I’ve never been one to like being told what to do - it started as a child with the bolognese bit in spaghetti and hours spent sulking at the table until the plate developed a coating of mould.

This trait, though mildly less obvious through maturity, still applies.

I like to forge my own path.

So being told what I can’t do is practically fuel on the fires of my fury - particularly if I’m told I’m too old.

Of course, one develops habits when one gets older than say, 25, like preferring a nice seat in a bar, drinking G&T rather than alcopops and using ‘one’ in a sentence.

But I threw my reservations to the wind this weekend when I attended my first music festival for a very long time (Beat-Herder) - my preferences being for brick-built establishments with a five-star en-suite.

But thank goodness I am actually considered young enough to go to a festival because according to a new poll published online 45 is the upper limit for attending.

Frankly if I WAS that old I’d just stay meekly at home, obviously. Grrr.

However I AM too old for many other activities, according to our friends at RetireSavvy.com. For example, I am told I could only get drunk in public before 38 and my deadline for having a favourite boyband was also 38. Sorry, One Direction.

By now I should have stopped watching reality television, apparently, or using text talk (my favourite).

I cannot now get a tattoo or drive like a boy racer.

Long hair is not on the list but I suspect I may need the scissors fairly soon if the age-police knock down my door.

Scandalously, 43 is cited as the upper limit for wearing leggings - an item which garners hatred from many - but they can rip out of my cold, dead, hands.

I will not be emptying my drawers of the comfiest item on earthwhen a birthday strikes, unless it’s at gunpoint and maybe not even then.

Just in case you are reading this and over theage of 52, please note that is the upper age limit for staying up after midnight and don’t wear trainers after 49. That’s you told.

Meanwhile I’m off to eat my spaghetti, sans bol.

LOL.

Full list of age limits:

Drive like a boy racer – 33

Take loads of selfies – 34

Having a favourite boy band – 36

Using text talk – 36

Get a tattoo – 38

Have a belly button piercing – 38

Get drunk in public – 38

Listening to Radio One – 39

Wear a mini skirt – 39

Go on a lads / girls holiday – 40

Visit Ibiza – 40

Watching reality television – 41

Use so many hair products – 41

Wearing a football shirt – 42

Wear leggings – 43

Buy the latest gadgets and gizmos – 43

Go to a nightclub – 44

Go to a festival – 45

Wearing a bikini on holiday – 46

Go to Twitter – 47

Wear skinny jeans – 47

Have a Facebook profile – 49

Wear trainers – 49

Stay out past midnight – 52

In the verdant green, green, fields, somewhere just left of middle earth and but a shimmy away from the quaint stone villages that must surely be home to Hobbits, a beat is vibrating in the depths of the magical soil.

Within moments the sea of bright green grass is turned to dark brown mud, but the laden festival-goers don’t care a jot, they have with them their colourful wellies, their even brighter tents and the cheeriest grins they possess.

The rain may be pouring from an ominous sky but this is Lancashire’s Ribble Valley, the multi-coloured flags are flying, and all are welcome.

The weather, an unpredictable friend, is but another guest in all its guises.

Summer is here and with it a small but bright jewel in Northern England’s festival calendar.

The Beat-Herder Festival 2016 was officially begun.

I arrived with some trepidation.

A Beat-Herder beginner, I had retired my festival mojo many moons ago when there were only three or four big music festivals.

Now hundreds have sprung up, some massive, many with modest beginnings.

Beat-Herder began as a rave in the Lancashire hills in 2006 – a vibe that that organisers have deliberately fought to retain.

At heart, this an inclusive, friendly, festival where children are welcomed and music preferences all catered for.

Crazy dressers are actively encouraged (Saturday is even fancy-dress themed – this year was R) and a bit of bonkers really helps.

Its motto is ‘love thy neighbour,’ and hedonism its by-word.

With ticket sales capped at a modest 12,000 to retain the festival’s egalitarian feel, it remains intimate, manageable and traversible in half an hour even in mud-wedged boots with drink in hand.

