THE North-East owner and trainer of Grand National winner Red Marauder has been accused of tax offences. Millionaire businessman Norman Mason owns Brancepeth Manor Farm stables near Durham. Mr Mason, who received a hero's welcome at a victory parade through
STUDENTS from a Wear Valley school are transforming an overgrown allotment into an outdoor classroom thanks to a £13,000 grant. Around 15 pupils of Parkside Comprehensive School in Willington, are developing a plot at nearby Rosedale and Victoria allotment
A CRICKET club's centenary celebrations have been given a cash boost with a £295,060 lottery grant. Willington Cricket Club is now looking forward to providing state-of-the-art leisure facilities for budding cricketers well into the next century. The
A LOCAL authority's information technology unit has been nominated for a Government accolade. Work carried out by Derwentside District Council, in County Durham, on social inclusion through information and communications technology has earned the unit
THERE was fresh hope yesterday for an east Cleveland nursery school threatened with closure. Guisborough's St Nicholas Nursery School, in Bow Street, came under threat after struggling to find enough volunteers. But the school's leader, Christine Parker
A NORTH-EAST social services department has been shortlisted for a national award for its work with young people. Darlington Borough Council's child and adolescent mental health service is one of four in the country to be shortlisted for Beacon status
AN OFFICER has been given formal recognition for his dedication to the Air Training Corps. Adult Warrant Officer David Carr has devoted 30 years service to the 2505 (Bishop Auckland) Squadron and has never missed representing the corps at Remembrance
A SPRIGHTLY pensioner celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by her family yesterday Evelyn Elsy was born in Middleston Moor and moved to Easington when she was ten, where she has lived since. After working in Harrogate Ladies' College, she married
A GROUP of business people found themselves under arrest yesterday, all in the name of charity. They agreed to be fingerprinted, photographed and detained in a mock cell at Middlesbrough Football Club's Riverside Stadium until colleagues made a donation
A TEESSIDE council is celebrating after winning a place on the shortlist of the government's Beacon Status scheme. Stockton Borough Council was shortlisted in the construction category. The Beacon Status scheme aims to highlight council services which
THE streets will resound with carol singing at the launch of a Christmas festival today. Durham's Christmas Festival 2002, which runs until Sunday, will be launched with carols around the Christmas tree in the Market Place. The mayor, Councillor Eileen
YOUTH CLUBS: The Junior Youth Club of St Joseph's, for year two to year five schoolchildren, meets from 6pm to 7.30pm, on Mondays, followed by the senior section, for years six to nine, from 7.30pm to 9pm. WINTER WALK: A four-mile walk in Beamish Woods
THE controversial Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme will be used to create Durham University's first new college in 30 years. The scheme will add more than 600 study-bedrooms to the university's stock, relieving the pressure on its other colleges
A COUPLE are preparing for a beer festival just weeks after taking charge at a pub. Paul Sidey and partner Sheila Boustead took up the tenancy of the Woodman Inn, voted Durham's Pub of the Year for 2002 by real ale drinkers. On learning that the Gilesgate
QUEEN Sonja of Norway has written to support an exhibition of watercolours of Scandinavian mountains, which opens on Friday. The collection, by painter Ornulf Opdahl, will be on display in the gallery at the University of Northumbria, Sandyford Road,
HEALTHY dishes served up by two young cooks will be testing the tastebuds of a junior jury drawn from primary schools around the country tomorrow. Megan Hutchinson and Melissa Carr, both 13-year-old pupils at Parkside School in Willington, have won their
PRIMARY school pupils yesterday said goodbye to long-serving dinner lady Maureen McElvaney as she cooked her last school meal. The mother-of-four and grandmother-of-seven was the longest-serving school cook in east Cleveland after 31 years of keeping
THE first patients who took a course to help them cope with long-term illness have received their awards. A group of 22 people have completed the Expert Patient Programme in the Sedgefield borough. The successful participants from two courses were presented
QUEEN Sonja of Norway has written to support an exhibition of watercolours of Scandinavian mountains, which opens on Friday. The collection, by painter Ornulf Opdahl, will be on display in the gallery at the University of Northumbria, Sandyford Road,
CAROL SERVICE: A carol service will be held at Egglescliffe Community Centre, Durham Road, Eaglescliffe, on Thursday, December 12, at 7.30pm. Admission is free but a collection will be taken in aid of the Butterwick Children's Hospice. VOLUNTEER CALL:
MEMBERS of Saltburn Animal Rescue Association will take a dip in the sea on New Year's Day to help raise funds. Recent events, including a social evening in Guisborough and a table-top sale at Ings Farm School, raised £665. The appeal to build an animal
