Commuters can look forward to using the improved facilities at Darwen Railway station as work draws to a close.
The £400k project has seen fencing repaired and repainted, new shelters for passengers, new signs, a customer information system put in including a public announcement system and ticket machines.
Platforms have been resurfaced and tactile paving has been installed to help visually impaired customers.
The main construction work will soon be completed with a new CCTV system and state of the art customer information screens and train announcement system ithe last items to be installed.
Throughout the project night time working has been kept to a minimum to reduce disruption to residents and the station has remained open throughout avoiding disruption to rail travellers and reducing the costs of the works.
The station sees over 260,000 passengers use it every year.
Building on the improvements at the station the Council is also working with Network Rail to deliver the necessary infrastructure improvements to make services to Manchester more frequent.
The improvements are being funded through the National Station Improvement Programme matched by £200,000 from the Council.
Councillor Dave Harling, Executive Member for Regeneration, said the work was an important part of encouraging more residents to use public transport.
"For people to use public transport, which everyone agrees is better for a more sustainable future, we need to make it more attractive and more efficient for travellers.
“We have worked closely with Northern Rail to see this project completed with as little disruption to residents and to travellers as possible."
Monday, March 26, 2012
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Darwen could be transformed in Mary Portas project
Darwen could become one of 12 towns transformed under recommendations from retail expert Mary Portas:
Read full story
Read full story
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Be on guard for fraudsters claiming to work for Microsoft - scam
Computer owners in Blackburn with Darwen are being warned to be on their guard about fraudsters claiming to work for Microsoft.
Consumer protection officials at Blackburn with Darwen Council, say they’ve received several reports of people being targeted by the gang under the guise of fixing problems with the computer.
The crooks encourage the owner to log on to the machine in a bid to steal financial and personal information as well as trying to charge for their services.
Pensioner Jean Murdey, 83, from Darwen, almost fell for the scam and now wants others to be on their guard.
“I got a call from someone calling himself Andrew from what sounded like a call centre. He said he was from Microsoft’s technical department and they had been looking into my computer and I had a problem,” said Jean
“I didn’t think he was a fraudster so I went on the computer and he had me pressing keys and he got remote control of it. I started to get suspicious and asked him how much it would cost and he was very non committal about it but eventually said £89.
“Luckily my daughter walked in and asked for his name, number and who he worked for. He gave an 0891 number, which is a premium number and said technical support so she told him we’d get back to him and put the phone down.
“A friend had a look at the computer and it wouldn’t even let him do system restore. I’ve had to take it back to the shop and have it wiped and everything reinstalled and they said several people had had similar calls. Luckily I don’t do internet banking and hadn’t used my credit card online. The shop only charged me £10 to sort it out but that’s £10 I didn’t want to spend.”
Councillor Yusuf Jan-Virmani, executive member for neighbourhoods and customer service, urged people to be on their guard.
“Microsoft state clearly on their website that they do not make technical support calls. If you receive a call from someone claiming to work for them, or any other major name company and have any suspicions at all, just hang up. Never, ever share personal or financial or login information with anyone you don’t know,” he said.
In June last year Microsoft released details of an international survey about technical support scams carried out among 7,000 computer users in the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada. Fifteen per cent of them had received a scam call and 79 per cent of those suffered some financial loss, ranging from under $100 to over $1000.
Microsoft advises anyone who thinks they have already been a victim of such a scam to change passwords on their computer, main email account and any financial accounts, run a security scan to find out if malware has been installed and contact their banks and credit card companies.
And the National Fraud Authority would like to hear from anyone who has been targeted for intelligence purposes. You can report it at their website www.fraudaction.org or by calling 0300 123 2040.
Consumer protection officials at Blackburn with Darwen Council, say they’ve received several reports of people being targeted by the gang under the guise of fixing problems with the computer.
The crooks encourage the owner to log on to the machine in a bid to steal financial and personal information as well as trying to charge for their services.
Pensioner Jean Murdey, 83, from Darwen, almost fell for the scam and now wants others to be on their guard.
