A BURY taxi driver has been fined for overcharging and faces the prospect of losing his licence. Shanawaz Raja (41) of Heywood Street, Bury, was fined £300 and ordered to pay £300 costs and £1.50 compensation after being convicted by Bury magistrates
POLITICIANS on all sides united to condemn hospital bed and ward closures at Fairfield. Councillors unanimously passed a motion condemning the "cynical" way Pennine Acute Hospital Trust had gone about the reductions, without "open or transparent" consultation
WHEN they saw Miss Jones holding the wooden cane, pupils at a Bury school made sure their bonnets and flat caps were on properly and their slates were wiped clean. The scene is similar to so many schools across the country in the 19th century, but it
RADCLIFFE civic and sporting stalwart Ronald Morris was remembered with a minute's silence at last week's meeting of Bury Council. Mr Morris, who died last month aged 96, was the town's mayor during 1971-72. He spent six decades encouraging local sport
A TEENAGER has admitted murdering his mother's partner after attacking him with an axe and a hammer in their Radcliffe home. Two men from Bury also pleaded guilty to their part in the killing which was carried out by 19-year-old Ashley Marshall. He
AN off-duty nurse who saved dozens of lives when she took to the wheel of a runaway bus on a motorway, has received a "Pride of Britain" honour. Irene King leapt into action when the driver of a packed double-decker collapsed over the steering wheel
A NEW era for Bury United Reformed Church began yesterday with the stone-laying ceremony at a new place of worship. Work has already started in Parsons Lane in Bury to build a new church, which is being relocated as part of the £220 million redevelopment
THREE men need the help of Bury people this weekend if they are to stand a chance of getting into Parliament. The Conservatives are holding an open meeting where anyone, not just members, can choose the party's Bury North candidate for the next general
LABOUR leaders have furiously defended their decision to sell off a Lowry painting and slammed their town hall critics as hypocrites. With just eight days to go until A River Bank is auctioned at Christie's, they said it was a choice between cuts in
SENTENCING has been adjourned on a serial offender who killed the son of a Bury man while trying to mug him for a digital camera. Scott Nichols admitted murdering photographer Lee Phipps during a bungled robbery on a footpath in South Shields, South
A CLEAN-UP champion is launching a campaign for the restoration of Clarence Park Lido, 15 years after her fight to restore the park to its full glory first began. The water at the lido has been plagued with a blue green algae problem for several years
AN application for lottery funding by an innovative storytelling group from Bury has had a happy ending! Lollo Bal, run by clinical hypnotherapist and lead storyteller Richard O'Neill, has scooped £10,000 in the Lottery's Awards for All programme, and
A SINGLE poppy wreath will be laid on Saturday in honour of five brave Bury men, including two Lancashire Fusiliers, who were killed in the First World War. A short service of remembrance will take place at 11am at the memorial garden in the grounds
FIREFIGHTERS were pelted with stones by a gang of up to 20 youths as they attempted to extinguish a wheelie bin blaze in Whitefield. Despite pleading with the youngsters to stop, the barrage continued and forced officers to retreat from the scene at
THE fight to save trade in Tottington following the introduction of a pay and display scheme takes another step next week when campaigners and brewery bosses meet. Councillor Yvonne Wright, who has led a campaign to abolish car parking charges introduced
MINDLESS yobs will always be condemned for their senseless acts and lack of respect. But where's the sense, and respect, in fining a car driver £75 for discarding a cigarette end while a driver who ignores the mobile phone ban is only fined £30? When
COUNCILLOR D'Albert can waffle all he likes, but sooner or later he must answer the key question. His friend and colleague, fellow Liberal Democrat Coun Tim Pickstone, is Bury's only political representative on the board of the Pennine Acute NHS Trust
I HAVE just returned from visiting my little daughter's resting place at St George's Church in Unsworth and feel shocked and sickened that all her ornaments and teddies have been stolen from her grave. None of the items had any monetary value but since
I see that our MP David Chaytor is keen to improve bio-diversity by advocating that every home, garden and backyard should have a pond. I congratulate him for his environmental concern and hope that all local politicians are concerned. If the environment
I HAVE been wheelchair bound since having a stroke in 2005 and have been very impressed by the kindness shown to me by people in Radcliffe. Especially the two young girls and the young man who rescued me when my wheelchair turned over at the Sion Street
HOW does Bury Council justify fining a woman for throwing a cigarette out of her car (Bury Times, November 2) when from Monday to Friday, various council staff from the town hall cross Knowsley Street and stand in Townside Fields in groups, smoking -
IN his letter to the Bury Times (October 26) Councillor John Byrne writes: "The chips fitted to Bury's blue bins cannot weigh the bin, smell it or video it - in fact they can only record the address of the bin". So if we are to believe the town hall's
