BAKERY group Inter Link foods last night pledged to grab a larger slice of the cake market using popular brands such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. The announcement came after a year of growth fuelled by acquisitions boosted pre-tax profits by
ST Augustine's are the great lost football team of Darlington, if not the North-East. They won the first Northern League title in 1890 and played at what was regarded as the best ground in the region, in Chesnut Grove. In terms of football and facilities
THE family of murdered Darren Manders have left messages of their heartbreak at the spot where his body was found. Flowers have been laid by his sons Jason and Lee close by the spot where his remains were discovered. A poignant card calls on him to watch
NEWS that a British soldier has been wounded by a sniper in Iraq sent a wave of anxiety across the North-East yesterday. The young second lieutenant, who was shot in Basra on Monday, is a member of the 1st Battalion, The King's Regiment, from Catterick
A FRANCHISE company in Darlington has received a business accolade. Signs Express (South Durham), which is based in the Yarm Road business park, won a certificate of merit in the British Franchise Association's Franchisor of the Year awards, for becoming
TELEVISION'S John Craven went back to his roots yesterday to help launch a venture to aid the young - which Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) regards as one of the most exciting in its history. He joined YAS chief executive Nigel Pulling at the show
THE weather may have been indifferent at the Great Yorkshire Show but barman Matthew Weller was helping to raise spirits. He created a cocktail just for the event and gave show director Christopher Hall a lesson in how to make it. The cocktail - the Yorkshire
NEW secure cycle storage units are to be built at a Stockton school after they received a £30,000 award from the government. Grangefield School, Stockton were granted the money by the Cycling Projects Fund. The school has been working with George Callaghan
The UK is facing a crisis in breast cancer services during the next 30 years unless action is taken now, experts warn today. As people live longer, the number of breast cancer sufferers is expected to increase, but present services would be unable to
ALMOST £90,000 has been invested in a Darlington estate to improve the area for residents. Red Hall has been awarded the money to set up a number of projects, including a play area. Government grants totalling £38,209 from the Single Programme scheme
OmniCom CTi looks east INFORMATION technology provider OmniCom CTi is to provide personal computer power supplies to the British Army in the former Yugoslavia. The export order is for the Royal Signals squadron, based in Banja Luka, in the Republic of
LICENSEES at Jennings brewery pubs across the North-East and Cumbria are the first to take part in a new training course. The family brewery, which runs pubs in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria, is sending 14 delegates on a licensing course,
Echo Memories admires the view from heady heights of the Sadberge wapentake, locates the Fatty Man's Squeeze and unearths more about Darlington's 'lost' football films ONCE, Sadberge was master of it all surveyed - and from the top of its flat hill you
Hopes of a sustained rally for London's FTSE 100 Index failed to materialise yesterday as investors paused for breath after Monday's surge. With little in the way of corporate news to stimulate trading, the Footsie remained near to its opening mark, closing
Former Hartlepool United defender Graeme Lee last night marked his Sheffield Wednesday in style, when he bagged a hat-trick for his new club, writes NICK LOUGHLIN. Lee, who completed a move to Hillsborough last week, was joined on the scoresheet by another
Britain's Finest Stately Homes (five): CASHING in on public opinion polls is second nature these days to TV producers. It seems a programme can't be made without the general public being asked for their opinion first so some bizarre top ten can be complied
MAKE sure Macadamia (3.25) is on your short-list for today's most valuable race, the £100,000 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket. The James Fanshawe-trained filly won last month's Royal Ascot's Hunt Cup with embarrassing ease, cruising to the front at the two-furlong
BUSINESSES in the North-East are backing plans to upgrade the A66 because it will strengthen the regional economy, a public inquiry heard yesterday. The proposed improvements to the road and the building of a link road were welcomed by the North-East
PEOPLE in Darlington are to be given a close look at a kerbside recycling scheme in action this week. The green scheme, which comes into effect in the Darlington Borough Council area in September, has already proved contentious. But council officials
