Central Radio News

Detectives investigating the death of a baby in Fulwood have charged a man with his murder.

The government has refused to back a bid by Wyre Council to prevent any more new homes being given the go-ahead in an area with heightened levels of a cancer-causing chemical.

A new exhibition highlighting Blackpool’s crucial role in sustaining national morale during the Second World War is set to open at the resort’s Showtown museum.

Senior councillors have called for the temporary closure of a major East Lancashire rubbish tip plagued by smells and flocks of gulls.

Blackpool is no longer the town with the highest rate of children living in care as efforts to keep families together are achieving results.

Maternity services in Blackpool continue to be monitored at a national level but a new report says an action plan to improve care is close to completion.

Officers and staff from Lancashire Police were joined by the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw, alongside contractors Willmott Dixon at the site of the new Pendle Police Station as it reaches a significant point of its build.

A man has been jailed for historic sexual offences against a ten-year-old-girl in Blackburn.

A plan to build a new waste transfer site in Bacup, which prompted hundreds of objections, has been cancelled.

A man has been charged with exposure after an alleged incident in Blackpool.

A Fleetwood man was found in possession of £20,000 worth of drugs following a stop.

Town centre offices which have been empty since 2018 look set to finally secure planning permission for redevelopment after previous attempts have failed.

A scheme to convert space above a Wetherspoon’s pub on Blackpool Promenade into flats has got the go ahead but with the number of apartments reduced by more than half.

South Ribble’s MP has called on the government to set an exact date by which it will end the use of a hotel in his constituency as accommodation for asylum seekers – almost three years after it was closed to the public for that purpose.

A bid to install a series of digital advertising screens across Preston city centre has been rejected over concerns they would clutter the street.

Steps to protect Blackpool children from irresponsible drivers have seen new metal warning signs unveiled at a primary school.

A second set of indoor padel tennis courts are set to come to Preston, just weeks after the first opened.

The popular Splash Park in Promenade Gardens, St Annes, will reopen for the season on Saturday 5 April.

The world-famous Red Arrows display team have confirmed they will return to Blackpool this summer to perform on both days of the annual Air Show.

The completion date for an £11million revamp of an East Lancashire heritage-listed Victorian market hall has slipped from the end of this month until late summer or even autumn this year.

The search for a new investor to redevelop the Blackpool Central site has been taken to one of the biggest property conferences in the world.

Residents of an East Lancashire village are to get a new free to use cash machine.

A revised scheme to transform a former Pizza Hut outlet on Cleveleys seafront into padel tennis courts and refreshments has been lodged with planners – this time entailing the demolition of the former fast food building.

Newly-built houses in Chorley are being targeted by burglars for their fixtures and fittings – before anyone has even moved in.

A criminal gang who smuggled drugs and phones into prisons in Preston and Lancaster have been given lengthy jail sentences.

Blackpool and The Fylde College is celebrating after being rated ‘Good’ following its latest Ofsted inspection with four areas of work highlighted as ‘Outstanding’.

Final plans for the construction of Blackpool’s £65m Multiversity are due to go before councillors who are being recommending to support the scheme.

Better bus links in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble will be starting this month. 

A man seriously injured in an assault in Preston last week has died.

The Keep Blackpool Tidy campaign has a new mascot – with Bertie the dog now leading the way on ensuring the resort’s streets are clean.

Kirkham swimming pool could reopen after Fylde Council pledged money to repair it following storm damage.

Police are renewing an appeal for information in the hope they can solve the mystery surrounding the tragic death of a newborn baby boy. 

Police documents have revealed how boy racers are putting members of the public at risk in Blackpool with “hundreds of cars” reported to be “racing up and down Yeadon Way”.

The latest tourism figures show another jump in Blackpool’s visitor numbers with the annual total now reaching 21.57 million.

Four Lancashire branches of Santander bank are to close, it has been announced.

A new agreement between Burnley Borough Council and Cliviger Parish Council will make the playing field on Mount Lane available for community use.

Recently, the Mayor of Padiham, Cllr Mac Harrison, residents, councillors, partners and funders came together to celebrate the official opening of the Hive in Padiham.  

An East Lancashire teenager has been jailed after trying to escape from officers in Blackburn.

An innovative new traffic management tool that aims to improve reliability for buses in real time through the power of AI is being trialled in Preston.