IT'S panto time again and in Ripon a drama group is rehearsing for a fairy tale classic. Rumpelstiltskin, by Norman Robbins, will be January's production performed the city's charity pantomime group. The show is set to be a spectacular show with goodies
CHILDHOOD favourites Ratty, Toad and Badger will be taking centre stage at an all-girls' school. The ten and 11-year-olds will perform an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows on Wednesday, December 4. The adventures of life by the riverbanks
FATHER Christmas will be getting his skates on to join youngsters for a special event at Billingham Forum. He will be joined by forum mascot IC Bear at the Christmas on Ice event, on Wednesday, December 11, from 5.30pm to 7pm. Under-16s can head along
MEMBERS of Saltburn Animal Rescue Association will take a dip in the sea on New Year's Day to help raise funds. Recent events, including a social evening in Guisborough and a table-top sale at Ings Farm School, raised £665. The appeal to build an animal
RICHMOND'S Christmas lights have already been vandalised, even before the official switch-on. Enamel paint was tipped over three Father Christmas ornaments, which would have been part of the display in the town's Friary Gardens from tomorrow night. Other
COUNCIL chiefs are planning a programme of consultation before making any decisions over next year's budget. They have agreed to a "comprehensive consultation" before sitting down to consider how much council tax to charge next year. North Yorkshire County
AN alphabetical guide on how to cope with teenage sons - C is for Cars and Conversation, Cigarettes, Coursework and Cheap Cider Suddenly - along with that first curled lip and slouch of the shoulders - your little boy loses the power of speech. Instead
A WILLINGTON couple have again transformed their home into a Christmas wonderland to raise money for charity. Every year Raymond and Margaret Lauder festoon their home, 112 Hall Lane Estate, with Christmas lights, spending an average of £800 a year to
PLANS for a 25-metre-high mobile phone mast near Pelaw has provoked a storm of protest. Chester-le-StreetDistrict Council has received 525 letters of objection to the proposed mast, situated approximately 200 yards from homes in Pelaw Grange. The construction
ART WORK created by people with mental health problems has gone on show at Chester-le-Street Civic Centre. The paintings were created at a World Mental Health Day workshop at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland by people with mental health problems, children
UP to 70 redundancies are on the cards at a manufacturing firm because of competition from Asia. The entire workforce at Warner Electric in Bishop Auckland, was told last week that the firm was entering a consultation period to review its ongoing viability
CHILDREN and adults can race model cars, create Lego constructions or play computer games without complaint from other family members at a drop-in club. Bullion Hall in Chester-le-Street, has just started up a Sunday afternoon session where people of
FOOTBALLER turned broadcaster Eric Gates launched a £750,000 scanner that is almost doubling the number of patients being screened at Bishop Auckland General Hospital. The former Sunderland, Ipswich and England star, who is now one of Century Radio's
A CHARITY has been awarded a National Lottery grant to refurbish its Darlington base and enhance its service. The town's Samaritans group has received £166,000 from the North-East Community Fund. It will use the cash to make its premises in Woodland Road
Chester-le-Street TG DOREEN Yeates opened the November meeting by introducing M Martin and her husband. They had come along at short notice as the booked speaker had been forced to cancel due to illness. They brought along 'gifts for all occasions,' which
MORE than 100 carol singers, a town crier and Father Christmas will all help launch Chester-le-Street's Christmas activities. on Saturday. At 1pm Father Christmas will arrive on a sledge and then throughout the afternoon carols will be sung in the town
Two men threatened staff with a firearm and a machete, before making off with cash. The raiders struck at premises on West Chirton North Industrial Estate, North Shields on Tuesday. The first man is white, 5ft 9in, of stocky build and wore a navy blue
A SOAP star will front free street entertainment for Christmas shoppers in Spennymoor town centre. Actor Tony Barton, who has appeared in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, will front a Christmas spectacular show. Silly Billy Productions will
Brandon WI PRESIDENT Linda Griffiths welcomed members to the November meeting. Joyce Jones, secretary, gave a report from the autumn council meeting and congratulated June Fenwick who had won third prize for a Jubilee photograph. Speaker Maureen Glaister
WEST Auckland will get more control over local issues when it gets its own parish council next year. Almost 300 residents of West Auckland, near Bishop Auckland, backed a campaign calling for the formation of a parish council. A series of public meetings
PLANS for a 25-metre mobile phone mast near Chester-le-Street has provoked a storm of protest from residents. Chester-le-Street District Council has received 525 letters of objection to a proposed mobile phone mast situated approximately 200 yards from