THOUSANDS of young athletes gave their all on track and field in a mini-Olympic Games-style event yesterday. The ninth annual Durham County Primary Schools Athletics Festival was played out in bright sunshine at the Riverside sports complex, in Chester-le-Street
MORE convenient car parking arrangements for visitors to Wear Valley's two main shopping centres could be introduced in autumn. The move means shoppers will have to pay to park in the centre of Bishop Auckland for the first time. There could be charges
BEER-LOVING jugglers hope to avoid living up to the name of their new brew. Members of Durham City Jugglers were honoured to have a beer made in their name following an approach to a local micro-brewery. The end product, a high quality cask ale, Juggler's
UP to 40,000 children may be at risk of developing measles, mumps or rubella after two private clinics failed to follow immunisation guidelines, the Department of Health warned last night. The affected children underwent single immunisation injections
CHILDREN at Sedgefield Primary School, County Durham, are holding a book exchange day tomorrow. Pupils will dress up as book characters, there will be bookmark and short story competitions and a book quiz, as well as books on sale for 25p. Money raised
The bitter row between the BBC and the Government over the Iraqi weapons dossier took a fresh twist last night with the disclosure that a Ministry of Defence (MoD) official had admitted meeting the journalist involved. The MoD said the man had come forward
FLOOD victims have welcomed plans to give a council more powers to tackle essential drainage work more quickly. Since homes in Northallerton and the surrounding areas were severely damaged by the floods in November 2000 and again last summer, residents
RESIDENTS are being invited to help shape a park's future. Their views are to be included in a draft development plan for Redcar's Locke Park. The blueprint is being compiled by historic landscape and environmental consultants Scott Wilson, and will be
A SCHEME will provide transport to doctor's surgeries and health centres for people with mobility problems. It is being launched for the residents of Wheatley Hill, Thornley, Wingate, Station Town, Hutton Henry, Trimdon Station and Deaf Hill. But more
SIGNS welcoming visitors to Hartlepool have been put on a major approach to the town. Middleton Grange, the town's shopping centre, has signed a three-year-deal with Hartlepool Borough Council to sponsor the boundary signs on the A1086, A179 and A689.
AN engineering scheme to re-build sea defences at Hartlepool is forging ahead. The £2.5m project involves improving a 420-metre stretch of sea wall and promenade near Newburn Bridge. Hartlepool Borough Council is behind the scheme, the third and final
The Government has today made decisions on recommendations made in 11 transport multi-modal studies (MMS). In the North-East, developments include a number of key improvements to the A19. They are: A19 Testos Roundabout improvement; A1/A19 Seaton Burn
A SCHOOL is determined to make a visiting Lithuanian musician feel welcome. Pupils at Coatham Church of England Primary School, Redcar, are being given a crash course in Lithuanian so they can welcome maestro Mindaugas Backus in his own language. Mr Backus
A council chairman has launched his campaign to raise thousands of pounds for a cancer charity. Councillor Bill Gustard, of Easington District Council, is hoping to follow in his predecessors' footsteps and become a charity champ by hosting fundraising
A TREE of life planted at a North Yorkshire hospital is commemorating people who have lost their lives but given others a chance to live theirs to the full. A cross-section of an English oak was "planted" at Harrogate District Hospital. In future, every
AN east Durham Welfare Park is to be restored thanks to a grant of almost £1.37m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The windfall will fund a two-year refurbishment programme aimed at returning Horden Welfare ground to its former glory. The grant is
ABOUT 500 classic cars are expected to take part in the Ripon Old Cars Gathering on Sunday. The event at Clotherholme Farm on the outskirts of the city is in aid of Yorkshire Cancer Research and raised a record £12,000 last year. Organiser Len Wadsworth
A SCHEME that helps patients cope with long-term medical conditions has been such a success that it is nine months ahead of schedule. The Sedgefield Expert Patient Programme is operated by Sedgefield Primary Care Trust and the Pioneering Care Partnership
LEADING German officials will travel to the North-East this weekend to find out how the region attracted new enterprises. A delegation from Gelsen-kirchen, in northern Germany, will visit Newcastle, which which the town has had links for more than 50
RESIDENTS in Billingham have been urged to express their views on Billingham Partnership's proposals for regenerating the town centre. The partnership has published Gateway to the Future, an information brochure explaining its support for the proposed
