decay SIR: I felt compelled to write, when I read the overwhelmingly negative response in your fluoride letters special, (Friday January 30). I don't doubt that the letters you published fairly represented your postbag - but I know that there are many
PARENTS who put the lives of children at risk by flouting the parking restrictions outside Bolton schools could soon find themselves in the "dock." Anxious police chiefs are planning a crackdown in a bid to halt "couldn't care less" motorists who are
COLIN Todd is ready to meet referees face to face in a bid to clear the Premiership air. The Wanderers boss will join five other top North-West managers at a get-together that has been called to thrash out problems with the men in the middle. But he doesn't
A PROMISE has been made that two football pitches and a cricket outfield ruined by surveyors working for a property developer will be reinstated. Parents and youngsters were outraged when a series of land tests churned up the playing surfaces at the recreation
A NEW radio station in Manchester will create 50 new jobs. Carlisle-based Border Radio Holdings - owned by Border TV plc - has won the regional radio licence to broadcast to a potential audience of more than 11 million listeners throughout the North-west
LEIGH Centurions have run into one of the worst injury pile-ups for years with the season less than two weeks old. Rising star Sfraz Patel and powerhouse forward Tau Liku will each miss half of Leigh's Division One campaign that opened with a 48-14 walloping
SIR: I refer to the article (BEN January 27 1998) by Jennifer Bradbury,headed: Playing fields not for sale. I noticed a comment from Head Teacher, Tony Buckley, of George Tomlinson School. He says they are not selling off any playing fields and then goes
RADICAL plans to create all-powerful US-style Mayors have been given the thumbs down by the leader of Bolton Council. It has been revealed that Bolton and Bury could get their own full time paid executive Mayors. The concept is put forward in a controversial
A "CON-KID" - believed to be only 12 years old - is preying on elderly pensioners in Farnworth. The young crook and an accomplice, thought to be about two years older, stole £100 after tricking their way into the Primrose Street home of a 75-year-old
THE search will soon be on for the Bury Woman of the Year. The event, the first of its kind in the borough, is being run in conjunction with Bury Hospice. Event co-ordinator Margaret Robinson said she hoped the award would acknowledge the work done by
MANUFACTURING companies in the North-west are set to benefit from a £360,000 cash injection aimed at boosting world class standards. The Manufacturing Business Excellence programme will provide £10,000 worth of consultancy help to each of 36 eligible
DETECTIVES fear that three shotguns stolen from a moorland house near Bolton may be in the hands of criminals. The thieves also stole 50 rounds of 12 bore cartridges after ripping an armoured gun cabinet off the wall at the house in Broadhead Road, Edgworth
SO local churchgoers want to change the portrayal of Christians in the TV Soap EastEnders. They say that some characters in the series like dotty Dot Cotton and the philandering vicar Alex Healy are giving ordinary Christians a bad name. The Bolton churchgoers
POLICE have reunited a family with their pet rabbit thanks to the BEN. Joy Hurst had been looking after her grandchildren's bunny, Murphy, at their home in Seddon Street, Little Lever home while they prepared for a move to Scotland. However, thieves grabbed
THE idea of an all-powerful US-style mayor in charge of Bolton Council does not appeal. Investing one paid person with the authority to run the Council is a dangerous concept and we should approach it warily. The idea is mooted in a Government consultation
MANCHESTER Youth Theatre are planning their 33rd annual summer season of productions and workshops. They are seeking new members who, as in previous years, will be drawn from across the north and centres of England and Wales. Membership is open to young
SIR: While I agree that all 70-year-old drivers should pass a driving test, I am of the opinion that the driving test should be enforced every 10 years from the age of 20 years. Meanwhile, Saint Christopher preserve us from the arrogant, aggressive young
I RENE Bradley, Wardrobe Mistress with Farnworth AODS, has taken on a mammoth task in supervising the costumes for the society's next production, Bitter Sweet. The show has a cast of more than 60 people and the production covers the time from 1875 to
PRIMARY school teachers are celebrating after chalking up a huge National Lottery win. The 19-strong syndicate, from St Mary's RC Primary School, Swinton, scooped £1,579,211 in Saturday night's National Lottery draw. But all are adamant that they will
25 YEARS AGO From the Evening News, February 9, 1973 ONLY one thing is tougher than being in the Foreign Legion, and that is getting out of it before completing five years' service. Two recent spectacular escape attempts have spotlighted the Legion's
MARTY Grosz, the popular American guitarist, singer and humorist, will be playing at the Jarvis International Hotel (formerly the Georgian House) on Sunday, March 1, when he makes his annual visit to Bolton. Although primarily a jazz musician, Marty has
SMALL and medium-sized companies in the Bolton area are to have access to video on demand facilities through their computers. Siemens GEC Communication Systems Ltd has won a major order to implement this system and ATM local area network-based videoconferencing
THE DEATH of a teenager from an overdose of heroin should be a warning to his friends, a Bolton coroner said. But after accompanying the dying Daniel Mercer to hospital two of his friends went away to inject more of the lethal drug. Coroner Mr Martin
SIR: I write in support of the children and parents suing North West Water, for negligence over their refusal to fluoridate water supplies when asked to do so, in 1988, by 20 health authorities. By refusing the health authorities' requests for water fluoridation
SURGEONS have saved a little girl's badly smashed finger after a wall collapsed on her. Kelly Roscoe's finger was split wide open and the bone broken when breeze blocks crashed down as she played near her house in Northfield Street, Deane. It came as
DEFENCE Secretary George Robertson has rejected concerns about the naming of the military move against Iraq as "Operation Bolton". He dismissed Bolton MP Brian Iddon's complaint about the choice of title and said he did not think it was controversial.
