James Mcneill

The Accrington Soapbox Challenge will return to the town centre on Saturday, August 29, featuring a new mega ramp built by Taylors Scaffolding. Organisers say the ramp will provide a faster, more exciting launch and are making a final appeal for entrants. The event attracted about 12,000 visitors last year and has raised more than £10,000 for Maundy Relief since it began in 2018.

Westholme School in Blackburn reported strong GCSE results, with 45% of entries receiving grades 9–7, up 15% on the previous year, and 67% achieving grades 9–6. Principal Paul Taylor attributed the results to the efforts of students, teachers and families. Many pupils are expected to continue to the school’s Sixth Form, which recently recorded 79% of A-level entries at grades A* to B.

Lucy DiClemente has been appointed head of business at Vertu Land Rover in Nelson, succeeding from her role as brand manager at Vertu MINI York. With more than a decade of automotive experience and recognition as Vertu’s sales manager of the year, she will oversee the dealership at Lomeshaye Business Park and report to James Boyd. Her appointment comes ahead of the expected arrival of Jaguar Land Rover’s first fully electric model, the Range Rover Electric. Vertu Motors chief executive Robert Forrester praised her contribution to the success of Vertu MINI York.

A BBC film will document the history of Bancroft Mill Engine Museum in Barnoldswick, highlighting mill workers depicted in Daniel Meadows’ photographs from nearly 50 years ago. The accompanying exhibition, “Shuttles, Steam and Soot,” will run at the museum from September 5 to October 31, with the BBC seeking relatives of people featured in the images. The volunteer-run museum is funded largely through public support on steaming days.

Camp Kindling and Camp Wildfire have announced their 2027 dates and ticket-sale schedules. Camp Kindling, a family-focused festival near Sevenoaks in Kent, will run from August 13 to 16 and feature around 100 activities and 50 performances. Camp Wildfire, an adults-only event, will take place from August 20 to 23 and August 27 to 30, offering more than 100 activities, live music, comedy and nightlife. Returning campers receive early ticket access, with public sales opening on August 27 for Camp Kindling and September 10 for Camp Wildfire.

More than £30,000 from the Marsden Building Society Charitable Foundation will support 11 community projects across Lancashire. The grants will fund activities including inclusive workshops for older adults, wellbeing and cardiac rehabilitation sessions, financial education, digital-confidence training, women’s support programmes, community hubs and environmental projects. Funding is managed by the Community Foundation for Lancashire, with participating organisations working across areas including Blackpool, Burnley, Nelson, Barnoldswick, Colne, Fleetwood, Lytham and St Annes.

Blackburn children’s author Christina Gabbitas has announced the winners of her 2026 National Poetry and Lyric initiative, which invited young people to write about county lines exploitation and related crime. Hundreds of entries were judged by a 53-member panel, with winners receiving vouchers and publication in the anthology Listen Up2!. Inspired by a school session in Harrogate, the initiative aims to raise awareness and give affected young people a voice. Its earlier Listen Up! project, partly funded by North Yorkshire Police, has raised more than £6,500 for the NSPCC’s ChildLine service.

Shoezone is opening a new store in The Mall in Blackburn town centre on Saturday, August 22. The shop will sell own-brand footwear and labels including Relife, Heavenly Feet and Osaga, with launch discounts and seasonal promotions. The opening creates one part-time job, and the store will operate six days a week from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Ultrabeat, whose real name is Chris Henry, will headline Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Late Night Beats event on August 29 with an hour-long set beginning at 9pm. The performance will be included with all ticket types, while the resort will also offer rides, live entertainment, roaming characters and a firework display as part of its Year of Festivals programme. Unlimited ride tickets start at £36 and Flex Passes at £18.

The Ribble Valley Pub Walk in support of East Lancashire Hospice raised more than £58,000, the highest total in the event’s history. Thousands of people walked a route beginning at Hanson’s Cement in Clitheroe and passing through local towns and villages, with pubs serving as stops. Hospice representatives praised the walkers, venues, volunteers, Rotary Club and headline sponsor Intack Self Drive, saying the funds will support care for patients and their families. The event concluded with live entertainment at Clitheroe Cricket Club, and registration for the 2027 walk is open.