BUS operator Go North East has begun a crackdown on fare dodgers. The company, which operates throughout County Durham and Tyne and Wear, is employing high-profile and undercover inspectors to catch passengers travelling without a ticket. More than 50
A MAN accused of blowing up a post box with a firework has been sent for trial. Richard Davies, who declined to have his case heard by Harrogate magistrates when he appeared before them yesterday, will appear at Leeds Crown Court on August 12. Mr Davies
A TOWN'S flooding problems are to be examined at a meeting later this week. Hartlepool Borough Council's environmental stewardship and regeneration forum meets on Friday to discuss the problem. Ian Parker, the council's head of technical services, will
MEETINGS are to be held today to give people the chance to say what facilities they want in a North-East town. Members of Longlands Area Residents Association (Lare), in Middlesbrough, are holding two meetings to discuss the future of Farndale Field,
A DALES youngster is one of eight children from around the country whose inventions will be judged in the finals of a national competition next week. Nine-year-old Arkengarthdale Primary School pupil, Thalia Sparrow, has dreamed up a device for tying
A MAN who swapped a mundane life on the factory floor to make traditional Mongolian huts will demonstrate his craft at a forest festival in the region this weekend. Ian Greenwood, 41, from Easington, east Durham, gave up his job in a local factory five
A NEW report recommending changes in the way farm tenancies are operate was hailed as good news at the Great Yorkshire Show. The report, by the Tenancy Reform Industry Group, has been endorsed by a range of farming and professional organisations and could
COLLEAGUES of a North airman who died during secret military chemical warfare tests 50 years ago have suffered a setback in their battle for compensation, after early tests revealed no pattern of ill-health among them. Assessments of 117 former servicemen
"The Territorial Army units are a bloody good training ground and I am proud of them," said Lieutenant Colonel Tony Cave. Just hours before, the 41-year-old was on a baking parade ground at the Sennelager Training Centre, east of Germany's industrial
ALAN SHEARER is ready to lead from the front on Newcastle's pre-season trip to Malaysia. The Magpies' skipper, who missed the final two games of last season after chipping an ankle bone in the derby victory at Sunderland, will join his teammates for the
A man who tried to take out life insurance on his wife was yesterday jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering her. The body of Natalie Wil-liams, 33, (far right) was found in a river near her home in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, the day after
A COUNCIL leader is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack. Bob Fleming, leader of Sedgefield Borough Council since May, was last night in a comfortable condition in Darlington Memorial Hospital. Coun Fleming, from Newton Aycliffe, was
A CASH windfall means several extra arts and crafts workshops can be held for children in Teesdale. The Artworks programme, now in its seventh year, will have a wider variety of activities for the young people of Teesdale. They are based in Barnard Castle
Hearts of Gold (BBC1); Crime Team (C4): At least trainee nurse Bethan had mastered the basic of medicine. "If you take someone's heart out, you can't just open them up and put it back" she announced. She wasn't in the operating theatre at the time but
DO you know who I am? Probably not, and sometimes it's hard to prove it. Especially if you're trying to hire a carpet shampooer. I once got onto a wonderful tangle in Safeway because I couldn't prove who I was. Even though my name and picture are at the
MAKE sure Macadamia (3.25) is on your short-list for today's most valuable race, the £100,000 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket. The James Fanshawe-trained filly won last month's Royal Ascot's Hunt Cup with embarrassing ease, cruising to the front at the two-furlong
NORTH-East football clubs are helping cancer victims by contributing signed memorabilia for an auction. Darlington, Middlesbrough and Newcastle football teams have signed shirts and footballs to help raise money for Macmillan Cancer Relief. Co-operative
ATLETICO MADRID will offer Sunderland the chance to write off their £9m investment in Tore Andre Flo - by trying to sign the striker for nothing. As Sunderland attempt to balance the books and alleviate their £26.6m debt, the Spanish club are preparing
A father was last nightblamed by a coroner for the death of his nine-month-old daughter - despite escaping any charges in the wake of the baby's death. In a dramatic step, coroner Malcolm Donnelly ruled nine-month-old Abbie Jade Hughes had been unlawfully
FOOTBALLER Olivier Bernard will not face any charges over allegations that he raped a teenage girl, it has been revealed. French international Bernard and four others were arrested after claims by the 16-year-old following a night out on Newcastle Quayside