It is rare in that there is no cap on booze being brought in, despite the festival plea to buy from the bars – which basically fund a great deal of the event.

Despite that, this is the biggest festival to date and organisers had worked hard to improve roads, drainage, accessibility and amenities – a litter bond even promises a fiver in return for a bag of rubbish in a bid to clear up the site.

We arrived on Friday faced with putting up my first tent in years, luckily the rain stayed away until it was up, a little skew-wiff but what’s a dodgy canvas amongst friends.

The blow up bed was more challenging, but was aided by a fellow-festival goer and suspected band member with boy-band looks and wearing moon-boots and a poncho, whose electric pump sorted it in seconds (we camped in the crew and artist field).

It was Friday night and the beats were already just getting started –and it was already nearly time for headliners James (they replaced original headliners Primal Scream after Bobby Gillespie sustained an injury) on the Beat-Herder main stage, whose short and characteristically energetic set was the icing on the cake if not the end of a magical evening, characterised by ‘who cares’ driving rain and sticky mud to rival Glastonbury.

I was lucky enough to be allowed in for an interview, in their back-stage tepee, just before their set – a surreal experience and characterised by the fact they were still trying to decide on the set-list – the only thing they were sure about is not playing Sit Down. Probably wise, given the mud.

Yet this is far more than a music festival with stage. Bea-Herder is a community, with dozens of quirky anomalies – where else can you vanish into a phone box, or dance on a retro car, or watch as a dance club bursts flames from its roof, in time to the beat.

Up the hill and magical in moonlight was the Toil Trees stage, the house and techno heartland where you could dance in the woods until dawn.

You could pray to the beats in the Church, including Sunday Service.

Or you could retreat in to the Working Mens’ Club, where notices instruct you not to look the bar staff in the eyes.

You can relax to the sounds in the Smoky Tentacles Shisha Lounge, enjoy swing lessons or yoga in Pratty’s Ring, go hardcore in the fire-breathing Fortress or funk – in Stumblefunk.

Anything goes at Beat-Herder.

On Saturday the Clitheroe Ukelele Band woke up campers from the same stage as not just James, but Donovan and Miike Snow.

The line-up is like a cocktail menu where you can mix your own to suit and be shaken, stirred or simply sing-along.

Some of the world’s biggest DJs played here – including Techno veteran A Guy called Gerald and BBC 
Radio 1 DJ B-Traits – this festival has a stellar reputation for its dance roots.

For me the highlight was a spell in the Maison D’etre, a club-like space with mud floors.

It took in some stellar live music on Saturday afternoon from my position sunk into a brown leather sofa – covers band Late for Life has me singing along, Bang Bang Romeo blew me away with powerful vocals and attitude while Northern Soul collective Samuel S. Parkes (known as Sparkies) brought the groove.

But a word for the food.

I wasn’t expecting much but every whim is was catered for – from fresh pizzas to chicken, a vegetarian Indian restaurant, a stand specialising in Scotch Eggs.

Everything is seriously tempting and prices not ridiculous, if not cheap.

Beat-Herder-land is a magical place and the festival a glorious, hedonistic, adventure through the senses.

Like so many others, and given the chance, I shall be returning to middle earth and following the beats with the herd once more.

Nicola Adam

A girl who died at a caravan park in Fleetwood has been named.

Paige Daughtry, 12, was on holiday with her family from Oldham.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “We were called around 9.40pm on Monday, July 18 to the Cala Gran Holiday Park in Fleetwood Road, Fleetwood.

“The Ambulance Service had contacted police after Paige was found unresponsive at the scene by paramedics.

“She was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for treatment but sadly died a short time later.”

A post mortem examination has been carried out and while the exact cause of death has not been ascertained there are not thought at this stage to be any suspicious circumstances. A file will be passed to HM Coroner.

The police spokesman added: “Our thoughts remain with the family at this tragic time.

“They are being supported by officers from Lancashire Police.”

We’re fighting fit!

Police in Lancashire are among the fittest in the country, according to new statistics.

