Nearly 2,000 people packed into the Abundant Life Centre's new building for its official opening yesterday. Simon Ashberry looks at the background of the unorthodox church, which is booming while more conventional places of worship struggle to fill their
Otley is bidding to pioneer planning blueprints for market towns with its own Design Statement. Many places - including Burley-in-Wharfedale, Pool, Bramhope and Baildon - already have or are drawing up Village Design Statements (VDS) to help shape future
A leading housing developer has confirmed its commitment to funding a series of improvements in a Wharfedale village. Redrow Homes has agreed to fund a series of traffic calming measures in Pool-in-Wharfe-dale, as well as major 'green space' improvements
A national charity is set to demand the return of £5,000 after the future of a nursing home was put under threat. Members of the support group Friends of Threelands Grange have been told they must return the cash to MIND if their project to build a garden
Old soldier Joseph Taylor told today how he faces a six-month wait until his next bath. The 84-year-old amputee is stuck on a waiting list to get his bathroom adapted. He asked for help from Bradford Council after he had his right leg amputated. But social
Average pay settlements in Yorkshire engineering are now below the Government's inflation target, according to industry leaders. The Engineering Industry in Yorkshire and Humberside claims average pay settlements in the region in recent months were running
Businesses in Bradford and district should prepare for the biggest-ever shake-up in UK telephone numbers, according to local communications company Link Telecom. From April this year, major changes will be made to UK telephone numbers through an industry-led
West Riding County Amateur League: Phoenix boosted their Mumtaz Premier Division championship hopes and increased Tyersal's fears of relegation with an easy 3-0 victory. Dale Hoyle gave Phoenix a 1-0 interval lead although Tyersal should have taken the
Stuart McCall believes Premiership clubs should copy Bradford City's get-tough policy over dissent to prevent the game suffering more disciplinary problems. The antics of the likes of Manchester United who have been haranguing referees en-masse in recent
When Bobby Vanzie steps into the ring at the Elephant & Castle Leisure Centre tonight he knows that he has the opportunity to silence the critics who have been sniping at him during his rise to stardom. Suggestions that he is too flash, says too much
Bobby Vanzie had to endure extreme gamesmanship from challenger Ste-phen Smith's camp when he weighed in for tonight's British and Common-wealth title fight. The Bradford boxer was taunted throughout by followers of Smith who tried to upset the double
There is clearly something wrong with the system if a case like that of 84-year-old Joseph Taylor is deemed to be of such low priority that he has to wait six months before it can even be assessed. Mr Taylor has recently had a leg amputated and now needs
You notice that no-one mentions capital punishment any more. Even when the case involves someone as obviously evil and deranged as mass-murderer Dr Harold Shipman, nobody bothers to suggest that the best way of dealing with him would be to do away with
A call has been made to create a new community centre on the site of two schools which will close as part of Bradford's education shake-up. The idea is just one suggestion in a report by the Dudley Hill Community Consortium which is working to improve
A vision of the future for the Yorkshire Dales National Park at the start of a new Millennium has been presented to residents. The five-year blueprint, the National Park Management Plan, which sets out aims and targets in seven key areas, is due to be
Marriage and family life are to be put at the centre of sex education in schools. For the first time, the government has laid down guidelines for schools which will create a national framework on personal, social and health education. Schools will now
Bradford's Baton Twirling Troupe is appealing for a permanent training base to secure its high ambitions in European and world championships. The 20 twirlers practice in the hall at South Royd first school, Littlemoor Crescent, Pudsey, every week. But
Former Bradford Council leader John Ryan has won the top health job in the district, it was announced today. Secretary of State for Health Alan Milburn has appointed him chairman of Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust. He takes over from Linda Pollard who continued
A leading Labour councillor has hit back in a fierce political row over plans to bolster West Yorkshire's annual policing budget. The increase, which Chief Constable Graham Moore argues is vital to carry out necessary improvements, would leave Council
Bradford health authority has been named as one of the worst in the country in new league tables marking performance. Out of 120 British authorities, Bradford ranks 100th according to lists drawn up by health think tank the King's Fund and Channel 4.