IRAQ: THERE can be no doubt that the basic principles of democracy benefit everyone, apart from those whose interests are vested in the power and profit to be gained from the oppression of one's fellow man. Tony Blair is my MP. I did not vote for him
Last week the Government announced that lesbian and gay couples are going to have the same rights as married couples. Nick Morrison talks to two women who have already tied the knot AS John Denver breaks into the first lines of the haunting Annie's Song
The Shield (five): FORGET the bobbies at Sun Hill in The Bill - the cops on the beat in The Shield are really tough. There are no happy endings or neat morals here. Instead you get to watch a gritty drama with crooked detectives and gun shoot-outs. The
STEVE McCLAREN is set to make West Ham winger Trevor Sinclair his first summer signing. The Middlesbrough boss hopes to push through a £2m deal by the end of the week. Northern Echo SPORT exclusively revealed over a month ago that England international
Sadness tinges royal honour The father of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence was yesterday honoured by the Queen in a bitter-sweet ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Neville Lawrence (above), co-founder of a charitable trust in his son's name, received
THE man who runs the University of Sunderland's students' union is looking forward to an audience with the Queen today. Joe Williams, 57, was awarded the MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List, and he will be at Buckingham Palace to attend his investiture
A fabrications firm is helping students with their GCSE examinations. Aycliffe Fabrications, in Aycliffe Industrial Park, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, with its powder coating company Winston Fabrications, provided materials for two year 11 students
THE academy awards are coming to the North-East this year. But do not expect to bump into Jack Nicholson or Halle Berry at this event. Instead, the first Voluntary Sector Academy Awards is designed to promote the benefits of training, skills development
A grieving family yesterday made an impassioned plea to find the killer of their drug-addicted son. Darren Manders' badly decomposed remains were found in Starvation Clump, on the edge of Nunthorpe village, less than two miles from his parents' home at
DURHAM will have to beware the overseas contingent again when they face Northamptonshire at Riverside over the next five days. After EU-qualified Australian seamers Matt Mason and Mark Harrity played a big part in bowling them to defeat at Worcester last
Rod Hull: A Bird In The Hand (C4); No 57: The History Of A House (C4): Sticking your hand up an emu always seemed an odd way to earn a living. But it gave Rod Hull a good career over 25 years and enough money to make him a multi-millionaire. The downside
TRANSPORT operator National Express announced last night that trading in the first half of the year was in line with expectations, as it prepares to bid for the Great Northern rail franchise. The group, which runs coach services as well as the ScotRail
ON the face of it Tony Blair should be in an unassailable position. Like no other Labour leader before him he has secured two full terms of office for his party. He has a thumping majority in the House of Commons facing a relative ineffectual Opposition
PUBLICAN Frances Debenham, who was one of the worst hit victims of the foot-and-mouth disease in the North Yorkshire Moors tourist industry, is to celebrate her business bouncing back by doing a 13,500ft parachute jump for charity. Recalling how she took
Echo Memories admires the view from heady heights of the Sadberge wapentake, locates the Fatty Man's Squeeze and unearths more about Darlington's 'lost' football films ONCE, Sadberge was master of it all surveyed - and from the top of its flat hill you
DO you know who I am? Probably not, and sometimes it's hard to prove it. Especially if you're trying to hire a carpet shampooer. I once got onto a wonderful tangle in Safeway because I couldn't prove who I was. Even though my name and picture are at the
FOUR young people are building the foundations of successful careers at a house building company. David Baldwin, Sara Jayne Palmer and Lucy Scott, from Newton Aycliffe, and Lisa Ryder, from Spennymoor, all work in different roles at the regional head
Inquest opened on bike rider AN inquest into the death of Robert Ian Davies, of Appletree Close, East Ardsley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was opened at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court yesterday. The 40-year-old died of multiple injuries after his bike
The family of a skydiver who plunged to his death after his parachute was sabotaged released video footage of him yesterday during a previous jump. Stephen Hilder, 20, died after fallling 13,000ft at Hibaldstow Airfield, north Lincolnshire, on Friday.
