Sports clubs in part of the North-East can have their details published in a directory. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's Sports Development section is updating its sports directory to circulate to all schools, youth centres and libraries. Clubs
A SUCCESSFUL businessman and rugby club official was found hanged by his daughter a week after being discharged from a psychiatric clinic, an inquest was told. John Graham, 41, managing director of Otley Motors, a franchise with three sites across Yorkshire
FAR-FLUNG Dales communities can surf through cyberspace thanks to the launch of a community resource. After years of planning, a learning centre with a computer suite has opened at Hudson House, in Reeth. When high street bank Barclays announced it was
ITALIAN sources claim that Newcastle and Middlesbrough could be in the running to sign Brazilian superstar Rivaldo after one of his representatives revealed he has received offers from three Premiership clubs. Liverpool were thought to be leading the
TRADERS have welcomed a decision by the Secretary of State for the Environment to reject a plan to build a warehouse-style store on the outskirts of Bishop Auckland. Businesses in the town argued that the building of a bulky goods store in South Church
A FIRST Stop Clinic devised exclusively for young people was launched in a County Durham village yesterday. The new health facility covering the Brandon and Deerness Valley area will be led by the young people themselves. Open every Wednesday, from 6.15pm
A CANDIDATE who was defeated in the May elections has challenged the man who won the post to live up to his campaign promises. Clive Rudd stood for the Hawes and High Abbotside seat on Richmondshire District Council. He failed in challenging the authority's
STUDENTS had their skills tested when the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers visited their college. The group studying BTEC National Certificate in Public Services at Bishop Auckland College were set the challenge of making a car out of cardboard
AN event to provide employers with advice relating to new disability discrimination laws was held at Middlesbrough's Riverside stadium yesterday. It was organised by national employment charity, Shaw Trust, which provides training and job opportunities
RESIDENTS are being asked to help pay towards the cost of extending a security fence in Yarm designed to protect them from thieves and vandals. Earlier this year, the town council installed a 50-metre wooden fence between the Rookery and the residential
CHILDREN proved how much they care for the environment when they helped plant an avenue of trees in the grounds of their Hartlepool school. The youngsters, from Clavering School, helped workers from Hartlepool Borough Council plant 11 trees to replace
A COUNCIL hopes to reduce the loss made by its controversial £14m theatre by setting up a new management system. Durham City Council is examining the most cost-effective way of running the Gala Theatre to ensure the least strain on the public purse. The
GAIZKA MENDIETA was the toast of Teesside as Middlesbrough edged into the last eight of the Carling Cup at the expense of Everton in a penalty shoot-out. Midfielder Mendieta's spot-kick was decisive and clinched a quarter-final trip to Tottenham after
AS taxi trade increases in the run-up to Christmas, revellers are being warned about the dangers of travelling in unlicensed cars. The warning comes from licensing officers in Darlington after unlicensed taxis have been seen picking up fares in the town
Most North-East hospitals treated more patients in the last financial year compared with 2001-2002. At South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital, 136,077 patients were treated last year compared with
A YOUNG martial artist who has been training for just a few weeks wowed the audience at a tae kwon mudo contest in Darlington. Little Connor Bacon, six, competed with 40 other students in the under-tens flying side kick category at the event at the Kim
A YOUNG martial artist who has been training for just a few weeks wowed the audience at a tae kwon mudo contest in Darlington. Little Connor Bacon, six, competed with 40 other students in the under-tens flying side kick category at the event at the Kim
A PROTESTOR fighting multi-million pound plans to regenerate a Teesside town centre has taken his battle to the Deputy Prime Minister. Plans to demolish Billingham's 1960s shopping centre and build a £20m leisure, learning and cultural facility are expected
AMATEUR photographers have taken part in a competition which focuses on the stigma attached to mental health problems. One in four adults will suffer from some form of mental illness during their lives. This figure was the theme of a photographic competition