“I got a call from someone calling himself Andrew from what sounded like a call centre. He said he was from Microsoft’s technical department and they had been looking into my computer and I had a problem,” said Jean
“I didn’t think he was a fraudster so I went on the computer and he had me pressing keys and he got remote control of it. I started to get suspicious and asked him how much it would cost and he was very non committal about it but eventually said £89.
“Luckily my daughter walked in and asked for his name, number and who he worked for. He gave an 0891 number, which is a premium number and said technical support so she told him we’d get back to him and put the phone down.
“A friend had a look at the computer and it wouldn’t even let him do system restore. I’ve had to take it back to the shop and have it wiped and everything reinstalled and they said several people had had similar calls. Luckily I don’t do internet banking and hadn’t used my credit card online. The shop only charged me £10 to sort it out but that’s £10 I didn’t want to spend.”
Councillor Yusuf Jan-Virmani, executive member for neighbourhoods and customer service, urged people to be on their guard.
“Microsoft state clearly on their website that they do not make technical support calls. If you receive a call from someone claiming to work for them, or any other major name company and have any suspicions at all, just hang up. Never, ever share personal or financial or login information with anyone you don’t know,” he said.
In June last year Microsoft released details of an international survey about technical support scams carried out among 7,000 computer users in the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada. Fifteen per cent of them had received a scam call and 79 per cent of those suffered some financial loss, ranging from under $100 to over $1000.
Microsoft advises anyone who thinks they have already been a victim of such a scam to change passwords on their computer, main email account and any financial accounts, run a security scan to find out if malware has been installed and contact their banks and credit card companies.
And the National Fraud Authority would like to hear from anyone who has been targeted for intelligence purposes. You can report it at their website www.fraudaction.org or by calling 0300 123 2040.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Booklovers, digital champions and historians wanted
If you love books, computers or local history, Blackburn with Darwen Council would love to read all about you.
The call has gone out for new people to join the existing band of dedicated volunteers who deliver books to housebound customers and support local libraries.
It’s part of the Council’s new Your Call campaign offering residents opportunities to make a real difference in their community.
Helpers are needed for at least half a day every two weeks to deliver and collect library books to and from housebound readers. You need to have your own car with suitable insurance and enjoy spending some time with the people you visit, talking about and promoting books and library services and feeding back any requests. You should also be willing to forward any customer queries on to other Council services.
If you have IT skills, then you can become a digital champion, supporting people who may never have used a computer before and need a little help in taking their first steps.
Volunteers with an interest in the past are also needed to help in the community history department. The library is constantly looking for new ways to document the changing face of the borough and opportunities range from writing articles, taking photographs, and using computers to helping to create databases for the Cotton Town website and helping customers with their personal research.
And if you’d like to help out with events in libraries, from children’s holiday events to our programme of famous authors, there are always opportunities to be involved.
To find out more, call (01254) 661221, email library@blackburn.gov.uk or drop in to any Blackburn with Darwen central library and ask about volunteering opportunities.
The call has gone out for new people to join the existing band of dedicated volunteers who deliver books to housebound customers and support local libraries.
It’s part of the Council’s new Your Call campaign offering residents opportunities to make a real difference in their community.
Helpers are needed for at least half a day every two weeks to deliver and collect library books to and from housebound readers. You need to have your own car with suitable insurance and enjoy spending some time with the people you visit, talking about and promoting books and library services and feeding back any requests. You should also be willing to forward any customer queries on to other Council services.
If you have IT skills, then you can become a digital champion, supporting people who may never have used a computer before and need a little help in taking their first steps.
Volunteers with an interest in the past are also needed to help in the community history department. The library is constantly looking for new ways to document the changing face of the borough and opportunities range from writing articles, taking photographs, and using computers to helping to create databases for the Cotton Town website and helping customers with their personal research.
And if you’d like to help out with events in libraries, from children’s holiday events to our programme of famous authors, there are always opportunities to be involved.
