Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley .422331 (Classified) 2 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, June 10th, 2004
INSIDE YOUR CLITHEROE ADVERTISER AND TIM
ES
I Valley Matters I Village News .. I Letters............. I Weekendplus . I Weekend TV .. I Family Notices I Readersplus .. I J ob s ------------ I Propertyplus I Motorsplus I Sport
.. .6,7
11,12 and 45 ......... 20,21 . . . . 26 to 28 ........ .24,25 ............22,23 ...........46 . .47 to49 ,29 to 44 54 to 68 .69 to 72
AT A GLANCE...
Great Days Festival success - pages 4,5 Former mayoress dies - page 9 Dramatic quarry rescue - page 14 Gunman could face prison - page 16
INFORM ATION
Duty chemist: Heyes Chemist, 35 Moor Lane, Clitheroe: Sunday, noon to 1 p.m. Police: 01200 443344. Fire: In emergency 999 and ask for fire service. Electricity: 08001954141. Gas: 0800111999. Water: 0345 462200. Councils: Ribble Valley Borough Council, Clitheroe 425111. Clitheroe Town Council, 424722. Hospitals: Blackburn Royal Infirmary: 01254 263555. Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn: 01254 263555. Airedale General Hospital, Steeton: 01535 652511. Clitheroe Community Hospital: 427311. Alcohol Information Centre: 01282 416655. Aidsline: 01282 831101 (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Domestic Violence Helpline: 01282 4220^. Cruse Bereavement Care: Blackburn, Hyndbum and Rib ble Valley 01254 207999. Environmental Agency: Emergency Hotline - 0800 807060. Drugs: Local confidential advice and information line: 01200 444484. National: 0800 776600. Rihblc Valley Talking Newspaper: 01200 428604. Samaritans: 01254 662424. Monthly Volunteer Helpline: 01200 422721. Lancashire Rural Stress Network: 01200 427771. QUEST (specialist smoking cessation service): 01254 358095. Ribble Valley Citizens’ Advice Bureau: 01200 428966.
CONTACT US! News: 01200 422324
Advertising: 01200 422323 Classified: 01282 422331 Fax: 01200 4434G7 editor e-mail:
vivien.meath@
easlIancsnews.co.uk news editor e-mail:
duncan.smith@
easllancsnews.co.uk sport e-mail:
edward.lee@eastlancsnews.co.uk
www.clitheroetoday.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising),, Burnley 422331 (Classified)
Thief’s cruel trick on woman of 94
by Faiza Afzaal
A TRUSTING 94-year-old woman was left badly shaken after a callous thief tricked his way into her house, made a search of the premises and left with her purse and a house key. The incident took place at 3-30
p.m. on Sunday while the woman, who lives in the Railway View area of Clitheroe, was out on a walk. She was approached by a man,
who asked if she had lost a lump sum of money which he claimed to have
found in a nearby street. When she replied “no", the man accompanied her to her house situated in the same
'street. He entered her house, accompa
nied her upstairs, rummaged through drawers and, a few minutes later, left the premises with her purse
and a house key. Luckily, the purse did not contain
a substantial amount of cash. The offender is described as a
white male, about 5ft. lOin. tall, in his early 30s and with sandy blond hair. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and a pair of denim jeans.
Post office closures ‘will hit the elderly’
“I am deeply saddened
the Henthorn Road branch face a walk of three quarters of a mile, mainly uphill. For the Salford branch there will be a walk uphill of half a mik'' The losses will result in
customers having to travel to King Street, to visit the town’s only remaining post office and the Mayor oif Clitheroe, Coun. Joan Knight, fears the move will hit the elderly hardest. She said: “It is not fair
on the senior citizens who will have to catch a bus to go into town. “I went to the King
Street branch last week and people were queuing outside. I dread to think what it will be like when the branches close.” Post Office bosses claim
that too many offices are competing for business and sub-postmistress of the Henthorn Road branch, Mrs Julie Woods, who has been running the office along with the retail section for the past 10 years, says her customers understand her situation.