UP TO £150,000 is on offer to help revitalise the economy of rural County Durham by reusing emp-ty buildings. The Redundant Building Grant scheme was set up to convert disused buildings for business purposes. The money comes from regional development
THE widow of policeman Keith Blakelock, who was hacked to death during the Broadwater Farm riots in 1985, yesterday said she believed his killer will still be caught. Elizabeth Johnson, who now lives on the outskirts of Sunderland, spoke after it emerged
IT had been a long week away from the family and the A1 was dark, miserable and wet. A warm welcome home was all I could think of. The warmth of the welcome, after my annual business trip to Hastings on the south coast, is guaranteed because the kids
THE exciting young chaser Argento could be the answer to George Moore's search for another high-quality horse. The genial Middleham handler has suffered a dearth of decent ammo over the past couple of years, but with the emergence of Market Rasen-bound
Bon Jovi: This Left Feels Right. (Mercury) LIVIN' On A Prayer was one of 35 songs written for Bon Jovi's 1986 album slippery When Wet, but it almost didn't make the final cut. Vocalist Jon Bon Jovi was less than thrilled with it. It took producer Bruce
GRANTS of more than £40,000 have helped to create nearly 100 new jobs in Darlington in the last six months. The cash from Darlington Borough Council's financial incentive scheme has been paid to 35 companies to help them to expand their businesses - and
A DURHAM dale's last surviving police station was officially reopened this week, keeping neighbourhood bobbies in the heart of village communities. A deal struck between police and Stanhope Community Association rescued the 130-year-old Stanhope Police
Witches and wizards have been clashing broomsticks ever since the Harry Potter books first introduced us to Quidditch. Now Pottie schoolboy Ryan Quinn, 10, has won the chance to represent his country in the International Quidditch World Cup. Ryan hasn't
THOUSANDS of fans following England's rugby World Cup campaign in Australia helped boost British Airways' passenger numbers last month. BA carried 2.68 million passengers in November - a 1.8 per cent increase on November last year. Asia Pacific traffic
FURNITURE retailer ScS Upholstery blamed a pricing mix-up over a key leather product range for profits plummeting 12 per cent. The Sunderland company described its full-year results as "a great disappointment" after discovering its 56 branches had given
A CHILDMINDER raised more than £200 for Children In Need by dyeing his hair shocking red. Mark Todhunter, of Lunedale Road, Mowden, Darlington, became a redhead to raise cash for the charity and draw attention to men working in child care. "I stand out
ITALIAN sources claim that Newcastle and Middlesbrough could be in the running to sign Brazilian superstar Rivaldo after one of his representatives revealed he has received offers from three Premiership clubs. Liverpool were thought to be leading the
FRUSTRATED detectives are pouring over television footage in a bid to identify people who could help solve a murder. Police are becoming increasingly angry at the lack of response to their appeals for help in solving the murder of pensioner Arnold Hartley
THE largest and most ambitious environmental regeneration programme ever seen in West Durham was launched last week. Over the next five years the £5.2m Mineral Valleys Project will set up a network of initiatives transforming natural, cultural and historic
DOCTORS who store body parts after a patient's death without the consent of relatives are to be jailed under a new law, The Northern Echo can reveal. Health Secretary John Reid will tell MPs today that the long-awaited Human Tissues Bill will impose prison
PRESIDENT BUSH: YOU asked (Echo, Nov 22): "Has President Bush's visit benefited the North-East?" You gave the answer in the marvellous pictures and well-constructed articles recording the momentous few hours. The BBC's Washington correspondent, reporting
DARLINGTON Talking Newspaper has benefited to the tune of almost £500 thanks to the town's Freemasons and a Golden Wedding couple. Derek Baker, Master of the Steadfast Mark Lodge, and Grand Lodge Officer Peter Smailes visited the talking newspaper office
MILITARY Policemen killed while serving in Iraq have been honoured by colleagues from the British Army's biggest garrison. Officers took on senior NCOs for the Matt Titchener Challenge Cup at Catterick Garrison, in memory of the 150 Provost Company major