Campaigners have said they will fight on despite losing a European court battle with the Government to ban night flights at Heathrow. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, ruled night flying did not breach residents' right to respect
THE workforce at Nissan's Sunderland car plant won praise last night after the factory was named the most productive in Europe for the seventh year in succession. Each worker at the Wearside plant produced an average of 99 cars last year, compared with
WHEN Caroline Peacock spends time in her garden, she often thinks about a relative whose life was cut short by cancer. She said: "My cousin Penny had a passion for gardening. She died of cancer just before I agreed to help raise funds for the Macmillan
The Great Yorkshire Show may concentrate on farming and livestock - but they are not its only subjects. Country folk like to look as good as their city counterparts - and the fashion pavilion offered a chance to see just what is available. A team from
TAKEOVER target Safeway last night predicted a further slowdown in like-for-like sales this year as a competition probe continues. The supermarket group, which is at the centre of a five-way takeover battle, is in limbo while competition watchdogs conduct
EMBATTLED Tony Blair suffered another blow last night when scores of Labour MPs rebelled against the Government's flagship health service reforms. Sixty-two Labour MPs joined a Commons revolt against the introduction of foundation hospitals. Ministers
TRANSPLANT teams in the region are coming up against a new problem in their bid to increase the number of heart operations. More younger potential donors are being rejected because their hearts are already damaged by disease. Surgeons at the Freeman Hospital
THE delightful Fr Eamonn Croghan, 51 years a priest in the Catholic diocese of Hexham and Newcastle - 31 at St John Vianney, Hartlepool - was buried in his native Ireland last week. Another of these columns recorded his passing, aged 75. Northern Cross
LEADING German officials will travel to the North-East this weekend to find out how the region attracted new enterprises. A delegation from Gelsen-kirchen, in northern Germany, will visit Newcastle, which which the town has had links for more than 50
Design Rules (BBC2): Having caused havoc in homes up and down the land with his interior design ideas in Changing Rooms, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen goes back to basics for this new series. He's following the tried and tested example of both Delia Smith and
A NORTH-EAST call centre is at the centre of a baby boom, with dozens of employees expecting additions to the family. Thirty-eight workers at the Orange Business Solutions centre, in Darlington, are pregnant. And while they spend much of their time considering
Darlington midfielder Ashley Nicholls last night revealed his determination to come back stronger next season and repay the faith manager Mick Tait has shown in him. The 21-year-old this week signed a new deal to keep him at the club until 2005, dispelling
NHS professionals from across the North will meet on Friday to discuss ways to improve services for patients suffering stomach and intestinal disorders. Gastroenterology experts will share information at the event at Hartlepool Historic Quay. It has been
THE next time anglers talk about the ones that got away, believe them. Those who go fishing in the North-East and North Yorkshire are about the most honest in Britain, it has been revealed. Checks by Environment Agency officials on 130 licences at 19
A WOMAN who set up the first website in the country for sufferers of a rare brain abnormality has won an award run by The Northern Echo's Communigate scheme. Jan Harrington, 32, from Cramlington, Northumberland, underwent major surgery after being diagnosed
PUPILS at a Darlington school are counting on success after a donation was made to their numeracy library. The £100 from Abbey National Bank will be used by Reid Street Primary School to buy numbers games which can be lent to youngsters for use at home
ENTERPRISING pupils showed their business acumen yesterday when they formed their own companies for the day. About 180 youngsters at Longfield Comprehensive School, Darlington, set up businesses to design, produce and market hats and caps for the teenage
A £1m bus scheme that will link deprived areas of Darlington will be in operation in autumn. Darlington Borough Council secured the money from the Government's Urban Bus Challenge fund. It will be used to improve routes and provide vital links to areas
THE first thing that strikes you about Eastbourne Comprehensive School in Darlington is how normal it seems. The term "special measures" conjures up images of a school in crisis, with teachers barely able to make themselves heard above the din of anarchic
TALENTED sports performers from east Durham schools are to hone their skills at two summer workshops. Nearly 200 young people will work with top coaches at the week-long schools being organised by the Easington District School Sport Co-ordinator Programme
COUNCIL tenants in Wear Valley are being invited to give their views on the district's housing repairs and maintenance service at focus group meetings today and tomorrow. The meetings will be held at the Four Clocks Centre, in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland
TALES of haunted houses, an alien invasion and the everyday lives of a village's residents have been pieced together for a neighbourhood video project. Families in Hamsterley worked together to put their thoughts about the community on film and saw the
FORMER classmates got together for a reunion party 40 years after they left their secondary school. Pupils from class A4 at the Alderman Cape School, in Crook, invited their form teacher Harry Brook to the celebration in the town's working men's club.
