<


1 l . l-


A ! Clitheroe vertiser an 4 ia


tickets and a treat for chocoholics


FA Vase fever begins to grip as the Blues kick off in the semi-final on Saturday. .


■ page 34 3 g


A “Corrie” star tells how her Ribble Val­ ley home became a sanctuary during recent problems.


■ page 3 i •2^ 3 f t*Ki3$


The signs are good for improving Cli- theroe’s CCTV sys­ tem and extending it to Whalley.


■ page 6


A CRGS duo has scooped the top prizes in TV’s popu­ lar game show, Blockbusters.


■ page 3


The last of the child abuse allegations


concerning Stony- hurst College has


come to an end. ■ page 2


r«5i E u


a


An early-morning car chase follows the break-ins at two Ribble Valley stores and a garage on Monday morning.


.page 8


FOGGiTT’S WEEKEND WEATHER:


CALLUS News:


01200 422324 /


Advertising: 01200 422323 Classified: 01282 422331


Fax: 01200 443407


Editorial e-mail: clitheroe.cditorial® rim.co.uk


A dry, sunny but cold and frosty weekend.


..


DEVASTATED local farm­ ers are bracing themselves for what could be the most keenly felt blow yet of the current foot and mouth cri-


sis, They are preparing to hard­


en their hearts to the loss of in- lamb ewes, which the Govern­ ment is proposing for slaughter as part of its "no movement, no risk" approach to containing the highly-contagious disease


which is ravaging the country's


farming industry. For, in common with farmers


in other hilly regions where win­ ter can bite hard, many of the Ribble Valley's sheep farmers


adhere to a tradition that is gen erations old. They bring their sheep from exposed uplands to transport them to grassland for better cold season grazing. Yet some of this lusher low­


land can be in Cumbria, York­ shire, Cheshire and other parts of Lancashire. Under normal cir­ cumstances, farmers would now


.be making plans to bring their sheep back home to the Ribble Valley for spring lambing, but, with the ban on movement, they are instead facing the prospect of being forced to agree to their


culling.Trying himself to come to terms with such a dismal prospect, Mr Thomas Binns, vice-chairman of the Lancashire


1/2 prise fun lair


Gordons reputation takes off


Farmers with sheep m the wrong place_at the wrong


limp brace th em selv es for a m ass culling ol l l l l i e M l


banch of the NFU, who farms at Hecklin F a rm ,’ Downham, explained: "I face losing a third of my flock, not because the sheep are infected with foot and mouth; but because they are in the wrong place a t the wrong


time. "It is a truly desperate situa­ , „


tion. I winter some of my sheep in South Yorkshire and Cum­ bria. I t is common practice to send sheep out of the valley for winter, mainly to dairy farms which don't have their own sheep flocks. It is a mutually beneficial exchange in that I receive better pasture for my sheep, while the other farmers have their fields cropped and tidied by their graz­


ing." Added Mr Binns: "As ewes in


Landslide could engulf Valley’s most scenic road


try’s next Nefyn. The North Wales coastal town made news ! headlines when a sudden


A CATASTROPHIC mud slide could engulf a Ribble Valley road at any time, making a nearby village the coun­


‘I wouldn’t take my family along pass in a million years’ - surveyor by Julie Frankland


landslide led to a lava-like mud flow, which engulfed five cars. One person was killed and another serious­


ly injured. And the same could hap­


pen here on the Trough road between Dunsop Bridge and the Langden Intake, according to Mr Denis Wright, the area sur­ veyor (east) for Lancashire County Council. At a meeting on Tuesday


could increase its instabili­ ty, putting the lives of any workmen deployed on the task a t risk, added Mr


Wright. Told that some motorists


L * / , / /


evening of Ribble Valley Borough Council’s Commu­ nity Committee, he told members that he would not dream of driving his family along the pass in a million years, adding th a t if the hillside bordering the road slipped, the consequences could be catastrophic. Yet despite the dangers to those forced to use the


road to reach their homes, Mr Wright admitted that the county council was cur­ rently powerless to try to remedy the situation. Although torrential rain forced the road’s emergency closure except for access last October, work to stabilise its banking has not been completed because the land is stililll too wet and digging


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were ignoring warnings signs to use the road, Coun. Mrs Mary Wilson (Dil- worth) quizzed Mr Wright as to why more had not been done to publicise the extent of the dangers. In reply, Mr Wright said he had taken advice from county council colleagues, who had discouraged him from a press campaign for fear that it could have the reverse effect and encourage sightseers to the area, increasing the road’s traffic. Yet he promised that work would be resumed as soon as his department’s techni­ cal experts deemed it safe enough to send in contrac-


Emergency closure of the


road was instigated on October 31st and formal closure put into effect on February 12th. The closure will remain in force until August 10th, or until work has been carried out to the satisfaction of the county engineer.


e n g i n e e r . LAlWA^scated nl th e fronL'with, from the left, Katie, Chloe, Lucy and Alex (K1ZU301/6) jAUIVrt, Bvtllvu *» »v » »


