PEOPLE power has triumphed over developers who wanted to build a 14-storey tower block opposite Bury Town Hall. Adverse comments from the public and design experts have persuaded council bosses to scale down the £70 million development. Now Ask Developments
THE number of days Bury Council staff take off sick has fallen since flexible working hours were introduced, it has been revealed. Sickness levels hit an all time high at the council in 2001/02, when each staff member took an average of 15.8 days off
POP band Clea, featuring Bolton-born singer Lynsey Brown, are giving fans the opportunity to record a new version of their single Lucky Like That and it is all in aid of charity. Schools, groups and individuals are being urged to compose new lyrics
FOOTBALL fans in Bolton already know it, and now pub-goers are drinking to it. When it came to replacing Sven as England boss, it "Should've Been Sam". That is the name of a new beer being sold in the town's watering holes in honour of "Big" Sam Allardyce
ANTI-terror police were today continuing to question two men arrested in raids across Bolton. The pair were held after seven properties in Halliwell, Astley Bridge, Great Lever and Tonge Moor were searched early on Tuesday. Police could apply to the
A MAN has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 24-year-old who was stabbed to death. Detectives made the arrest in Dover last night. They had previously been looking in Bolton for a man they want to speak to in connection with the killing
BOLTON is to be hit by a high pollen count over the next few days, causing misery for hayfever sufferers. Experts predict the whole of the North-west will see a huge rise in the amount of grass pollen in the air until Sunday. Pollen predictors at the
TRAINEE nurses who graduate this summer have been told there are no jobs for them at the Royal Bolton Hospital. A group of 41 students have worked for free on the wards of the hospital for the last 18 months. They had been assigned to the hospital as
CLIVE Muir and Brain Crank are one step away from national glory. Westhoughton's Muir, who plays off 10, and 18-handicapper Crank, scored 44 points to beat off the challenge of 30 other pairs and win the International Pairs qualifier at their home club
Bolton Golf Association took the Lancashire Scratch League by storm this week with resounding victories over both the Southport and North Lancs Associations. The BGA trounced a strongly fancied Southport side 6 - 1 at Bolton on Monday with the visitors
BOLTON and Chorley top their respective BGA Leagues with just over half of the new-look season completed. This year's two league system, with its home and away fixtures, have thrown up some interesting results as teams chase the top spots to qualify
TWO companies are set to lock horns in a bidding war for the £700 million De Vere Hotel group. The Warrington-based company revealed earlier this week that it had accepted an offer of £724 million for the business from the Alternative Hotel Group (AHG
A FAILURE to keep accurate records is landing more local businesses in trouble with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, a Bolton accountant has warned. Bromley Cross-based PMD Associates was recently called on to help a building contractor when it was
THE manager of Bolton's Crompton Place shopping Centre is to leave his post after being appointed as the boss of Hartlepool's 180-store Middleton Grange Centre. Mark Rycraft, who was named the UK's Town-Centre Shopping Centre Manager of the Year in 2005
PUPILS pulled no punches when they warned young children about the dangers of talking to strangers. Drama students at George Tomlinson School in Kearsley took to the stage in front of primary school children from Prestolee School in Stoneclough to perform
MORE than 200 people flocked to the Beverley Street temple to listen to visiting Hindu preacher. His Holiness Swami Divyanandiji Teerth-Jagat Guru Shri Sankaracharyaji paid his first visit to the North-west and preached to worshippers at the Heaton temple
BOXER Amir Khan and his cousin, England cricketer Sajid Mahmood, were mobbed when they paid a visit to a Westhoughton school. The sporting superstars spoke to children at St Thomas CofE Primary School as part of a Network Rail campaign No Messin' to
TIME is running out to cast your vote in the Bolton Evening News Teacher of the Year competition. Our phone and text lines close at midnight tomorrow. Don't miss your chance to vote for your choice of the six finalists. We launched our competition
A HUNDRED school children took to the saddle to boost the profile of horse riding. But rather than take out a real life animal, these children played jockey to a famous mechanical horse called Trigger. Trigger rode into Claypool Primary School in Salisbury
CHURCH lovers have seen their prayers answered with a £200,000 scheme to repair an 18th century chapel. Supporters of the project teamed up with local companies to draw up an action plan for the restoration of Tyldesley Top Chapel. Essential roof repairs
BIDS are still being invited for a highly sought after Barcelona football shirt autographed by World Cup stars such as Ronaldinho. The shirt is being sold by Bolton estate agent Simon Glover, who is raising cash for Ladybridge Primary School when he
A PRISON officer who downloaded hundreds of child porn pictures from the internet has avoided being sent to prison. A judge at Bolton Crown Court gave Harry McDonald a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years He will now only be locked up if