A RENOWNED psychological thriller opened at a North-East theatre last night, with a familiar face in the lead role. Television star Jonathon Morris, pictured above centre with co-stars Stephanie Chambers and Steven Pinder, is appearing in Trap for a Lonely
FOUR Olympians who returned to Teesside after winning medals at the 11th Special Olympics World Games were honoured with a civic reception in Eston yesterday. Claire Rule and Claire Skelton, who attend the Grangetown Centre, Robert Kneeshaw, who attends
SEVENTEEN staff from railway company Arriva Trains Northern are to become special constables with the British Transport Police (BTP) tomorrow. A swearing-in ceremony is taking place in York, which will be attended by the city's Lord Mayor, Councillor
VOLUNTEERS are needed to get their hands dirty. The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers has organised three days of ragwort pulling at Nosterfield Nature Reserve, near Masham. Volunteers are being sought to remove the ragwort, on behalf of The Lower
Plans for shops and offices on a car park adjoining Harrogate's revamped bus station have come under attack. Opponents claim that development for short-term commercial gain would neg-ate the vision of turning the area into a transport interchange. The
PARENTS dreading the long summer holidays may find museums across the Richmondshire and Hambleton district can offer a helping hand. A new arts initiative, supported by the local authorities, starts a week after schools break up and includes innovative
ACOUSTIC jazz duo The Bicycle Thieves will be serenading diners at a town centre pizza restaurant tomorrow evening. The Sunderland-based duo, Alistair Robinson on guitar and bass player Peter Brown, are back at the Pizza Express, in Darlington, by popular
SPEED cameras are being credited for more than halving the number of collisions on Cleveland roads during the past three years. Cleveland Safety Camera Partnership says it has helped to prevent injuries to 366 people. On camera monitored roads there was
AN auction of promises will be held at Conyers School, Green Lane, Yarm, at 7pm tomorrow. More than 115 gifts have been donated including first class rail tickets, a VIP visit to RAF Leeming, tickets for Sealife, The Forbidden Corner, in North Yorkshire
TARGETING known crooks is forcing crime figures down on Teesside, it has been revealed. Figures released by Cleveland Police yesterday showed that crime fell by 11.5 per cent between April and June. But sexual offences have almost doubled, rising from
A CARTOONIST is offering an original take on traditional wedding photographs - by offering the happy couple a caricature of themselves. Paul Slattery, 35, from Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, has set up a business drawing couples, who can then use the
WORKERS battling fuel poverty are celebrating after winning a major award. Assessors working for the two Warm Zones in Stockton and Redcar and Cleveland planted an oak at the entrance to Stillington Forest Park, near Stockton, on behalf of their sponsor
CHILDREN from a Richmond school are hoping that a new athletics strip will give them the edge in competitions. The town's Castle Walk Sports has donated red kit to pupils from Richmond Primary School, above, who now look the part with lettering on the
THE crowds ignored yesterday's grey and gloomy skies to turn out in force to the biggest event in the North's countryside calendar. The only notable absentees on the opening day of the Great Yorkshire Show, in Harrogate, were the sun and any Government
A FURNITURE components firm in Peterlee is celebrating after securing a green award. BHK (UK) Ltd received the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) certification for using sustainable timber grown in well-managed forests. The FSC was founded in 1993 by
A FOUR-DAY public inquiry which will decide the future of a derelict corner of Durham City opened yesterday. A local development company was granted planning permission to create a large retail park, including a B&Q store, on a site in the Dragonville
A DISUSED Tyneside club may have to be demolished after it was damaged by fire. Forty firefighters tackled a blaze at the Birds Nest Social Club, Jellicoe Road, Walker, Newcastle, on Monday. A Tyne and Wear brigade spokesman said: "Although the fire was
