A THEATRE company watched near-tragedy turn to farce when ministry of Agriculture officials threatened to destroy a barn full of props because they feared they were infected. Members of Jack Drum Arts were told last week that more than £1,000 worth of
LABOUR today begins the 2001 General Election campaign with a 13 per cent lead in key marginal seats in the North, The Northern Echo can reveal. Yesterday, Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was seeking "a mandate for fresh, radical change", as he confirmed
THOUGH this is the column which remembers when Caramel Wafers were simply heaven (12 for only one and seven) it is unfortunately impossible to recall picking up a penguin in the South Park. Others have longer memories. A frosty answer to last week's question
NEWCASTLE United boss Bobby Robson has offered a brutally honest assessment of a bitterly disappointing season. "We're not happy with our position - we're way below where we thought we'd be this time last season,'' said Robson. United lie 11th in the
NEW safety measures are planned at a dangerous road junction which was the scene of a breakfast-time crash yesterday. Two women drivers were hurt in the latest accident on Coundon bypass, near Bishop Auckland, where campaigners have called for a "staggered
SUPPORTERS of a centre for adults with learning disabilities are pooling their efforts to buy a mini bus. Parents, carers and friends of clients at the Wear Valley Training Centre, Crook, will launch their campaign with a family football night on Thursday
Boss Harry Redknapp today stunned football by quitting West Ham. The veteran Hammers manager walked out of Upton Park following a disappointing season after seven years in charge. Redknapp, 54, told the East End club's official website: "I've just had
SO have you got a secret bank account or secret stash of fivers at the back of the knicker drawer? Many women have. According to new research, women over 35 are richer than ever, but one in ten still squirrels money away so that they know they always
A NURSE has been arrested by police investigating the suspicious death of a patient following routine hospital surgery. The drama unfolded on Saturday morning when a number of police were called to Hartlepool General Hospital, following the death of a
MINERS' champion Pat Daglish has welcomed the "excellent progress" being made towards ending the suffering of thousands of compensation claimants. Ms Daglish, from Stanley, County Durham, learnt this week that she will receive a second interim payment
PUPILS from 13 schools in Cleveland have entered a competition aimed at improving fire safety in the community. The youngsters created fire safety models for the 11th annual Corus and Cleveland Fire Brigade fire safety competition, which offers a total
A GABOON Viper, one of the deadliest snakes in the world which has 2.5in fangs, was seized on its way to the North-East today. It was heading to a small County Durham village with a number of other equally dangerous snakes including the Black Tailed Rattlesnake
PARENTS disillusioned with North Yorkshire's education services have banded together to field a candidate in the forthcoming local elections. Voters will be going to the polls to choose their next county council on June 7, as well as their MPs. But villagers
THE body of a young newlywed has been found with stab wounds at her home in east Cleveland. Claire Amy Cummings, 19, was found when officers went to a house in High Row, Loftus, after receiving a 999 call from a man who was threatening to kill himself
A £26M regeneration package for the Tees Valley has been announced. A £20m scheme to develop 40 acres of derelict land and regenerate the riverside in Stockton has been given the go-ahead, while a £6m investment in Teesside Airport has also been agreed
FURIOUS residents say their local council did not carry out full consultation over plans for an Indian takeaway in Ferryhill. A sandwich bar in Darlington Road was given change of use permission by Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee
A £340m development that would have made Teesside Airport one of the biggest freight handling hubs in Europe may never go ahead, officials admitted last night. The scheme, which promised 6,000 jobs, has been branded "unrealistic" by airport bosses, who
A woman was dragged into bushes and violently sexually assaulted by a teenager as her two children cycled ahead in County Durham. The married mother-of-two was walking her dog behind her two children along an isolated path when the crouching teenager,