MIDDLESBROUGH boss Steve McClaren last night saluted Gaizka Mendieta after the Spanish star sealed his side's place in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup. Mendieta struck the winning penalty as Boro won a shoot-out 5-4 at the Riverside. And McClaren
On a visit to County Durham refuse disposal sites, the column discovers that waste is being put to worthy uses. IT was a passing reference in every sense of the word, and not very original at that. Chronicling way back on March 4 a walk through the mid-Durham
A TEACHER admitted wounding his estranged wife amid a bitter argument over arrangements for contact between him and their children. John Edwin Johnson, who teaches at the Joseph Rowntree School in York, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm
TRANSPORT Minister Kim Howells followed a track being laid by modern day rail pioneers when he visited the North-East yesterday. By this time next year, thousands of visitors could be tracing the route he took from Escomb, County Durham, where he opened
Samuel L. Jackson is the king of cool when it comes to acting but he often opts for lesser roles in movies if they are more interesting that the lead. Steve Pratt reports. THE word most often used to describe Pulp Fiction, Shaft and Unbreakable star Samuel
Ripley's Game (15) Stars: John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, Ray Winstone, Lena Headey, Chiara Caselli MANY years have passed since the events of The Talented Mr Ripley, and chameleonic Tom Ripley (Malkovich) now lives in the picturesque Veneto region of
Taggart (ITV1) Either I'm getting brainier or the Taggart detectives are getting thicker. I worked out whodunit well in advance of DCI Burke and his crime-fighting team. If only the Scottish sleuths had listened to me, I could have saved them a lot of
Durham County Council could disappear under proposals for local government. The Boundary Committee this week published its three preferred options for a system of unitary authorities. The current two-tier system will go if the North-East votes for a regional
THE macabre Titus Andronicus may have been a firm favourite with Elizabethan audiences but it fails to hold the same appeal for current theatre goers. Murder, mayhem, jealousy, revenge and buckets of blood provide all the hallmarks of the bard's tragedies
COMPANIES and public sector organisations have earned recognition for their disabled-friendly policies. Forty businesses and other groups, from across the North-East, received Positive About Disabled People Two-ticks awards, in a presentation at Durham
A COUNCIL has admitted to shortcomings in dealing with complaints over a chicken farm where police found 2,000 dead or diseased birds. Under different circumstances, the problems at the former Gibson Poultry Packing Plant, at Cockfield, Teesdale, County
THIEVES tricked an elderly couple into letting them into their home and escaped with £350 in cash. The pensioners, a man in his eighties and his 76-year-old partner, let one of the man into their bungalow, in West Auckland, at 5pm on Monday after he asked
BOYS and girls enjoyed a day of football at Darlington's Dolphin Centre yesterday. Children from schools around the town took part in a five-a-side soccer tournament organised by Darlington Racial Equality Council. There were also quizzes, videos and
GOVERNORS of a school at the centre of a proposed merger with another to create the biggest primary school in the area, are objecting to the scheme. Governors of Whinfield Junior School, in Darlington, are protesting at Darlington Borough Council's decision
Award-winning Rdaio Cleveland presenter Matthew Davieshas decided to make his debut as panto dame. He tells Steve Pratt that he's tired of people slagging off the Christmas tradition which is a brilliant introduction to the stage for children. No one
HEADTEACHERS have criticised primary league tables, published today, for not showing an accurate picture of school performance. They said the tables failed to take into account the number of special needs pupils sitting tests, and said results were affected
Darlington boss David Hodgson is still waiting to hear whether he will face any punishment for his sending off at Swansea City. Hodgson was red-carded by referee Clive Penton for repeated use of foul and abusive language towards the fourth official during
HOSPITAL bosses have called in two black belt judo experts to train staff to deal with violence. Hundreds of staff at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, are being given the training. Tracy Woods, of MAT Personal Safety Advisors, said:
BUSINESS leaders have been reminded that from October next year it becomes an offence to refuse to provide, or deliberately not provide, a service to a disabled person which is offered to able bodied people. The message was given at a conference in Durham