To find out more, call (01254) 661221, email library@blackburn.gov.uk or drop in to any Blackburn with Darwen central library and ask about volunteering opportunities.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
CHARITY MOTOWN & NORTHERN SOUL NIGHT, Darwen
HELP FOR HEROES VALENTINE’S
CHARITY MOTOWN & NORTHERN SOUL NIGHT
Featuring DJ LESTER
Sat 11th February at Hollins Grove Con Club Blackburn Road Darwen
Tickets £5 each Starts @ 8pm
In Aid of HELP for HEROES
Pay on the Door or Contact Vince for details on 07970958275
Monday, January 23, 2012
Make a splash with charity swims
Keen swimmers are being offered two chances to take the plunge and raise charity cash – and you could get free entry before the end of January.
Daisyfield Pools, Blackburn is hosting its annual Swimathon which raises money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Sport Relief mile and offering free registration for the first 10,000 entries before the end of January.
Anyone wanting to take part in the Swimathon can set a personal challenge of completing the individual 2.5K or 5k or join up with family, friends and colleagues and take on the team 5k.
And for Sport Relief, you can swim an individual or team mile to raise funds for Comic Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.
The event will be on Thursday, April 26 from 6.30pm until 10.30pm or Saturday April 28 from 3.30pm until 7.30pm.
For more information, contact Daisyfield Pools on (01254) 277300 or enter online at: www.swimathon.org
Daisyfield Pools, Blackburn is hosting its annual Swimathon which raises money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Sport Relief mile and offering free registration for the first 10,000 entries before the end of January.
Anyone wanting to take part in the Swimathon can set a personal challenge of completing the individual 2.5K or 5k or join up with family, friends and colleagues and take on the team 5k.
And for Sport Relief, you can swim an individual or team mile to raise funds for Comic Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.
The event will be on Thursday, April 26 from 6.30pm until 10.30pm or Saturday April 28 from 3.30pm until 7.30pm.
For more information, contact Daisyfield Pools on (01254) 277300 or enter online at: www.swimathon.org
Friday, January 13, 2012
Save The Rovers - Online Petition Against The Demonstrations At Ewood Park
The lifelong Blackburn fan, 59, who wishes to remain anonymous started the petition because, like many, he believes the demonstrations aren't achieving anything other than damaging the vital home performances of the club.
Yes, things need to change down at Ewood Park, but first and foremost he believes supporters should show their support for the players and encourage them to start picking up points at home.
Rovers surprised everyone by picking up rare points at Old Trafford and Anfield, however, they failed to pick any points up in the matches against Stoke and Bolton while playing in front of home fans.
"We all know that behinds the scenes at Rovers is a disaster, but it now clear that the demonstrations have failed miserably to bring about any change and are now damaging the club and affecting performances."
"Nothing is more important than avoiding relegation, if stopping the demonstrations will help Rovers to avoid relegation, however unlikely that may be, then people have to sign this petition."
He hopes fans, players and staff can all pull together to achieve survival by making Ewood Park a feared place for opposition to come. At the moment, it seems that teams are looking forward to the fixture knowing that the home team will be nervous and under pressure from fans prior to Kick-Off to the final whistle.
Sign the petition at http://www.savetherovers.co.uk
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Peppa Pig to visit children at Royal Blackburn Hospital
As part of her special visit to Blackburn tomorrow to flick the switch on the town’s Christmas lights, Peppa Pig will be stopping off to visit children at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.
Peppa will arrive at 2.30pm and along with Blackburn with Darwen Mayor, Councillor Karimeh Foster and The Bee Radio, will walk round the Children’s Ward.
Children will be given a Peppa Pig Advent Calendar as a memento of the visit.
Peppa will then make her way over to The Mall for her guest appearance at 4.30pm before arriving for the lights switch on from 5.30pm at King William Street.
Peppa will arrive at 2.30pm and along with Blackburn with Darwen Mayor, Councillor Karimeh Foster and The Bee Radio, will walk round the Children’s Ward.
Children will be given a Peppa Pig Advent Calendar as a memento of the visit.
Peppa will then make her way over to The Mall for her guest appearance at 4.30pm before arriving for the lights switch on from 5.30pm at King William Street.
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