AFTER reading the article in last week's Bury Times I was amazed at a comment made by chief executive Mark Sanders regarding the black boxes: "The composition of the boxes means that they cannot be recycled..." I know that reusing is better than recycling
CONGRATULATIONS to both Rochdale and Bury football clubs for putting on an excellent game last Saturday. It's not often I get to the games, but the match's twists and turns has encouraged me to make the effort to attend future fixtures. As always with
THREE years ago, Roy Melluish and I tried to get a link with Harvard University and we were advised that it would not happen. Low and behold, Harvard now wants British students. So, why our interest in Harvard? Well, it was a Bury man - Henry Dunster
Editor's note: Everyone who submits a letter for publication is as entitled as anyone else to have their views printed. I reserve the right to edit all letters and, unless there are reasons not to (for example, issues of legality or taste) letters will
THE Bury Times letters pages seem to be monopolised by councillors arguing with each other about trivia, like area board meetings. The issue here is that if councillors are allowed to write without limit, the public are deprived of the space to air their
ON April 15 I took my three young children to Clarence Park. I had never been there before, but I shall never set foot anywhere near the place again after what happened. I took my family pet with us and in the distance we could see a gathering of men
COUNCILLOR John Byrne expresses some points of view which are both understandable and acceptable to many, but he also makes statements which, in my opinion, reveal a kind of leadership arrogance'. His reference to some sad people' who turn up to area
I refer to Couns Gunther and Wrights' letters (Area boards are not just talking shops' and Don't trivialise the tax payers') in last week Bury Times. It seems to me that Coun Gunther has misinterpreted the report into the further development of area
IF Councillors Wright and Gunther relied on first-hand evidence rather than newspaper reports they might be able to understand what I really said and meant. In no way was I suggesting the scrapping of area boards, but after seven years we do need to
THROUGHOUT history there have been people whose names are linked together, as if to appear almost inseparable. Anthony and Cleopatra and Laurel and Hardy are examples. In the present day we have Couns Byrne and Connolly who either write to support each
MOST of our hospitals are in crisis but the treatment at Fairfield Hospital's Orthopaedic department, and on Wards 8 and 9, is first class. I had a knee replacement on September 8 and I am delighted just to say a big thank-you. Mrs Ida Thompson, Parsonage
I AM wondering if you can help me. I am looking for someone called Louise Hallas (her unmarried name), who now lives in the Bury area. She was on Jim'll Fix It in 1980 - slamming doors! I am trying to find her to re-do the fix-it. I can be contacted
NORTH Korea's nuclear test has brought home to me the truth about nuclear weapons. For years I have argued that if countries like ours cling to their nuclear weapons, saying they need them for protection or as a deterrent, then other states are going
VOLUNTEERS are needed to man stalls at a craft fair at Tottington High School on Saturday, November 18. If you can help, call the school on 01204 88 2327 or 01204 88 6858 after 6pm.
A BLOOD donor session is being held on November 15, at Ramsbottom Cricket Club, between 1.15pm and 3.15pm and 5pm to 7pm. Another will take place at the Bethesda Church in Parkhills Road, Bury, on November 20, between 1.30pm and 3.30pm and 5.30pm to
A MAN who stole £1,000 from an Unsworth woman he met via a mobile phone text service has been ordered to pay her £400 compensation. Killian Slaine Dragonwolfe denied theft, obtaining property by deception and forging a cheque but was convicted after
HUNDREDS of protesters are expected to take to the streets of Bury to make a stand against controversial proposals to close Fairfield Hospital's rehabilitation ward for the elderly. The protest, organised by the joint unions of the Pennine Acute Trust
PLAYTIME at Sunnybank Primary School in Bury is to become even more fun, thanks to a £4,000 boost. The cash, courtesy of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RSB), will give the Hathaway Road school's playground a facelift and create a valuable resource for education
THE Young Persons Advisory Service in Whitefield has changed its opening hours. The drop-in service, providing free and confidential information on any aspect of health including contraception and sexual health, is based at the Shuttle Centre Clinic
A BURY home appliance showroom sustained £6,000 worth of damage after staff turned up on Monday morning to find a rocket had been fired through its letterbox. The firework narrowly missed a gas heater inside the premises of Parkhills Kitchens but struck
YOUNG faces were lit up as well as the sky as scores of revellers attended a bonfire and fireworks display at a popular Bury pub. The Swan Hotel in Tottington Road staged their 12th annual event to mark Guy Fawkes night on Sunday. A portion of the takings
A MAN struggled with an armed burglar as he broke into his house - until a blonde female accomplice came to the intruder's rescue. The thug was confronted by the owner of the house in Silverdale Close, off Gigg Lane, Bury and this led to a violent struggle