Hundreds of Bradford's middle school staff and a number of staff at other schools still have no idea what jobs they will be doing after the summer holidays. Many admit to feeling demoralised and downhearted about the uncertainty. Lyn Barton and Jan Winter
Bradford's city centre sculptures are in the national limelight after being picked out by English Heritage for its first pocket book companion on Britain's outdoor art. The decision by Britain's biggest conservation body was described today by the Council's
An all-weather multi-use games area is to be built in Skipton's Aireville Park, giving the area a valuable new facility. The £70,000 development will replace the existing tennis courts in the park, and work should be completed in the spring, said Mick
A Keighley girl has become the voice of the North for the BBC's futuristic new Millennium exhibition. The Yorkshire tones of Bront Middle School student Charlotte Copperwaite, 10, can be heard in adverts for a massive Futureworld display. She also presents
Yorkshire Water chairman Brandon Gough has been accused of "partying with shareholders' money" after he hosted a top-notch lunch at the Ritz. Penny Ward, of water industry pressure group Water Watch, today hit out at the £1,200 lunch provided by the Yorkshire
Shipley MP Chris Leslie has received a formal apology from a Highways Agency chief after he was misled about a scheme to install ornate lamp posts in Bingley. Highways Agency director Kevin Lasbury has had to backtrack after the agency's agents, Halcrow
Yorkshire firms planning to have building work done are being warned to get covered. The National Federation of Builders Businesses in Yorkshire has launched a tailor-made insurance scheme for businesses wanting improvement work done. The "Benchmark Builder
More jobs are in the pipeline for Brighouse following the arrival in the town of a new engineering venture. Austin Trumanns Steel has moved into a purpose-build base on the Wakefield Road Industrial Estate to concentrate on steel flame cutting and profiling
Technology stocks continued their gravity-defying performance over the week. The rise in tech stocks is likely to lead to one of the biggest ever shake-ups of the FTSE 100 Index when the constituents are reviewed next month. Hull-based Kingston Communications
More than 30 years ago goldsmith Mohammed Akram arrived in Bradford from Pakistan and opened up a small shop plying the trade he had learnt from his father. Today Kesser Jewellers has a turnover of more than £1 million - and it has big plans to grow even
Young trainees learning construction skills in Bradford were in Brussels today representing the UK at a European convention on social exclusion and employment of young people. One project only from each EU member state was represented at the one-day convention
Thermoplastic equipment manufacturer Chem Resist Europe has been single out for praise by Foreign Office Minister John Battle. The Dewsbury company, which has a manufacturing operation based in Prague, received a pat on the back at the launch of an initiative
Off-shore crane specialist Miko Oilfield Supplies is set to launch a multi-million pound new venture creating an estimated 50 new jobs in the Bradford area, it was announced today. The Shipley-based company - with a current turnover in excess of £5 million
Bradford & Bingley 37, Hull Ionians 10; by Bill Marshall. This result intensified the battle for second place in Thwaites North Division One. Bradford and Bingley are now only a point behind Hull Ionians, who still have a game in hand, and both clubs
Park Avenue 4, Chorley 1; by David Markham. In-form Bradford Park Avenue will face two of the severest tests of their promotion credentials in the next fortnight full of confidence. Their impressive 4-1 home win over Chorley was their third in a row and
Albion Sports reached the semi-finals of the FA Umbro Sunday Cup for the first time with a dramatic 1-0 away win over Birmingham side Edwards Celtic yesterday. Pavan Singh was their match-winner, firing home an 80th-minute goal after being pushed up front
Doncaster 19, Keighley 12; by Keith Reeves. A much improved performance by the Cougars saw them completely dominate Doncaster Dragons for an hour but in the end three early tries they conceded cost them two vital league points. There was also a hint of
Bulls coach Matthew Elliott has thanked the fans for their enthusiastic backing in the build-up to Super League V. There were concerns in some circles after the Challenge Cup tie with Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants attracted a crowd of only 6,500 but Elliott
Early bookings for Leeds Bradford International Air-port's summer charter programme have soared six per cent above the combined average for all other UK airports. And people who couldn't wait for summer and chose to take winter short-break holidays on
Months of hard work are beginning to pay off for Bradford entrepreneur Stuart Green. The 31-year-old, from Thornton Road, has set up a business to market his invention - and big firms are finally starting to take an interest. Stuart, who works full time
Slaidburn in mid-February was hardly busy. I was the first person to use the car park by the green. On the nearest farm, the horse had given way to the Bob Cat, a small four-wheeled vehicle with a scoop. It was operating a shuttle service between a muck-heap
Brave Bradford teenager Romesa Mazhar is awaiting her fourth transplant operation in a bid to save her life. The 14-year-old, who has already undergone three liver transplants over the last six years, must now undergo a kidney transplant. But she faces
Police officers from Bradford have visited forces in Pakistan to observe the role of women there. Some stations they toured are staffed only by women. The seven-strong delegation travelled to Azad Kashmir in Mirpur this month as part of an on-going exchange
Police have pledged to clamp down on a gang of youths who are intimidating pensioners outside a Bradford Community Centre. Gangs of up to 25 youths have been congregating outside Springdale Community Centre, in Springdale Crescent, Thorpe Edge, every
An exhibition to celebrate the achievement of part-time art and craft students of Craven College is coming to Skipton Town Hall. The students range in age from late teens to mid 80s. The work on display includes embroidery, patchwork, watercolours, calligraphy
A high-profile hit squad of super cleansing agents is being formed to attack the district's litter problems. The crack team will have brightly coloured uniforms and vans and could cut through red tape to get rubbish cleared up quickly when the public