about the closure and especially concerned about the affect on elderly cus tomers, but it simply isn’t viable for me to continue because I am losing money every day. “My customers under
stand the difficulties I have had to face and have so far been very support ive.” Mrs Woods will now
take on the role of manag er at Chatbum Post Office and is looking forward to the challenge. Meanwhile, relief work
er, Mr Anayad Vally, who has run Salford Post Office for seven months says he feels helpless about the whole situation. Both branches are in the
Primrose Ward of the town and the move has been vociferously opposed by the ward councillors, Coun. Allan Knox and Coun. Mary Robinson. Edisford and Low Moor
Ward councillor John McGowan said: “All this is scandalous. I don’t know what they expect people to do.”
The Post Office’s head
of area, Mr Eddie Her bert, said: “During the public consultation period we received a number of representations and a peti tion. “Having carefully con
sidered all the points raised, I still believe that the permanent closure of
these offices is the correct course of action. I am con fident that other branches in the area are suitably located and can cope with. the extra business this clo sure will cause.” Our picture shows Julie
Woods outside Henthorn Road Post Office. (A080604/2)
Lottery boost for gardening project
A NATIONAL Lottery grant of £160,000 has ensured the future of a unique gardening project in the Rib ble Valley. The Community Gardening initia
tive was introduced after a huge demand in the area for help to main tain the gardens of elderly or dis abled people. The aim is to encour age such people to continue to live independently in their own home. The service, which was introduced
in 1998, became so popular that it expanded in 2001 to include the Hyndbum area. Scheme manager Mr Mark Taylor
said: “The grant will help to keep us going for the next three years. “The scheme is important for a lot
of people who may struggle to look after their gardens when they get
older or have disabilities which pre vent them from doing physical activ ity. “People start to worry that they
can’t look after their gardens and that they may have to move out of their family homes to a flat or some where smaller, which would be a big upheaval and sometimes very upset ting. “There are several organisations
and Charities to look after people within their homes, but they don’t usually include garden maintenance. “The Council for Volunteer Ser
vice was receiving many requests for help in the garden, so the scheme was brought in. “We now visit more than 100 peo
ple regularly and many others on a one-off basis to do general mainte
nance like weeding and cutting the grass. We also create a ‘trusted trad er’ list for any jobs th a t we are unable to do.” The grant will help to cover the
costs of the base at The Sidings busi ness park in Whalley, as well as help ing pay for the full-time manager and supervisor posts, producing information, training and the fuel costs of staff and volunteers. Mr Taylor, of Great Harwood,
added: “We are always looking for more volunteers. The scheme has been very popular and over the years we have carried out thousands of visits. Although we are limited, we do try our best to help everyone who needs it.”
For more information, contact 01254825582.
House-to-house inquiries have
since been carried out, but Insp. Bob Ford, of Clitheroe police, is urging potential witnesses to come forward in a bid to hunt the culprit, who still
has a house key. In light of the incident, Insp.
Ford has renewed a plea for elderly people to be extra careful when approached by strangers and is a ^ asking people to get in touch with the police if they have been a victim
of a similar crime. Anyone with information should
contact the police on 01200 443344, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
In your paper
next week... ® Our chief photogra
pher Colin Horne has taken to the skies above the Ribble Valley and taken some outstanding aerial views. We start our new Eye in the Sky series next week.
® Lions International is
looking for a 21st Century ambassador from the Rib ble Valley. The Clitheroe club is looking for an out standing young person aged between 15 and 18 -an d we feel we have many. ® Look out for a special
competition for primary schools, with 50 prizes of limited edition sets of commemorative coins cel ebrating human achieve ment, in particular the 200th anniversary of the steam locomotive.
