Manchester Evening News Arena. Plays again tonight. SPEECHLESS isn't often a word you can use to describe Robbie Williams, but even the biggest of egos would have been hard pressed not to have been genuinely moved by his adoring fans. Last night his music
ROAD tax dodgers who save their car for weekend jaunts will have no escape when a new "clamp and crush" campaign is launched today. Clampers working for the Swansea based DVLA are patrolling with the police in a bid to trap the dodgers. The first pilot
BOLTON hospital bosses have cut their waiting lists slightly despite massive pressures on staff and services. Figures just released reveal that the operations waiting list was cut by 100 in January this year despite pressures throughout the hospital brought
BOLTON should celebrate the Year 2000 by creating as many Millennium Fellows as possible, says a Bolton MP. David Crausby believes Bolton should not give up on the celebrations because it has been snubbed by those handing out cash for the Millennium Festival
GRANDMA Alex Farrimond has been struck down with cancer twice - and both times she has won through. A former nurse, mum of three Alex, aged 68, was first diagnosed with breast cancer 34 years ago, then 10 years later she was devastated to discover cervical
PLEASE add my name to the number of people who object to fluoride in our drinking water? I take enough medicine as it is and, besides, how can these "wonder brains" prove that the stuff is harmless. From what I read, it can be quite harmful like GM food
THE brother of a murdered police officer who had been a Bolton teacher has hit back at critics who insist on branding the police racist. PC Patrick Dunne was gunned down while on duty in Clapham, South London, by three black men - six months after Stephen
COLIN Todd denied point blank today that Wanderers' promotion hopes were on the slide. The Reebok boss saw his side beaten for the second time in four days when a 3-2 defeat at Huddersfield effectively ended their title hopes and left them chasing runners-up
I AM writing, as manager of Lexus Greyhound Rescue, about the Waterloo Cup which is once again taking place. It is barbaric to watch the poor hare being set free in a field, nowhere to run, being chased by the hounds, caught, then torn apart. How anyone
AFTER years spent behind a wheel, Roy Hughes has notched up an amazing double by passing his advanced driving test TWICE. Roy, aged 49, a member of the Bolton Group of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, astonished fellow members by taking his advanced
CAMPAIGNING residents gave local MP Ruth Kelly a tour of their 'threatened' wildlife haven. The Friends of Star Lodge stepped up their fight to save the Horwich beauty spot. They fear the lodge will soon be filled in and built on following the closure
COME on! They are not drugs barons who need their property confiscating or even armed robbers who are using their cars as getaway vehicles. Nevertheless, the DVLA believes that road tax cheats deserve to have their cars crushed if they don't pay fines
I HAVE read with interest the many letters published on the never-ending attempts to include the addition of fluoride to the domestic water supply, a substance being a waste product of principally, the aluminium and fertiliser industries - it is also
MORE than 700 council tenants are set for major improvements to their homes. A total of 564 homes are to be given new window frames and another 159 are to have new heating schemes. And housing chiefs are to carry out a study to see if they can afford
DESPERATE Bolton children as young as 14 are contacting alcohol abuse experts to get help with their addiction. The young boozers are even being offered special confidential counselling to try to help them beat the demons of drink. The shock news comes
25 YEARS AGO MR Enoch Powell said today that one good thing that had come out of the General Election was that the Common Market issue remained open. And he added that Britain should quickly be given a chance to decide whether to remain a member of the
I'd like to nominate the two lads for Rats of the Week, who stole my mum's Vauxhall Cavalier from outside my mum's office. My mum had lent the car to me as I had to go to hospital in the morning, and had decided to get my washing dry as my dryer had broken
THEATRE, MUSIC & DANCE THE Phoenix Theatre Company present Hindle Wakes at Chorley Old Road United Reformed Church Hall at 7.30pm. Tel: 840448. ST Paul's Amateur Players present Fiddler On The Roof at the Community Centre, Railway Road, Adlington
WHY are Bolton Council talking of a council tax increase of 4.5pc which is way above what it should be? After all inflation is 2.6pc, they have had cash in reasonable amounts from the Government, particularly for education, so why should this excessive