BRADSHAW and Little Lever fell foul of favourites Haslingden when they competed in the North West indoor cricket finals at Old Trafford. The Lancashire League side have won the NW competition fives times out of the last six and although Bradshaw did get
SIR: I agree wholeheartedly with your correspondent, Mr G Roberts in a recent edition of the BEN. The very idea of adding fluoride to our water supply, without a referendum, is unbelievable. As your correspondent says, anyone who thinks that fluoride
CUP favourites Wigan will be taking no chances when they open their Silk Cut Challenge Cup campaign at Keighley Cougars on Sunday. The Warriors should be too powerful for the First Division outfit, who opened their league campaign with a heavy defeat
TWO care workers at a private nursing home in Radcliffe have been sacked following an investigation into the alleged aggressive handling of an elderly patient. The two male staff members were dismissed and two others received written warnings from Rose
A MOTORCYCLIST who lost control of his machine while trying swerve to avoid two dogs and suffered fractured shoulder blades and ribs was named today. Malcolm Pendlebury, 54, of Victoria Road, Horwich, was riding along Chorley Old Road yesterday when the
DEAN Holdsworth will take his next steps on the road to a full Premiership return at the Reebok Stadium tomorrow night. Wanderers' £3.5 million record signing, who has had two substitute appearances since his last first team start on December 6, will
COUNCIL bosses in Bury will have to wait up to two weeks to see if they have won a high court battle to empty the Borough's bins. The local authority appealed over a government order issued in 1996 that it must re-tender its refuse collection, cleansing
GREAT Britain and St Helens rugby stars 'touched down' at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital to provide the perfect tonic for young patients. Stars of the British Gas Test Series, Chris Joynt and Paul Sculthorpe toured the wards and chatted to young
A VERGER has urged parents to challenge their children about what they are doing at night after young vandals damaged his church. David Elliott, verger at St Saviour's Church on Fold Road, Ringley, made the plea after teenagers smashed four windows at
We've collected the brochures, And studied them all, From the Highlands of Scotland, To the south of Cornwall. We've compared the hotels, And amenities there, We've discussed them at length, As we do every year. We've been through them again, And again
BOLTON students mingled with top managers today in a Marks and Spencer 'Challenge of Management Day'. Brian Lunn, Regional Manager at Marks and Spencer, headed a team of managers who set out to give the Lower 6th Form students insight into the skills
LEIGH RMI manager Steve Waywell is still determined to give his side an injection of new blood desptie being thwarted at every turn so far. He thought he had Steve Pickford on board, with an agreement that the player could move from Glossop to Leigh but
2BOLTON'S deputy Mayor has been dealt a blow to his civic dignity... by having to attend functions in a taxi! Blackrod Cllr Eric Johnson is furious that the council does not provide a car to take him to events. Instead, he has to go in a taxi wearing
BOLTON School is starting a film society at its Arts and Conference Centre, Chorley New Road. Appropriately, the society opens on Sunday, February 15, with two films based on plays by Bolton playwright Bill Naughton - Spring and Port Wine and The Family
ENVIRONMENTAL health chiefs fear they are powerless to stop butchers selling beef on the bone. They have visited all Bolton's 125 butchers shops in the wake of the latest BSE scare. But they have caught no one selling it and unless the law is tightened
A BOLTON student is facing trial accused of helping to con a huge American jewellery company out of £1.8 million. Mohammed Ayub has been charged with conspiracy to steal after an alleged Transatlantic sting led to a Beverley Hills firm handing over gems
A TEENAGE boy is fighting for his life after suffering serious head injuries in a road accident last night. Nicholas Byrne, 15, from Helmsdale Avenue, Bolton, was crossing Beaumont Road, Lostock with two friends when he was involved in an accident with
A MILKMAN spoke for the first time today about the terrifying moment he was attacked by a Rottweiler. Jack Roberts said he feared for his life when the snarling dog savaged his hand seconds after he sold milk to the animal's owner. He told the BEN: "My
BOLTON library bosses may stop "fining" children when their books are overdue in a bid to boost reading. Councillors will be asked to approve a six month trial of the no charge policy when they meet tomorrow. In a report to go before the Arts Sub Committee
TNT, which has a depot in Ramsbottom, has retained the Investor in People standard achieved originally in November, 1994. The company also received a special commendation in the 1997 Investor in People National Awards. Mr Eddie O'Donnell, General Manager
SIR: What's gone wrong with our prime time TV? Whatever happened to the Likely Lads, Rising Damp, George and Mildred. These programmes were our comfort blankets, they left you feeling warm, happy and sad inside, but today all we see are programmes that
SIR: How true is the old saying that the law is an ass. Lawyers wishing to act for the children with decaying teeth, should consider suing the children's parents for neglect. They are the ones who should have said 'no' more often when their children demanded
FRUSTRATED cinema goers got that sinking feeling when they had to miss the last few minutes of blockbuster film Titanic because of a fire scare. After sitting through nearly three hours of the most expensive film in history, the alarm went off and within
PENSIONER Harold Lever's life has taken a definite downward spiral in his old age. . . . In fact, since he turned 80, the man with his head in the clouds has been heading for a fall. But Harold, from Deane, isn't complaining because after being brought
