SUNDERLAND manager Peter Reid last night fired down suggestions that he might sell his "jewel in the crown" - ace striker Kevin Phillips. The £11m transfer of England striker Robbie Fowler to Leeds United sparked speculation that Liverpool might turn
The man accused of causing the deaths of ten people in the Selby rail crash saw the faces of the passengers on the express train as it ploughed into his stranded Land Rover, a court heard yesterday. Gary Hart, 37, was just 20ft away when the GNER train
BOBBY ROBSON has rejected John Beresford's capital idea to send the Newcastle players out on the town in an attempt to beat their London hoodoo. Former United full-back Beresford revealed it worked at Barnsley, when then-manager Allan Clarke took the
IN A fairly busy week for corporate results, the spotlight will be on the advertising downturn, and the effect of September 11 on tourism, as the City analyses figures from big media and leisure players. The disruption faced by transport group Stagecoach's
CLUB CAPTAIN Niall Quinn last night appealed to his Sunderland teammates: "Let's show we still believe in ourselves and make sure we go forward." The Republic of Ireland striker believes that the visit of West Ham to the Stadium of Light provides the
Brewer Wolverhampton & Dudley said it would be returning £100m to shareholders next month, as it toasted a 17 per cent jump in profits. The group, which made a profit of £76.1m in the year to September 29, plans to buy back 21.5 per cent of its share
WAR ON TERRORISM STOP the bombing campaigners seem to forget one date - September 11 - when 5,000 innocent people lost their lives, with relatives of the victims unable to bury their loved ones because of the horrendous density of such a perverted deed
RICHARD GUEST has been gifted one of the spare rides of a lifetime when he replaces the injured Jim Culloty aboard Lord Noelie (2.20) in this afternoon's £100,000 Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury. Culloty, one of the most popular jockeys in the weighing
THE BP-operated Central Area Transmission System (Cats) Terminal, at Seal Sands, Middlesbrough, brought home its fourth safety award from the British Safety Council's annual safety awards held in London yesterday. The terminal has been awarded the council's
THE firms responsible for a tragedy which cost the lives of four bridge workers now face a massive claim for compensation from bereaved relatives. Families of the dead men last night pledged to take legal action to pursue claims against Darlington engineering
A farmer who opened a shop to sell his own produce has pledged to fight for the survival of agriculture in his new role as a union leader. Brian Hodgson, 49, who farms with his wife, Sheila, 46, spoke as he was appointed the National Farmers' Union chairman
BUILDING society turned bank Alliance & Leicester is cutting 500 staff. But the North-East is likely to avoid the worst of the cuts, with just a handful of backroom staff losing their jobs. The group, which employs 9,000 staff in total, said it would
HAMILTON RICARD is facing make-or-break at Middlesbrough as German side Wolfsburg wait in the wings to resurrect the Colombian striker's career. The Bundesliga outfit are keeping tabs on 27-year-old Ricard, who is recalled to the Boro squad for today's
A Trans-Atlantic romance blossomed when two people met via the Internet - and yesterday they were married. Robert Pawass, from Thornaby, Teesside, and American Christina Hernandez chatted daily after meeting last year in an Internet chatroom. Robert,
RAY Mallon wishes he was a criminal. The policeman, who is known as "Robocop" because of his strict adherence to the law, wishes he had done something wrong. "I have now been suspended for four years and I was cleared of perverting the course of justice
IT was not just his age which marked him out as a junior partner in The Beatles. Just 17 when he joined the band, for some time George Harrison was overshadowed by the talents of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. But, by the time the world's greatest rock
AN abandoned dog is in need of a good home. Lovable Lennon, a terrier-labrador cross, was taken in by the National Animal Sanctuary Support League, near Darlington. The four-year-old is being cared for by a foster family in Bishop Auckland, County Durham
A FAMOUS food critic once said that you can judge a restaurant by its crme brule. If that is the case, then the Ryedale Country Lodge, at Nunnington, near Helmsley, must be very, very good. Not only was the brule the perfect point of crunchiness and the
DETECTIVES investigating the murder of a man who was found lying on a quiet country road claim their efforts are being thwarted by a lack of public help. They have been disappointed by the response to an appeal for villagers to undergo DNA tests, as part
THERE were no tears among shop floor workers for the demise of a North-East factory which closed yesterday. Sanyo announced earlier this year it was closing its microwave oven operations at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, and Thornaby, on Teesside, with
IT'S not easy to be hated intensely by football fans on both Tyneside and Wearside. The occasional Middlesbrough player has incurred the wrath of Fulwell and Leazes ends in years gone by, but in the main the hatred has come from either the black and whites
PENSIONERS are being urged to invest part of their winter fuel payment in extra insulation. According to Government figures, 346,000 households in the North-East come under fuel poverty and most are occupied by the elderly. The winter fuel payment scheme
DAVID Walder is fit; Jonny Wilkinson is not. That's the mixed news for Newcastle Falcons, who feared both their England fly halves might be ruled out of tomorrow's home match against Northampton. Wilkinson has not recovered from the hip injury he suffered