ARSONISTS set fire to a couch left outside a Redcar home on Tuesday evening causing damage to the house. The residents of the house in Boxer Street on the Lakes Estate, which suffers from arson attacks, had put their old settee outside the house about
SPORTS facilities in Darlington will be improved at a cost of £47,644. Darlington Borough Council's Cabinet this week agreed to release the cash to develop indoor and outdoor sports facilities. The money will be used to appoint an architect to develop
ENGLAND rugby star Jonny Wilkinson is to be granted the Freedom of the City of Newcastle, it was confirmed last night. The accolade was unanimously backed at a special meeting of Newcastle city councillors "in recognition of his sporting achievements
GRANTS totalling more than £40,000 have helped to create more than 96 jobs in Darlington in the past six months. The funding from Darlington Borough Council's financial incentive scheme has been paid to 35 companies to help them expand their businesses
SANTA Claus is coming to the aid of a cancer care charity at one of its North-East offices. He has pledged to respond to all letters sent by children which are backed with a small donation for Marie Curie Cancer Care. In return, Santa will send each young
FURNITURE retailer ScS Upholstery blamed a pricing mix-up over a key leather product range for profits plummeting 12 per cent. The Sunderland company described its full-year results as "a great disappointment" after discovering its 56 branches had given
BY tomorrow it will be Good to Talk again for 35 BT customers in Sunniside, near Crook, whose telephones have been cut off for a week. Phone lines to Gladstone Terrace, on the edge of the village, were severed in two places by contractors working in the
A PRESENTATION night has been held to celebrate the achievements of young people involved in a village project. The Cornforth Partnership's Next Step youth project works with young people from the village aged 11 to 22. It aims to encourage the personal
THE parents of a 12-year-old boy expelled from a County Durham school for pointing a gun at teachers have made an official complaint about his "harsh" punishment. Paul and Debra Atherton, who refuse to believe their son, Brian, could have threatened a
IT had been a long week away from the family and the A1 was dark, miserable and wet. A warm welcome home was all I could think of. The warmth of the welcome, after my annual business trip to Hastings on the south coast, is guaranteed because the kids
A CONTROVERSIAL river bridge which divided a village is likely to be open before Christmas. North Yorkshire County Council has announced Creets Bridge, at Kirkby Malzeard, will be finished before the end of the month. A formal opening ceremony has been
Carpet maker to the Queen, Hugh Mackay Carpets, has helped restore a historic cinema in Amsterdam. The Durham company took part in a 15-month restoration project at the Tuschinski Cinema. The Dutch building was created by Polish refugee Abraham Tuschinski
INFLATION-bREAKING increases in council tax this year were the fault of the Government rather than local authorities, according to a report. The Audit Commission study said the huge rises followed "unusual" spending demands heaped on councils by Whitehall
DETAILS of the region's biggest New Year celebrations have been launched online. A website showcasing Newcastle and Gateshead's fire and ice-themed, free fireworks and festivities went live yesterday . Midnight on December 31 will see the start of the
ENGLAND rugby star Jonny Wilkinson is to be granted the Freedom of the City of Newcastle, it was confirmed last night. The accolade was unanimously backed at a special meeting of Newcastle city councillors "in recognition of his sporting achievements
A WARD councillor has hit out at his local authority for spending more than £240,000 on office improvements. Derwentside District Council is paying £242,000 to refurbish and redesign offices at Consett Civic Centre, as part of a reshuffle of staff. Councillor
YOUNGSTERS in Hartlepool aged under five are being invited to parties to celebrate the start of a reading initiative. Next week, there will be three parties at libraries around Hartlepool to mark the launch of the Bookstart Plus scheme. Hartlepool's Library
THE latest reports have indicated house buyers shrugged off last month's quarter per cent rise. The Monetary Policy Committee, the Bank of England's rate-setting panel, will announce at midday today whether it will raise interest rates again. Its deliberations