IT could easily have been maths, RE or history, but when primary school pupils were asked which lesson they found the most boring, they came up with an unexpected answer . . . geography. It was a result that left surprised teachers vowing to do something
A HOLIDAY ended in double tragedy for a family when they were involved in a car crash 30 minutes after arriving in Spain. Joyce Young, from Cornwall Drive, Bury, and her brother-in-law Stuart Young were killed in a head-on collision with a speeding BMW
TAXI drivers are being urged to boycott a new taxi rank at the revamped Bolton Interchange in Newport Street after claims that it is dangerous. The new rank at the bus and rail interchange was given a licence by town hall bosses yesterday. But Charles
Parties thrown by teenagers celebrating the end of their exams or their birthday cost parents millions of pounds repairing damage to their homes, new research suggests today. A survey showed that almost half of teenagers had held a party in their house
BOLTON School has dropped plans to close a local road as part of its £10 million expansion. The school has submitted a new outline planning application to demolish its existing junior school and erect a new infant and junior school on the other side
A GUY I know has a problem he has started to sleepwalk. He tidies things away. He wanders around his bedroom. The other night, he found himself at the bottom of the stairs bleeding copiously from the elbow. I suggested that it must be problematic for
GLEN Thistlethwaite and his friend Emma Fielding are setting out for a bike ride this weekend but will not be returning until February next year. The intrepid pair plan to pedal 8,000 miles to India to raise cash for charity and to visit ActionAid
THE changing face of football has never been more evident than it is in Bolton today. Football fans from all walks of life, of all ages and of all colours and creeds are getting behind the national team for this year's World Cup. Gayle McBain looks at
ONCE again the pitiable state of the National Health Service finances has hit the headlines. This time budget restraints have forced Bolton NHS Trust to impose a recruitment freeze on employing student nurses. This is very unwelcome news for the 41 student
WHAT a difference the opening of "Netto & Home Bargains" has made to Breightmet. It has come alive again and prices to suit everyone's pocket. They have been a long time coming but well worth the wait lovely and clean inside. Seeing familiar faces that
APART from the disruption of traffic on Manchester Road over a lengthy period along the frontage of Focus DIY, opposite the college, I wish to raise an aesthetic issue. There used to be a stone walling with substantial cappings running for some 100 yards
THE article in the Bolton Evening News (June 27) "Vice Girls Move To Great Lever", must be taken very seriously by the authorities in Bolton. Surely they now realise that the current strategy they are operating, spawned by the establishment, is flawed
CAN I through the Letters page say "thank you" to the person who stole a charity box from St Augustine's coffee morning on Wednesday, June 28. This person knows who he is, and I am disgusted. The money box was on the counter where the helpers were making
I was most interested to read C Amos's letter ("First is putting passengers last", June 28) regarding the decision by First Buses to axe and reorganise certain bus routes in the Bolton area. I too am appalled at the decision to axe the 12 route. Is this
I RESPOND to the letter from Mr Alfred Thorne "Council tax wrongly spent" (Bolton Evening News, June 22). Over the years the Westhoughton Town Council has, in the interest of highway safety, funded/contributed towards the capital cost of installing traffic
MY fellow horse riders and I wish to offer our sincere condolences to the family whose daughter was killed on her horse on Friday. Horse riding can be a safe pastime to follow, but you can never be 100 per cent safe. This should be a warning to drivers
BUDDING young gardeners have been taking part in Horwich in Bloom. The annual gardening competition organised by Horwich Town council has attracted a strong entry from schools. The winners of the primary schools outdoor section were Horwich Parish CE
FIRE stations in Bolton and Bury are being left understaffed and under-resourced because of cost-cutting measures, union chiefs claimed today. And they have warned somebody will die through a lack of cover at certain times if action is not taken. Fire
MUSLIMS in Bolton are suffering from a lack of role models, a councillor has told a European Conference aimed at countering radicalism and boosting integration. Cllr Sufrana Bashir-Ismail, who was elected to the Crompton ward in the local election in
ORGANISERS at Bolton Lads and Girls Club in Spa Road want 1,000 volunteers from the town to take part in this year's Sports Relief one mile event on Saturday, July 15. Last time 80,000 people across the UK took part in the national event, which raises
ENGLAND fan Pravin Patel has taken flying the flag to new lengths. He has stuck a cross of St George on the bonnet of his newly-acquired Rolls Royce which is destined to become a stretched limousine. Pravin, aged 53, is a big England fan and has been
