Break would think twice. But with so many "hotly tipped"s floating around, it's hard to know who put your
LOCAL female entrepreneurs who have helped other women started in business have just a week to enter a prestigious trade award. Closing date for entries to the 2007 Prowess Awards - for women who have provided mentoring, business support, advocacy and
A property developer and investment company has started a multi-million pound refurbishment programme at one of its flagship business parks. Hamilton Heath Estates began the refurbishment at Hemfield Business Park in Wigan, which they bought two months
TWO former call centre workers have set up a new catering venture, with the blessing of pop star and DJ Boy George. After deciding to set up in business together last May, Susan Killeen and Lynda Atherton celebrated the New Year by opening More Protein
MORE than 3,000 teenagers living in Bolton are being paid to stay on in education. A total of 3,117, aged between 16 and 18, are receiving up to £30 a week in education maintenance allowance (EMA). The money is paid to those over the age of 16 studying
BOLTON'S mayoress at the time of the town's worst disaster, has died, aged 97. Lena Almond, formerly Rigby, died on Friday, December 29, at the Four Seasons Nursing Home, Fold Lane, Breightmet. She became Mayoress of Bolton when her father, Robert Demaine
RESIDENTS in Leigh are being given the chance to make a healthy start to the new year. From Monday the Turnpike Centre in Leigh Road will be offering free sessions ranging from tai chi to vegetarian cookery. Organised by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust's
A BOLTON music store which claims to be the oldest in the world is celebrating its 175th birthday this year. Family-owned Booths Music, in Churchgate, has sold musical instruments and sheet music since 1832, when it was established by three brothers:
A PROSPECTIVE Conservative parliamentary candidate has urged the Government to throw out plans to give convicted prisoners the vote. Deborah Dunleavy, who plans to stand for Bolton North-east at the next general election, said that jail sentences must
POLICE in Bolton are urging people to register expensive Christmas gifts with a free service. The website immobilise.com allows people to record the details of all their valuable items such as televisions and bicycles, or any item with a serial number
IT'S always the same. We wish each other Happy New Year, shake hands with people, kiss some, who, at other times, we can barely tolerate. And it is done with the best intentions, though, deep inside, we suspect the New Year will prove just as unproductive
THE announcement that Bolton's Music Zone CD and DVD store has entered administration echoes the trend that has seen record and book shops hit hard by online competition. The possible closure of the store - the company is looking for a buyer - could
As a Lib Dem Councillor for Smithills Ward, in which Moss Bank Park is located, I fully support the Veterans Bowling Club members (Wednesday, January 3) and other park users who have written to object to the Labour Party's proposal to introduce parking
IT'S always been hard to get an apprenticeship in the building trade, but the "lump" was not to blame. The lump was, and still is, self-employed tradesmen without whom the building trade would not exist. The fault is with the greedy building companies
IT is amazing to think that Booths Music Shop in Bolton could be the oldest of its type in the world. Three brothers, Thomas, James and George Booth, set up the shop in 1832 - the same year Frederic Chopin gave his first concert in Paris. The current
UNLIKE your correspondent Allan Ramsay, I see nothing wrong with SatNav systems alerting drivers to the location of speed cameras. Speed cameras are placed at accident blackspots to encourage drivers to observe the speed limits there. Drivers are made
I REFER to the letter in Saturday's edition from Chris Bessell, "Guns are safe in the right hands", in reply to my letter of the preceding Tuesday. I must say that I agree with everything you add, except perhaps for the last bit: "Please don't criticise
I WAS fortunate to be invited to the Christmas Party at Ladybridge High School last month. My fellow senior citizens and I had a lovely time. The food cooked by the food technology students was excellent and could put many restaurants to shame. We were
I have listened to all the debates and have decided there is no easy answer to the dog problem. I would suggest every dog is licensed and muzzled in public, and every dog walker carries the licence when in public with the dog. A dog is like a weapon,
ANY transport user in their right mind would see the argument in favour of protecting the line of the former Bolton-Bury railway, and indeed many other disused lines (though I don't seriously think there is any prospect of reinstating George Stephenson's
GREATER Manchester Police had the largest number of officers suspended in 2006 for alleged crimes, a survey shows. Some 43 officers were suspended form the force, with more than 180 suspended or sacked for alleged crimes across the UK . A poll of 46
TWO teenage robbers who punched a priest in the face before fleeing with his MP3 player and less than £5 in change have been jailed. The pair, aged 15 and 17, admitted attacking Father Kieren Mullarkey as he walked along a street in his dog collar and
THE Danny Hurst contract saga is finally over after Radcliffe Borough sold the 26-year-old goalkeeper to Fleetwood yesterday. Hurst, who had refused to sign a new deal with Borough, moved to Borough's fellow UniBond Premier League side after the club's
LEIGH RMI face another stern test when they travel to Kettering tomorrow, the Conference North's only full-time outfit. Although they began the month with a 2-0 defeat at fellow promotion challengers Worcester, Kettering have been particularly impressive
