TOMMY Widdrington has come under heavy criticism from the Hartlepool United faithful this season, but manager Chris Turner believes his summer signing is now proving his doubters wrong. Widdrington had never played in the Third Division, or the old Fourth
The jury in the trial of a man accused of causing the deaths of ten men in the Selby train crash was told yesterday how he had driven "courteously" along a motorway. Lorry driver George Garner said he saw Gary Hart driving along the M62 shortly before
The three friends didn't know what to make of the beautiful bronze disc they dredged from the remote peat bog. It looked ancient, and probably was, but what did three farmhands know? As far as they were concerned, it simply looked like one thing - easy
PHARMACEUTICAL firm GlaxoSmithKline has boosted its drugs pipeline by signing a deal to co-market Swiss rival Roche's osteoporosis treatment. The two firms have teamed up to develop and promote the drug, ibandronate, in all countries except Japan and
PRAYERS read in churches in a Northern dale have helped the recovery of an Australian schoolgirl whose life was hanging by a thread. At the same time family and friends of 14-year-old Johanna Elms prayed for her in her home town of Gosford, New South
ENGLAND striker Kevin Phillips was made to rue a rare penalty miss as Sunderland and Chelsea fought out their first goal-less draw on Wearside for 32 years. The 48,017 fans thought that Sunderland had cracked it when Republic of Ireland winger Kevin Kilbane
FOOTBALL mascots are threatening to down costumes and strike over Football League plans to curb their pitch antics. With the fur flying between mascots, fans and stewards, soccer bosses are threatening to impose a code of conduct to tackle bad behaviour
A MAN who pretended to have a gun as he frog-marched a teenager around a town in the middle of the night avoided a jail sentence yesterday. Barry Dunn, 61, of Lakemore, Peterlee, County Durham, admitted a charge of affray and another of using threatening
Darlington head for non-league Altrincham today as firm favourites to win their second-round FA Cup clash. But Tommy Taylor's men are well aware they will have to treat with respect a side two divisions below them in the UniBond Premier. This season Altrincham
RAMBLERS are calling for Government action as a new report brands the region's footpaths some of least accessible in the country. The Government's own Countryside Agency publishes its Rights of Way Condition Survey on Monday, which reveals that many footpaths
FIREFIGHTERS say it is a miracle that a couple escaped virtually unhurt from a gas explosion which demolished their home. The blast hurled 30-year-old mother-of-three Marie Johnson through the ground floor front window and into the front garden of her
PAUL INCE last night controversially claimed that Carlos Marinelli's precocious talent already eclipses the proven quality of all-time Middlesbrough favourite Juninho. Argentinian Marinelli, signed by Bryan Robson from Boca Juniors for £1.5m two years
A FAMILY stone products business has steered its way to success thanks to professional advice from chartered accountants Keith Robinson and Co. Brand Pre-cast, of Middlesbrough, which produces commercial and domestic floor slabs and artificial stone products
BOBBY Robson hopes the comeback of Kieron Dyer will give Newcastle United the perfect Premiership boost. And the Magpies boss believes the highly-rated midfielder can earn himself a place in England's 2002 World Cup squad. Dyer has not kicked a ball in
THOSE who counselled against military intervention in Afghanistan have been proved wrong. Despite warnings to the contrary, the Taliban has been toppled with relative ease. It is a spent political force. The agreement brokered in Bonn appears to establish
CASTLE Bolton is in Wensleydale, west of Leyburn, population about 60. It should not be confused with Bolton Abbey, which is on Yorkshire's opposite extreme, but probably it has been for centuries. The semi-ruined castle stands - imposing, eponymous -
A FORMER miner with a serious heart problem has hit out at officials after they declared him fit for work. James Handy, 43, suffers from unstable angina - a narrowing of the arteries - and diabetes. He also has trouble walking. But the Benefits Agency
MORE than 1,600 people have signed a petition opposing the early release of two teenagers who left a Harrogate boy for dead at a local beauty spot. Attack victim Ashley Murray, now 16, was 13 at the time of the attack, in August 1999. He was stabbed 18
Marks & Spencer is delisting from stock markets in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. The group has decided to pull out due to the low amount of its shares traded in each exchange. Only a very small percentage of the group's shares are held via the listings
ONE of the North-East's top museums has lost an estimated seven per cent of trade after being hit by foot-and-mouth disease this year. However, new director of Beamish Open Air Museum, Miriam Harte, said the figures would have been much worse if the North-East