In the region, 2,636 officers took the test between September 2014 and August 2015 with just 23 people failing it – a pass rate of 98.9 per cent.

The tests vary depending on the role of the officer with specialist officers such as those in firearms having to undergo more rigorous training.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “These results show that the vast majority of officers tested were fit and meet the standard required of them to protect the public. The public want their officers to be fit and able to protect them in the face of danger and these results show they are able to do just that.”

Of all 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales the overall pass rate was 98 per cent. More than 1,800 police fitness tests were failed in the space of a year.

Concerns were raised by the Police Federation that several thousand officers had not been tested, and that some forces had recorded significantly more tests than they have officers.

The College of Policing collated figures that showed a lower proportion of female officers than their male counterparts made the grade.

Of the 23,154 times that a woman took the test, 22,095 or 95.4 per cent were passed; while for the 67,376 times a male officer took part, 66,619 were passed - or 98.9 per cent.

National lead for fitness testing, assistant chief constable Jo Shiner, said: “We know from previous years that slightly fewer female officers are passing and the College of Policing guidance on fitness tests has been carefully designed to support officers who are in this position - including advice on positive action measures such as specialised training and mentoring programmes.”

Andy Ward, deputy general secretary for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “The expectation is that officers who are routinely deployed in public-contact roles will undergo annual Personal Safety Training and therefore take the test. It is apparent that several forces have faced a logistical challenge in testing their officers, which has not been helped by shrinking police estates and limited resources to administer the tests as a consequence of cuts to policing budgets.”

A thug who smashed a glass bottle into a man’s face in a takeaway has been jailed for 15 months.

Brendan Kelly, 22, of Hunter Road, Freckleton, had been disruptive in a takeaway on Poulton Street, Kirkham, with his friend before launching the attack at around 1am on January 18.

He had denied causing actual bodily harm to the customer, but was convicted after a trial at Preston Crown Court.

Denise Fitzpatrick, prosecuting, said: “Ben Burrow and his friend Chris Simpkin went into the takeaway at 1am.

“Two other young men, Adam Robinson and this defendant, were also in there.

“They were noisy, and messing about by jumping around.

“They appeared to be drunk.

“Adam Robinson then stood behind Chris Simpkin and was swearing in his ear.

“Having seen that, using the palm of his hand Ben Burrow pushed him away and told him to behave.

“He staggered backwards into a sign.

“Brendan Kelly then took a glass bottle from his pocket and struck Ben Burrow on the right side of his face. There was broken glass on the tables.

“After he was assaulted he punched the defendant before he left.”

The court heard the victim attended Blackpool Victoria Hospital where he had to have a cut to his nose cleaned and stitched with 12 sutures.

He later picked Kelly out in an identification parade.

Kelly told police he was in the takeaway but denied the assault, saying he had “pushed him in self defence”.

Jurors found him guilty.

Judge Ian Leeming QC, sentencing him at Sessions House Court, also ordered him to pay a £100 surcharge.

A biker was left injured after a crash in Poulton.

Emergency services were called to Garstand Road East, near Carr Head Lane in Poulton, after a collision involving a van and a motorbike.

The crash happened at about 3.45pm on Friday.

Police said the male biker was left with pelvis and arm injuries, and the westbound carriageway was closed following the crash and for investigations to be carried out.

It reopened at about 7pm.

The motorcyclist was said to be in a stable condition on Friday evening.

Emergency services were called after a crash between a cyclist and a tram on Saturday.

The collision happened on Queen’s Promenade in Cleveleys, near the junction with Wilvere Drive, at about 9.15am.

Injuries to the 43-year-old cyclist were said to be minor.

Transport chiefs have now formally asked the Government to approve a £22m extension to the Blackpool tramway.

A raft of documents has been submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport who must authorise the work.

It follows a vote at full council last month which was in favour of the project to extend the track up Talbot Road to Blackpool North Railway Station.

Also proposed as part of the scheme is a new tram terminal on the site of the Wilkinson’s store which is set to relocate to a new development alongside the Houndshill Centre.