ATHERTON Collieries have the chance to make history when they take on FC United. Phil Brown's side could be become the first team ever to complete a league double over the breakaway club when the two meet tomorrow. Colls, enjoying their best ever season
WIGAN are the latest club to be spurred into slashing prices because of falling crowd figures. They have taken the drastic step of pricing tickets at £15 for four of their remaining home Premiership games. With Blackburn also experimenting successfully
IT looks like Manchester United's good form has gone to Ryan Giggs's head. United deserve credit for turning around their position at this stage of last season when they were miles behind Chelsea and out of the Champions League. But Giggs's declaration
JOHN Barnes dipped his foot into the dangerous waters of racism this week. It is perhaps not surprising that he has strong opinions on the issue of racism in football after the terrible abuse he received from some England supporters because of the colour
GRAHAM Poll gave two free kicks for feet being high in the first 25 minutes at Anfield on Monday. Neither was more than four feet off the ground nor within a foot of the opposition players' face. When Poll refereed the recent Manchester derby at Old
IT'S time somebody told Liverpool and Wanderers to draw a line under all this silly ill-feeling that has developed between them. But it's not going to be me because I'm loving it. Every time Rafael Benitez opens his mouth to complain about bullying
FOOTBALL: Bolton Under-14s have been given a home tie against Salford in the quarter-final of the Greater Manchester Schools' Talbot Cup. The town team have found the going tough this season winning just two of their seven games. They started well,
RUGBY LEAGUE: Wigan Warriors have signed 18-year-old stand off Mark Flanagan from the Bradford Bulls. Flanagan joined the club on Wednesday and has linked up with the rest of the squad on the pre-season trip to Lanzarote. Flanagan is an England Academy
Slimline Ricky Hatton has cut out the junk food so successfully his nutritionist is urging him to pile the pounds back on ahead of his world title challenge against Juan Urango in Las Vegas. Hatton is the first to admit he relishes a diet of takeaways
PHIL Brown will cement his position as manager of Hull City in the summer, if he manages to keep the Tigers in the Championship. The former Wanderers' favourite has been appointed manager until the end of the season after impressing during his spell
BURY boss Chris Casper believes his old mate Sean O'Driscoll is more than capable of springing a cup shock at the Keepmoat Stadium tomorrow. Doncaster boss O'Driscoll leads his side into FA Cup action having lost just four of his first 25 games in charge
MANCHESTER United defender Phil Bardsley is the latest player to be linked with a move to the Reebok. The 21-year-old from Salford was lined up for a loan move to Sunderland but that deal has mysteriously stalled, prompting sources on Wearside to claim
POLICE are appealing for information after a footbridge over the M60 was vandalised. The vandalism caused the motorway to be closed for several hours as a precautionary measure on Wednesday after damage was found to steel cables on the bridge. The closures
A BUTCHERS has appeared in court for flytipping waste products into bins belonging to other local businesses. Bennett's Meats, of Princess Parade, Bury, was found to have thrown remnants of chicken and red meat waste in a bin belonging to another meat
A ROW has erupted between political parties on Westhoughton Town Council. Independent and Labour members say they are angry that their Liberal Democrat counterparts have repeatedly failed to attend meetings. There have been 19 town council meetings
THE first episode of Big Brother was the second most successful opening night in the history of the Celebrity version of the reality show. The entrance into the house on Wednesday night by a new crop of inmates was seen by an average of 7.1 million viewers
TWO friends who have launched a campaign to help save the world's rainforests are rallying support. Richard Greenwood and Simon Harrington, both from Bolton, are working to raise £50,000 to travel to Ecuador later this year to plant thousands of trees
A WOMAN had her handbag stolen by a robber who threatened to stab her with a hypodermic needle. The 39-year-old victim was walking along Newport Street towards Bolton Town Hall at around 6.30am on Wednesday when she was approached by a man on bicycle
A CANCER sufferer who is terrified of dogs was robbed by a young thug who threatened her with a bull terrier and then a knife. Elizabeth Dean, aged 53, was cut on the hand as she tried to protect her face from the robber's knife as she walked through
LORD of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen has signed on for another fantasy. The former Bolton School pupil will voice the narrator role in "Stardust", whose cast includes Claire Danes, Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer. Production ended in the autumn
A MAN has appeared in court charged with wounding a 10-month-old baby. Darren Higham, aged 21, of Tavistock Road, Bolton, appeared at Bolton Magistrates Court yesterday charged with wounding following an incident last June. He was bailed and will next
A DATE has been set for a hearing which will decide whether the sentence given to the killer of schoolboy Joe Geeling was too lenient. Michael Hamer repeatedly stabbed 11-year-old Joe and then dumped his body in a park in Bury in March last year. The
AN engineering works has been destroyed in a massive blaze. Thirty people were evacuated as 50 firefighters tackled the fire in Tonge Moor Road, Bolton, yesterday afternoon. The road was partly closed after a gas cylinder, which threatened to explode
I am trying to find out which regiment my grandfather, Richard Lofthouse, served in during the First World War. There were two people from Bolton with the same name who served, and after a search at the National Archives, Kew, and with help of the Museum
