- www.dith8roeadvertiser.co.uk Thursday,MarchIZ,2015 I CUTHEROEADVERTISER&HMES


Thursday,March12,2015 www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk c u t h e r o e a d v e r t t s e r & h m e s I


Residents reaet after gas explosion


ByFaizaAfzaal faiza.afzaal@jpress.co.uk Twitter: ©clithadvertiser


J S s a a g - ’. - : 1 ’ >£?■ £ , &■ >


Sisters Noreen Worthington and Amy Brougham, who run WB Furniture, directly oppo­ site the site of the fire, were among the first to hear the gas ignite.


Speaking to the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times at the scene of the incident, they said: “We were inside our shop and suddenly heard a huge bang ‘boom’. The whole building shook. It seemed as. though something big had landed or crashed'into our shop. We looked out of the window and saw the flames and alerted the emergency services and the gas board.” They added: “We don’t


know when we willbe allowed - back into our business. We have been seeking refuge at Pendle Court who have been extremely nice and helpful.” . Staff were also evacuated


from County Sales, in Pendle Road. Mr Duncan Jackson, managing director of the firm


H § bI i s m i »WMl Ml SistersNoreenand Amy, whorunWB Furniture, next to the rupturedgasmain.andanoverviewofthescene in Pendle Road as it unfolded.


said: “We were informed by fire crews that the building had to be evacuated. “Fifteen staff were wait1


ing outside until we were al­ lowed back in. Eventually, I sent them home because we were not sure how long it will take to extinguish the fire and make the area safe.”


Investigations continue


into the cause o f the rup­ tured gas main,but no-one is believed to have been injured and no property damaged. • Speaking as crews tackled


the flames, Steve Morgan, of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said a multi-agency operation has been immedi­


ately launched to ensure the safety of local people. He added: “We have two


fire crews from Clitheroe here and it took us approxi­ mately 90 minutes to actu­ ally establish the cause and to work with National Grid to extinguish the fire. We hope by late afternoon we are in a


position to let people back into their homes. “Investigations into the


fire will be carried out in full by our colleagues at Nation­ al Grid.” Traffic was diverted through Hayhurst Street until


' Pendle Road reopened short- ly after 1-30 pm on Tuesday. A National Grid spokes­


woman said: “We understand that a contractor working to replace a new electricity ca­ ble accidently damaged a two inch diameter of a small gas pipe. The pipe was in the mid­ dle of the road and therefore ’ Pendle Road had to close. “We are now working to repair the pipe.”


A bigger, better business booster for 2015 awards


The Ribble Valley Business Awards are back for 2015 and this year’s event is al­ ready looking bigger and better. Celebrating all that is


good about business and enterprise in Ribble Valley, the awards set themselves apart by being totally local. Last year’s event far ex­


CouncillorRuthHargreaves : Councillor Jim Rogerson . . - Shock as councillors defect


Ribble Valley’s Liberal Dem- Although Coun. Har- . fectively with the support of -fouryears a town councillor, ocrats are in crisis after two greaves criticised the policies the Conservative Party.”


' fouryears town and borough


long-serving councillors de- ofherformerparty-bothlo- . Welcoming the pair, lead- and the past four as borough cided to join the Conserva- cally and nationally - she in- er of Ribble Valley Borough councillor, tives - two months before the sisted it would be “business Council, Stuart Hirst, said: Saddened by the defec- local council elections.


Conservatives’ local gov- Clitheroe ward.


as usual” for residents in her “I am delighted to welcome ' tion, Coun. Allan Knox, lead- Couns Hargreaves and Roger- eroftheLib-Dems,said: “lam


ernment ranks have been She said: “As a local coun- sontotheConservativeGroup saddened, but not surprised swelled in the Ribble Valley cillor I am passionate about' in Ribble Valley. We believe that Coun. Hargreaves has after former Lib-Deni coun- local issues within the com- that we have an outstanding .joined another party. She cillor Ruth Hargreaves, vyho munity 1 serve. Recently, I record of success in freezing h’adbeen unhappy withafew represents Edisford and Low have become disheartened j : council tax for sjx years, bal- . issues for some time* but I Moor in Clitheroe, decided to with the Lib-Dems as a co- an'cing the books and main- would like to reassure our switch to the borough coun- alition at central Govern-, taining our very high service -electorates that they will be oil’s ruling Tory group. ~ ment level and feel they have standards to residents; A . . . \ kept informed of the new ap- Shewasjoined by ex-Con- missed many opportunities


“I’m sure they will both pointment'before the elec-


servative and then Independ- for change. I sometimes feel bring new talents and enthu- tionsinMay.” - ' ent Alston and Hothersall this filters down tp local lev- ' siasm to our team to help us There are now 35 Tory ward councillor Jim Rog- el and we have not always, continue to serve the people cpuncillorsandfiveLibDems . erson - bringing the total • worked as a team'.'"’- . '


. and feel I could work more ef- '. been a councillor for 12 years ents standing. , ofRibbleValleyandllookfor- serving the Ribble ;Valley..


number.of Tpry councillors / “I would like1 to continue; ward to working with them.” There are no Labour repre­ toss, as opposed to just five my work as a local councillor ■ Coun. Hargreaves has sentatives or other independ- Lib-Dem councillors. ;


ceeded expectations when 150 local business people turned out for the award ceremony at Bashall Barn. With this in mind there


has been a change of venue toallowforlargernumbers and this year’s awards will be held on October 15th at Mytton Fold Hotel, with nominations taking place online in July.


Although sponsors have


now been found for most categories, organisers still need support for the Bea­ con Award,, which is for the overall winner, and the Small Business Category. Awards coordinator Rob.


Carder said: “The support from spon­


sors has, once again, been outstanding and goes to show how important the awards are to businesses and people in the Ribble


■ Valley. "Sponsors are an impor­ tant part of these awards.