THOUSANDS of people are being given expert advice in giving up smoking. At least 3,280 people managed to quit smoking on Teesside, last year. The Smoking Cessation Service, a service offered by Primary Care, helped more than 5,000 people to stop, and
£8,000 boost for hospital SWIMMERS have raised £8,000 for sick children by taking part in sponsored swims in Barnard Castle. The events, held over three years at Teesdale Sports Centre, have raised money for the children's ward at Newcastle General Hospital
A THEATRE which closed for a £1.5m extension and restoration project has announced dates for the first shows to be staged in the new-look building. Tickets have gone on sale for preview performances at the Georgain theatre Royal, in Richmond, North Yorkshire
ANGLO-CHINESE relations in the North-East have been boosted by the publication of the first edition of a dual-language magazine. The Chinese Magazine is a glossy colour publication produced by The Chinese Association North-East Region (Caner). Established
A YOUNG man has been killed and four others seriously injured when the car they were in crashed into a tree in the early hours of yesterday morning. The man, believed to be in his early 20s, died from his injuries following the accident on the A59 Boroughbridge
ENGLAND'S oldest cathedral is moving into the corporate hospitality market when it hosts its first black-tie dinner in the nave. The cathedral which towers over the tiny city of Ripon, North Yorkshire, is thought to be the first place of worship in the
A MAJOR scheme has been launched to provide a sustainable and profitable future for farmers and food producers. The scheme aims to connect producers and farmers with the public and reassure them that the food they eat is safe and produced using environmentally
A former training instructor has been charged with indecently assaulting two young male recruits and raping one of them at a barracks where four soldiers died in controversial circumstances, it emerged yesterday. Leslie Skinner, 45, of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
A NORTH-EAST call centre is at the centre of a baby boom, with dozens of employees expecting additions to the family. Thirty-eight workers at the Orange Business Solutions centre, in Darlington, are pregnant. And while they spend much of their time considering
Hundreds of people are expected to gather for a thanksgiving service at Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, this weekend to mark the 20th anniversary of its National Trust management. The abbey and adjoining Studley Royal Deer Park were bought by the Trust from
A WOMAN who dropped out of history at school because she hated it has been appointed to a key post at a museum. Helen Ashby, 44, has become the National Railway Museum's (NRM) head of knowledge and collections, and aims to build on the already vast railway
A TEENAGER appeared in court yesterday accused of indecently assaulting a four-year-old girl. David Major, 19, was arrested after a complaint was made to police over an alleged assault in the Gateshead area on Sunday. The hearing was adjourned and Mr
Climb every mountain Teachers and parents of pupils at Red House School, Norton, have scaled new heights for charity. They hope to have raised more than £1,000 for a respite care home for autistic children, being set up by the charity Daisy Chain. The
TWO schools look likely to amalgamate to save them from closure. Pupil numbers at St Peter's and St Andrew's RC primary schools, in South Bank, near Middlesbrough, have dropped and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is predicting they will continue
A NEWLY-FORMED choir is looking for male singers. The Halcyon Singers, of Saltburn, east Cleveland, was formed in January and has 20 members. The choir's founder and conducter, Rose Bottomley, said: "We need more men. We've got 13 women and seven men
WORK has started on a four-week excavation in Hartlepool which could allow residents the chance to explore the history in their area. Tees Archaeology is carrying out the dig at the edge of the Friarage sports field on the Headland, which may turn up
DETECTIVES yesterday searched one of the region's roads, looking for more clues to throw light on a shooting that took place on a family farm a week ago. A team of 16 police also spoke to local people about the night masked gunmen burst into Drome Farm