Samuel L Jackson is the king of cool when it comes to acting, but he often opts for lesser roles in movies if they are mor interesting than the lead. Steve Pratt reports. The word most often used to describe Pulp Fiction, Shaft and Unbreakable star Samuel
CLOSURE plans were rubber- stamped for a secondary and a nursery school by councillors last night. But a second nursery school won a reprieve after a five hour-plus meeting of Sunderland City Council's school organisation committee, at the civic centre
OLDER pensioners are being given extra financial aid to ensure for a warmer winter this year. For the first time, North-East residents aged 80 and over are receiving an automatic £100 on top of their Winter Fuel Payment of £200. Pensions Minister Malcolm
THOUSANDS of people witnessed a captivating fusion of cultures when Darlington hosted the Runga Rung show for the first time. Music, light, dancing and fireworks filled the night air last Thursday as a procession of performers paraded from the Arts Centre
A FOURTH Ghost Ship has docked in the North-East after poor conditions had kept it several miles off shore. The Compass Island joined three other US vessels at the Able UK yard, near Hartlepool, where they will spend the next few months while their future
A GROUP of sixth formers have launched their first business venture backed by cash from fellow students. Ten teenagers, from the Teesside Prep and High School for Girls, at Eaglescliffe, have formed a company called Personal Eyes. They are producing T-shirts
A SCHEME that takes rugby into schools in north-west Durham is to be the pilot for a national programme. The Government is launching the Club School initiative to regenerate sport in schools by sending in coaches from sports clubs. A scheme devised seven
MONKEY pudding and hot dog risotto may not sound like haute cuisine but they were enough to win national recognition for two Northallerton schoolgirls. Amy Allen and Hannah Williams reached the finals of the Grab 5 competition in London, which encouraged
A FORMER football star has missed having his bootprints preserved in his club's hall of fame - after he was crocked by a crate of cabbages. Belgian defender Philippe Albert, an idol among Newcastle United fans, was to have his feet cast in concrete. But
A POPULAR bus route is to be given a £500,000 makeover. Thirty five well-lit and comfortable bus shelters and 46 new low bus kerbs are planned along the route of Arriva's Number 63 service. The service operates between Redcar bus station and the Redcar
A CRUMBLING community hospital is due to shut next year under plans to modernise care for elderly and infirm south Durham residents. A shake up in services will follow the closure of Homelands Hospital, near Crook, which was agreed by County Durham and
HOPES of a Christmas number one are fading for a police inspector who recorded a festive song. Contacts in the music business have helped Eric Robinson produce a festive CD, which has attracted the interest of a record company. Although the firm said
FOUR Eaglescliffe College students have teamed up to form one of the most promising jazz acts in the North-East. Cherie Gears, Michael Wolfindale, Joel Harding and Tim Hillsdon have been performing together as the Cherie Gears jazz quartet for a year,
MAGIC lamps, fairy godmothers, giant's treasure and magical bears are just some of the get-rich-quick traditions that theatres are employing to bring in the silver this Christmas. Tim Healy, Lisa Riley, Darren Day and Berwick Kaler - starring for an incredible
A SURVEY among brides-to-be has revealed that 60 per cent want a religious ceremony, but only two per cent will keep their chastity until they are married. The Monkbar Hotel, York, carried out the survey at a wedding fair, with 70 per cent saying they
Muttiah Muralitharan entered the Test series with England trying his best to avoid talk of mystery deliveries and secret plans - but was not shy when his turn came in the middle. After a jet-propelled innings of 38, from just 37 balls, hoisted the hosts
AN EXPLOSION scare near the region's biggest shopping mall has caused Christmas shoppers hours of delays. Roads and rail links around the Gateshead MetroCentre were closed today after a highly explosive gas cylinder was spotted on a rubbish fire. If the
HUNDREDS of youngsters will dress as angels and kings for Bishop Auckland's annual Christmas parade. Organisers say that the procession through the town centre tonight, Thursday, looks set to be the biggest yet. There will be people on stilts, a pipe
Award-winning Radio Cleveland presenter Matthew Davies has decided to make his debut as a panto dame. He tells Steve Pratt that he's tired of people slagging off the Christmas tradition which is a brilliant introduction to the the stage for children..
