A MOTHER, whose 26-year-old son died after taking illegal drugs, invited his friends to see him in intensive care shortly before his death to demonstrate the dangers of using illegal substances.

THE brother of a “bright and beautiful” teenager gunned down in a takeaway shop, is helping to launch a new initiative against the growing menace of gang culture to prevent more deaths.

BUSINESS leaders on Northampton’s Brackmills industrial estate have put themselves in direct opposition to farmers who have been campaigning to reopen the area’s cattle market, by saying they have no desire to see it return.

A CHARITY trek around 92 football grounds in aid of a murdered Northampton man arrived in Birmingham this week after runners and cyclists battled through freezing temperatures and snow.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE has been awarded £250,000 to spend on winter packs including “slankets” – sleeved blankets – as part of a wider campaign to help reduce the number of preventable cold weather deaths among the elderly and homeless.

SURVEYS of patients arriving at Northamptonshire emergency departments revealed only one in three rang their GP first, as a hard-hitting NHS TV ad is released showing the tragic consequences of A&E misuse.

ALMOST 2,000 people are waiting to rent out council garages, while more than 1,000 stand empty, according to latest figures released by Northampton Borough Council.

POOR record keeping at a Northamptonshire care home allowed the manager to steal up to £9,200 from two elderly residents.

A 29ft plastic bubble cannot be built over two tennis courts in Northampton after councillors said the development would not be fair on people living nearby.

A GANG of masked burglars, armed with sledgehammers, stole “thousands of pounds” of cigarettes after smashing their way into two convenience stores in Northampton.

NURSES encouraged emergency patients at Northampton General Hospital to complain in order to escalate the issue of overcrowding in A&E, a patient has claimed.

ONE in seven shops in Northampton town centre is now vacant, a new report has shown.

THE replacement for the Fishmarket art gallery will be open all year round, the artists who will occupy the building have said.

A KILLER whale created out of snow by a group of people in the Southfields area of Northampton has become an internet sensation.

POLICE have named a man who died in a collision on the M1 in Northamptonshire on Sunday morning.

A new home has been found for the Fishmarket gallery, which will have to move from its current location as it has been earmarked as the site for Northamptons new bus interchange.

MORE than 100 MPs have signed a letter urging the Prime Minister to slash subsidies given to wind farm developers.

PICTURES showing what a seven-storey block of student flats which is planned for Northampton town centre could look like have been unveiled.

CONVICTED criminals gritted paths and pavements in Northampton outside care homes, sheltered housing blocks and shops to allow elderly residents to walk around the town after the heavy snowfall.

A HORSE shot in the neck by “evil” thugs may now have to live the rest of its life with a bullet lodged in its body, according to the animal’s devastated owner.