MYSTERY DEATH INVESTIGATION

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ROSSENDALE FREE PRESS FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2012rossendalefreepress.co.uk 2

THE number of councillors inRossendale could be slashed aspart of a raft of cost-cuttingmeasures as the authority strug-gles to cope with huge cuts ingovernment funding.Town hall bosses fear up to

£2.6m of savings could beneeded over the next four years

in the face of a 39 per cent gov-ernment funding cut andchanges in council tax benefits.The council budget is down

6.8 per cent on last year, withdepartments having to save£744,000 to reach a £9.8mbudget plan.The council admitted cuts to

staff has left them ‘down to thebare bones’ and reducing thenumber of councillors from 36to 24 could generate extra funds. Only £213,000 will be given to

the maintenance of councilbuildings, cemeteries, play-grounds and sports fields overthe next year – 65 per cent less

than ‘desired’ funding. Cash forthe upgrading of car parks hasbeen slashed by two-thirds to£10,000 and reducing the num-ber of grass cuttings is expectedto save around £45,000. The council has agreed to

freeze council tax for a third yearrunning which means it will

qualify for central governmentcompensation of £138,000.Nine staff have been made

redundant in the past year withthe further loss of four full-timeequivalent posts. Finance bossessaid the council would need to find£700,000 if council tax does notincrease over the next three years.

Valley ponders reducing number of councillors to balance books

DETECTIVES say taxi driverscould hold the key to piecingtogether the last movements ofRyan Anderton.Police launched a murder

investigation after describing theteenager’s death as unexplained.They have now appealed to

cabbies in a bid to establish thestudent’s final movements.Detective Chief Inspector

Mark Gray said: “I would appealdirectly to taxi drivers that wereworking in and around Rawten-

stall that may have picked up afare from the Rhythm Station orthe surrounding area at around3.15am on Saturday, February10, and taken people to KayStreet to come forward as theycould have information that iscrucial to the investigation.“I am confident that a taxi

driver would remember such ashort fare. I am also still keen tospeak with anyone else who mayhave been in the Kay Street areabetween 3.30am and 3.50am on

Saturday morning and has notyet spoken with police.”Meanwhile, taxi chiefs said

having more officers in Rawten-stall when nightclubs closeshould be the police’s top prior-ity. Taxi driver Dave Lawrie saidpolice need to assess their ‘pri-orities’ when patrolling Rawten-stall at weekends.

The chair of Rossendale Inde-pendent Taxi Association said:“It’s terrible what has happened.To me there is a lack of policepresence. “Every other town nearby

has that presence when bothpubs and clubs close but herethere isn’t that presencehere.”

A spokesman for LancashireConstabulary said: “We areaware of the taxi drivers’ con-cern but this is a separate issueto what happened on Saturdaynight.” Anyone with information is

asked to call Burnley police on101 or call Crimestoppers anony-mously on 0800 555 111.

ALEX BELL AND JONMACPHERSON

THE mother of Ryan Andertonhas paid tribute to her ‘kind-hearted’ son.Former Alder Grange pupil

Ryan, who lived in Rawtenstall,was studying finance andaccountancy at Burnley College.He was hoping to attend uni-

versity later this year.In a joint statement, Mum Cat-

rina and Ryan’s gran Nina said:“Ryan was studying finance andaccountancy at Burnley Collegeand was hoping to go on to uni-versity.“He was a kind-hearted lad,

well liked and loved by everyonewho knew him.“He will be sorely missed and

forever in our hearts.”His best friend Matthew Gal-

braith, who had known Ryan fornearly 12 years, said he wasshocked by the news.Matthew, 19, said: “I have

known him since primary schooland he was the nicest person youwould ever meet.

“He loved going out and hav-ing a drink and a laugh. He wasa pretty funny and popular guyand he will be missed by a lot ofpeople.”Flowers and messages from

family and friends were left near

where Ryan’s body was found.His cousin Sam wrote: “I am

going to miss you loads. I keepthinking about all the mischiefwe used to get up to when wewas kids, and all the fun we had.“You was a top lad and you’re

going to be missed dearly byeveryone.” Another messageread: “RIP Ryan. Can’t believeyou have been taken from us atsuch a young age. You will besadly missed and never forgot-ten.”

Maureen Hallsworth, ownerof Roland’s Florist, near whereRyan was found, said his deathwas a ‘tragedy’. She said: “It’sawful. You don’t expect it to hap-pen so close to home. It’s verysad for the family.”