A woman was dragged into bushes and violently sexually assaulted by a teenager as her two children cycled ahead in County Durham. The married mother-of-two was walking her dog behind her two children along an isolated path when the crouching teenager,
POST Office management are still insisting there are no plans to relocate a counter service, despite a national pub chain's successful application to redevelop the building as a night spot. J D Wetherspoon has planning consent to convert the old sorting
PROPOSALS for a revamp of health services across Richmondshire and Hambleton are to be made available in libraries across the two districts. A bulletin, which summaries the suggestions, has already been distributed to doctors' surgeries, council offices
A HIGH street store is the first to receive an award for the help it offers blind shoppers. Boots in Stockton has been named as the first recipient of the Ann Kallagher award for the initiative. Ms Kallagher, a founder member of pressure group Stockton
FIRST, some figures: 2.6 million animals slaughtered so far, of which a mere fraction, 40,000, were confirmed foot-and-mouth cases. According to The Daily Telegraph, the carcasses, laid end to end, would stretch from London to the Sahara desert. Mind
A DAD was horrified to discover that the "buried treasure" unearthed by two young boys was an unexploded bomb. Eight-year-old pals Jack Maud and Daniel Harrison sparked a major scare after digging up the old World War Two shell and taking it home with
GIANT sunflowers and green- fingered gardeners can help a hospice raise money. The Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland is asking people to grow one of their sunflowers, the logo of the hospice movement. In return for a £1 donation, made payable to The
thousands of people in the North-East are to be asked how they would spend £118m to raise educational achievement and skills learning. Pam Eccles, executive director of the Learning and Skills Council Tees Valley, is keen that anyone with an interest
WHEN Tammy's owners finally took the kitten to the vet, he was horrified to discover her injured jaw had been patched with freezer ties. Wire from the jaw had cut off the blood supply to the 12-week-old kitten's jaw, causing considerable suffering and
FILL your boots by backing Rainbow High (3.10), bidding to win this afternoon's £100,00 Chester Cup for the second time in three years. The Barry Hills trained stayer prevailed in 1999, prior to finishing a most unlucky fifth in the race last year. There's
SCOTTISH housebuilder Bett Homes has announced plans for a £45m expansion with the creation of a North-East division. The new division, Bett North-East, will create more than 50 jobs over the next two years. The company plans to target sites across the
INJURY-HIT Durham will today find themselves up against the best bowler they have produced in first-class cricket, Melvyn Betts. While Simon Brown is easily Durham's leading wicket-taker, he served his apprenticeship with Northants, whereas Durham developed
A teenager was raped after she spurned the amorous advances of a fellow partygoer, a court heard. Neil Proctor, 27, allegedly attacked the terrified 18-year-old after declaring his love for her when she stepped outside of the house party to search for
COUNTERFEIT clothes seized in the North-East are to keep needy people in Romania warm. Hundreds of sweatshirts, fleece jackets and woolly hats, worth £10,000, are to be taken to the poverty-stricken country by the Metropolitan Police Aid Convoy - with
NON-UNIFORMED members of a North-East fire authority could soon be given loans to help them buy a car to use at work. On Friday, the Cleveland Fire Authority is expected to approve the introduction of an Assisted Car Purchase Scheme (ACPS) for non-uniformed
A girl who suffered severe brain damage as a baby when doctors refused to re-admit her to a special care unit and treat her for a cough was awarded £2.8m damages yesterday. Staff at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) told Bethany Ruff's parents
A NURSE allowed a mother to switch off a ventilator, which may have left her with the overwhelming guilt that she killed her daughter. Consultant Dr Stephen Cook was "appalled" when Sister Kathleen Atkinson told him she let Angela Marsh turn off the ventilator
CONFIDENCE among manufacturers has fallen at its sharpest rate since January 1999, leading to fears of further job cuts, a survey has revealed. The quarterly regional survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Business Strategies blamed
A GOVERNMENT decision not to go ahead with a £100m order for repair and recovery armoured vehicles is putting hundreds of jobs at tank builder Vickers in doubt. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) yesterday confirmed that the contract for Heavy Armoured Repair