Images depicting a bold vision for the rejuvenation of Blackpool’s deprived inner areas have emerged, setting out hopes of replacing rundown streets with modern housing, shops and green spaces.

Former textile worker turned Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery’s oldest volunteer is set to spend his 90th birthday telling stories of the industry which made the town.

Police have charged five people following a spate of burglaries across East Lancashire.

Stevie Wonder will open his Love, Light & Song UK Tour in an exclusive outdoor headline full show at Lytham Festival in July.

A new planning application has been submitted detailing plans to transform Darwen Market Hall as part of the £100m Town Deal.

The Government’s Swimming Pool Support Fund nationally provided a total of £80m to local authorities in England as a support package for public leisure facilities with swimming pools. The funding was released in two phases.

Police have charged a man following two burglaries in Preston.

Intelligent traffic lights that reduce the need for vehicles to stop and start will form a key part of plans to cut congestion on one of the busiest routes in Central Lancashire.

Teams from local businesses and charities across Preston will come together at the University of Central Lancashire’s Sports Arena to compete in the third Preston City Games 2025.

Illegal cigarettes and vapes worth around £2000 have been seized after a multi-agency day of action in Plungington.

East Lancashire football club has been banned from holding events with live or amplified music at its two function venues.

Sold signs have gone up outside Blackpool’s former Abingdon Street Post Office which is earmarked for a £26m renovation into an Indigo-branded hotel.

The multi-million pound renovation of East Lancashire’s premier entertainment venue has taken a major step forward.

Police are investigating following the discovery of a large cannabis farm at a property on Trafalgar Street, Burnley.

Regeneration chiefs have revealed the first Blackpool streets set to be transformed as part of a £90m housing project.

Calls have been made for bus fares to be reduced back to £2 a trip.

The Council Tax Support scheme in Preston is changing to help more working age people pay their council tax bills, depending on their circumstances.

A new report has revealed trouble hotspots in Blackpool and shows more than 40 per cent of anti-social behaviour happens in just three areas of the town.

A proposed new regional bank will have its headquarters in Preston, it has emerged.

A Chorley councillor has been convicted of assaulting a member of the public in the town hall.

A man has been jailed for driving his van dangerously through East Lancashire.

An investigation is underway after a man was seriously injured in an assault in Preston.

Three people who died in suspected drug related deaths in Blackpool could have taken contaminated heroin, according to police.

A man has been jailed after attacking a man during disorder in Blackpool last summer.

A man has been jailed for 10 years for an assault which left his victim with a bleed on the brain.

A man has been given a three-year football banning order after entering the pitch during Burnley fixture with Middlesbrough in December.

The starting gun for the restoration of the west wing of an historic East Lancashire stately home is set to be fired.

Blackpool is seeking a ‘dynamic’ aviation expert to take charge of Blackpool Air Show which draws in hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Residents in Thornton have a chance to find out more about proposals for a new waste processing facility earmarked for and at the Hillhouse Enterprise Zone.

An East Lancashire local authority is to spend £200,000 to persuade the almost one-fifth of its borough residents to give up smoking.

Lancashire Police have thanked motorists for their patience after a stretch of the M6 had be closed for more than 18 hours.

Plans are afoot to try to ensure the historic Preston Guild festival survives the abolition of the council responsible for staging it.

Lancashire County Council and Fylde Council have announced a new strategic partnership, for which in-principle funding has been committed.

A man has been arrested after three suspected drug related deaths in Blackpool.

Preston City Council has successfully commissioned the Activation of Active Travel Programme to four local providers who will support residents to become happier and healthier as they get more active through cycling, wheeling and walking.

Solar panels are to be installed on the roof Preston’s Fulwood Leisure Centre to help reduce its energy bills and ensure it remains open.

Lancashire highways bosses have revealed they plan to carry out 126 road resurfacing schemes over the next 12 months.

A man has been jailed for carrying out a knife-point robbery at a shop in Nelson. 

Allotment holders and residents who live within 1 kilometre of an industrial site in Thornton-Cleveleys are advised to take a precautionary approach to eating home grown produce while an investigation into potential contamination in the area takes place.

Six fraudsters have been jailed for a combined total of over 25 years for conning elderly victims out of over £1 million from a call centre in Blackburn.

A new report which focuses on Blackpool pupils has revealed how use of smart phones is damaging reading skills.