Mum’s shock at

Taxi drivers couldhold the key tosolving death probe

PROBE Police are investigating all avenues in their inquiry on Kay Street, Rawtenstall

SCENE Police cordoned off Kay Street in the aftermath of Saturday night’s tragedy when Ryan (right) fell to his death

MYSTERY DEATH INVESTIGATION3rossendalefreepress.co.uk FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2012 ROSSENDALE FREE PRESS

STARS Sophie Wild, 11, and 12-year-old Ellie Smith helped apensioner who fell in the snow

Young heroes whocame to OAP’s aidTWOyounggirlshavebeenhailedasheroesafterpolicesaidtheir actionscould havesavedthelifeofapensionerwhofelloverinthesnow.GrandadTommyBriggs,74,

slippedintheicyconditionsandsmashedhisfaceagainstawallnearRawtenstallpolicestation. Afterspottingtheinci-dentquick-thinkingSophieWild,11,andEllieSmith,12,calledanambulanceandcom-fortedthemanbeforepoliceofficersjoinedthem. Police-manPhilNunnsaidthepair’sactions,ataround1.30pmonSaturday,February4,mayhavesavedMrBriggs’ life.PCSONunnsaid:“Thegirls

wereabsolutestarsandItoldthemthat.Thecolourofthechap’sfacewasreallyalarming.Theiractionshavemaybesavedhim.”MrBriggs,wholivesinCrawshawboothwithhiswife,didn’tneedtogotohospitalandwaslatertaken

homebypolice. Hethankedbothgirls:“Itwasverykindofthem.They wereveryhelpfulandItoldthemtheydidtherightthing.”Sophie,11,ofCroftersBank,

Loveclough,saidshefeltproudbutwouldhavedonethesameforanyonewhoneededhelp.Shesaid:“Ifeltproudbut

Elliewasabitshaken.WehadjustbeentoGreggswhenwenoticedthemanslipping.“Hefell,hurthisnoseandit

lookedlikeitwasbroken.Allhisfacewaspurpleandhewaslyinginthesnowsoweranganambulance.Wekeptaskingifhewasokayandaskedpassers-bytohelp.Luckilyapolicemancameandthankedusbeforehelping theman.”TrishaDearden,Sophie’s

grandmother,61,alsoofLove-clough,saidhergrandaughterhadlookedafterherfromayoungage,and‘reallyvaluespeople’.

Ryan’s death

INVESTIGATION Police forensic teams are compiling evidence into Ryan’s unexplained death

ALEX BELL AND JONMACPHERSON

A COMMUNITY is in mourningfollowing the unexplained deathof 18-year-old Ryan Anderton.Staff and pupils at Ryan’s for-

mer school Alder Grange led thetributes to the ‘likeable’ young-ster who had his heart set onstudying at university. Iain Hul-land, headteacher at AlderGrange, said everyone associ-ated with the school was deeplyshocked by Ryan’s death.He said: “Inevitably everyone

I have spoken too is deeplyshocked and upset by the loss ofRyan. “He joined Alder Grange as a

Year Seven pupil in 2004 and left

in 2009. Ryan was a quietly intel-ligent pupil, a very likeable andlovely young man who had awicked sense of humour and wasvery highly regarded by staff andstudents alike. He will bemissed.”Rossendale MP Jake Berry

said Saturday’s events have sentshock waves through the com-munity. He said: “I wasextremely shocked when I heardwhat happened and it is a shockto the entire community. Theyare sharing the grief of the fam-ily.“All our thoughts are with the

family at what must be a very dif-ficult time. I hope the cause isfound for them. We also need topay tribute to the hard work of

the police who are trying to ascer-tain the cause of this tragedy.”Wendy Robinson, store man-

ager of Blockbusters on KayStreet, also expressed her dis-may at the news.She added: “I got told by a

member of staff on Saturday andwas shocked.”Ryan, who lived in the town,

was studying finance andaccountancy at Burnley College.Results from a post-mortem

examination carried out thisweek were inconclusive and hisdeath is being treated as unex-plained. An inquest has beenopened and adjourned.A spokesperson for Burnley

College said everyone was sad-dened to hear about Ryan’s

death. She said: “Ryan was pop-ular with other students and histutors and was looking forwardto progressing to university nextyear. “We would like to extend our

sympathies to all of Ryan’s fam-ily and friends and will be offer-ing support to Ryan’s friends atCollege when they return afterhalf term.”Rossendale Council Leader

Alyson Barnes said: “I think it isabsolutely heart-rending. Youjust feel for the parents and thefamily.“He sounded like an

absolutely lovely lad. Mythoughts like everybody will begoing out to those who knewhim.”