Emergency services corden off large area of Darwen while army bomb disposal unit removes and destroys grenade
A town centre in Lancashire was placed in lockdown on Saturday, with British army bomb disposal experts forced to remove and destroy a grenade.
It is understood that a member of the public had donated items to a heritage centre in Darwen which included the grenade.
Continue reading...Force reviewing available information after claims that Menzies used political donations to pay off ‘bad people’
Allegations that the MP Mark Menzies misused campaign funds have been referred to Lancashire police. The force said it was reviewing the available information after receiving a letter “detailing concerns around this matter”.
The PA news agency understands that the Labour party chair, Anneliese Dodds, wrote to Lancashire police calling for an investigation into the allegations about Menzies.
Continue reading...Withdrawal of backing for Graham Jones, candidate for Hyndburn, follows Starmer’s action against Azhar Ali in Rochdale
Labour has suspended a second parliamentary candidate over their remarks about Israel, as Keir Starmer struggles to contain the fallout from the leak of a private meeting of party activists in Lancashire last year.
Party sources said on Tuesday that Labour had suspended Graham Jones, the candidate for Hyndburn, less than 24 hours after the party withdrew its support from Azhar Ali, its candidate for the Rochdale byelection later this month.
Continue reading...Susan and John Cooper, from Burnley, fell ill after hotel room next door was sprayed for bed bug infestation
A woman whose parents were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning during a holiday to Egypt has said her family is “broken without them”.
John and Susan Cooper, aged 69 and 63 respectively, died after falling ill in their hotel room after a pesticide was sprayed in the room next door to kill bed bugs, a coroner ruled on Friday.
Continue reading...Coroner says Harry Colledge, 84, would probably be alive if council had acted on warnings about 87-metre-long crack in the road
A council has been severely criticised by a coroner over the death of a cyclist who suffered fatal head injuries after hitting a pothole that had been visible on Google Street View for 14 years.
The Lancashire area coroner, Kate Bisset, concluded that Harry Colledge, 84, would probably not have died last January if Lancashire county council had acted on warnings to fix the 87-metre-long crack on Island Lane near the village of Winmarleigh.
Continue reading...Detention of 34-year-old followed examination of footage taken from within police cordon
A man has been arrested in connection with footage shot from inside a police cordon on the day the body of Nicola Bulley was found. Lancashire constabulary said the footage was then posted online.
The 34-year-old man from Kidderminster in Worcestershire was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice in connection with the investigation to find Bulley, the force said.
Continue reading...After the first quake hit, 77 Britons were deployed to join teams from around the world. Here, some recount their experiences
British search-and-rescue specialists deployed to Turkey after its earthquake on 6 February have recalled the scenes of devastation that they encountered, as the country and its southern neighbour Syria were hit by two more tremors this week.
“If we were still out there [this week], we would have been in those buildings,” said Wayne Ward, a firefighter for Lancashire’s rescue service, and one of 77 British specialists deployed to Turkey in the days that followed the first quake.
Continue reading...Mortgage adviser, 45, went missing while walking her pet after dropping off daughters at school
A body has been found in the search for the missing woman Nicola Bulley after a tipoff by members of the public, police have said.
Bulley, 45, a mortgage adviser from Inskip, Lancashire, vanished while walking her dog after dropping off her daughters, six and nine, at school more than three weeks ago, on 27 January.
Continue reading...Former victims’ commissioner Vera Baird says revelations likely to hamper future missing person cases
The release of sensitive details about the missing woman Nicola Bulley was “as sexist as it comes”, the former victims’ commissioner has said, as Lancashire police come under further pressure over their handling of the case.
Dame Vera Baird condemned the force’s “dreadful” decision to divulge medical information about Bulley, saying it was “the biggest error that I have seen for quite a long time”.
Continue reading...Labour’s Stella Creasy among those questioning why Lancashire police told public of ‘issues with alcohol’
MPs and campaigners have criticised the police for releasing personal details about the missing woman Nicola Bulley’s issues with alcohol and the menopause, with one describing it as “deeply troubling”.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, was one of a number of people who questioned why Lancashire police took the unusual step of releasing private details about Bulley.