Hypo Solutions Ltd has opened a new office, warehouse and development base at Engine House, Lomeshaye Bridge Mill, in Nelson to support expansion across housing, specialist decontamination, forensic science, agriculture and international markets. The company develops stabilised hypochlorous acid products, including the HypoSporal range, and is working with European manufacturer Contronics to adapt professional dry-fogging technology. Managing director John Gradwell stressed that treatment products support remediation but cannot replace fixing underlying moisture problems such as leaks, condensation or inadequate ventilation. The Nelson site will provide additional space for stock, product development and equipment adaptation, while the company’s registered office remains in Blackburn.

A renovated two-bedroom terraced home at 78 Station Road in Croston has been listed by Maria B Evans Estate Agents for offers around £289,000. The property features character details including oak flooring, wall panelling, exposed beams, a multifuel burner, a Shaker-style kitchen, conservatory and two bedrooms. Its rear garden includes a patio, lawn, pond, established planting, a brick outhouse and an electrified timber outbuilding, with space for entertaining or children’s play.

West Lancashire is forecast to have a brighter and mostly dry Saturday, with sunny intervals, a fresh breeze, and temperatures reaching around 19–20°C. Sunday is expected to be cloudier and slightly cooler, with occasional brighter spells and an increasing chance of rain later in the day and overnight. Winds will remain light to moderate from the west or northwest.

The Met Office forecasts a largely dry weekend across East Lancashire. Saturday will be cooler and breezier, with cloud, sunny spells, and a small chance of showers, especially over higher Pennine areas, while temperatures reach around 17–19°C. Sunday is expected to be more comfortable, with lighter winds, bright spells, and peak temperatures of approximately 20–21°C.

Nicola Hanna has been appointed permanently as chief executive of East Lancashire Hospice after serving as interim CEO. Chairman Graham Parr praised her performance and said her priorities would include providing stability, maintaining specialist palliative care, strengthening partnerships and ensuring financial sustainability. Hanna highlighted rising costs, growing demand and the need for sustainable funding, while expressing confidence in the hospice’s staff, volunteers, trustees, donors and wider community. The hospice relies heavily on fundraising, donations and retail income to cover its running costs.

Members of the East Lancashire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament held a ceremony in Manchester’s Heaton Park to remember the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. The event highlighted the long-term effects of radiation, endorsed the Mayors for Peace campaign and called for the removal of US nuclear bombers from the UK and support for the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Attendees also paid tribute to Pacific nuclear-test veterans, whose claims for recognition and justice remain unresolved.

Paul Lewis Dawson of Burnley received a suspended 22-week prison sentence, a 15-year ban on keeping animals, unpaid work, rehabilitation requirements and £400 in costs after being convicted of three animal welfare offences. His bull breed dog, Kano, was found severely emaciated, flea-infested, injured and living among rubbish and faeces at a property in Rochdale. Veterinary evidence indicated that Kano had likely suffered for at least three weeks, while the sentencing judge described the case as the most serious animal cruelty case they had handled. Kano has since made a full recovery.

The Lytham International Film Festival will return from September 3 to 6 with more than 200 films from 52 countries, its largest programme to date. Screenings and events will be held in three historic Lytham venues, with opening and closing ceremonies at The Island Cinema. Featured titles include the Oscar-nominated comedy A Friend of Dorothy, starring Stephen Fry and Miriam Margolyes, and The Intimacy Coordinator, whose director Louisa Connolly-Burnham will attend. Filmmakers Will Jewell and Rebecca Rose will lead masterclasses, alongside workshops from VFX artist Jayson Barnard and stunt specialist Ryan Green. Festival passes and workshop tickets are available, and the event is organised by Lancashire Film Network CIC with support from the BFI and Film Hub North.

