THE boss of one of Bolton's top stores is believed to be involved in a last-ditch bid to win back the girlfriend he lost to Mark Phillips.

David Whitaker, aged 45, managing director of Whitakers Department Store, Deansgate, has flown to the French Alps where his former girlfriend Jane Thornton, 29, works for a British travel company. Earlier this year blonde Jane was widely reported as the new woman in the life of the Princess Royal's estranged husband after a split with Mr Whitaker.

25 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News, April 20, 1977

JUST 20 minutes after reaching his 17th birthday, Thomas Berry threw away his "L" plates. The countdown for apprentice plater Thomas, of St. Helens Road, Bolton, began yesterday morning when - still sweet 16 - he hit the road on four wheels for the first time under the watchful eye of his grandfather. Thomas's driving test was booked for 12.15pm - just 10 minutes before he clocked up 17 years, the official age for driving a car in England.

Until then, he had practised on wasteland, helped by his grandfather, Mr Peter Ridings, a driving instructor of Fernstead, Thornbank Estate, Bolton. By 12.45pm it was all over, and Thomas (now officially one year older) was a fully-fledged motorist.

50 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News, April 20, 1952

RAIN that fell heavily this afternoon affected the attendance at the Holcombe Hunt races just when it looked as if all records would be broken. Between 1pm and 2pm crowds poured on to the course from Ainsworth and Nab Gate in processions that were well over half a mile long. Then the rain came, and the numbers were noticeably smaller. The record crowd to attend the steeplechase in recent years was in 1949, when between 100,000 and 120,000 people packed the course.

From the number of people arriving shortly after noon, it looked as if this record would be smashed, providing that the weather held. A little later in the day, when rain began to fall, small groups of people were leaving the course as others arrived.

100 YEARS AGO

From the Evening news, April 20, 1902

A SERIOUS accident happened shortly after nine o'clock this morning, at a clay pit adjoining Messrs. Mamilton's brickground, Astley Bridge, by which two labourers named William Ford and Thomas Kelly, were injured. At the place in question, Messrs Platt & Sons, of Atherton, are ballast burning on an extensive scale for Messrs Gornall & Sons, contractors of this town, and at about the time named, the two men were working along with a number of others in a clay trench, when a portion of the embankment, about six feet in height, gave way and fell upon their lower limbs, the result being that each man sustained a fractured leg.

They were extracted from their perilous position as soon as possible, and the Fire Brigade ambulance was telephoned for and speedily arrived on the scene, and the men conveyed to the Infirmary.

Naturally the accident caused a painful sensation amongst the men at the works, and the presence of the horse ambulance in the locality created a flutter of excitement amongst the inhabitants.