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The Clitheroe |T h u r s d a y , O c to b e r 2 6 lh , 20pO : No. 5 ,9 6 4 ; ! i . !
vertiser an g P A R I S L s! W I. © in c on ju n c t ion wifti H i l l e n d a l e
The rumpus contin ues over the CRGS trips ban - as read ers write with their views.
■ page 8
A man used his mother’s PIN num ber to steal £2,700 from her account.
' page 3
A head teacher crit icises the Govern ment’s education policies.
»**=* page 7
Friends organise a concert to celebrate the life of a respect ed lady.
™ =«a page 20
A teenager is voted a Young Achiever.
asaaaaBamma page 14
Clitheroe’s new police inspector is happy to return “home”.
imnmijMMMjuai page 9
Our search for the area’s Christmas Cutics is to start soon.
maumuCT page 20
FOGGITT’S WEEKEND
WEATHER: Breezy with show ers and a little sun shine developing.
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Editorial e-mail: clitheroe.edilorial(&;
rim.co.uk
New twist to the | pupil trips ban d
THREE words in a statement issued by the school at the centre of allegations of discrimi nation against a diabet ic pupil have put a new
twist on the issue. Tom White (15), of Slaidburn Road, Wadding-
ton, was banned from going on school trips follow ing a hypoglycaemic attack during a ski-ing holiday in Austria earlier in the year. In a landmark case, the
story by Vivien Mason
either reverse its decision or gather its defence case
together. But in a statement issued
Disability Rights Commis sion announced that it is to take Clitheroe Royal Gram mar School to court. The school now has 21 days remaining to respond to allegations of discrimina tion, during which it can
after this newspaper's dead line last week, the school said: "We resent the sugges tion that we would prevent any student from taking part in any trip on the basis of disability. We do not dis criminate on the grounds of disability, but we do restrict pupils on the basis of past inappropriate behaviour. Tom's father, Mr Mal
irresponsible for mists the hypo signs and to it against him is ta mount to active discrir tion," says Mr White, lists allegations of pre bad behaviour of sc pupils while on trip: hard-hitting letter t
"To accuse Tom of t
school governors. However, respons
colm White, remains adamant that there is no underlying reason, other than the attack, why his son should be excluded from
trips.
the public to the s which appeared in i national newspapers a as the Clitheroe Adve and Times last week, pointed to the fact other pupils with eq serious conditions, si asthma, are still allov
go on trips. Three boys e
from swirlin Lessons to be learnt after n
THE choppy, fast-flowing River Ribble could have claimed the lives of three Clitheroe boys on a Sunday afternoon dinghy adventure at Edistord
Bridge. Apparently inspired by
television "rafting" pro grammes, and without the knowledge of their families, the trio were soon all in the water, not far from where there was a near-drowning
earlier this year. Confidence obtained
— •"^1
from a previous uneventful dinghy mission proved
sadly misplaced. "There are lessons to be
learnt from this near tragedy," said Clitheroe fire chief Station Officer Dave
McGrath. Before the fire-fighters
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k " J : Li s r ~
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ig a p / s a Arab id
0 NSSu?'5 & E 0 B *,
arrived the boldness and bravery of Mrs Janice Hirst, of Ennerdale Road, Clitheroe, could well have saved the life of seven-year- old non-swimmer Laurie Croasdale, of The Crescent, Clitheroe. He was stranded on a rock after falling from
the dinghy. Ignoring the fast-flowing
current, Mrs Hirst waded out into the river in close- fitting Wellingtons and clutched the boy tightly as she guided him safely through the swirling waters
to the bank. "I felt that he was in ter
rible danger, and could not just watch, but please do not make me a heroine," she told the Advertiser and Times this week. A well- known Clitheroe resident, she had been walking her
dog at the time. Dinghy owner Sam
Moore (12), of Siddows Avenue, Clitheroe, had jumped into the water to help the younger boy, but only to see his little craft being swept down the river with the third occupant, Daniel Wilkinson (10), of Whipp Avenue, Clitheroe. Very soon the dinghy
SAM with
self. By this time fighters had arri two with life-jacl safety lines waded several feet of w: carried him to safe Sam, who serai
his dinghy on holiday this year "All our team on the inci
the fire- ved and :ets and out into iter and
safety himself, atti blesdale High Sch' nology College an' younger boys go tc Primary School. 1 fered any injury a took them home out their folly in ence of family me: Station Officer
flipped over and Daniel, a keen footballer who is on the books of Blackburn Rovers' Junior Academy, was stranded on a rock him-
WE OFFER
YOU AN a l t e r n a t i v e
TO THE TV THIS WINTER■ i
said: "Clearly en got the better of t at a time when t was still on in the for a girl swept av a school trip supi teachers. We d< any more tragedi "The possibl
quences of this d thinking about another instance needing constant
Rural poli<
RURAL police house-stations and the officers who man'them
are under potential threat. Any Lancashire Constabulary
abolition policy would attract roars of complaint in the Ribble Valley, where several such stations give the public a contact point — and a feel-
| ing of security. I But even if some less remote ones went, it might be possible to retain
those fu: side. The p
faster rc helicopt ist unit; vehicles the publ A rec
buildinj both th( the tow:
.ads
Y- nbled to inds Rib- Mi Tech- 1 the two Edisford
None suf- nd police to point
the pres- nbers. McGrath thusiasm hese lads, search
same area ay during irvised by in't want
dent have families them selves and know how pre cious and vulnerable chil dren are. We would have done anything needed to save the boys. "Rivers are far more dan
icing king hold nta- tina- who /ious hool in a
d the
;s by tory, nany s well rtiser have that
imes zm ' t l Free fireworks show on Saturday
CRGS cision
