News in brief from around the county
LANCASHIRE: The cost of bus travel for pensioners will not be increased after council leaders voted keep the fares at current levels. Over 60s are entitled to free travel within the district where they live and pay just 50p to travel further afield. But the scheme's popularity is costing the 14 district councils in Lancashire millions of pounds more than anticipated and many authorities had lobbied to increase the flat fare. However many local councils, including Preston, South Ribble, Lancaster and Wyre, condemned proposals to raise the fares by as much as 500%.
PRESTON: A family were left stranded in a lift for more than an hour in a city centre store.
The mother and her two children were in Boots in Fishergate when the elevator became jammed at around 3pm on Monday. Staff called the fire brigade after they failed to prise open the doors and free the stricken family. Firefighters from Penwortham used specialist equipment to free the trapped customers.
KIRKHAM: A reformed drug addict who walked out of Kirkham Open Prison claimed he left because he was sick of being offered drugs there. Michael Wright, 22, appeared for sentence at Preston Crown Court on Monday, having admitted escape. He was sentenced to three months to run consecutively to his present sentence.
PRESTON: The chairman of a new private sector lobbying group has expressed his support for Preston Council's bid for unitary status. But he believes the real answer to Preston's renaissance is a directly elected mayor. Frank McKenna, of Downtown Preston in Business, said: "If Preston really wants to be seen as forward thinking, you need a dynamic individual in the form of a directly elected mayor."
PRESTON: A group of Wolves supporters were escorted out of the city centre and put on a train home by police after a disturbance in a pub. The incident, which happened around 12.55pm in Hartley's bar, in Mount Street, flared as supporters arrived in the city for Saturday's North End match at Deepdale.
The group was marched back to the station by police where a guard of British Transport Police officers was instructed to board the train with them and escort them out of the county. They missed seeing the match.
ORMSKIRK: Hopes that a major new bypass could be built in West Lancashire have been given a boost. West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper has been told that the Department for Transport will review its transport priorities in the North West next year. She hopes this will revive plans for the Ormskirk bypass, which would relieve congestion in the town. She said: "If there is slippage on the existing priority schemes the Ormskirk bypass should be in pole position to take advantage."
RIBBLETON: Firefighters were called to tackle a blaze in a skip after mattresses inside were deliberately torched. Crews from Preston Fire Station spent more than an hour fighting the flames at Brockholes View, Ribbleton, on Monday afternoon.
Last Updated: 13 February 2007 10:54 AM
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