RISING house prices and unsecured debts are forcing a record number of single people in Bolton to move back in with their parents. Twenty-two per cent of single people aged over 25 in the town now live with their parents, according to new research.
THE Bolton marathon could return as part of new plans to boost tourism in the borough. The last Bolton Marathon was held in 1987 after the numbers of people taking part dropped to 2,000. It is among a number of new attractions being considered to bring
THIS is the thug who led a terrifying attack on a businessman as he banked £17,000 in takings. With his face covered, and wielding a steel baton, he ambushed the 33-year-old man and fled with the cash. A horrified mother and her five-year-old daughter
AN Elvis impersonator, who won a second prize at a European Elvis convention, is coming back to Bolton to perform. Patrick J Hart, who comes from Great Lever but now lives in Leicester, presents his act as Joseph King as Elvis Presley. He will be bringing
THIS dish may look fantastic, but it's not the real thing. It's a deliberate electrotype copy of the type that was common in museums in the 19th century. But they are not forgeries . . . they were made in the days when people could not get to see the
A WESTHOUGHTON band are on the way to scoring nationwide success in a competition set up by the NME music magazine to promote unsigned talent. The four piece called Our Fold are currently topping the NME new bands chart and could well win the grand prize
LIKE any other teenager, Zoe Robinson is looking forward to starting college and becoming more independent. And thanks to a helping hand from the Bolton branch of the Variety Club of Great Britain, the 16-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, can do just
DID you enjoy summer? It arrived a couple of weeks ago, stayed for three days, then departed. If memory serves me correctly, never a certainty in the over-70s, temperatures hit 30 degrees in the North-west. I considered that autumnal, until my granddaughter
Mikao has the right profile to win the John Smith's Northumberland Plate at Newcastle tomorrow. Mark Tompkins' five-year-old will have to work the oracle if he is to replicate Sergeant Cecil's feat by winning the Gosforth Park feature, the Ebor and the
SOME people may be tempted to snigger when Bolton and tourism are mentioned in the same sentence. But the serious side is that in 2004 nine million visitors to the town spent £80 million and helped to provide 3,500 jobs. Now tourism bosses want to revive
THE announcement of job cuts and ward closures at the Royal Bolton Hospital can only be bad news for patients and staff. The money saving drive mean the loss of 80 jobs to save £8 million. This follows news that there will be no jobs for 41 graduate
STEVEN Croft smashed six off the last ball to fire Lancashire to a crucial Twenty20 Cup victory over Leicestershire Foxes at Grace Road last night. The 21 year old all-rounder smeared 28 off just eleven balls to put the disappointment of Tuesday's defeat
TWIGGY was modelling, The Beatles were wowing audiences and the England football team were about to make a nation's dreams come true and the UK got its first credit card. It was the swinging sixties. The film Alfie the original was a box-office smash
I WAS gutted for the wives and girlfriends of the England football team who had to endure the inconvenience of a less than perfect trip back from the Sweden game. It must have been so distressing for them when the private jet hired to fly them back to
THE old argument about women tennis players not earning as much as the men has raised its tiresome head again. Wimbledon pays the men fractionally more than it does the women and rightly so. Martina Navratilova says she'd go on strike to achieve parity
IF Charles Dickens was to write about the World Cup he would no doubt say it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Being no Dickens, I'd say it was a time when football fans get massive highs and terrible lows. The opening lines of his "
IT is always interesting at the World Cup quarter final stage to see which games the BBC and ITV pick for their weekend coverage. It's rather like choosing your football team in the playground, but instead of Sven-Goran Eriksson turning round while Gary
SO why exactly is Theo Walcott at the World Cup? We're down to the bare bones for strikers yet Walcott's got about as much chance of playing as me. It was a crazy decision to take him for innumerable reasons he's 17, he's not played in the Premiership
A TOP surgeon has blasted plans to move Herceptin tests from Bolton to Hope Hospital in Salford. Moving the examinations which determine whether breast cancer sufferers are receptive to the wonder-drug will bring an end to five years of testing at
A LIFELONG passion for off-road motorbikes has led a Bolton manufacturer to set up a new venture 1,800 miles away in Tenerife. For 34 years, Frank Mercer & Sons, which employs 62 staff in the Chequerbent Works in Westhoughton, has concentrated on polythene
THE Chorley-based Tenon Forum shows that business confidence is turning a corner after a gloomy end to 2005. Slow Christmas sales, rocketing oil prices, manufacturing plant closures and increasingly cautious consumers all contributed to a five-year low