no reason not to allow Tom (pictured) to take part in any type of event. "He is a fit, active lad who probably knows as much about his condition as anyone," said his father, who added that, for the first time since being diagnosed as a diabetic five years ago, Tom failed to recognise the symptoms of an attack, brought on by a drop in sugar in the blood stream, because he had just
Mr White says he can see
woken up. Teachers with him on the
ually ch as /ed to
trip were aware of his condi tion and dealt with it swift ly. They have been person ally thanked by Tom's par
ents. The full text of the
cape river
ear-tragedy school's statement reads:
"Clitheroe Royal Grammar School has a long and dis tinguished record of caring for all its students on a wide variety of trips, both at home and abroad. "We have taken students
able for other students, then we may decide not to take that particular student on future trips. "This has nothing to do
with a range of disabilities and will continue to do so. However, if a student on a trip behaves in a way which endangers his/her own health and wellbeing, or in a way which reduces the level of staff supervision avail
with disability, it is rather that we make a risk assess ment and take into account previous behaviour to ensure the safety of all our
pupils. "We resent the suggestion
that we would prevent any student from taking part in any trip on the basis of dis
ability. We do not discrimi nate on the grounds of dis ability but we do restrict pupils on the basis of past inappropriate behaviour." Mr White and his wife,
Support for the family
Rosemary, were astonished to learn that the school had decided to ban Tom from going on further school trips and state that this has resulted in him missing out on an exchange trip to Ger many, even though he is taking GCSE in German.
has come from Ribble Val ley MR Nigel Evans, who says he cannot understand why the school continues to fight its corner "even when a doctor has weighed in with actual facts to contra dict all that it says". It is the first court case
elastlahcashir©onlinejtfo^uk:Ji5^;IJric© 47p.
She provisoes town shopping guide
against a school under the goods and services section of the Disability Discrimi nation Act 1995.
Edwina curries favour Valley faces hew homes
a ban on
HOUSE building could soon be virtually bann
ed in the Ribble Valley! New estates of any size
are already ruled out unless there are exception al circumstances. Before the end of the year the same could apply
| to any conventional I dwelling or barn conver sion at all, even on infill
affordable, sheltered or agri cultural worker accommo dation will qualify for plan ning permission, though by
plots. Only special cases such as
no means automatically. As previously reported,
new Government instruc tions have turned the previ ous "let market forces rule"
approach on its head. @ Full story - in Property
News on page 21.
A WOMAN who became a household name as a politician in the '80s and is now a respected author and broadcaster attracted almost 700 people to two sell-out literary events in the Ribble Valley, writes Vivien Meath. The "house full" signs
gerous than they look. We have recently been issued with life-jackets for that
very reason. "Please, warn youngsters.
But as soon as there is any emergency, call us straight away - if we are not needed by the time we arrive, it
doesn't matter." Laurie's grandmother,
of children the rescue, and everyone warnings, who has helped.
3 conse- Croasdale. "I also thank all > not bear the emergency teams who and it is turned out so quickly for
Mrs Florence Croasdale, said how deeply grateful she is to Mrs Hirst for her prompt action. "I do appre ciate the risk she took, and so does Laurie," says Mrs
turned her attention to numerous other interests. She paid tribute to
went up well in advance of Mrs Edwina Currie's visit to Gisburn’s Stirk
House Hotel. Highly sought-after by
literary lunch organisers, Mrs Currie's acceptance of the local booking resulted in 320 people attending an evening din ner at the hotel and even more seated at lunch the following day. The warm welcome she received in Gisburn was,
she said, a far cry from that she was accustomed to when she was running the Health Service. Hav ing unsuccessfully contest ed her Derbyshire South seat in 1997, she has
members of the Ribble Val ley Ladies' Luncheon Club, whose fund-raising has seen £98,000 raised in just over two years for the fight against children’s cancer. The money is already being used for identifying cancer genes in children and the members intend to have topped their £100,000 target by Christmas. Mrs Currie's visit result ed in phenomenal sales of
her most recent book, "Chasing Men." A percent age of the proceeds from the 660 copies of her titles sold at the two events are being donated to the ladies' luncheon club charity. Among the top table
guests was the former but ler to Princess Diana, Mr Paul Burrell. He was joined by guests, including Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans and literary event organiser Mrs Joan
Laprell. Our picture shows Mr
- Burrell, Mrs Currie, Mrs Annie Farrimond and Mrs Margaret Bargh.
stations under threat?
ther out in the country- olice
,„n ever before.
. are adamant that the round-the-clock
:r cover, and other special- such as armed response give better protection to ic tha
:nt ; society----- helicopter and
i within minutes.
Clitheroe town centre robbery brought the guns to
the rural posts might be at risk has yet been made, but the Advertiser and Times can reveal that the idea is being formally considered at high
No official announcement that
level in the county force. Some rural officers might have
is any Ribble Valley aspect to it. A special group is now looking at
the right to buy their home at a dis counted price if the force did not want it any more. It is believed that legal advice is being taken about this, though it is not known if there
the effectiveness of rural stations, about which there are diverse views. I t has been said that fewer officers than in previous times are keen to take a rural beat. A decision on the issue may not
be far away, in line with the quicker and firmer management style now
adopted by the police. I Single seat rccliner shown in brick
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