A consultation process elicited 134 responses, with 81 supporting the extension bid and 46 objecting including a number of taxi drivers, with eight responses concerned with other issues.

Concerns raised included loss of footfall by businesses along the route, traffic congestion, impact on the taxi trade and the high cost.

Further details of the funding and construction phases are also incorporated in the documents.

While it is acknowledged the work “will inevitably have a temporary impact on the existing highway and its users”, the council has already developed a strategy designed to ensure disruption is minimised.

This approach “limits the number of highway junctions and sections of the carriageway that can by closed at any one time to provide continued access to the town centre”.

It also “rightly recognises the seasonality of the Blackpool tourist economy”.

The assessment of the scheme says: “It can be concluded the scheme can be introduced without causing significant detriment to the existing highway, the wider public transport system and its users.

“Generally the scheme will result in positive benefits for the visitors to Blackpool.”

It adds: “The proposals and mitigation measures to offset impacts are wholly aligned with the vision of Blackpool Council, the transport policy and other complementary schemes.”

The construction phase on the Promenade highway will only begin after the Illuminations have finished.

The total funding package of £21.4m includes £16.4m from the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and £4.7m from the council.

A woman was threatening to jump from a building in Fleetwood on Saturday.

Police were called to Mount Road in the town at about 6am, where a woman was on a first-floor landing above a bay window, about 12 feet from the ground.

Officers were negotiating with her, and said the situation was resolved at about 11.30am.

They said they had been able to get into the premises, and the woman was receiving medical attention.

A devastated cat owner has warned pet owners to be careful following a spate of poisonings in Thornton.

The RSPCA is investigating reports of several animals dying after eating something in the Woodland Avenue and Gordon Avenue areas of the town.

And at least three cases have been reported to police in recent weeks.

Heartbroken Kathryn Peart, whose three-year-old Jesse died, said: “The poison had destroyed the inside of his mouth and tongue, making it impossible for him to eat or drink.

“I don’t know if it is accidental or deliberate, but either way I need to know so we can stop another family being devastated in this way.”

The mum-of-two, who has lived in Longton Avenue for just two months, said Jesse fell poorly after returning home from the Woodland Avenue area on Sunday.

The 35-year-old took him to Moy Vets after he became lethargic and unable to walk more than a few steps.

She said: “The vet confirmed he had been poisoned with anti-freeze. I had to have him put to sleep because he was in so much pain.”

The cat’s death has devastated Kathryn’s two young girls, Grace, 10, and Fozia, seven, who have been crying themselves to sleep, and she hopes that, by speaking out, further deaths can be avoided.

“I just want people to be careful,” she added.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: “Losing a much-loved family pet like this must be very upsetting and distressing for the owners.

“At this stage we do not know if these were accidental incidents or deliberate but we would ask everyone in the area to check where they keep their pesticides and chemicals, including anti-freeze, and make sure it is secure and out of the way of cats.

“People should check their car radiators for leaks too. We would also like to ask everyone in the area to keep an eye on their cats’ well-being and if they are showing symptoms of poisoning get them veterinary treatment immediately.

“Signs of poisoning can be seen anything from 30 minutes after a cat has ingested the chemical, though it can be two or three days before signs of kidney failure are seen.”

An ambulance has set on fire while responding to an emergency call.

Fire crews were called to Fleetwood Road in Fleetwood at about 10.15am on Saturday, to reports of a fire in the engine department of an ambulance.

The emergency vehicle had been responding to a call after a woman {http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/woman-threatens-to-jump-from-building-1-8030191|threatened to jump from a building}.

Two fire engines and crews from Fleetwood went to the scene and used a hosereel jet to put the fire out.

There were no casualties on board and the paramedic crew was uninjured.

The blaze was thought to have been caused by an electrical fault.

The ambulance had been on its way to Mount Road in the town, where a woman had been threatening to jump from a first-floor landing.

Police officers were negotiating with her, and resolved the situation at about 11.30am.

A Fylde coast town is to lose another of its high street bank branches.