HIGH street stores are bracing themselves for their worst Saturday sales of the year as World Cup fever grips the country. Families are expected to cancel trips into the town centre so that they can settle down in front of the television to cheer on
A YOUNG Judo prodigy from Bolton is throwing himself into a training regime which he hopes will one day see him hit Olympic heights. Deklan Gibbons, aged 12, became an International Judo Champion when he won all his eight fights in under 15 seconds at
A JUDGE has had to postpone passing sentence on a convicted rapist because prosecutors are barred from making a vital phone to his native Czech Republic. Milan Miskovic, aged 31, is facing a life sentence after being found guilty of twice raping and
CAPTURING the spirit of women has won art student Ayshea Pearson £500. Ayshea, aged 34, who has just finished a fine art degree course at the University of Bolton, submitted two photographs for the competition which asked for a piece of artwork that
Gary Lineker Cool and relaxed but jokes are poor. Why does he keep imitating Des Lynam? Ray Stubbs Slick and professional but lacks personality. Doesn't ask the questions we want to hear. Adrian Chiles The surprise star of the World Cup. Cut out
Steve Rider Looks wrong presenting football. Should stick to golf and gymnastics. Gabby Logan A little too wooden and eager to impress. Treats every game like the final. Matt Smith The best of the ITV bunch. Shouldn't be relegated to the late night
SAM Allardyce has taken the first step towards signing Ghana's £7m-rated World Cup midfielder, Sulley Muntari. The 22-year-old African has confirmed that his Italian club, Udinese, have received an approach from Wanderers. Allardyce is understood to
TO suggest ITV do sport better than the BBC is like saying hell does after-life better than heaven. It is simply ludicrous to suggest that ITV have overtaken the BBC in the quality of their World Cup coverage, as my colleague, Marc Iles suggests. Granted
RADCLIFFE Boro's Unibond League fixtures will be available on Friday. Watch this space!
I'VE never been one to pander to the establishment so at the risk of being tried for treason, I'd suggest that ITV have won the battle of the stations so far with their World Cup coverage. Ill-timed ad breaks aside (but then when are you supposed to
THEATRE, events, exchibitions 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
IT only lasted for half a second, but a problem with the National Grid sparked chaos across Bolton and even affected businesses as far away as Bradford. Towns in the North-west were hit by the shortest of power cuts yesterday at around 8.50am. Electrical
LEIGH'S wicket-keeper/batsman Gareth Cross has been called up for first team duty by Lancashire. Cross, who regularly plays Second Xl cricket for his county, was rushed into the senior squad when number one keeper Luke Sutton broke a thumb, an injury
DESPITE a more positive performance with both bat and ball than in their previous two matches, Leigh CC Fourths slumped to a fifth defeat of the season at nearby Newton, leaving themselves perilously close to the foot of the table. The home side were
LEIGH CC fisrt Xl suffered another disappointing weekend as the weaknesses in their bowling line-up were once again exposed. After a surprising 10 run defeat by Wigan in last Friday's Liverpool Echo 20 over knockout competition match, they travelled
ATHERTON CC's first XI suffered the worst of the weather conditions last Saturday as they slipped to defeat at Edgworth. The home side batted first and posted a total of 166, with seasoned batsman Davies scoring a half century and Mills contributing
A Driver had an amazing escape when his van careered off a busy road and "took off". The two-ton van became airborne after shooting up a slip road embankment off St Peters Way, Bolton. It soared over crash barriers and a main road before crash landing
I was a 16 year old lad who was about to start an apprenticeship but had contracted chicken pox and so was at home in Meare, Somerset. I watched all the games with my World Cup Willie by my side. It was an incredible experience at the time and hopefully
I was at Roe Green cricket club where my dad was playing and they were all huddled round the radio as it was raining, as usual! Nick Schober
I know exactly where I was and what I was doing the day England won the World Cup on July 30 1966 . . . getting married, and yes I am a mad keen football fan. Unfortunately, we had to book the church, reception etc at least 12 months before the big day
A NEW community arts centre has opened in Horwich. The exhibition space for the Bolton Arts Community was officially launched by Bolton mayor, Cllr Walter Hall. The gallery, in Hampson Street, is the culmination of years of hard work by the organisation
ENGLAND, Argentina, Italy - and France to beat Brazil. That's web betting guru Gerry McDonnell's four to make it to the World Cup semi-finals with his predictions for this weekend. He writes: Pricing up a football match is a lot like baking
BOLTON'S spokesman on the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority will be Councillor Nick Peel. Cllr Peel, who represents Tonge with the Haulgh, was appointed to the position for the third year running. The GMPTA is responsible for assessing
THE case of a Bolton man who faced a murder charge for killing his father is to feature in a Channel 4 documentary. Jules Lowe made legal history when he became the first person to successfully use a defence of sleepwalking "automatism" in a UK murder