Continue reading...Force says it has been ‘inundated’ with false information about missing 45-year-old
Police have said there is still no evidence of crime in the case of Nicola Bulley, who went missing near her home in Lancashire nearly three weeks ago, but they are being inundated with false information, accusations and rumours.
Bulley was last seen in St Michael’s on Wyre, not far from her home in Inskip, Lancashire, on the morning of 27 January.
Continue reading...Man, 49, from Manchester and woman, 20, from Oldham held after reports messages being sent to Wyre council members
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of sending malicious communications to local councillors over the disappearance of Nicola Bulley, police have said.
Lancashire police received reports over the weekend of messages being sent to Wyre council members. A 49-year-old man from Manchester and a 20-year-old woman from Oldham have been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences.
Continue reading...Paul Ansell says family going through ‘unprecedented hell’ as search widens for missing woman
The partner of missing Nicola Bulley says he is “100% convinced” she is not in the River Wyre.
Bulley has been missing for 14 days and a specialist underwater team searching the river suspended the operation on Wednesday after no body was found. A search of the surrounding countryside carried out by Lancashire constabulary also found no trace of her.
Continue reading...Hundreds of people including online influencers and conspiracists have been arriving at St Michael’s on Wyre
People living in the Lancashire village where Nicola Bulley went missing have hit out at the “ghouls” arriving at the scene to take selfies or peddle conspiracy theories over the past fortnight.
Hundreds of people have arrived at St Michael’s on Wyre since the 45-year-old was last seen on the morning of 27 January. She vanished within a 10-minute window while walking her dog, Willow, near the River Wyre close to her home in Inskip. Her phone, which was still connected to a work call, was found on a nearby bench.
Continue reading...Ashley Dalton retains constituency for Labour after resignation of Rosie Cooper last autumn
Labour has retained the West Lancashire constituency in a byelection called after its MP, Rosie Cooper, resigned last autumn.
Ashley Dalton, a part-time charity worker, won with 14,068 votes. Her comfortable win, securing a 10.2% swing from the Tories, marks Labour’s third byelection victory since Rishi Sunak became prime minister.
Continue reading...Labour candidate Ashley Dalton odds-on favourite to hold seat after resignation of Rosie Cooper
Polls have closed in the West Lancashire byelection, with Labour confident of retaining the seat it has held since 1992.
The bookies have the party at 1/25 to keep hold of the seat where it had a majority of 8,336 in the last election. A result is expected between 2am and 4am.
Continue reading...Diver says view is his ‘gut instinct’ as missing woman’s partner says daughters ‘miss their mummy desperately’
An expert diver who is aiding the search for Nicola Bulley has said he “doesn’t think she is in the water”, as specially trained divers continue to scour the River Wyre.
Bulley, 45, from Inskip in Lancashire, vanished on the morning of 27 January while taking her dog, Willow, for a walk close to the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre.
Continue reading...Police had released CCTV images of a woman pushing a pram near where the dog walker went missing, urging her to get in touch
A woman described as a “key witness” by police searching for missing mother Nicola Bulley has come forward, as the force warned against “totally unacceptable” speculation and abuse on social media.
On Saturday, officers released CCTV images of a woman, dressed in a yellow coat and pushing a pram, who was in St Michael’s on Wyre on the morning of 27 January, when Bulley was last seen.
Continue reading...Paul Ansell says mystery impossible to comprehend as potential witness says she does not know anything
The partner of the missing woman Nicola Bulley has said every scenario has come to a “brick wall” as he pledged to “stay strong” for their daughters.
Speaking near the scene where she was last seen, Paul Ansell said the mystery of her disappearance was “absolutely impossible” to comprehend.
Continue reading...Labour hits out at PM’s ‘recklessly expensive habits’ after latest flight to event in Lancashire
Rishi Sunak has been criticised for taking a domestic flight in an RAF jet for the third time in 10 days.
The prime minister flew on a 14-seat aircraft to an event in Lancashire to hold the first of what is due to be a series of events where he will take questions from the public.
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