NW Friday Bulletin- March 29 2024

Digital reporter Sian Jones with the headlines from our North-West newsrooms

Transcript

00:00 Hello, my name is Sharon Jones and these are the latest headlines from our newsrooms across

00:05 the North West. Former Wigan and Great Britain Rugby League star Gareth Hark has appeared

00:09 in court for a hearing, preparing for his trial next month, at which he will deny charges

00:14 of rape and other offences. The 40-year-old is accused of 12 crimes in total, including

00:20 two rapes, five counts of causing actual bodily harm, assault by beating, coercive and controlling

00:26 behaviour and perverting the course of justice. He has entered not guilty pleas to all the

00:31 above as well as charges of leaving the scene of a road smash and failing to report such

00:35 an incident. A wrangle over the volume of affordable housing

00:41 that should be generated by what would be one of the tallest apartment blocks in Preston

00:46 has been resolved. A deal has been struck which will see Preston City Council handing

00:52 more than £600,000 by the developer behind a 19-storey tower set to be built in the University

00:58 Quarter on the former Gaffes Training Centre site at the junction of Walker Street and

01:03 Moore Lane. The cash will be used to fund affordable housing on other plots within Preston

01:08 to compensate for the fact that there will be none with the 120-apartment scheme itself.

01:16 In other news, the Morecambe Bay Charter Co has got into partnership with the Bath Morgan

01:20 and will soon be serving food at the pub when it opens after refurbishment.

01:25 Morecambe Bay Charter Co is well known around Morecambe and Lancaster by selling charter

01:29 from a travelling store. Peter Stephenson from Morecambe Bay Charter

01:34 Co said "Delighted to announce our partnership with the Bath Morgan co-owned by the Robertson

01:40 and Howard families." Two key bus routes serving large parts of

01:45 Lancashire have been cancelled by the provider. Services 74 and 75 run by Blackpool Transport

01:52 on behalf of Lancashire County Council run through Fleetwood, Poulton, Staining, Great

01:57 Eccleston, Ellswick, Inskip, Kirkham and Wessham, Caterforth, Wheaton, Newton, Leigh, Ashton

02:05 and Preston. But from August 17th Blackpool Transport has been giving notice to withdraw

02:11 the tendered route so it can enhance its core services.

02:16 And finally, they are the Burnley brothers who have grown a multi-million pound company

02:21 in just three years, all before the age of 30. The founders of B2B start-up marketing

02:27 agency Ratcliffe Brothers have gone from struggling to pay rent while on a football scholarship

02:32 in America to being the brains behind the growing viral newsletter on LinkedIn.

02:37 Morgan and now Ratcliffe have even found a fan in BBC One's Dragon's Den investor Stephen

02:43 Bartlett who praised growing viral on Twitter saying he was excited to watch its journey.

02:49 The weather now, after a largely dry and bright morning, clouds will soon bubble up into the

02:54 afternoon with scattered showers developing and highs of 12 degrees.