WARMING up is a vital part of any running event and it is no different for the thousands of women taking part in this year's Race For Life in Bolton. For the past three years, the women racing in Leverhulme Park have been put through their paces by
A NEW campaign using streetwise cartoon characters Gaz, Shaz and Chaz to highlight road hazards for young drivers was launched by the Highways Agency today. The characters appear in the agency's new interactive DVD, which sets out the 10 most common
PARENTS are protesting at the decision to close a children's play area after it was wrecked by vandals. Council bosses say they have been forced to shut Moss Lane play area in Kearsley for health and safety reasons, after equipment was vandalised. But
A CYCLIST asked a teenager for her phone number before grabbing her as she walked to school. The sex pest also asked the 13-year-old girl if she had a boyfriend. But she ignored him and managed to escape when he lunged towards her, and ran to school
VANDALS have daubed graffiti on a mural painted by youngsters to brighten up their school. Teachers have described the attack on the painting at Johnson Fold County Primary School, Bolton, as mindless. The mural was the work of a group of pupils aged
Basingstoke Bison has announced that Doug Sheppard has agreed to be player/Head Coach of the club for the 2006-2007 season and onwards. Sheppard enters his rookie season as coach with the Bison coming off a stellar year on the ice, leading the Bison
CHILDREN at a Farnworth school were thrilled when the special guest at their annual dance show was revealed . . . it was comedian Peter Kay. He was there to officially open the newly-refurbished Harper Green School theatre which has now been named the
UP to 130 jobs are to be axed and wards are to be closed at the Royal Bolton Hospital, it was revealed today. The cuts are part of the hospital's drive to save £8 million. More than 80 nurses jobs will go and 68 beds could be taken out of use. The
Manchester Phoenix head coach Tony Hand has completed his second defensive signing in a week with the capture of Canadian blueliner Simon Mangos from the Victoria Salmon Kings. The signing of 26-year old Simon Mangos comes hot on the heels of former
PUPILS at Bolton School will soon be riding on the crest of a wave on board a yacht they have built from scratch. Pupils, staff and old boys have been working on the 48ft yacht since 1998. It has been a labour of love but once it is complete, young
YOUNGSTERS went back to nature when they were asked to create a piece of public art for the Farnworth Arts Festival. Under the guidance of local artist Karyn Killiner, 16 pupils created a 12ft elephant design using sticks; stones, leaves and any other
A SON is to take part in a gruelling bike ride to raise awareness of his father's rare disease. Simon Warford, aged 32, is tackling the Manchester to Blackpool ride after his father Alan Warford was diagnosed with Wegener's Granulomatosis, which causes
A £10 MILLION expansion of Bolton School has been given the go-ahead by planning bosses. Councillors on Bolton Council's planning committee voted to approve the outline plan yesterday after the school dropped a controversial move to close Dobson Road
Name? Empire Who are you? We are a Bolton based indie rock and roll band. Vocals and rhythm guitar: Jonny Henderson; vocals and percussion: Michelle Henderson; lead guitar: Mike Newton; bass: Nick "Jesus" Plevin; drums: Andy Dale. How did you get
A PLANNED strike by thousands of workers at supermarket giant Asda was called off at the last minute. Members of the GMB union at 20 distribution depots across the country were due to walk out for five days from today in industrial action which threatened
THEATRE, events, exhibitions guide THEATRE Octagon, Bolton Blonde Bombshells Of 1943 Alan Plater's sparkling comedy featuring live music from the 1940s era. Wartime bandleader Betty has a problem - every time glamorous swing band the Blonde Bombshells
IVAN Campo ended speculation over his Reebok future today when he signed a new two-year contract. The former Real Madrid ace signed the new deal in Mallorca this morning after Wanderers secretary, Simon Marland, flew to Parma to complete the formalities
Tom Wilson, manager of Kwik Save, hands over a new sponsorship kit to Dave Haywood, chairman at FC Sharples U8s, for the second season running. FC Sharples play in the Bolton & Bury League and any new players wishing to join can contact Dave on 01204
Cristiano Ronaldo's chances of facing England in tomorrow's World Cup quarter-final looked to be fading after he missed another Portugal training session today. The Manchester United winger, who suffered a thigh injury during Portugal's last-16 win against
DETECTIVES have been given extra time to question two men who were arrested during raids by anti-terror police in Bolton. Officers arrested the pair as eight properties were searched in the town on Tuesday morning. A court hearing on Wednesday allowed
The Farnworth branch of Slimming World' is issuing a challenge to larger men. Organiser Carol Martin believes that there must be some men who wish to lose weight or lead a healthier lifestyle, yet she currently has no male members of her club.
HUNDREDS of guests attended the inaugural Bolton Evening News and Bury Times Business Awards at the Premier Suite at the Reebok last night. At the glittering event, sponsored by St Andrews Travel, the top 10 businesses in the Bolton and Bury areas were