Letters from The Northern Echo ROAD SAFETY YOUR editorial (Echo, May 3) once again highlights the shocking state of safety on our roads. Anyone who knows the Dalton road will recognise that cars and lorries regularly speed down this section of the road
Motormouth Jayne Middlemiss got the chance to do what she likes best yesterday - talking. The Geordie TV presenter was invited back to her native North-East for the launch of a new phone service. A spokeswoman for Telewest said Jayne was the ideal person
THE North-East's first conference on climate change is to be on Tuesday. Durham County Council is hosting the event, which will include key figures from the worlds of environment, business, health and insurance. Every delegate is being asked to contribute
THE future of the famous Castle Eden brewery still hangs in the balance after developers missed the deadline to submit their plans for the County Durham site. Persimmon Homes had until yesterday to submit detailed plans for their proposed housing development
FEARS are growing that a long-awaited £67m hospital will never be fully opened due to a lack of money. Less than a year ago, Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled the foundation stone of the new Bishop Auckland General Hospital, which is due to open in summer
A MAN was jailed for eight months yesterday after admitting stealing from shops twice in the same month. Paul Joseph Green, 21, of Wellington Street, Middlesbrough, also admitted perverting the course of justice by giving police officers a false name
NON-UNIFORMED members of a North-East fire authority could soon be given loans to help them buy a car to use at work. On Friday, the Cleveland Fire Authority is expected to approve the introduction of an Assisted Car Purchase Scheme (ACPS) for non-uniformed
SOFTWARE supplier JBA is set to attract substantial business after becoming the exclusive UK resale agent for a supply chain management system. JBA, of Durham, has formed a strategic partnership with French firm Dynasys to sell the company's systems to
COMEDY performances in pubs, telling magical tales in forests - Jack Drum Arts has been taking drama to unlikely places for 15 years. But rather than struggling on as penniless performers, the artists have produced a thriving business. Now they are celebrating
THOUGH this is the column which remembers when Caramel Wafers were simply heaven (12 for only one and seven) it is unfortunately impossible to recall picking up a penguin in the South Park. Others have longer memories. A frosty answer to last week's question
COUNTERFEIT clothes seized in the North-East are to keep needy people in Romania warm. Hundreds of sweatshirts, fleece jackets and woolly hats, worth £10,000, are to be taken to the poverty-stricken country by the Metropolitan Police Aid Convoy - with
THE sun was streaming in through the hotel restaurant windows. Outside, the broad white-gold sweep of the Copacabana beach slid down to an azure blue sea. Long-limbed, scantily-clad and stunningly beautiful women lay on the sands and watched as muscular
A CONSULTATION exercise has revealed Darlington people are divided over which model of local government is best for the town. Darlington Borough Council carried out widespread public consultation on new political management arrangements. People could
SO have you got a secret bank account or secret stash of fivers at the back of the knicker drawer? Many women have. According to new research, women over 35 are richer than ever, but one in ten still squirrels money away so that they know they always
AN Army veterans' association has apologised to the family of a member who was sent a newsletter featuring his own obituary, two years after he died. Corporal Basil Smith, a 22 year veteran of the Royal Army Medical Corps, died in May 1999, following
MIDDLESBROUGH chairman Steve Gibson is set to hold crunch talks with Terry Venables and Bryan Robson in a bid to keep their partnership together at the Riverside Stadium. With Boro finally assured of Premiership status, multi-millionaire Gibson will begin
PUPILS from a North-East preparatory school hit an academic high note by winning scholarships to some of the country's leading learning institutions. Sixteen youngsters at Durham's Chorister School are enjoying their final term knowing they have won coveted
Tony Blair and William Hague clashed in the Commons today in their only face-to-face battle before the General Election. The final Prime Minister's Questions was a ferocious encounter, with all three party leaders trying to score vital points. Mr Blair