They play a vital part of the


' judging panel and, let’s face it, without them the awards


just couldn’t exist.” After only one year, the


RVs have already estab­ lished themselves as a lo­


cal business event not to be missed and the organisers say sponsorship is a sure fire


way of being a part of cham­


pioning its success. : Last year’s winner of the


Customer Friendly Busi­ ness Award was Whalley- based Calder .Services.


Managing Director Craig


Nichollssaid: “As a local business that


prides itself on customer service the Ribble Valley Business Awards provided the opportunity to bench­ mark ourselves against some of the best companies


in our area. “Having attended the


awards ceremony and won the customer friendly cat­ egory we’ve beenabletosee


• the real value of getting to­ gether to celebrate the com­ panies that make the Ribble Valley such a great place to live and work. - “We are delighted to be able to sponsor an award


• this time round.” : . To be part of the awards,


contact Rob Carder at rob@ enterprisingpeople.org.uk


Top marks have been given for hygienetotheon-site res­ taurant and kitchens at Cal­ derstones Partnership NHS FoundationTrust.


Food hygieneinspectors from Ribble Valley Borough Council recently visited the Whalley- based facility and awarded it the maximum score of 5, meaning “very good". The Trust is scrutinised in


the same way as fast food out­ lets, supermarkets and high end restaurants. Experts check how the food is stored prepared, cooked, cooled and re-heated.' Chief Executive Mark Hin-


dle welcomed the top mark. He said: “1 am pleased that


m


our cleanliness, hygiene and modern standards are being officially recognised.” Herbstones Restaurant -


named by the patients at the hospital-deliversg.ooomeals every month. It provides hot food from breakfast time to,; anyone on site, as well as pre­ paring most of the meals. Last y ear, major in-, vestment saw the hospital


Calderstones kitchen’s full marks for being clean


By FaizaAfzaal faiza.afzaal@jpress.co.uk Twitten@clithadvertiser


Tourist Information Contra The Platform Gallery, Clitheroe


Tel: 01200 4 25 5 66


Thorougoods Newsagents 35/37 Waterloo Road, Clitheroe


limi f e i : Peter Gardneratwork in thekitchensatCalderstones


kitchens fitted with a state-of- the-art “Frima Vario” cooking centre ensuring tempera­ tures and cooking times can be controlled. Catering man­ ager Peter Gardner said: “The cooker at the heart of our facil­ ity means we can prepare 200 portions of beef casserole, 200 portions of mash potato and 200 portions of rice pudding intwohours."


CO V 01200423155 'm M m * Inspectors’ high marks for 'caring’ independent college


Oakhill College at Whalley is celebrating its best ever school inspection report. The independent day school and nursery received the highest grades of excellent from the Independ­ ent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) for teaching, pupils’ personal development, pastoral care and welfare, governance, leader­ ship and management, and an Ofsted “Outstanding” for Oa­ khill Nursery and Early Years. The college’s principal, Mrs Carmel Riley, said: “We are abso­ lutely thrilled that Oakhill’s strengths have been recognised. The school has improved from good to excellent or outstand­ ing in four key areas - teaching, Early Years, governance and leadership. Oakhill has always had an excellent reputation


for its caring, family environment and the improvement in academic attainment for all of the pupils in our care is a cause ' for celebration.” The ISI report on an inspection carried out during February, has been distributed to parents, teachers and governors. In the Nursery and Early Years the Ofsted Inspectors com­ mented: “The early years provision is outstanding at meeting the needs of the range of children. Allmembers of staff are highly committed to the children in their care.” Mrs Riley added:“Iam delighted for the pupils, staff and fam­ ilies who have worked together to make Oakhill everything that it is today.”


OfT:


Five star food rating


for hospital


THE. WEB


Clitheroe ml KSS-! 4 \


. Fupils at Oakhill College, Whalley,are celebrating the echool’sbest-everJSfand Ofsted reports. .......


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Inquest opens Barrow house fire claims woman’s life


An inquest has been opened and adjourned into the death of an elderly Barrow wom­ an who died after getting trapped in a house fire. Mrs Nellie Shaw (86) was


killed when a ferocious fire tore through her large de­ tached house, in Whalley Road, at 5-20 am on Tuesday March 3rd. Her husband, Philip,


who managed to escape the blaze, was taken to hospital after suffering the effects of smoke inhalation. Policeand fire crews from


Clitheroe, Hyndburn, Padi- ham and Great Harwood were called to Barrow Gar­ dens Farm after reports of a “severe” blaze. On arrival both floors were well alight and it took firefighters more than three hours to extin­ guish the fire and a further extensive search before Mrs Shaw’s body was found. An' inquest into Mrs


Shaw’s death was opened on Tuesday afternoon and has been adjourned until April 23rd. Since the tragedy, trib­ utes have been pouring in


from family, friends and lo­ cal residents who remem­ ber Mrs Shaw as a “kind” and “well-liked” person. It has al­ so emerged that Mr and Mrs Shaw ran a popular fish and chip shop in Rishton during the 1970s and ’80s. One of our readers, who grew up in Rishton, has fond memories of visiting the Shaws at their always busy chippy at 90 High Street. She described them as nice and kind people who often served children ' “free scraps”. She said: “The chippy


was always busy with people queuing down thestreet. The couple later sold the busi­ ness, which became a Chi­ nese takeaway. Valerie Swindells posted


onFacebook: “Happy memo­ ries of my Aunty Nellie’s chip shop. My family left Rish­ ton in 1950s. All my cous­ ins where brought up living at the chip shop until they all moved to live and work aboard, on retirement they moved to Clitheroe and had happy times there till last Tuesday when a fire took my Aunty Nellie’s life.” '


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