The TSB has confirmed that its Fleetwood branch on Lord Street is to close in November, prompting concerns in the town about an alarming decline in the number of local branches left on its high street.

It follows the closure of the town’s Barclays outlet early last year and the loss of the HSBC branch in 2010.

Previously Fleetwood also lost out when its branch of the Furness Building Society shut and customers had to travel to Poulton for over-the counter business.

After November’s closure TSB customers in the port will need to travel to Cleveleys if they wish to speak to their nearest branch staff.

It leaves the town with four banks - the Nat West, Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Santander.

Robert Brown, chairman of Fleetwood Chamber of Trade, said: “This is another massive blow to Fleetwood high street.”

A TSB spokesman said: “Having a strong, fit-for-purpose branch network remains hugely important to customers, because there are times when only face-to-face interaction will do.

“While having a very strong branch presence is therefore central to our strategy, when we analysed the network we found that, in the Fleetwood area, there were a number of branches clustered together and often competing with each other.

“Therefore, when looking at the relative popularity of each of the branches in the area, we found that our customers were using and preferred other branches, such as the nearby Cleveleys branch which is just 3.4 miles away.

“As well as having fewer customers overall, we also found that the Fleetwood branch was becoming less and less used over time. We have therefore decided to close the Fleetwood branch.”

Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been told to improve following an inspection by NHS England.

In contrast, Fylde and Wyre CCG has been branded ‘outstanding’, ranking it among the top 10 in the country.

The CCGs, responsible for organising and buying healthcare for patients, were told of their rating following their annual assurance assessments – the health industry’s version of an Ofsted inspection.

Nationally, NHS England found 10 CCGs to be outstanding, 82 to be good, 91 to require improvement, and 26 to be inadequate, after inspecting five key areas.

Blackpool CCG, based in offices inside a stand at Bloomfield Road, was rated good in three of them, for being well led, delegating functions, and for its overall performance.

But it was rated requires improvement for planning, and inadequate for finance – leading to its overall ranking.

Chief clinical officer, Dr Amanda Doyle, said: “We are obviously disappointed with this overall assurance rating.

“While we are pleased that we were deemed to be ‘good’ in three of the five areas assessed, we acknowledge that there are improvements needed.

“A substantial part of this assessment process relates to our financial performance and this was the area of most concern.

“In 2015/16 we delivered a surplus of £563,000 which was lower than the £2,455,000 requested by NHS England and this impacted greatly on the overall rating.

“We are seeing a growing demand for healthcare services and the pressure on our resources is greater than ever. As a result, over the next few months we will need to make difficult decisions about the services we commission.”

Fylde and Wyre CCG was rated good in four areas, and outstanding for being well-led – landing it in the top five per cent across the country.

Its role in several projects, including the recently announced Healthy New Town at Whyndyke Farm was a recognised, while its sound financial management was also commended.

Chief clinical officer, Dr Tony Naughton, said: “Our staff, practices, and partners should rightly be extremely proud of this outstanding rating, which recognises their commitment over the last three years to improve the health and wellbeing of the Fylde and Wyre population.

“Our story is one of strong clinical leadership, extensive engagement, longer-term planning, and innovation.”

The government will pump £1.8 billion into trusts with the aim of reducing the combined deficit to around £250,000 next year, it was announced on Thursday, following the release of the ratings.

Several other measures are being put in place too, including capping the cost of interim managers in CCGs, new financial controls, and replacing national fines with trust-specific incentives, NHS England said.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: “Precisely because the pressures across the NHS are real and growing, we need to use this year both to stabilise finances and kick-start the wider changes everyone can see are needed.”

David Behan, chief executive of the Care Quality Commission, added: “The challenge for trust boards is to leverage this relationship between financial grip and good care.

“And through our inspections, we’ve seen this achieved in practice.”

More than half-a-million people have viewed videos of a legendary Blackpool band from the 60s.

Hundreds of thousands of YouTube users have watched footage of long-defunct resort band The Rockin’ Vickers.

