Thursday, October 16th, 2003 No. 6,119


Wartime memories relived


page 5 AT A GLANCE


Three Young Farmers are tak­ ing part in a cookery competi­ tion in a bid to be the “Best of British”.


- ....... ..............page 3


We welcome our two new vil­ lage correspondents for Hurst Green and Whalley.


■■.■■..ii i .......page 6


Ribble Valley products are set to help explorer Sir Ranulph F ien n e s in his forthcoming marathons.


— — — • Teenage


m i page 8 hill


farmer Da v id Parkinson has received a top a g r i c u l t u r a l award.


page 9


Final preparations are being made for the town’s annual bon­ fire on the Castle field!


page 3


A man sought by police in con­ nection with high-value-home burglaries in the Ribble Valley has been arrested.


• - I . page 5


WEEKEND WEATHER: Cloudy weather, with a few bright spells.


SUNRISE: 7-22 aim"s SUNSET: 6-11 p.m.


LIGHTING UP TIME: ' 6-16 p.m.


CALLUS


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Editorial e-mail: vivien.meath@ eastlancsnews.co.uk


news and views from the Centre of the Kingdom


Mini is maior prize


page 13 by Margaret Parsons


A TOP policeman fears that itinerant travellers who set up camp around the local area are being used as a cover for illegal-immigrants.


. Insp. Bob Ford, head of Clitheroe


Police, expressed his fears at a meeting of Sabden Parish Council where an emergency agenda item had been included to discuss the problems caused by travellers camping up around the Sabderiarea. Those attending were relieved to


hear that barriers are going up to stop travellers destroying a beauty spot


above the village.. But Insp. Ford said he had a bigger


concern. He said that the problem of travellers


was a national issue nobody wants to tackle. “They do create communities in which lawlessness is rife. It’s true that a lot of criminals spend time at travellers’ sites and when they’re in an area crime does go up.


‘


Authority. The sites are being used more and more as a cover for illegal immigrants. I t’s getting a bigger and bigger problem and creating problems across the division.”


Y Bu t he added th a t th e police and local authorities have to deal with them


within the rules, and the law does have to give them time to move on when requested.


have set up camp three times on the Black Hill picnic site above Sabden and a car park,opposite and left behind a trail of filth and destruction. Each time they have contaminated the site with human and animal excreta - so badly on one occasion that council cleansing staff refused to clean it. The area had to be fenced off and left - and another group of travellers came and stole the fencingl The clean-up operations are costing


Over the summer months travellers •


hundreds of pounds and now the police, two parish councils and the Ribble Val­ ley Borough Council are vowing to do


WIN! A family trip to Lapland


page 22


Police fear travellers’ camps are being used


“I t is being raised at the Police what they can to keep them away in


future. The borough council was due to erect


a height barrier on the Black Hill site last week as a first measure. ■ Concerned parties are also looking at putting boulders to deter access by


1 large caravans and a police spokesman said they are looking at the layout of the road to the site to see if they can make access more difficult. They will also continue keeping a very close eye on and monitor the movements of any returning travellers. At last Tuesday night’s meeting of


Sabden Parish Council the issue was aired as the picnic site is in the parish. ■ Sabden councillors and members of


the public were joined by Insp. Ford, Joan Moorhouse, the chairman of Simonstone Parish Council as the near­ by car park is in Simonstone parish, Diane Rice, a solicitor with Ribble Val­ ley Council and officials from the Countryside Agency. Coun. Tony Howarth had taken pic­ tures of the damage done to the site


and said he was appalled at the filth and mess left behind by the travellers. He said they needed to take urgent


action to keep them away. He was assured that the borough council and the police do act swiftly when travellers arrive, but have to act within the appropriate legislation. He said coun­ cillors welcomed the barriers, but if they were broken down what happens


next? Solicitor Mrs Rice explained that


once they have asked them to leave if they do not do so, the borough council has to follow correct procedure within the legislation and it is often a lengthy waiting time getting a court date for an order to be issued. Mr David Oyston of the Country­


side Agency said they are concerned that barriers are an eyesore and will spoil an area of natural beauty and in other areas they are removing them. They also have concerns about disabili­ ty legislation because the barriers will mean that some bona fide visitors will not be able to get on the picnic site.