ELDERLY people are being warned to be on their guard after a pensioner's purse was stolen during a "distraction burglary". The 79-year-old woman was working in the garden of her Gilesgate home, in Durham City, last Wednesday afternoon, when a man offered
SOMETHING will have to give when two junior teams from the same North-East club play each other in a cup final. The under-ten teams from East Boldon FC, near Sunderland, have both won through to the final of the Russell Foster Youth League Cup. According
FORMER classmates from around the globe returned to reflect on their distant schooldays during an emotional reunion yesterday. Friends from as far away as Peru and Australia met at St Augustine's Church, in Darlington, to reminisce about their days at
A CLAY pigeon shooting club took its former treasurer to court yesterday, after he admitted pilfering £8,000 from the accounts. Robert Minto, 51, admitted taking the money from Spennymoor and District Clay Pigeon Shooting Club before he was voted out
TRAIN passengers in the Tees Valley area are to benefit from five new railway stations and improvements to existing facilities. A study has been commissioned to assess the viability of building new stations at Hart in Hartlepool, Old Billingham and Roseworth
SPONSORSHIP is being sought as part of the big redevelopment of a Darlington golf course. Darlington Borough Council is inviting local businesses to become involved in the sponsorship of the Stressholme municipal golf course The course is undergoing a
TERRY VENABLES has revealed how he journeyed into the unknown on the night Middlesbrough's Premiership safety was finally guaranteed. Boro's head coach was due to fly home to London on Monday in time to settle down in front of his TV and watch relegation
A shopper walked away with a tray of goodies when she became a bakery's 50,000th customer. When Milligans realised it was going to welcome its landmark customer ahead of schedule at The Bridges shopping centre, in Sunderland, the firm decided to celebrate
HUNDREDS of workers at the Cammell Laird shipyards on the Tyne and the Tees are still facing weeks of uncertainty. Receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers, brought in to run the yard last month, said a decision on a takeover of the troubled company had been
AN urgent bid for Government cash is to be launched following the shock announcement that 700 jobs would be lost at the country's leading bus and coach manufacturer. Business chiefs confirmed yesterday that they would be applying for Rapid Response Fund
PEOPLE who thought they would enjoy a relaxing bank holiday at Nature's World, in Middlesbrough, were in for a surprise when they were given the opportunity to learn more about the US's favourite sport. American football is becoming increasingly popular
A MAN invited to have a drink with his former girlfriend - and the mother of his daughter - saw red when he found she had called him so she could flaunt the new man in her life in front of him, a court heard yesterday. Instead of joining the woman in
TWO men took part in a hair-raising event to raise money for the Red Cross. Most women shudder at the thought of having their legs waxed but Martin Huitson and Paul Smith, both from the charity's Durham and Teesside branch, bit the bullet and said farewell
A COUNCIL faces a compensation bill of £1m over the sacking of 150 workers. A panel has thrown out an appeal by Middlesbrough Borough Council against the finding of an industrial tribunal that it did not carry out proper consultation before dismissing
A COUNCIL faces a compensation bill of £1m over the sacking of 150 workers. A panel has thrown out an appeal by Middlesbrough Borough Council against the finding of an industrial tribunal that it did not carry out proper consultation before dismissing
Ex-Corrie star Denise Welch has spoken of her new-born baby's battle against a deadly bowel disease. Denise, 42, and actor husband Tim Healy, 48, kept a two-week vigil at the bedside of son Louis after he was diagnosed with the rare Hirschsprung's disease
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to create a new identity for Newcastle and Gateshead and boost the area's economic prosperity. Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, a partnership between the two local authorities on opposite banks of the Tyne, and the private
IF you believe the bookmakers, the result of the General Election is a foregone conclusion. Before an official campaign word has been uttered in anger by any party, Labour is long odds-on to win on June 7. A combination of Tony Blair's healthy lead in
THE Millennium Commission has launched a CD-Rom to record the millennium legacy in the North-East. Libraries, schools, local authorities and business will receive a free copy of the CD. It will sum up the legacy of new visitor centres such as Life Interactive