regional development agency One NorthEast yesterday unveiled its new board members. The agency was criticised earlier this week when reports suggested the new appointments would mainly come from Tyneside, leaving County Durham and Teesside under-represented
MORE clues about the effects of September 11 and consumer confidence will be sought next week with comments from the travel and tourism operations. Travel and tourism has been hit hard by the current political and economic situation, but specialist operator
EFFORTS by the infamous Manfield poison pen letter writer to clear his name have hit a major setback. The Royal Courts of Justice last night confirmed James Forster's application to appeal against his conviction had been rejected by a single senior judge
A NEW care centre is set to be built in a bid to ease the return of elderly patients to their homes and free up hospital beds. Many elderly patients currenlty face long stays in over-subscribed medical wards because of a lack of residential care home
SUNDERLAND'S new £4.5m signing Claudio Reyna, itching to make his Premiership debut against Chelsea tomorrow, admitted last night: "I've got to be smart about it." The 28-year-old United States captain ended a hectic 48 hours, in which he was involved
WHITE-KNUCKLE ride Edredon Bleu has the speed to put his rivals to the sword in the Tingle Creek Trophy Chase at Sandown today. Henrietta Knight's dazzling front-running two-miler prevailed by a short-head over track and trip last term, edging out Fadalko
The Lord Of The Rings, the film set to rival the hugely-successful Harry Potter phenomenon, has its world premiere on Monday. Film Writer Steve Pratt explores the fantasy genre. THE pain was too much to bear. Actor Billy Boyd knew he could put off visiting
There was never much doubting the outcome of Darlington's FA Cup tie on Saturday as Quakers, as expected, deservedly saw off the challenge of a team two divisions below them. But, like the first round success at Kidderminster Harriers three weeks ago,
STEVE McCLAREN is adamant that Middlesbrough learned a salutary lesson against a Liverpool side scenting their first League title for 11 years. This always had the makings of a damage-limitation exercise for Boro, especially as they were without the inspiration
SUNDAY'S FA Cup draw proved to be a potential banana skin for the regions sides with Middlesbrough facing a tough trip to First Division Wimbledon. The Teessiders were knocked out by the Dons in both the FA and league cup last season and Steve McClaren's
THE first newcomer to a revamped £120m North-East industrial complex could soon be on the way. Negotiations with a tenant interested in a 30,000sq ft unit at the Lingfield Point site, in Darlington, are at an advanced stage. It is believed the deal for
KIERON Dyer made his return to action at Ipswich Town - but Newcastle United hardly needed him. The 22-year-old, who has been out since February, came off the bench for the last 10 minutes at Portman Road - purely with the task of helping the visitors
OF ALL the garden facilities, the cold frame is the one that is most under-rated. If you have a greenhouse it is the place to wean young plants prior to planting in the garden. If you do not, then it is a useful protection for over-wintering plants and
AN RAF pilot had less than three seconds to save himself as his multi-million pound fighter plummeted to earth when a routine training flight went horribly wrong, an inquest heard yesterday. Witnesses watched in horror as the 600mph Harrier GR7 jump jet
THE current state of laughter on the box is a gift to headline writers. The line, TV comedy is no laughing matter, may be obvious but it's all too obviously true. Sit-coms have been in the doldrums for ages. ITV tried, and conspicuously failed, to improve
A WORLD famous engineering company based in the North-East is helping to clear up the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in America. Four Australian-born engineers from Cleveland Bridge of Darlington, County Dur-ham, are putting their specialist skills
STEVE Howard is the one that got away from Chris Turner. When Turner took over at Hartlepool in February 1999, he rued the sale of Howard which was completed hours before taking control. On Saturday Howard showed just why Turner's judgement was spot on
A WOMAN whose second-hand shop in a North-East coastal town was the front for an international credit card fraud conspiracy, was jailed for 18 months yesterday. Sonia Latchford, 33, ran the shop Finders Keepers, in Redcar, east Cleveland, from which the
Letters from The Northern Echo HEALTH SERVICE IT is dogma and other daft policies which are at the heart of the problem facing the NHS. In France, when one goes to a doctor or to hospital, the patient pays and then claims the money back through insurance
If only Bilbo Baggins had never left home, says Sharon Griffiths, who prefers a cold shower to reading Tolkien. FIRST Harry Potter and next the Lord of the Rings - prepare for wizard overload. The first film of the three part Tolkien epic is released
