DEVELOPERS have submitted plans for a total of nearly 400 homes on two factory sites in Westhoughton. Valentine Homes is looking to pull down the redundant Bellhouse Hartwell site, in Leigh Road, to make way for 59 houses, while Barratt Homes has submitted
LANCASHIRE have signed England all-rounder Dominic Cork on a three-year contract with the Club. Cork, 32, moves from neighbouring Derbyshire, after being released from his contract two years early, by mutual consent. He has a successful career history
TOWN Hall chiefs in Bolton are in line for pay rises of up to 27 per cent -- at a time when they are considering another big council tax rise writes Gareth Tidman The council is already warning it will have to raise bills or introduce severe cutbacks
GOVERNORS of two failing Bolton high schools are to be stripped of most of their powers. The governing bodies at the Withins School and the Deane School will no longer be allowed to take decisions on staffing and financial matters and have already been
HORWICH'S first Ibiza-style foam party is being held at the Victoria and Albert pub on Thursday night. The fun kicks off at the Lee Lane pub at 7.30pm.
BALLOONS released at Leigh Carnival have turned up all over Lancashire and Yorkshire. The prize for the furthest travelled was given to eight-year old Joe Whittle, of Bewley Grove, Leigh, whose balloon was found in a field to the north of York. He wins
FIREFIGHTERS fought a blaze in a derelict warehouse -- which had a caravan inside -- on Wednesday night. Four fire crews attended the fire at Bella Street, Daubhill, at 6.30pm and one crew, from Bolton central, remained there for nearly four hours. It
LEIGH Royal British Legion is offering pilgrimages to Second World War battlefields in November. Included are trips to Singapore and Thailand, Arakan, Burma, Rangoon and Malta. For further information attend the Leigh RBL meeting at 7.30pm on Tuesday,
POLICE and fire crews were called to the Vodafone store in Deansgate, Bolton, at 12.15am today after a security guard accidentally set off an anti-burglar smoke device. The device emits harmless smoke when triggered and is used instead of alarms. Fire
POLICE on patrol caught a motorist who had a computer manufactured tax disc in the windscreen. Kenneth Hurn, a 24-year-old warehouse operative, of Polefield Gardens, Prestwich, pleaded guilty to fraudulent use of a vehicle document at Rochdale Magistrates
A MAN has appeared in court accused of carrying a kitchen knife in Blackpool. Stephen Critchley, aged 45, of Briercliffe Road, Deane, pleaded guilty to being in possession of a blade. The court was told that police found Critchley with the knife on Queens
HESKETH Fletcher C of E School in Atherton is aiming to become the first Science with Business Enterprise College in the country. The status would mean that the school would focus on Science and Business and spend money on the latest facilities. The aim
A BOLTON soldier is celebrating earning the coveted green beret after completing a gruelling 30-week training course for the Royal Marines. William Upton, aged 22, passed out at a ceremony in Lympstone, Devon, last month and will now be stationed with
WHO plays where this weekend. 1st XV: Birchfield at home, meet at 1.00 pm. 2nd XV: Stockport away, meet at 1.00 pm. 3rd XV: Colne & Nelson away, meet at 1.00 pm. Tofts: Sandbach away, meet at 1.00 pm. Vets: Macclesfield away, meet at 1.00 pm. Wirral
IF you have walked down Quay Street in Manchester any night this week, you could have been forgiven for thinking that beings from another planet had landed. There were so many stiletto heels, fishnets and suspenders on show -- and that was just the men
REAL ale fans will be raising their glasses to the Horwich Rotary Club's annual beer festival this weekend. Up to 3,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day event, which will feature more than 45 guest beers from smaller breweries across Britain
LEIGH MP Andy Burnham and Atherton Councillor Sue Loudon took centre stage at the Labour Party conference this week to call for Government action on the decline of manufacturing in the area. The duo addressed the delegates in Bournemouth about the growing
POLICE have launched an operation to keep hundreds of new Bolton students safe. Operation Shenyang, part of Greater Manchester Police's streetcrime initiative Operation Hawk, will see a crime caravan deployed at various Bolton Institute and Bolton Community
SERVICES provided for children and families at Bolton's Harvey Early Years Centre have been nationally recognised. It has been designated as a Children's Centre by the Government and is one of only 29 in the country chosen by the Department for Education
YOUNG people have been given the chance to design their own £30,000 skate park. Two years after youths in Adlington first asked for a park, Chorley Council earmarked £30,000 for the project. Now consultations have taken place with local teenagers to find
ST PAUL'S Cathedral has hosted some momentous occasions -- Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Winston Churchill's state funeral and Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's wedding. But one Bolton family will always remember the cathedral as
A SCHOOL peace garden opened in memory of a five-year-old girl who died from cancer is to get a makeover. Staff at All Saints Primary School, in Farnworth, will plant strongly-scented "sensory" flowers in the garden, which was opened as a tribute to Anisa
FOUR men who bought a Jaguar with 150,000 miles on the clock decided to enter it in a Monte Carlo rally -- and came second. While their competitors drove gleaming, expensive Porsches, BMWs, Lamborghinis and Ferraris worth hundreds of thousands of pounds