The huge rise in the number of people watching old footage of the band, or just viewing photographs on the site comes six months after the death of the band’s former guitarist Lemmy.

Better known as Ian Kilmister when he was a Vicker, Lemmy went on to become a cult rock figure in Hawkwind and Motorhead.

He died last December in Los Angeles aged 70.

The Rockin’ Vickers were one of the North West’s biggest live attractions during their heyday in the early to mid 60s.

In March, as part of record store day, a limited edition seven inch single of their cove version of Dandy by the Kinks was released.

The limited run, a replica of the band’s biggest single from 1966, sold out within hours.

Now a new generation of fans are discovering the band through the internet.

Formed in 1963, the band built their reputation by covering R&B and beat standards, but soon became known for their unusually intense live shows and outlandish

stage costumes, dressing as vicars.

Although mainly popular as a local act around Blackpool, the Vickers also toured mainland Europe, being one of the earliest British rock bands to perform in an Iron Curtain country, when they played in Yugoslavia in the summer of 1965.

Lead singer turned Blackpool car dealer Harry Feeney remembers his days with the band with fondness.

“We were famous for filling places rather than topping the charts – and even got banned from telly,” he said.

Questions have been raised over why a teenager who caused a massive blaze which cost around £650,000 only received a police caution.

The 16-year-old boy admitted starting the fire at warehouse on Jameson Road, Fleetwood on the evening of Saturday April 16.

At the time of the blaze the warehouse, belonging to Reform Energy, contained 3,000 tonnes of baked plastic.

It took around a month before it was fully extinguished after the fire was allowed to wind down in a controlled manner.

Some nearby residents were left with sore throats and streaming eyes.

The boy has now received a police caution and been told to write a letter saying sorry, but no other actions will be taken.

The offence of arson can carry a range of sentence options, even for minors, if taken through the courts, ranging from custodial terms at the high end of offending to community orders.

Ivor Bould, chairman of Fleetwood Neighbourhood Watch Committee, admitted he was surprised and concerned about the outcome in this case.

Mr Bould said: “I think it is totally unacceptable to give this boy a slap on the wrist when this fire caused this much damage and at such a huge financial cost.

“What kind of message does this send to others for such a serious offence?

“The authorities had other options but they obviously haven’t used them.”

Bob Boal, of Fleetwood Community Trust, said: “Some kind of community service order would have sent a stronger message to youths that arson is not something to take lightly. Others will think there is no consequence to setting fires to things.”

And Coun Ruth Duffy, ward councillor for the town’s Mount ward, said: “That is a very lenient sentence for a deliberate fire which caused a lot of damage and needed a large team of firefighters to tackle it.

“At the end of the day, this lad may be young but he is old enough to know right from wrong and that there are consequences for his actions.

“He could have put people in danger. I don’t know of this boy’s circumstance but it was a serious offence.”

Reform Energy did not wish to comment about the caution given to the youth.

But the company said its own losses amounted to around £350,000 for the destruction of the warehouse and some of the further costs incurred from making the site safe, for which it would be making an insurance claim.

Additional costs would include the loss of the plastic material destroyed in the fire, although Reform says the bales of plastic did not belong to the company and were owned by a business partner who was storing the material there.

The Reform spokesman explained that the warehouse was not part of the company’s forthcoming plans to build a nearby renewable energy plant, which is expected to be operational by early 2018 and will be used to power Fleetwood’s new fish and food park which will is also set to open that year.

A pervert dressed only in a long black coat and exposed himself to young girls a court heard.

Neville Crouch, 59, admitted four charges of indecently exposing himself to a seven-year-old girl and a four-year-old.

Sending Crouch, of Holmfield Road, St Annes, to Preston Crown Court to be sentenced. District Judge Jonathon Gosling told him: “I am extremely concerned about your behaviour and the breach of trust. This is a very serious matter and a Crown Court will decide how long you spend in prison as I have limits on what sentence I can pass.”

Martine Connah, prosecuting at Blackpool Magistrates Court, told how Crouch became friendly with the mother of the two girls and did garden work for her.