THE family of a British soldier, kicked to death outside a night club in Innsbruck, have confirmed they are investigating the possibility of an appeal against the sentences handed to his killers. Five men were given jail terms ranging from three-and-a-half
Former Darlington manager Gary Bennett will make his debut today for Durham City at home to Ashington. Former Sunderland star Bennett quit as Quakers boss a month ago, and since then has revived his playing career, turning out for Worksop and Scarborough
JON Bass's first goal of the season extended Hartlepool United's Third Division unbeaten run to five games against Rochdale last night. The right-back popped up at the back post to head in the Pool equaliser after former Darlington midfielder Michael
SELECTING a Christmas tree is not the simple matter it once was. Until recently there was only a choice between a straightforward Norway spruce and an artificial tinsel tree. Nowadays there are a number of different conifers which masquerade as Christmas
WOMEN bowlers will be able to wear trousers in EWBA matches from next season. Delegates voted in favour of the new dress code at the Association's annual meeting, and the relaxation follows hard on the heels of the introduction of coloured tops and the
AN AFGHAN warlord was last night preparing to attack a suspected mountain hideout where he thinks Osama bin Laden is in hiding with 600 Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. Hazrat Ali, the security chief for eastern Nangarhar province, said a final decision
NEWCASTLE United have rallied round controversial star Kieron Dyer in a bid to keep his career on track. Manager Bobby Robson yesterday revealed how the whole staff offered Dyer a shoulder to cry on to help him pull through his nine-month injury ordeal
GEORGE HARRISON - one of the greatest musicians of the 20th Century, whose years with The Beatles defined an era and changed the world - was hailed by a host of leading figures yesterday after he lost his battle with cancer. As thousands of weeping fans
WHEN football chairman George Reynolds found an African team had taken on his club's name he pledged to put the boot in. Not just one boot but 200 of them because, while the young Kenyan Quakers were deeply grateful when the big-hearted soccer boss sent
Spennymoor caretaker manager Jason Ainsley reckons today's FA Trophy tie at North Ferriby is Moors' biggest game of the season so far. Ainsley, who has been in charge of the team since Peter Quigley was sacked a fortnight ago, knows that victory today
ENGLAND international Gavin McCann rocked Sunderland last night by asking for a transfer. The 23-year-old midfielder, who has missed only one Premiership game this season, made his request to Wearside boss Peter Reid, the man who gave the Blackpool-born
AS a kitten, Alfred was used as bait by youths who wanted to feed him to their dogs. Now aged three-and-a-half, the tabby and white pet is basking in the glory of becoming a champion at the Supreme Cat Show, in Birmingham. His Spennymoor owner, Pat Kidd
THE Bishop of Worcester, the Right Reverend Peter Selby, was among a party of Church Commissioners who visited County Durham's biggest limestone quarry. The Rt Rev Selby said he was "staggered" by the landscaping work that had been carried out to restrict
CONSUMER watchdogs are warning people not to get involved in a chain letter which is being circulated. The letter asks the recipient to send a £1 coin to a list of five people named in the letter, then add their own name to the list and send out the updated
OPERATION Lancet becomes more intractable and more protracted by the day. The latest development - although development is too grand a word for a process that often appears to be going backwards - is that Ray Mallon's preliminary hearings have been adjourned
THE loss of engineers from the collapsed company Railtrack is adding to delays on the region's railways, a passenger group claimed last night. The North-East Rail Passengers Committee said many track and signal workers had left the company since it went
BARTON'S education in the art of handling fences continues at Newcastle where victory in the Stanley Racing Novices' Chase appears to be a mere formality. Owned by racecourse chairman, Sir Stanley Clarke, former Cheltenham Festival hurdles winner, Barton
AN internationally famous artist, who overcame dyslexia as a youngster, is campaigning for greater recognition for the disorder. Mackenzie Thorpe, who grew up in Middlesbrough, has become a celebrated painter on both sides of the Atlantic. Famed for his
SUSPENDED police chief Ray Mallon's attempts to become Middlesbrough's first directly-elected mayor could be scuppered as his disciplinary proceedings have been adjourned until the New Year. The news comes exactly four years to the day that Detective
MORE than 1,000 British workers are to lose their jobs at crippled US energy giant Enron, administrators confirmed last night. But the group's 900 employees on Teesside looked to be safe after it emerged that the majority of jobs would go at Enron's energy
SEARCH and rescue teams have scoured two reservoirs in the hunt for a missing former prisoner-of-war who disappeared six days ago. Volunteers from Teesdale and Weardale Search and Rescue team carried out shore searches of Balderhead and Grassholme reservoirs
AS our luxury cruise ship glided into the heart of Russia's second city, manoeuvered onto its mooring and lowered its gangway, the small brass band on the quayside struck up a patriotic tune. It may have swelled the chests of many of the passengers, but
Tommy Taylor believes today's match with York City marks the beginning of a new start for Darlington as they look to banish last week's mauling from the memory. Thanks to the refereeing of Paul Alcock, Quakers were forced to compete against Scunthorpe
EXPANDING childcare group, Northumbrian Trust Day Nurseries Ltd, has acquired a nursery on Teesside for £250,000. The Rainbow Day Nursery in Norton takes the number of day nurseries owned by the Newcastle group to four. Rainbow was established 15 years