Lancashire Police have seized drugs and cash as part of a national crackdown on cannabis cultivation. 

Plans for a new, ultra-modern Fisherman’s Friend factory in Fleetwood have taken a step forward.

Fylde Council is exploring ways to enhance Clifton Street for residents, visitors, and businesses while preserving its heritage charm.

A commitment to working towards signing a ‘Pledge for a Healthy and Active Future’ (PHAF) is already showing positive wellbeing benefits for students at Blackpool’s Park Community Academy.

Police are appealing for information and footage following an affray in Chorley.

The Conservative leader of Ribble Valley Council is to step down from the position after six years and hopes to take on a new role.

Controversial plans to expand Preston’s borders have been abandoned.

Two men have been charged, after police received reports of a number of burglaries and attempted burglaries in Blackburn.

Burnley Council will oppose any plans to merge the borough into a single East Lancashire all-purpose local authority including neighbouring Blackburn with Darwen.

A woman from Blackpool who failed to seek veterinary help for her dog who suffered ‘weeks of suffering’ has been banned from keeping animals for 15 years.

A man has been jailed for engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour with a woman he was previously in a relationship with.

An elderly driver who killed his wife after carrying out an illegal U-turn on a busy A road has been sentenced.

Two Preston city parks have been given the green light for a multi-million pound revamp by the city’s Planning Committee this week.

Businesses and organisations across Burnley have voted in support of continuing the town’s Business Improvement District (BID) for another five-year term.

A Burnley man has been given a lengthy prison sentence for sexual offences against a vulnerable teenager.

A national and local joint investigation into council tax liabilities has identified nearly £290k which could be used to support Blackpool’s services for its residents. 

The Cumberland Building Society has announced an investment in its Preston branch which will temporarily close while improvement works are carried out.

Pendle Council-owned leisure centres look set for investment in the borough’s new budget, along with funds allocated to buy empty homes through compulsory purchase and get them back in use.

The 115-year-old Blackburn Empire Theatre can now create a new dance studio, reception office and entrance.

Police are appealing for information after a man died following a collision in Chorley.

In recent months, Preston City Council has identified numerous empty buildings within the city centre where community safety, preventing anti-social behaviour and/or preserving their heritage value needs to be addressed.

The vast majority of children due to attend secondary school in Lancashire will get to go to their preferred school this September, it has been confirmed.

A convicted paedophile who downloaded almost 400 indecent images of children has been jailed.

Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage following a serious collision in Hapton.

Police are appealing for information and footage following a fatal collision in Fulwood.

A Fleetwood man has been jailed for conveying drugs into prison.

Chorley Council is raising its portion of council tax for the coming financial year by just under 3%.

An official traveller’s site should be provided on the Fylde coast for use by transient gypsies and travellers which would help prevent them camping illegally, a new report has suggested.

Shakespeare will not only be available on the shelves when Blackpool libraries host performances which will bring live theatre and music into their communities.

A ceramic artist from a village in Wyre features in an award-winning BBC show next week.

Lancashire County Council’s share of Council Tax is to rise by almost 5%, as the authority set out their spending plans for the next year.

Police are appealing for information after a collision on the M65 left two people, including a child, injured.

A Blackpool job-seeker says she has applied for more than 5,000 jobs in four years without success – but still remains optimistic of getting back into employment.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after reports of an assault in Preston city centre.

A shake-up at Blackpool’s £13m Showtown museum has seen some staff made redundant and an overhaul of the way the attraction runs.

New contracts have been handed out to maintain public safety on Blackpool’s famous Promenade which attracts millions of visitors a year.

Defining Chorley’s future as a top visitor destination, an ambitious destination management plan has been launched.

NHS bosses have been urged to step up security at the controversially closed Accrington Victoria Hospital after it has been repeatedly targeted by vandals.

Residents living in an average band D property in Blackpool will pay an extra £115 in council tax in the new financial year after an increase of almost five per cent was agreed by the council.

Regeneration chiefs are poised to reveal which streets will be chosen for the first phase of a massive £90m housing regeneration project.

A Wellbeing Farm and wedding venue, where the star attraction is llamas in bow ties, had a visit from Rossendale & Darwen MP Andy McNae last week.

Police are appealing for information and footage after a 16-year-old girl suffered serious injuries following a collision in Blackpool.

The developer behind a flagship multi-million pound Blackburn housing estate has scrapped plans to construct more four-bedroomed homes on it because it cannot sell the ones it has already built.