MORE than £4m seized from criminals is being invested in the North West. The money is set to be used in communities plagued by crime and anti-social behaviour. A team is being set up to distribute the money, as part of a package of measures announced
A CHARITY golf day will be held later this month to raise money for Bolton's £1.3m Coronary Care Appeal. The event, organised and sponsored by local firm Special Branch Garden Maintenance, will tee-off at Deane Golf Club on Friday October 31. Managing
WANDERERS Greek international Stelios has been given time off following the birth of his second son before he prepares for key games for his club and country. After Sunday's Premiership game at Aston Villa, the winger flies to Athens for next week's qualifier
SAM Allardyce has urged Leeds to give Peter Reid the backing he deserves. Elland Road bosses confirmed on Thursday that Reid is staying on as manager, despite speculation that he is about to be axed after the club's poor start Allardyce says his old Burnden
MARIO Jardel has been told he must stay on the subs' bench, despite scoring six goals in eight days. The Brazilian continued his incredible scoring streak with a second double in 48 hours for Wanderers Reserves on Wednesday night but Sam Allardyce insists
A MEMORABILIA day held to raise money to produce a Boothstown history book was a success after more than £700 was collected. The day attracted scores of people to Boothstown Methodist Church to see old photographs, collected by villager Ken Fairfax. Local
A WOMAN who won her battle with breast cancer has set up a charity group to help raise awareness of the disease. Elaine Brogden beat the disease three years ago and she has decided to set up a Leigh group for the charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer. For
REAL ale fans will be raising their glasses to the Horwich Rotary Club's annual beer festival this weekend. Up to 3,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day event, which will feature more than 45 guest beers from smaller breweries across Britain
HEART girl Amy Morris sat up in bed having an ice pop just hours after her life-saving operation. The nine-year-old even had her first session of physiotherapy at Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where she is making an excellent recovery from a
POLICE chiefs are preparing to hammer home crime prevention advice and issue warnings to residents in Astley Bridge by using a portable billboard. Astley Bridge police have spent £1,300 on a 12ft tall 'A' frame portable trailer which can be fitted with
ONE hundred jobs are to be axed at a wallpaper firm with the closure of a Darwen mill. Belgrave Mills, a part of Crown Wallcoverings, will close by the end of the year. Crown Wallcoverings has produced wallpaper at Belgrave Mills since 1839. It is considered
BOLTON artist Gerry Halpin will take centre stage at a popular craft event this weekend. Gerry, who lives in Adlington and established a following for his paintings of local moorland scenes, will exhibit his work on the stage in the main hall of Rivington
ON two successive days, in September, 1953, four houses in Paper Mill Road, Eagley, had their cellars flooded when a blocked culvert overflowed after heavy rain. These pictures show an Eagley Mills team pumping the water collection chamber and overflow
Ince blasts Bolton but hopes his pal stays up ross heppenstall PAUL Ince blasted Bolton's "Nationwide tactics" during Saturday's 1-1 draw but is hopeful they can retain their Premiership status for Youri Djorkaeff's sake. The Wolves captain left Manchester
THE disused Bickershaw Colliery site on the outskirts of Leigh has been voted one of the worst wasted spaces in the country. Many people from Leigh nominated the area in "Wasted Space?" -- a national campaign to highlight Britain's worst examples of unused
A SERIES of plays are being staged across Bolton to alert elderly people to the threat of doorstep crime. Organised by Trading Standards, the Halliwell Theatre Company will be using different scenarios to highlight ways of dealing with fraudulent callers
A THIEF in a stolen car leaned through the vehicle's window to steal handbags from two women in separate attacks. One of the victim, a 71-year-old women, was pulled along the ground in a car park in Pavilion Square, Westhoughton, as the thief snatched
SAM Allardyce believes he may have found the answer to his defensive problems in the shape of Chile international Jorge Vargas. The 27-year-old - the latest of four out-of-contract internationals to be considered as replacement for the injured Florent
GRACING the stage in concert on Saturday, October 11 at St Joseph's Hall in Leigh is Bernard Wrigley alias The Bolton Bullfrog. That nickname has stuck with him for over 30 years -- ever since it was mentioned in the sleeve notes of his very first LP.
THE bill posters promise 100 years of Disney Magical Moments, and for the hundreds of spellbound children in the audience at the MEN Arena, this show was magical indeed. My eight-year-old daughter Sally was enchanted by the dancing, music and costumes
HMS Middleton is to sail down Manchester Ship Canal and into Salford Quays for a three-day visit to the city. The mine-sweeping ship is to berth near the Lowry Centre for a programme of events to raise awareness of the Royal Navy and career opportunities
A FIREMAN sacked four years ago over allegations of corruption at Horwich Fire Station is celebrating after being cleared following an appeal. Father-of-two Malcolm Pye, aged 45, of Pioneer Street, Horwich, was dismissed in August, 2000, after an investigation
A CRAFT fair is to be held at Rivington and Blackrod High School, Rivington Lane, Horwich, next Saturday and Sunday. More than 20 stalls selling a range of home-made goods and items will be available from 11am to 5pm on both days. Admission costs £1 for
