Lancashire nostalgia in 1991: Traffic chaos in Preston, lost driver and snub for Kylie and Jason

Here's a look at some of the stories that were making the headlines back in 1991:
Traffic chaos on Friargate after changes were brought in to pedestrianise the areaTraffic chaos on Friargate after changes were brought in to pedestrianise the area
Traffic chaos on Friargate after changes were brought in to pedestrianise the area

Ban on traffic drives cabbies up the wall

Confused commuters and cabbies are facing traffic chaos after cars were banished from Preston town centre at the start of a £1.26m pedestrian scheme.

Shoppers have given a cautious welcome to the project on Friargate but are annoyed that it has forced their bus services to be diverted onto Ringway and Lancaster Road.

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Taxi drivers and commuters are finding that reversed one-way systems down Cheapside and Orchard Street are putting miles on their journeys across the town centre.

Cabbies claim they should be granted access to the closed-off areas in Friargate, along with delivery lorries, to make their job easier.

Taxi driver Terry Halpin, of Bamber Bridge, said disabled and elderly shoppers are being forced to walk longer distances by the changes.

Preston bus drivers are finding difficulties pulling in and out of their new stops on Ringway as the route clogs up with more diverted traffic.

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Tim Brown, Preston council principal planning officer, said there had been radical changes to the town centre but it was too early to judge their success.

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Look back at a selection of pictures from 1991 here

Bill’s nightmare two days on the busiest motorway in UK

An 84-year-old Lancashire driver spent TWO DAYS on the notorious M25 motoway trying to find his daughter’s house.

Mr Bill Allen drove round and round in circles for hours with his faithful pet poodle on his lap.

The pensioner, of Nookfield, Moss Side, Leyland, told how he slept in lay-bys for two nights in his Talbot Horizon with only his dog Penny for company.

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Bill was eventually rescued by a Good Samaritan motorist who discovered him in a lay-by and raised the alarm.

Bill blamed his misadventure on a brainstorm which left him bewildered on the road network.

He said he knew his daughter Joan Belcher lived in a town beginning with an “R” but he had left his address book behind.

He ended up in Reigate near Gatwick Airport instead of Ruislip near Heathrow,

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Bill said: “I came away and left my address book with Joan’s telephone number at home, and that started the problem.

“All I can say is that I just lost all sense of where I was and where I wanted to be.”

Worried daughter Joan, 42, reported her dad missing after he failed to turn up.

Motorist Sid Cordier, 46, raised the alarm on his car phone after spotting Bill - 40 hours after he had left home.

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Mr Allen said his experience has in no way put him off driving.

Record fans’ snub for Aussie stars

Preston’s music fans have given the thumbs down to last year’s favourite singing stars Kylie and Jason.

Scores have returned the compilation album A Ton of Hits which features the Aussie duo.

The album, a compilation of Stock, Aitken, and Waterman acts which also features Rick Astley, Sam Fox and Sinitta, was top of the list of unwanted presents in the town’s record shops.

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And Kylie’s long-suffering lover Michael Hutchence has also come in for the cold shoulder.

X, the latest album by his group INXS, was brought back by hordes of disgruntled buyers.

Jeremy Lickiss, manager of the record store in Debenhams, said: “Kylie and Jason certainly didn’t go down well this year. I think people couldn’t stomach them any longer.”