Hi-tech phones .sx CLAPHAM gets a hi-tech telephone exchange next week .sx Faster connection , better voice quality and the possibility of threeway dialling , call diversion and short-code dialling are among its facilities .sx The switch to the new pounds125,000 digital exchange takes place at 8.30am next Tuesday and brings with it changes to individual numbers , the area code , and some local codes .sx All Clapham three-figure numbers will be preceded by 51 .sx The area code becomes 05242 ( replacing 04685) .sx Local code changes are listed in the current Cumbria and North Lancashire phone book .sx From day one , free itemised accounts will be available to those who choose to have them , as well as a free barring service to prevent unauthorised calls to premium rate numbers .sx Exchange modernisation manager Ian Bell said :sx " BT's annual pounds2 .sx 5 billion network modernisation programme continues apace .sx " .sx The new exchange brings the very latest technology and telephone services to the area .sx Planning approval was not obtained .sx CRAVEN district Council is to take action on two unauthorised construction works in Settle and the use of a garage on Mewith Bentham , for unauthorised purposes .sx The council's planning and development committee heard that all Settle Conservative Club's first floor windows had been blocked up without planning permission .sx A recommendation that retrospective planning permission be refused was agreed with , and the use of remedial enforcement action was approved .sx Councillors also agreed that broken glass set in cement should be removed from the northern boundary wall of the Folly in Settle's High Street .sx The folly is a Grade One listed building , and it was considered that the broken glass was detrimental to its character .sx Further enforcement action was agreed upon to stop a garage at Old Pottery Barn , Lane Head , Mewith , Bentham , being put to use as business premises .sx The garage is presumed to be used to store building materials , the meeting heard .sx Councillors agreed this was inappropriate because of the residential nature of the area and such activity should be curtailed .sx Homes appeal dismissed .sx AN APPEAL against Lancaster City Council's refusal to grant planning permission for two houses at Strands Farm , Hornby , has been dismissed .sx Planning inspector Mrs Norah Ball said last week that the proposed development would " lead to the erosion of the rural attractiveness of the area , contrary to policies that seek to protect the countryside .sx " .sx Mr Nick Gillibrand , representing the appellant , Mr Peter Norris , of Strands Farm , contended at a hearing in Lancaster in June that the two semi - detached houses his client wished to have erected would not comprise desirable landscape , there being gravel tips opposite .sx He said the site , in Station Road , followed the linear development of Hornby .sx It was , he said , an infill development between the village centre and Butt Yeats and was , as such , within the village boundary .sx Mrs Ball , however , maintained that the village boundary was marked by the former railway line .sx " Development on the appeal site would consolidate an area of housing outside the village and , in so doing , it would undesirably extend the village limits , " she said .sx Dismissing the appeal , she concluded :sx " This proposal would cause unacceptable harm .sx " .sx President opens bowls pavilion .sx THE click of cameras and the snip of scissors replaced the scud of bowls at Ingleborough Bowling Club , on Saturday , as the official opening of the new pavilion marked the culmination of months of hard work .sx Chairman Mr Dennis Wilson extended a welcome to members and other visitors to the opening and recalled the founding of the club by five people in January 1975 .sx One of the founders , Mrs Ruby Howarth , was at Saturdays's ceremony .sx Also present was the architect of the banking and bowling green , Coun Malcolm Riley , in his capacity as vice-chairman of Craven District Council .sx Although the idea of a pavilion was mooted back in 1975 , it was not until last year that work actually started on the pounds4,500 project .sx The club had pounds2,500 in hand and other finance was obtained by grants .sx The Bull Land Charity gave pounds250 and were represented by Miss Margaret Benson .sx Craven District Council donated pounds900 , Ingleton Parish Council pounds500 and Ingleton Community Council pounds500 .sx Parish Council chairman Coun Mrs E. Wilkinson and Mr A. Brown of the Community Council , were at the official opening .sx The club also received anonymous donations and held their own fund-raising efforts .sx Mrs Howarth , now president of the club , cut a gold ribbon to officially open the new pavilion .sx She was presented with a bouquet of flowers by young Ben Close .sx Honorary members present each received a special key to commemorate the occasion .sx A lift for disabled bathers .sx ACCESS to local swimming facilities has been made easier for disabled people thanks to a special pool hoist at Heysham Pool .sx The hoist which , together with other adaptations has cost pounds12,000 , can lower into the water anyone who uses a wheelchair or who has problems climbing down steps .sx A similar system is soon to be installed at Lancaster Kingsway Centre pool .sx Launching the hoist facility at Heysham , chairman of the Heysham Pool Management Committee , Coun Mrs Joyce Taylor , thanked Nuclear Electric , BBC Children in Need , North West Water and the local Inner Wheel Club for their contributions towards the cost .sx The remainder has been met jointly by the city and county councils .sx Coun Mrs Taylor added :sx " We have gone from having no facilities for disabled people to having something quite splendid .sx I hope now it will be well used by people , they have as much right as anyone else to use our pools and access is very important .sx " .sx She mentioned one elderly lady who had never used the pool before but who had been in every day since the hoist was installed last week and has now bought a season ticket .sx Magistrate refuses club owner's licence .sx A LANCASTER club owner - recently found guilty