A SERIES of surgeries are lined up to keep local councillors in touch with people in east Durham. District and county councillors for Easington's Blackhalls area hold a surgery at Blackhall Community Centre, in Pattison Gardens, on Saturday, from 10.30am
A BLUEPRINT is being drawn up to save a town's disappearing heritage. Owners of key Victorian buildings in Middlesbrough and interested groups were told yesterday how they could help preserve the past for future generations. A £750,000 Heritage Lottery
DARLINGTON Memorial Hospital has collected a national award for customer service. The hospital's day surgery and endoscopy unit has become one of only two health care teams in the North to be given the Charter Mark for the third time. Last year, almost
A DEDICATED engineer has been honoured after achieving academic excellence. Paul Ashton, from Brotton, east Cleveland, left school at 16 but went on to earn a first-class honours degree in electrical engineering after studying part-time after work. Now
NEWCASTLE United and England legend Peter Beardsley yesterday opened the city's new £5.5m cinema. The Odeon opened in a blaze of black and white, with specially created Toon Army popcorn in the Magpies' colours and the screening of the Newcastle Utd v
EXCITED youngsters were able to get their first glimpse of Father Christmas when he opened his grotto yesterday. The festive favourite, with his white beard and red coat, greeted children at The Four Clocks Centre, in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland.
A COMMUNITY team has improved pensioners' safety by donating 78 night lights. An initiative in the Blackhall area of Easington, which is aimed at reducing falls among the elderly, has bought the devices for residents of the Primrose Court housing complex
THE First World War was brought to life for history students who were able to examine weapons from the conflict. Guns, helmets and other artefacts from the 1914-18 war were on show in lessons at Sunnydale Comprehensive School, Shildon. The teenagers were
A SCOUT group whose headquarters are to be demolished to make way for multi-million pound supermarket has been offered a temporary home. The 2nd Chester-le-Street Scout group has to move from its premises under the viaduct, as it is one of several buildings
TWO council officers will be presented with an award on Monday for their bravery in preventing a fire at a house in Stockton. Sue Steer and Helen Wilson, care call officers at Stockton Borough Council, were on duty on Monday when they received a smoke
A GOLF team from Yarm has helped raise £10,000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief. A series of corporate golf days hosted by Myson Radiators were held throughout the UK, with the final taking place earlier this month at Slaley Hall, in Northumberland. The winners
A SENIOR education official visited a lifelong learning project yesterday. The County Durham Lifelong Learning Partnership was visited by Ian Goodwin, from the Government's Department of Education and Skills. The project was set up more than three years
A NORTH Yorkshire school has been throwing convention to the wind this week in an effort to raise as much money as possible for charity. Breaks from lessons at Wensleydale School in Leyburn have already included a chance for pupils to test their knowledge
ENTERPRISING young people have received awards for organising activities in their communities. More than 100 awards were given out at a presentation evening organised by Durham County Council's Education in the Community initiative recently. Among those
FATHER Christmas will be abandoning his reindeer and sleigh at a village festival next month. Instead, he is due to arrive on horseback when he attends the Christmas festival at St Michael's Church, Heighington. Santa's dashing arrival on the village
An exhibition highlighting the work of local artists, opened at Darlington College at Catterick yesterday. Still-life paintings and water colours are part of the display in the college bistro, with some of the work offered for sale. The exhibition runs
A MENTAL health service for people with dementia on Teesside is celebrating after winning a regional award. Based in Middlesbrough, the Early Onset Dementia team helps people who develop dementia at a young age. The team won the Northern and Yorkshire
QUEEN Sonja of Norway has written to support an exhibition of watercolours of Scandinavian mountains, which opens on Friday. The collection, by painter Ornulf Opdahl, will be on display in the gallery at the University of Northumbria, Sandyford Road,
A SOAP star will front free street entertainment for Christmas shoppers in Spennymoor town centre. Actor Tony Barton, who has appeared in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, will front a Christmas spectacular show. Silly Billy Productions will
FINDING an actor to play the dame in its Christmas panto has proved a close shave for members of one theatre. Electronics student Tim Fairhurst was pencilled in for the role but was then suddenly called on instead to direct the panto - Snow White and
miners showed their support for striking fire-fighters this week, with a £1,000 donation to their hardship fund. David Hopper, general secretary of the North-East region of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) visited the Durham and Darlington Fire