AN inner city primary school in the North-East is celebrating life at the top of national league tables. Delaval Community School in Scotswood, Newcastle, was named yesterday as the best in the country for improving pupils' achievement. It was this year's
A MAN facing trial after 78,000 indecent images of children were found on his computer has been found dead. David Strother, 39, from Hartlepool was arrested as part of the international Operation Ore investigation. It is believed he had the largest volume
TWO life-saving drugs of the future are to be produced in Teesdale. Drugs group GlaxoSmith-Kline yesterday unveiled a range of drugs to treat heart disease, cancer and breathing disorders that it said could become "blockbusters". Among them was a next
TWO mystery men, one of them shoeless, were seen running from the house where convicted paedophile Arnold Hartley was murdered. The 73-year-old was discovered dead in the early hours of Saturday at his dilapidated home in Queen Street, Redcar. A witness
CLINTON MORRISON'S hopes of signing for Sunderland seem doomed before the two clubs have even made official contact. The Birmingham City striker has become restless at St Andrews after finding himself behind Christophe Dugarry and Mikael Forssell in the
A publican is using his experience to help set up a brewery in the North-East. Michael Stroud, landlord of the Four Alls in Ovington, near Gainford, hopes to pull the first pint of beer to come from a micro-brewery he has started in the pub's cellar later
TWO mystery men, one of them shoeless, were seen running from the house where convicted paedophile Arnold Hartley was murdered. The 73-year-old was discovered dead in the early hours of Saturday at his dilapidated home in Queen Street, Redcar. A witness
Taggart (ITV1): Either I'm getting brainier or the Taggart detectives are getting thicker. I worked out whodunit well in advance of DCI Burke and his crime-fighting team. If only the Scottish sleuths had listened to me, I could have saved them a lot of
IS there anyone in Weatherfield who doesn't have the hots for Nick (I'm too sexy for my shirt) Tilsley? Men, women, animals too probably, are fighting for the attention of the man with the tan and artfully-tousled blond hair in Coronation Street (ITV1
A VERDICT of accidental death was recorded yesterday on a 23-year-old soldier who died in a car crash. But his mother told the inquest that the driver of the car, John Joe Jordan, 23, told her he was drunk and had been speeding. Lee Maxwell was a member
MAGIC lamps, fairy godmothers, giant's treasure and magical bears are just some of the get-rich-quick traditions that theatres are employing to bring in the silver this Christmas. Tim Healy, Lisa Riley, Darren Day and Berwick Kaler - starring for an incredible
HOTELS and leisure clubs group De Vere drew encouragement from recent booking trends as it announced a 5.3 per cent rise in annual underlying profits. The group behind Northumberland's Slaley Hall hotel and golf complex said its key brands had outperformed
WORKERS at an electronics factory last night voiced their concerns for the future after the announcement that 37 jobs are to be lost. The losses at the L G Philips television screen plant, on the outskirts of Durham City, are part of a restructuring that
An £80m power project which saved about 100 Tees Valley jobs is nearing completion. The design and construction of the Pulrose Power Station, in Douglas, on the Isle of Man, has been supported by NEL Power, of Stokesly, North Yorkshire, a company which
AS always, today's primary school league tables make interesting reading for the parents of young children. There is a natural tendency to check how your local school is performing. We publish the tables because they are a matter of public interest and