OVER the past few weeks I have been reading the letters about dog and cats doing the natural functions or, as other people say, "fouling". Do dogs and cats have no rights? I am sure they have been on this earth just as long as we have. There is no mention
I WONDER if any gay man who socialises in Manchester's gay village recognised an accurate representation of their lives in Channel Four's Queer as folk. I cannot say that I did. It would be naive to say that drug-taking and under-age sex did not take
A LOCAL MP has told Housing Minister Nick Raynsford of a simple means to stop unscrupulous freehold landlords forcing extortionate sums from leaseholders. Bury North MP David Chaytor wants the Government to impose a fixed scale of charges for administrative
COLIN Todd denied point blank today that Wanderers' promotion hopes were on the slide. The Reebok boss saw his side beaten for the second time in four days when a 3-2 defeat at Huddersfield effectively ended their title hopes and left them chasing runners-up
BOLTON Council has captured two prestigious national Tidy Britain awards for its work to improve the local environment. The news comes just days after it was revealed that the local authority is cutting back on street cleaning to save cash. Bolton scooped
WORRIED transport chiefs are to press for more trains on match days at the new Horwich Parkway station. There will be trains every half hour from Monday to Saturday and hourly trains on Sunday. But at present, there are no plans to put on extra services
GUDNI Bergsson is back in business to give Wanderers a well-timed tonic. The Reebok skipper, missing since November, makes his comeback in the reserves at Wolves tonight and could be joined by fit-again keeper Keith Branagan. And with Paul Warhurst ready
LOCAL MPs have been on trips to America, and received jewellery from Arab Princes, the new Register of Member's Interests published at Westminster has revealed. Although some declare no extra cash, hospitality or benefits, others have been seeing the
By Gordon Sharrock: Huddersfield 3, Bolton Wanderers 2 DEAN Holdsworth believes Wanderers have come too far to slip back into their bad old habits. The story of last night's thriller at the McAlpine Stadium - a sporting injustice if ever there was one
A BOLTON secondary school has improved since inspectors last visited it four years ago. Ofsted inspectors who carried out a second visit found staff at Mount St Joseph had tackled most of the issues for action highlighted in the last report. They marked
PESTOKILL Pest Control of Leigh won the Private Sector Award in the DATAS Professional Pest Controller of the Year competition for 1998. The company was selected for its innovative use of new technology to record and manage pest control projects. Prizes
BOLTON College Consultancy Services say equal opportunity legislation should be seen as a chance to boost companies - and not as a possible threat. A new project, Equality Pays, is funded through the European Social Fund. It provides organisations with
THE giant United Utilities company has won recognition for its internal help system. The facilities department runs four help desks - at Bolton, Kendal, Preston and Manchester - to provide assistance to staff from 40 Norweb and North West Water depots
WATSON Steel of Lostock, Bolton has completed its latest leisure project at Pleasureland, Southport. The company which built the Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach - amongst others - has now extended its portfolio with what is described as
Eyes alert, head held high, Many hares today will die. Thrown in a field away from home, Terrified, helpless, all alone. Out come the hounds hungry and lean, The men stand watching, faces mean. The dogs gain speed and catch the hare, The sound of death
BOLTON-BASED Sunworld was celebrating today after taking over as the country's top holiday tour firm. The company beat holiday giant Thomson into second place after pulling in 24 per cent of holiday makers eager to book their fortnight in the sun. Based
THANK-you to reporter Janet Hughes, for publishing in full my statement in the BEN (February 23). I also thank the editor for his support in the editorial "Put tables in their place" (February 24). I have received many more messages of support from parents
A BOLTON woman believes thieves stole her mammoth yucca plant - to pass on as a Mother's Day present. Sylvia Bigland, of Waverley Road, Astley Bridge, reckons her six-foot tall yucca will be used to impress some thief's mum on March 14. The plant was
A BOLTON charity which offers help and support to the mentally ill and their families is looking for volunteers. The Mental Health Independent Support Team, formerly Bolton Mental Health Support Council at Deajon House, Chorley New Road, needs people
By Nick Jackson TV producers of a show which challenges celebrity investigators to track down the true occupants of a house are searching for a Bolton home in which to film. Whose House? is a new series presented by Ross Kelly which begins on BBC2, Monday