A MULTI-MILLION pound eco-friendly primary school is to be created, after the Government stumped up more than £2m for the project. Staff and pupils at Pelton Junior and Infant School, near Chester-le-Street, have been waiting for a new school for some
FIREFIGHTERS' PAY: JOHN Prescott should be sacked. He has lied to the public about the pay offer made to the firefighters in the summer. The employers had offered 16.1 per cent, which would have prevented this strike action. Mr Prescott stopped it, stated
COUNCIL officers hope to show films in Durham's Gala Theatre after the city's only cinema closes next year. The independently-run Robins in North Road will close on Sunday January 5, to be converted into a controversial 700-capacity Walkabout Australian
PATIENTS stockpiling and signing for unnecessary prescription drugs could be forcing up budget costs, health chiefs have warned. Health chiefs fear they may slip £1m over budget unless there is a reduction in patients who are ticking all the boxes on
BISHOP Auckland town centre now has its very own dedicated website. The site has been launched by the Bishop Auckland Town Centre Forum, a voluntary partnership of public, private and voluntary sector organisations which aims to improve the town centre
A RETIRING policeman is switching careers from arresting people to offering them legal advice. While most detectives want to get as far away as possible from suspects when they hand in their badges, Det Con Ian Snowdon is planning on representing them
A UNIVERSITY team which sailed through Jeremy Paxman's toughest questions on television has found itself stumped - by the local pub quiz. The team from Durham University claimed its place among the country's top student minds by beating a team from Queens
SUPER slimmer Dawn Venables has been voted Woman of the Year by members of her weight loss class. Dawn has lost a four stone since joining the Chester-le-Street branch of Slimming World in January. In recognition of her achievement she was presented with
COUNCILLORS have agreed to a development consisting of 16 homes in Middleton St George, near Darlington, despite protests that the village is becoming overcrowded. D W Needham Van and Plant Hire's application to build the homes on its site were approved
CATERING students dished up a treat for hospice staff by completing a coast-to-coast bike ride. The students from Darlington College of Technology joined forces with pupils at Beaumont Hill School to raise £1,500 for St Teresa's Hospice, after their fundraising
A BIG extension to a Scarborough school is set to go ahead despite objections from neighbours who have protested that noisy pupils will destroy their privacy. St Augustine's RC School, in Sandybed Lane, wants to build a science and general teaching block
A passenger was recovering last night after thugs threw a brick through a bus window. The man, who has not been named, was on a bus at the junction between Ramsgate Road and Redcar Road, in Sunderland, at about 5.30pm, when he was hit by the missile.
A MAN who threatened two soldiers with a replica pistol on the British Army's largest garrison will have to wait until next month to discover his fate. Gordon Hunter, 31, of Arkengarthdale Road, Reeth, admitted affray when he appeared before magistrates
DALES national park bosses have agreed to adopt stiffer advertising policies, restricting space on their shelves and in their magazine to accommodations which have been inspected by Tourist Board staff. Councils in Skipton and Richmond are already operating
THE first patients who took a course to help them cope with long-term illness have received their awards. A group of 22 people have completed the Expert Patient Programme in the Sedgefield borough. The successful participants from two courses were presented
FATHER Christmas will be abandoning his reindeer and sleigh at a village festival next month. Instead, he is due to arrive on horseback when he attends the Christmas festival at St Michael's Church, Heighington. Santa's dashing arrival on the village
A FORMER headmaster's passion for his county regiment has earned him renewed national acclaim. Author Harry Moses, head teacher at Aycliffe Village Primary School for 21 years until 1993, has devoted much of his retirement to researching and writing the
PLANS for a community building for two Teesdale villages have been drawn up. The proposed building will replace two dilapidated wooden huts and offer a new facility for people in Etherley and Toft Hill. Leading the project is Etherley and District Welfare
AN old quarry on the edge of Catterick seems set to be used as a tip despite objections from a parish council and people who live nearby. The village resisted Pallett Hill Sand and Gravel Company's proposals when they were first submitted in the summer
RESIDENTS in an area plagued by crime and dereliction are calling on the police to help them. People in Hind Street and Alliance Street, Stockton, say their lives are being ruined by vandals and drug addicts. One resident has had her car broken into and
A GRANT of £4,000 will fund events for volunteers in the Chester-le-Street area. Chester-le-Street and District Council for Voluntary Service and Volunteer Bureau have been awarded the cash to provide regular get-togethers where volunteers can share experiences