Pendle Club
BRIDGE winners at the Pendle Club were: Mrs Barbara Hargreaves, Mrs Jackie Pilling, Mrs Doris Farnsworth, Mrs Eve Velvick. Solo whist winners at
the Pendle Club were: Mrs M. Holding, Mr D. Grant.- Domino winners were:
Mr G. Berry, joint 2, Mr J. Healey, Mr F. Giles, Mrs F. Cooke, Mrs J. Thorn- ber. Line dancing is held
every Thursday at 1-30 p.m. and sequence danc ing every Tuesday at 7-30 p.m.
Farm raided
ELECTRICAL machin ery has been stolen from a farm in West Lane, Down- ham. Thieves forced their way
into a bam situated on the farm and made off with sheep shearing equipment worth £1,000. Inquiries are continuing
into the theft, which took place some time between May 28th and Sunday.
Biker hurt
A MOTORCYCLIST suf fered a broken collar bone, foot and ribs when he fell through a hedge after swerving to avoid a car in Barrowford Road, High- am, on Monday after
noon. Police said the silver
Ford Focus pulled on to the road and drove off in the direction of Higham, forcing John Carysforth (31), of Brownlow Street, Clitheroe, to take avoiding action.
Tenants meet THE Ribble Valley Ten
ants' Association will meet tonight a t ' Chatburn Methodist Church in DownhamRoad. The meeting starts at 7
p.m. and a number of locml housing issues will be dis cussed.
BNP demo meets at wrong chamber
by Duncan Smith
SUPPORTERS of the BNP opposed to local Muslims using Ribble Valley Borough Council Chamber for Friday prayers staged a mid-day protest - out
side the wrong building. The protesters’ “local” creden
tials looked shaky when they grouped outside Clitheroe Town Hall, home of the town council. It is 30 yards along Church Brow
from the Ribble Valley Borough Council Civic Suite, where the Muslims have been given permis sion to hold communal prayers. The British National P arty
protesters only moved to the cor rect building when our photogra pher suggested it would be better for the picture. Local BNP spokesman Mr Ivan
Duxbury said five of the 15-or-so protesters were local to Clitheroe and th a t they had deliberately stood further down Church Brow as it was closer to the town centre. The Clitheroe Advertiser and
Times reported last month that Ribble Valley Borough Council had agreed to a request from local Mus lims to use the council chamber for Friday prayers. Friday is the holi est day of the week in the Islamic calendar and communal prayers are a key part of the faith. The new initiative comes in the
wake of a long-running planning saga and is seen by both the council and the Muslims as a temporary solution. Members of the Muslim commu
nity previously applied for permis sion to develop a piece of land in Holden Street, next to the Medina Islamic Education Centre, as a small mosque. That permission was refused several times on various planning groimds, and was recently refused on appeal by a Government planning inspector. The borough council has said it is
not against a mosque, but that the Holden Street site is inappropriate. .A wide variety of community
groups already use the Ribble Val ley Civic Suite for various func tions and events and the Muslims’ request to hold Friday prayers there until a more permanent solu tion is found was welcomed by councillors, council officers and community leaders. But the BNP supporters protest
ed at the move last Friday, holding up placards proclaiming “Clitheroe
doesn’t want a mosque”. The protest passed peacefully.