Burnley’s Vintage & Performance Car Show will return to the town centre on Saturday, September 12, running from 11am to 4pm on St James’s Street and Curzon Street. Organized by Burnley Business Improvement District, the event will feature vintage, classic and performance cars and motorcycles, alongside Transformers characters, face painting, crazy golf and live entertainment from Radio Burnley. Vehicle registration remains open, and organizers and Burnley’s mayor are encouraging owners and visitors to take part.

A four-bedroom detached home on Vicarage Lane in Wilpshire has been listed for £695,000. The property features two reception rooms, a kitchen-living area with underfloor heating and bi-fold doors, four bedrooms, an attic room, driveway parking, a garage and a large south-east-facing garden. It is marketed as a high-quality family home near Salesbury Primary School, local high-school bus routes and the A59, with convenient access across Lancashire.

Lancashire County Council has received and validated a range of planning applications covering waste storage and treatment, recycling infrastructure, electricity generation, school security and window replacements, sports facilities, mineral extraction and wastewater operations. Proposals include new plant and ancillary buildings, extended generator compounds, fencing upgrades, anaerobic digestion infrastructure and the long-term retention of leachate treatment facilities at sites across Lancashire.

Chloe Bond, a former Burnley College student from Colne, is preparing to begin a five-year joint PhD in English and Education at the University of Michigan. After achieving strong A-level results, she studied at the University of Cambridge and later completed a master’s degree in children’s literature at the University of British Columbia, where her thesis examined monstrous femininity in Taylor Swift’s music and earned several awards. Bond recently completed an internship with Burnley College’s marketing team and hopes to publish more of her research, eventually developing her doctoral dissertation into a book.

Thirty-five new police constables have been sworn into Lancashire Police after completing the Police Constable Entry Programme, Lancashire’s ninth intake. The attestation ceremony took place at the force’s headquarters in Hutton and was attended by senior police leaders and Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw. The recruits now have full policing powers, including the authority to make arrests. Officials said the officers would focus on protecting vulnerable people, engaging with communities, tackling crime and maintaining high professional standards across Lancashire.

Several roads in and around Blackburn are scheduled to close for essential works. Whalley New Road will be closed from August 17 to 21, Blackburn Road near numbers 302–368 from August 17 to 19, Pickering Fold from August 24 to 28, and both directions of the M65 between Junctions 2 and 5 overnight from August 18 to 19. Drivers are advised to plan ahead and use alternative routes.

A letter written by Clitheroe children Thomas and Charlotte thanking King Charles III for visiting Clitheroe Auction Mart has gone on display in Buckingham Palace’s Family Pavilion. The children described the visit as special and thanked the King for his support of British farming and rural communities. Their letter, accompanied by Charlotte’s painting of Pendle Hill, is part of a selection of letters and drawings sent to the King by children from around the world.

Whitaker Park’s toddler play area in Rossendale has reopened following a £143,000 refurbishment by Rossendale Borough Council. The upgraded facility includes new inclusive play equipment, accessible picnic benches, safer bonded rubber-mulch surfacing and a replacement composite fence. The reopening was delayed while surfacing problems were resolved, and the project forms part of the Whitaker Park Masterplan and brings the toddler area up to the standard of the junior play area completed the previous year.

Blackpool has formally submitted its bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2029, with unanimous backing from Lancashire MPs. The application highlights local cultural attractions and major upcoming anniversaries, including milestones for the Blackpool Illuminations, Tower, Grand Theatre and Winter Gardens. An independent panel will assess the nine longlisted locations before recommending up to four finalists. The shortlist is due in autumn 2026, with the winner expected to be announced in December 2026 or January 2027; the winner will receive £10 million in government funding and each runner-up £125,000.

A five-bedroom, semi-detached period home in Burton in Lonsdale, believed to date from the mid-1700s, has been listed by Fine & Country for £750,000. West View includes five reception rooms, three bathrooms, an Aga kitchen, original period features, a converted attic room and a west-facing garden of about one-third of an acre with views of Ingleborough. The owners are selling after their three children left home, citing the property's community setting, countryside surroundings and transport connections.