Dancing girls are set to ‘Diggit’ weekly on TV


answer when it comes to Clitneroe OrViN o u c • * --------- ,


CAN she ''Diggit"? Yes she can is the .____ ...linn i4* oAnnos t.O Olltheroe . .


schoolgirl Laura Beggs. The 12 -year-old pupil at the town s


grammar school was having a capital adventure in London this week after win­ ning a competition which will result m her and four friends appearing on television every weekend for the foreseeable future. T L r a , the daughter of West Bradford


couple Ml John and Mrs Angela Beggs, entered a contest organised bY Gm cM dren's ITV weekend programme Diggit . Producers were looking for new ideas to


|______________ _


pep up their opening and closing credits, a sequence which also precedes every com­ mercial break on the Saturday and Sunday


morning snow, viewer come up with ideas for an alternative dance


. . __ tt : _____ __ /»V\»a11pr>Cfed


and location, with the lucky winner having the chance to be filmed performing their


own sequence. Explained, Mrs Beggs: "The start of the


xinnnor llRVHlC r


show is teenagers doing a street dance, a sequence they play at the start, end and at the commercial breaks. The competition | aimed to change the .dance, the children ( and the location. They asked children to come up with something a bit different, a different place and an idea about where it


could be filmed." Laura decided to enter and was unde-


terred by her mum's cynical view about the | • continued on page 2


_____________________________ __________—


Angry parents demand action as school places controversy erupts


------------ by Tim Procter


I FURIOUS parents demanded action this week after 16 Clitheroe children failed to get a place at Ribblesdale High School Technolo-


gy College. , One mother declared


th a t n


n a re n


moved house to ensure a place if she had realised what would happen.


she would have it Sh


u Ribblesdale’s 240 intake ' ____________


was expanded to 260 for the beginning of the pre­ sent academic year and the same number will be


joining it this autumn. But, so far at least, this


leaves insufficient room for all who made it their first


preference. Lancashire County


Council says it has operated the nationally-recognised


procedure and given places at Bowland High School to those children living neares


nationaiiy-recouiuacu uowiauu


-------- -


to it for whom there is no room at Ribblesdale. Let­ ters informing parents of


this arrived on Saturday. Many of the affected


,.,1,™ there is no’ dren from Mellor, miles away, are going to Ribbles­ dale, but children who live a few minutes' walk away are


Mellor,


children live in the Pimlico and Chatburn Road areas and parents were this week banding together to fight


the decision. One mother told us: "If


we had known we were liv­ ing in the wrong place, we


* would have moved to ensure our daughter got into Rib­ blesdale. I t ’s crazy - chil­


being denied." The county council emphasised the right of


appeal. I t says that in most years the problems have been solved because not all children allocated particu­ lar schools needed or want­


ed to go there due to changed circumstances. Last year there was con­


siderable publicity and many meetings, but the


coun4 council event.


county council eventually placed every child in the school of their choice. Parents have been con­


tacting the local and coun­ ty education officers, and some planned to take the issue up with MP Mr Nigel


Evans. The controversy has been


an annual one in recent times. But the county says tha t from the 2002 entry onwards there is a dip in numbers which will ease the


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‘■srk# ^ vT,r j e , t . . < INTERIOR DECORATION AND. DESIGN ............ the flock are about r°


the flock are about to begin lambing, I would normally be


bringing them home to carefor them. However, I am prohibited from moving them. This ban on movement has all sorts of welfare implications. Food is running out and the care needed during lambing cannot be adequately provided. What option do I have but to reluctantly support the Government's proposal to slaughter up to 509,000 sheep, mine included, in this situation: To ease the pain of the


go ahead with its sheep slaughter plan, it must call in the Army to provide the manpower to make it


W j - e S S O t O S S t


physically feasible." Added Mr Binns, who was


aged just four and living on the farm, then the charge of his late father, when foot and mouth last struck Britain in 1967: "This outbreak could not have come at a worse time in the fanning cal­ endar. I t is devastating to face losing healthy in-lambs ewes because I tried to do my best for them by moving them to better


process, Mr Binns wants the Government to call in the Army to help with the disposal of car­ casses. He said: "We have all seen the television news pictures of farms left with their slaughtered animals. If the Government is to


pasture." • Green top milk has become


the latest local casualty of the


foot and mouth crisis. I t has been temporarily out­


lawed by Ribble Valley Borough Council's environmental health


department, which means it can­ not be sold in stores or by milk-


m While not posing any threat to humans, the Government's experts have highlighted green top milk's potential to spread foot and mouth via the animal food chain. They fear that as it is unpasteurised, the milk could


possibly contain the virus. Should it be fed to pets, particu­ larly cats which are let to roam, they could become carriers of the


dlS63S6 Said a council spokesman: "As


Lancashire has four confirmed cases of foot and mouth, which make this part of the county a restricted area, we are taking this measure purely as a tempo­ rary precaution."


THOMAS BINNS, like other Valley farmers, is bracing himself for a mass culling of flocks


x


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