apart from raised voices when a woman passer-by angrily told the protesters that “Clitheroe doesn’t want the BNP”. Police officers were on hand to
keep the peace, and Insp. Bob Ford warned the protesters against mak ing too much noise with a hand held megaphone or blocking the
pavement. Spokesman Mr Duxbury, who
stood unsuccessfully as a BNP can didate for Clitheroe’s Primrose Ward in last year’s local elections, said the protesters opposed the use of the council chamber for Friday
prayers. He said that by allowing it, the
council had taken the mosque issue
out of the public domain. “The local Muslims went through
the planning procedure and permis sion was refused again and again,” said Mr Duxbury. “Rather than find a new site, our
Liberal councillors have decided they don’t need to; they can have prayers inside the council chamber. We, as the BNP, believe the people of Clitheroe don’t want it, but this is taking the decision out of the
public debate.” Mr Duxbury said that because
there were only “eight to 10 people” who wanted to pray together, they could meet at each other’s houses. I t was pointed out th a t no changes were required to the struc
ture or decoration of the council chamber to meet the Muslims' needs, but Mr Duxbury said it would still be “a mosque by every thing but name”. “We see this as a political act by the Liberals to win votes,” he
added. Earlier the protest descended into
farcical scenes when a BNP cam paign lorry playing music over a loudspeaker system blocked Church Brow for more than 10 minutes, with traffic building up along its length. As the lorry approached the
library it found itself wedged between two cars parked either side of Church Brow, both displaying disabled driver badges. Eventually one of the drivers
turned up, but could not get into the driver’s side of his car because of the lorry and was unable to shuffle across from the passenger side. As he tried, his car alarm was repeat edly activated, competing with the music from the BNP lorry. Even one of the lorry’s occupants
was forced to see the comical side, announcing on the loudspeaker: “Vote BNP - the only party that can’t get a lorry down Church
Brow”. Our picture shows the protesters
after moving to stand outside the correct building. (CR040604/1)
Vandals smash children’s play area
COUNCIL officials have hit out at “mindless vandals” who went on a wrecking spree at a Clitheroe beau
ty spot. Ribble Valley Borough Council
spent around £70,000 revamping the play area in the Castle Grounds, but just as' major improvements were completed, offenders wrecked the amenity. Over the weekend, unknown individuals ciit into the rubberised
specially-laid surface below the play equipment, damaged a 6m high climbing frame and kicked a dish roundabout erected especially for disabled children. The repair bill is likely to be in
excess of £5,000 and borough coun cil’s assistant engineer Miss Tracy Hurst says further incidents could lead to the area being closed. She said: “I t is not fair on the sensible children who want to use
the area. Vandals damaged the climbing frame last year and it cost the council £1,000 to repair. “Recently we have invested in a
scheme to erect equipment for the use of disabled children. However, the hooligans have ruined it by kicking it.” The council is appealing to
everyone to be vigilant and to report incidents of vandalism to Clitheroe police on 01200 443344.
m
.... ............... lA K O 'i l '. AND
M C - V i lN G ISIAMIC ’U l l Que ..... Ip X j US) D
www.clitheroetoday.co.uk
ClitheroeAdvertiser&Times, June 10th, 2004 - 3
Tributes are paid to a hard-working father
by Vivien Meath
THE close knit community of Whalley was in mourning this week as news of the tragic death of Ian Roger Osliffe
spread. Mr Osliffe (35) and known to his wide cir
cle'of friends as Roger, was a popular and well-liked resident of the ■village. On Saturday he had been watching foot ball with others in one of the village public
houses. Little did everyone know that it was to be
the last time they would enjoy his company. Tributes and messages of sympathy have
flowed into the Whalley home of his grief- stricken parents, Mr Michael and Mrs Ann Osliffe. A former Whalley CE Primary School
pupil, Mr Osliffe went on to attend Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. He made the pages of this newspaper in
1985 when, following an accident on a friend's farm at Whalley during which he broke his femur and pelvis, he took his 0- level examinations in English language, maths and history from his hospital bed. With his elder brother, Neil, he had
enjoyed helping out on the Whalley Nab farm at weekends.
He relished being outside working in the open and was in business as a fencing con
tractor. His ability to get on with people, love of
hard work and satisfaction a t a job well done had enamoured him to many cus
tomers. For the past seven years he had been in
partnership with Mr Kevin Stevenson, trading as Ark Fencing, and for the last five, operating from the GEC Business Park, Clayton-le-Moors. The pair had built up a successful business which was always
in demand. He was devoted to his young son,
Michael, from a previous relationship. He married mother-of-two, Catherine, a t Whalley Parish Church on April 30th this
year. In the early hours of Sunday, Mr Osliffe
was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary from his home in Green Park after paramedics were called, but surgeons were unable to save his life. Mr Osliffe's parents have extended an
invitation to all who knew their son to attend a short service of vigil in Whalley Parish Church tomorrow, Friday, at 7-30
p.m. The funeral arrangements will be
announced at a later date.
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