of illegally selling alcohol - was deemed unfit to hold a liquor licence at his newly developed premises by licensing magistrates last Thursday .sx After adjourning for almost two hours , the bench turned down an application by Mr Trevor Morley to have his provisional licence for Liberty's Video bar , Spring Garden Street , converted to a full justices licence .sx Mr Morley ( 50 ) of Walnut Bank Lodge , Ashton-with-Stodday , was recently fined a total of pounds6,428 for illegally selling alcohol to the public at Liberty's Video Bar at the end of May .sx Voicing police objections to Mr Morley's application , barrister , Miss Kim Foudy said that concerns about whether Mr Morley was a fit and proper person to hold a liquor licence lie squarely on the fact that he had been found guilty of trading illegally .sx She described how , as a licensee in Lancaster for 10 years , Mr Morley's decision to open without a full licence was not an error due to inexperience and said :sx " It comes down to plain , old-fashioned greed .sx He knew he had to get a final grant but decided to ride roughshod over licensing laws .sx " .sx The success of Brooks nightclub in Dalton Square and Churchills pub in Spring Garden Street meant that Mr Morley was not a man with no other visible means of support , added Miss Foudy , and that , although he was right to fully cooperate with the police when the illegal trading had been discovered , he had no real alternative .sx " He couldn't wait to have the provisional grant made final and decided to open to make a profit .sx He exhibited a blatant disregard of the rules and made decisions for himself which were over and above those rules .sx " By giving Mr Morley a second chance it would be a slap in the face for licensees who habitually abide to the letter of the law , " she said .sx Bought and developed at a cost of more than pounds500,000 , Liberty's Video Bar opened to the public illegally for eight days on May 24 .sx Police were informed on June 6 when Mr Morley appeared before the magistrates on a separate matter to oppose another applicant and the bar immediately closed down .sx Asked why he had broken the licensing laws , Mr Morley said he had had plenty of time to reflect and was unable to come up with an adequate reason .sx " Any excuse would sound facetious .sx I can't give a satisfactory explanation .sx It is something I did and I'm very sorry for what has happened - the whole event has crushed us , " he said .sx Defending barrister , Mr Peter Openshaw said that the proceedings which had been taken had humbled and publicly humiliated Mr Morley .sx He added that financial pressure caused by borrowing from the bank and the brewery had caused Mr Morley to " jump the gun " , and that previous to this " act of folly " Mr Morley had been an exemplary licensee .sx " It is a serious error but it is an isolated one , " said Mr Openshaw .sx Mystery of death .sx STRENUOUS police inquiries have failed to throw light on how a man came to be found with fatal injuries at the bottom of a flight of stairs in Dirty Den's licenced premises , Morecambe , one Sunday night .sx An open verdict was recorded by coroner , Mr George Howson , after last Friday's inquest in Lancaster into the death of Mr John Francis Bowe ( also known as John Barry ) , aged 49 , of Westminster Road , Morecambe .sx Mr Bowe's body was identified by his sister who travelled from southern Ireland .sx Ambulanceman Mr Gregory Delaney said he could get no sense out of two people whom he found standing over Mr Bowe , shouting at him .sx They were intoxicated .sx Mr Bowe died in hospital on May 19 , some three weeks after having been found unconscious at Dirty Den's .sx A consultant pathologist said that death resulted from a head injury .sx Mr Howson said that the inquiry had of necessity to terminate in an unsatisfactory state due to lack of evidence surrounding the circumstances of Mr Bowe's apparent fall .sx Mr Bowe was born in southern Ireland and was believed to have been divorced .sx Driver fell asleep at the wheel .sx A DRIVER who crashed into the back of a car on the M6 after falling asleep at the wheel had been drinking , Lancaster magistrates heard on Wednesday of last week .sx Gordon Henderson ( 48 ) , of Westfield Grove , Morecambe , pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention , while over the limit , and failing to stop after an accident on June 2 .sx Prosecuting , Mr Eric Liddle told the court that at about 1.30am on June 2 , Henderson was driving his car on the M6 near Quernmore .sx Mr Graham , who was driving in convoy with another motorist , was travelling at about 60mph when he felt Anderson's car go into the back of his .sx Henderson didn't stop and Mr Graham and the other motorist pulled alongside him and told him to pull over .sx The police were called and Henderson was given a breath test and found to have a reading of 58mg , the legal limit is 35mg .sx Henderson told the police that he thought the accident had happened as a result of him dozing off at the wheel , but couldn't give any explanation why he didn't stop .sx Defending , Mr Michael Willey told the court that Henderson , a contracts manager in Morecambe , had a comparatively clean driving licence considering the amount of travel his job involved .sx Henderson had been working in Yorkshire on the Saturday , and decided to combine business and pleasure by calling in on his wife's relatives who lived there .sx While he was there he drank four cans of beer and had two glasses of whisky, .sx He waited until about 11.30pm before he left , hoping that the effects of the alcohol would have worn off by then .sx It was 1.30am when the accident happened , and Henderson had fallen asleep at the wheel of his car .sx He felt the car hit something , but thought it had been the central reservation .sx The witness said they had seen Henderson earlier on the hard shoulder with a headlight missing from his car .sx Mr Willey said Henderson was alarmed when the other people tried to get him off the motorway and didn't realise why .sx Henderson was fined pounds400 and pounds20 costs , his licence was endorsed and he was disqualified from driving for 12 months .sx