Councillors expressed concern about the ballooning number of bedsits in and around Chorley town centre – moments before approving dozens more of them.

Plans are in the pipeline to introduce apprentice opportunities for Fleetwood’s thriving fish processing sector- and create new jobs for the future.

Lancashire’s influence in creating the long-distance Pennine Way footpath will be highlighted this spring when the route’s 60th anniversary is celebrated along with key individuals who championed its creation.

It will cost more than £1m to replace the ageing traffic lights at five major junctions in Preston.

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s annual finance council meeting will this evening be asked to raise the borough’s council tax by 4.99% from April 1.

Plans have been unveiled for an ambitious new lighting scheme in Blackpool town centre including a possible canopy over one pedestrian area.

Preston’s new cinema and leisure complex will become “a great centre to the city”, according to Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park.

A Pendle councillor has resigned after it was revealed he owed thousands of pounds in council tax and had missed meetings.

Blackpool’s biggest fundraiser supporting young homeless people in the resort is set to take place again this April in St John’s Square.

Around a thousand job opportunities will be available as the Winter Gardens hosts a job fair with more than 100 local employers taking part.

Illegal vapes and tobacco products with a value in the region of £5,000 have been seized from two Rossendale shops.

A counterfeiter who made almost £47,000 selling fake car and van service books online has been ordered to hand over his ill-gotten gains following action by Lancashire Trading Standards officers.

The second stage of a scheme to replace traffic lights at key junctions in Preston is set to begin next week.

Queen Street Mill in Burnley has secured a sizeable slice of funding from Arts Council England to upgrade museums to protect their heritage and support the local economy.

Police are appealing for information and footage after an elderly woman suffered serious injuries following a collision.

Blackpool is set to become the UK’s comedy capital once again as the Blackpool Comedy Festival returns later this year.

Police are reminding the public that a police officer will never ask you to withdraw money to assist with a criminal investigation following three attempted courier frauds in East Lancashire this week.

Four former Wyre councillors who between them put in decades of service have been made honorary aldermen.

Plans for a crazy golf course have attracted strong support with around 180 comments and letters supporting the scheme so far.

Part of one of Preston’s oldest pubs will be demolished, while its historic frontage will be given a facelift after plans to preserve the historic building were given the green light.

The body that will assess controversial plans for a windfarm off the Fylde coast has demanded more details about the impact the development could have on residents and the environment.

A host of improvements to boost sustainable travel and increase connectivity by rail to Manchester and Preston and elsewhere in the region could be in the pipeline for five train stations in and around Chorley.

A man who subjected women and girls to a catalogue of horrific assaults and sexual violence has been sentenced to 30 years.

Police are appealing to identify a potential witness after a man died following a collision in Blackpool.

The Honorary Freeman of Preston Nick Park CBE, multi-award winning filmmaker and Preston-born creator of the animated, loveable heroes Wallace & Gromit, will be visiting his hometown to officially open the city’s £45m+ Animate entertainment and leisure destination. 

A pioneering cricketer and a suffragette are among the ideas for people who might be highlighted in a new walking trail exploring Nelson’s history.

A series of digital display screens could be set to light up across Preston city centre – complete with a lifesaving piece of kit.

Lancashire County Council is planning to raise council tax by 4.99 percent at its budget next week.

A man has been arrested after a fatal collision in Blackpool last week.

A man suffered serious injuries after a van collided with pedestrians in Poulton-le-Fylde over the weekend.

Police have charged a man following the death of a 57-year-old man in June last year.

Officers have seized three off-road bikes and a quad bike which were being driven in an anti-social manner.

Preston’s new youth zone is planning to offer 40 hours of activities a week when it opens later this year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands.

Chorley’s annual literary event, 'What’s your story, Chorley?' is back across Chorley Town Centre next month.

A prolific caller from Blackburn who repeatedly contacted Lancashire Police has been jailed.

The compulsory purchase order giving Blackpool Council power to clear the site needed for the £65m multiversity has now been published.

Plans for a golf academy and 50 flats in Darwen have been ditched by senior councillors in favour of using the £2.5million of town deal cash earmarked for the projects on the regeneration of its market hall and civic quarter.

The world-renowned Blackpool Dance Festival has been awarded the prestigious 'Large Event of the Year' at this week's Lancashire Tourism Awards, further cementing its position as one of the region's most significant cultural and economic contributors.