Church halls to be home for new arts


by Tim Procter


THE Clitheroe Parish Church; Halls - or a new building on then-


site - could provide a venue for the town’s pioneering arts centre. But the Trinity Partnership com-;


mittee in charge of the project has not ruled out the previously suggest­ ed gasworks site off Kirkmoor Road, Clitheroe, The committee has commissioned a


feasability study on the historic but run-down halls. For several years they were the sub­


ject of long-standing church efforts to obtain grants for a major refurbish­ ment. At one time, there was some question


of possibly linking their use with the Grand Cinema a few yards from the rear entrance in York Street. I t is understood that both of these


ideas have been dropped. , The parish church authorities have


'been deeply concerned about the build­ ing’s future and they and Clitheroe the Future are working with Trinity’s feasability team. Clearly, if the halls, or part of them,


or their Cleared site, were sought for the arts centre, a lot of negotiating would be involved. The church would expect to be a key


partner in the conception, birth and future life of the project. However, the vesting of ownership


or use of Church of England property to any outside group, however soundly or respectably-based, rarely avoids con­ troversy.


■ H o u s e w a r e s O f f e r s 'AWSON'S JUokihg your money go jWthei1 Trinity Partnerships feel that the


space available at the halls might be sufficient for' the arts centre. The feasability study team has to check into this and is expected to report about February. ,


•• Access from the one-way streets both } ■■■),■■■.■ ■


front and back,'Car parking and possi- " ble disturbance to nearby residents could well be among factors raised in the report. The Chief Executive of Trinity Part­


nerships, Mr Geoff Jackson, empha­ sised this week that the decision to look at the halls did not indicate that the gasworks site had been dropped. “We are looking at alternatives and


the process still has a long way to go,” said Mr Jackson. “It is far too early to say whether any of the present struc­ ture could be used or whether a new but still tall building, big enough to provide the space required, would be needed.” Meanwhile, there is no news of a


temporary home for the Grand cinema when the major refurbishment of the, York Street building into a youth arts centre starts. Planning permission was refused to use the mill in Shawbridge Street. However, the refurbishment is still a


long time away. In the meantime cine­ ma carries on at the Grand, with updated, altered surroundings includ­ ing plasma screens. Our picture, taken from the York


Street side, captures the sheer size of the parish hall complex. (CR141003/2)


Toddler’s horror as dogs rip apart family pet


A TODDLER watched in horror as two roaming dogs ripped a pet rabbit to pieces. Now parents in the Edisford Road


Roaming free, they entered the garden


area of Clitheroe are warning other pet owners to take extra care - and urging owners of free-roaming dogs to keep them under control. , The same two dogs - a grey lurcher


and a smaller collie-terrier cross - have struck twice at neighbouring houses in Edisford Road, killing family pets on


woken at 4 a.m. by the sound of the two .dogs attacking three rabbit hutches. Before they could chase the dogs off, one of the rabbits inside was killed. The family pet had been a present for


both occasions. In the first incident, residents were


a child’s fifth birthday. ; On Tuesday, October 7th, the same,


HEARTBROKEN Dnnovanwith the rabbit hutch ripped appart by stray dogs in the family’s garden (C151003/8) ■


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two dogs struck again in Edisford Road, this time around 3 p.m.


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of Mrs Susan Binks’ home where they attacked a rabbit run and hutch, drag­ ging out the terrified pet and ripping it to pieces. The distressing incident was witnessed


by a horrified neighbour and the three- year-old child that she was looking after. Owner of the rabbit was Mrs Binks’


11-year-old son, Donovan, who was at school at the time, but returned home to the news. “He was devastated when we told him


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what had happened,” said Mrs Binks. “In fact, we are all very upset. It was a


The remains of the rabbit were left on - . commut'd mi pane .{


horrible thing for my next door-but-one neighbour and the three-year-old boy, to witness.”


the grass in front of the houses as the dogs ran off.


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Dining with the rich and famous


LUNCH seated alongside top celebri­ ties at London's Savoy Hotel proved to be a memory to savour for Ribble Val­ ley businesswoman Helen Colley. Mrs Colley, owner of Clitheroe's famed


puddings firm Farmhouse Fare, was among the 400 finalists at the prestigious "Woman of the Year" event on Monday. Yesterday she told us: “It was a brilliant


day, a most incredible experience. I didn’t win an award, but sitting with celebrities was fantastic. On the next table was Ms Dynamite, who was honoured for her con­ tribution to the campaign against gun crime, and Nicky Chapman, of Pop Idol, while on my table I dined with Diane Quick the actress, two of the original Cal­ endar Girls, and Eleanor Angel, who designed the costumes for the present Henry VIII dramatisation on television.” Also seated alongside her was Sue


Townsend, author of the Diaries of Adrian Mole books who received an award for overcoming adversity, as she is now in a wheelchair and has diabetes-induced blindness. “I spoke to Rosemary Connelly, the diet


guru, and enjoyed a wonderful meal of gazpacho soup, boned quail and plum tart,” she added. Mrs Colley's mother, Mrs Dorothy Fal-


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