However when Crouch saw the girls through a window in July this year he would strip, change into the long coat and expose himself to them.

Once he went as far as to go into their front garden.

The prosecutor said that during his time in custody Crouch admitted having worrying sexual feelings towards young females and was scared what he might 
do to them if he was not stopped.

Crouch was remanded in custody until he appears at Preston Crown Court on August 24.

A 9-month-old baby has been found in a park.

A major search was launched by police after a member of the public reported finding the baby girl in Watson Road Park in Blackpool at about 7am on Sunday.

Police said an upturned pram was discovered with a baby lying in the mud, and a handbag nearby but no sign of the child’s mother.

Emergency services searched for two hours to find the baby’s mother, before finding her with her other six-year-old daughter in Blackpool.

No arrests have been made, and the baby was safe and well.

Police said they were working to find out how the baby came to be in the park.

A man has been left in a serious condition after an assault outside a nightclub.

Emergency services were called to Wood Street in St Annes at about 1am on Sunday, to reports of an assault outside the Loft nightclub.

Police said a 37-year-old man was found with head injuries and was taken to Royal Preston Hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.

An investigation is under way and police inquiries are ongoing.

Police say no arrests have been made at this stage, and anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting log reference 96 of July 24.

A learner driver who was due to take his test rolled his car on to its roof just hours before his test.

Thomas Richmond caused more than £700 of damage to boundary hedging in the accident on Lodge Lane, Singleton.

Richmond, 20, of Brookfield Road, Thornton, pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and having no insurance.

He was fined £160 with £85 costs, ordered to pay £733 compensation plus £20 victims’ surcharge and had six motoring penalty points put on his driving licence by Blackpool magistrates.

Police were called to the incident on March 6 about 1.50am.

He was a learner driver but had no L-plates and no supervising driver. He was due to take his test the next day.

A drunken man who hurled a wine glass at a former Pop Idol contestant as he sang onstage has been jailed for 17 months.

Sean McDermott, 28, of Chatsworth Avenue, Fleetwood, left singer Chris Tame bleeding profusely after striking him while he was singing at Ma Kelly’s in London Street, Fleetwood, on June 3.

The dad-of-two admitted unlawfully wounding the vocalist, alleging he made remarks about him over the microphone.

But today Mr Tame, from North Yorkshire, who was singing Shut Up and Dance at the time, said: “I never said a word to him, I was joking with two girls who were leaving the dancefloor and trying to get them back up.

“The next minute he came running towards me and hurled the wine at me, hitting me with the glass.

“I have been singing for 18 years and have never been attacked. As performers we deliberately avoid people who are drunk or arguing for obvious reasons.

“I want to stress the venue was not at fault at all as some singers are now avoiding it which is unfair - it couldn’t have been predicted and the security wasn’t at fault. There was only around eight people in at the time.”

Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, David Clarke said Mr Tame had said: “Oh look, she’s moving away,” as the troubled couple bickered, which McDermott took exception to.

McDermott also admits breaching a restraining order against his wife the same night by meeting up with her.

Defending him, Julie Taylor said: “He accepted candidly he’d met up with his partner of 14 years.

“An agreement had been reached between them to meet up for a day.

“He accepts he had been drinking. The two of them had got into a bit of an argument.

“At the moment she moved away from him, the singer was taunting the defendant saying things about their argument publicly over the microphone.”

Jailing him, Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “The complainant was a singer who was on stage at the time and he appears to have mad a comment to which you took exception.

“You, having had a lot to drink, picked up a wine bottle - you fortunately didn’t use it because you dropped it - but you also had a wine glass in your hand and you approached the complainant.

“You threw the contents of the wine glass at him, it’s not clear whether you threw the glass or had it in your hand when you punched him but he suffered three small lacerations to his ear, which bled profusely.

“You followed up the initial motion with two or three punches and others intervened to separate you.”

Mr Tame made it to the televised stages of the first series of Pop Idol 14 years ago, competing alongside Rik Waller.