Sir Edward Heath, former Prime Minister, 87; Richard Wilson, actor, 67; David Hockney, artist, 66; Steve Coppell, football manager, 48; Marc Almond, singer, 47; Tom Hanks, actor, 47; Courtney Love, singer/actress, 39 Anniversaries: 1191 Richard I (the
THIS month saw the relaunch of Neighbourhood Watch in the area. The event took place at Darlington Cricket Club and was open to all Watch co-ordinators. I was pleased to see so many people there, and the enthusiasm to rejuvenate the scheme was very apparent
A futuristic eye scanner that can identify individuals by scanning the unique image of a person's iris is being launched at a secondary school canteen today. Sunderland's Venerable Bede School is to use the new system, thought to be the first of its kind
For an all too brief moment, conjoined Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani achieved their ambitions to live separate lives yesterday. After an unprecedented two-day operation to separate their skulls, the 29-year-old sisters were finally apart. But,
HE has made his fortune in the world of business - and now North-East multi-millionaire Duncan Bannatyne wants to make it big as an actor. The 54-year-old tycoon, who runs the largest independent chain of health clubs in the country, has already filmed
PUBLICAN Frances Debenham, who was one of the worst hit victims of the foot-and-mouth disease in the North Yorkshire Moors tourist industry, is to celebrate her business bouncing back by doing a 13,500ft parachute jump for charity. Recalling how she took
When the law fails snatched children Cutting Edge: Snatched (C4) Rebels And Redcoats: The American Revolutionary War (BBC2) Six years ago Alison Lalic's husband took their two children to his native Bosnia and since then, despite the abduction being ruled
The rail network is not as bad as people think, the head of the Strategic Rail Authority said yesterday. Richard Bowker told MPs on the House of Commons Transport Select Committee that the network was not in chaos or in crisis, but he said: "There is
The Government has today opened the way to the possible introduction of nationwide charges for the use of roads. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling produced a feasibility study into the scheme that could - eventually - see drivers having to pay to use
DURHAM will have to beware the overseas contingent again when they face Northamptonshire at Riverside over the next five days. After EU-qualified Australian seamers Matt Mason and Mark Harrity played a big part in bowling them to defeat at Worcester last
Cutting Edge: Snatched (C4); Rebels And Redcoats: The American Revolutionary War (BBC2): Six years ago Alison Lalic's husband took their two children to his native Bosnia and since then, despite the abduction being ruled illegal in the international courts
Police are still attempting to identify the three people who died in a rail collision on an unmanned level crossing. Three minibus passengers were killed and six injured, three seriously, when a First Great Western train hit the vehicle near Evesham,
A THEATRE which closed for a £1.5m extension and restoration project has announced dates for the first shows to be staged in the new-look building. Tickets have gone on sale for preview performances at the Georgain theatre Royal, in Richmond, North Yorkshire
PEOPLE in the North-East have the lowest average savings in the UK, a survey has revealed. More than half of households fail to save money regularly, according to the research, by Tesco Personal Finance. The research also reveals that although the North-East
Medical diagnostics firm Provalis last night said a strong performance from its diabetes testing product had helped drive annual sales up by almost 50 per cent. The company, based in Deeside, Flintshire, said orders for the Glycosal test from two US companies
Marks and Spencer chairman Luc Vandevelde yesterday tied his pay closely to the fortunes of the high street retailer after waiving a normal cash salary. The former chief executive will instead receive 13,500 shares a month, which at yesterday's price
Police launched a criminal investigation yesterday into the disappearance of a six-year-old girl after she was found safe and well in a neighbour's house. Summer Haipule (right with mother Minday) was reported missing on Tuesday after a family friend
