New NowCards only, please!

Holders of NowCard concessionary bus passes should ensure they only use the new version after today.

That's the advice from Lancashire County Council, which has updated the NowCards to feature a hologram.  The card entitles holders to concessions on local buses and most other community transport schemes across Lancashire, including the Blackpool tramway.

Those who have yet to update their old card should call the NowCard helpline on 0845 058 1096.

Bob the idle builder?

Rising demand for social housing in East Lancashire is not being met.

A report by the National Housing Federation shows over 20,000 of the region's households await social housing, yet only 226 affordable homes were built last year. The Federation says demand stems from the near-impossibility for new buyers to get onto the property ladder, in the wake of the credit crunch.

The problem most obviously affects Blackburn and Darwen, where 10,066 households were on 2007's waiting list.  Across the whole North West, nearly 500,000 people now need affordable housing.