FIRST, some figures: 2.6 million animals slaughtered so far, of which a mere fraction, 40,000, were confirmed foot-and-mouth cases. According to The Daily Telegraph, the carcasses, laid end to end, would stretch from London to the Sahara desert. Mind
THE spread of foot-and-mouth is threatening the 200-acre deer park surrounding a North-East ancestral home. Panic set in among staff at Raby Estates yesterday after it was confirmed that sheep at a farm close to Raby Castle, the home of Lord Barnard,
DARLINGTON MP Alan Milburn has expressed concern over proposals to close a BT call centre in the town, with the loss of more than 100 jobs. Last week it was revealed that BT plans to close its Barnard Street exchange in October. The move has angered the
BLENKINSOPP Colliery in Northumbria is one of four coal mines set to share a cash injection of £25m after the European Commission gave its approval, the Government said. The money is intended to help the coal industry through short-term market problems
ARTS projects in North Yorkshire are to share in a cash windfall of almost £50,000 from the National Lottery. The three schemes have each hit the jackpot in the latest round of the Regional Arts Lottery Programme, announced yesterday. In Harrogate, the
A CHILDREN'S theatre group raised £1,000 for charity with their latest production. Centre Stage North-East performed the musical Anything Goes, at Sunderland Empire, in aid of the Children's Hope Foundation. The production brought together a cast of 70
ABSEILERS from across the country took part in the British Lung Foundation's Tyne Bridge Abseil on Sunday. The event was a huge success and raised £17,000 for research into lung disease. Top fundraiser was Alma Blanchard, a 76-year-old grandmother, from
A MAN and four youths were being questioned last night after a blaze which destroyed a former east Durham sports centre. The five were arrested during police investigations into the blaze at the disused Lowhills Road centre, in Peterlee, County Durham
A YOUNG father was killed by a hit-and-run driver just seven weeks before he was due to be married. Lee Rickwood died when he was hit by a Mercedes van. Mr Rickwood, 28, who has an eight-month-old daughter, was cycling from work and was just minutes from
A NORTH-EAST man, jailed for life for murdering a pregnant woman, her two young children and teenage babysitter, yesterday won the right to challenge his convictions. Alan Ray, 27, was jailed for life after being convicted of four counts of murder at
DARLINGTON are to support a move to have Barnet re-instated in the Football League. Torquay chairman Mike Bateson, whose club escaped relegation from the League at Barnet's expense last Saturday, already has the support of several clubs in a bid to save
AUTHORITIES in Switzerland could decide to grant bail to a man accused of murder. Mother-of-two Alison El Hamri is hoping the only decision now is the size of the bail bond to be demanded, rather than not when husband Majid will be allowed out of a Berne
ANTH Lormor is aiming to put his play-off experience to good use. The Hartlepool United front-man faces Blackpool in the Third Division play-offs next week looking for a repeat of last time around. Lormor was part of the victorious Chesterfield side that
THE body of a young newlywed has been found with stab wounds at her home in east Cleveland. Claire Amy Cummings, 19, was found when officers went to a house in High Row, Loftus, after receiving a 999 call from a man who was threatening to kill himself
FEARS are growing that a long-awaited £67m hospital will never be fully opened due to a lack of money. Less than a year ago, Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled the foundation stone of the new Bishop Auckland General Hospital, which is due to open in summer
AN 18-year-old man who was arrested after a weekend incident outside a North-East football club appeared in court yesterday charged with grievous bodily harm with intent. Gary Norman, from the Carville Estate, in Willington, County Durham, was given conditional
ARTISTIC pupils at a Darlington special school saw a selection of their latest work go on display yesterday. Youngsters who attend Beaumont Hill Special School have created an array of textiles, collages and paintings. The children's work was opened to
DARLINGTON'S North Road railway station is near the bottom of a standards league table. The standards at the station, and those at Teesside International Airport, are considered to fall below what is considered an acceptable minimum. The findings were
