THIS front page from 1962 talks about a deaf and mute girl who was locked away in hospitals for 13 years before being released and was enjoying time back in the community.

Burnley social services chief Mr Colin Vokes told how the girl, named only as Susan, was admitted to Brockhall Hospital in 1962 aged 11.

She was then transferred to Calderstones Hospital in Whalley and it was not until 1975 that she was moved out and back into the community.

Mr Vokes said: "Now that she is back in the community she is a much happier girl.

"She has got to put the past behind her."

The girl was 31 when this story was published, and was thought of the child of a German woman who came to work in the cotton industry.

In 1953, Susan was adopted when she was two-years-old, but her adoptive parents both died, and she was admitted to Brockhall Hospital.

It was not until 1974 that the social services department got to hear of her case history through the efforts of a social worker for the deaf.

Mr Vokes said there was hope some of her hearing would be restored as she was undergoing treatment.

He added: "No blame is attached to Brockhall or Calderstones.

"They did their best for Susan but she is much better off as she is now."