Two men who were involved in an attack on a man in his own home, have been given sentences totalling 30 years.

A further five people have been sent to prison for their involvement in a Preston cocaine supply gang which was uncovered by Lancashire Police.

Trading Standards raided two premises in a joint operation with Blackburn and Darwen Police recently, in a bid to tackle the sale of any illicit vapes in the borough.

New diversion routes have been agreed and put in place in East Lancashire following the partial collapse of a road in Oswaldtwistle.

The great Astley Hall in Chorley celebrated 100 years of being open to the public last year by inviting people to share their memories and stories.

Travellers at an unauthorised encampment on grassland in Darwen have been given 11 months to clear the site unless their backdated planning application to develop it is passed.

Preston City Council is launching a night service for rough sleepers in the city.

Police are appealing for information after a man died following a collision in Blackpool.

A massive 186,000 tonnes of rock will be used to save a Blackpool beach from the threat of coastal erosion.

Mark Wynn has been selected as the new chief executive of Lancashire County Council.

Details have been revealed of the design of a new primary school set to be built on the outskirts of Preston.

Global superstar DJ Pete Tong, and one of the UKs biggest bands of the 90s, Embrace, are to headline this year’s ‘Preston Weekender’.

Thousands of pounds worth of goods have been stolen from a house in Blackpool.

The construction of the highly anticipated Farington cricket facility in Lancashire has reached a significant milestone, with steel work for the new pavilion now underway.

Chorley Council is considering whether to change how often it empties residents’ bins.

The drive to make Blackburn with Darwen into a creative hub has been boosted by a £760,000 grant from the Arts Council England.

The boss of the trust that runs Chorley and South Ribble Hospital has said the closure of one of its wards is among the “real-world impacts” of the financial difficulties facing the organisation.

Fylde Council has announced a refurbishment project for the Kirkham Market Square public toilets, bringing much-needed updates to the facility.

A man has died following a collision in Earby, Barnoldswick this week.

A scheme to transform a former Pizza Hut outlet on Cleveleys seafront into a cafe with padel tennis courts to the rear is now awaiting progress after the application was approved by planners.

Work to demolish Blackpool’s former Bonny Street police station and magistrates court is now underway and is due to be completed by July.

Fears have been raised residents could have left their homes ‘for no reason’ if a proposed new spectator stand is not built at Blackpool Football Club’s Bloomfield Road stadium.

Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was in Preston today, as he made a pledge over the future of nuclear power in the UK.

Motorists are being warned of up to 12 weeks of disruption at a major Blackpool junction which is being redesigned to cut congestion.

Residents of Burnley borough are set to see their council tax rise by two per cent next year – below the maximum three allowed by the government without a referendum.

A Blackpool dad has told how his family is forced to sleep overnight in a camper van to escape rowdy holidaymakers staying in a resort short term holiday let.

Blackpool Council is hoping to work with the Home Office to resolve concerns around the use of the Metropole Hotel on the Promenade to house asylum seekers.

The final phase of Harris Your Place, a £16 million initiative aimed at restoring and reimagining The Harris Museum, Art Gallery and Library has begun, marking a significant milestone for the project and setting the stage for a 2025 reopening.

A man remains in a serious condition in hospital after a collision on the M6 near Preston this week.

A large quantity of illicit tobacco products has been seized during an operation carried out by the Rossendale Neighbourhood Policing Team and Trading Standards.

Preston City Council has re-signed The Armed Forces Covenant.

Fylde Council say the Visitor Centre at Fairhaven Lake will remain open after the RSBP formally gave notice they were moving out of the site.

Police are appealing for information after a collision in Colne left a teenager with serious injuries.

A mothballed adventure course in Blackpool has cost council tax payers £390,000 it has emerged – with one councillor branding the spending as ‘shocking’.

Thousands of knives were seized from a stall in Blackpool as part of action to crack down on violent crime in the town.

Work on the creation of a new £100,000 pump track in a town in a rural East Lancashire borough is set to start this week.

The access to a historic nature reserve in Accrington has been upgraded.

Preston will not lose any of the £20m it was awarded in ‘levelling up’ cash – in spite of changing how it plans to spend it.

The enchanting WinterBloom Light Festival is back for 2025 after Colne BID successfully won their Arts Council bid for another year.