WHEN many would prefer to run for cover, Jason McAteer is looking forward to renewing old acquaintances at Old Trafford tomorrow. The Sunderland midfielder will go head on into his own personal battle with Millwall's confrontational cockney player-manager
A TEENAGE prisoner of war and a local boy play together in the street only yards away from the camp where the young PoW is held captive. It is a scene that reflects the warmth prisoners of Harperley PoW Camp, near Wolsingham, County Durham, and Weardale
A man is to appear in court today charged with the murder of student Lee Walker. Lloyd Smith, 29, of Corporation Road, Darlington, was charged by police yesterday and held in custody overnight. He will appear before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe, County
A WORLDWIDE audience beckons for a North-East band after they secured a spot in a major Hollywood movie. The image of melodic rock band Fude will appear in the new movie Ocean's 12 alongside stars Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Drummer Matthew
ALL those years spent declining a night on the town with teammates in favour of resting in his room and dedicating his youth to football has proved worth it for George McCartney. Growing up in Northern Ireland, he always knew one day he would have to
FOLK artists, storytellers and dancers from across the world will visit the region for an event. More than 200 people from 87 countries will attend the 34th congress of the International Council of Organisations of Folkore Festivals and Folk Art (Cioff
IT might be more common among the Nomads wandering the desert but, in a corner of County Durham, there has been a rain-dance going on this week. Richard Guest might be as down to earth as they come but, after watching the heavens open at his request once
TWO prominent North-East medical figures are to play a key role in shaping public health policy. The Health Secretary, Dr John Reid, has named Ken Jarrold, chief executive of County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority, and Professor Chris
AN ecumenical procession of witness will take place in Sedgefield village next Friday, starting at St Edmund's Church, at 10am, followed by a service in the church at 2pm. An ecumenical service will be held in St Catherine's Church, Fishburn, on the same
A DARLINGTON shopping centre is putting on a range of activities for children over Easter. Entertainers will appear at Queen Street Shopping Centre from Bank Holiday Monday, April 12, and will perform every day until Saturday, April 17. All the entertainment
A MEETING of Darlington Town Mission has paid tribute to its retiring secretary. The group's annual general meeting heard a tribute to Beth Ardron, who has been secretary of the town mission for 16 years. She was thanked for her hard work and support,
A COMPANY which suffered a devastating fire last year has celebrated rising from the ashes. Richmond MP William Hague, the former Tory leader, officially opened the new Northallerton sales centre of North Yorkshire Timber yesterday. Last October, 56 jobs
YOUNG swimmers from Mowden Junior School were overall winners in a competition between Darlington schools held at the town's Dolphin Centre. Runners-up in the large schools' junior swimming gala were Abbey Junior School and Raventhorpe Preparatory School
A FOOD expert is helping a community learn the benefits of healthy eating. A series of cookery sessions has been organised in the Chester-le-Street area to encourage people to adopt a healthier lifestyle. It is based on the principle of eating five portions
NEW homes are to be built on a former school site in Wolsingham. Developer Hyperion Homes have been given planning approval to build 34 houses behind St Anne's High School, in Wolsingham, which closed in summer 2001. The school building, known locally
PUPILS who have worked since Christmas to sew a village banner have taken in on parade through the streets. The 42 pupils from Frosterley Community School enlisted community groups, including the Women's Institute, the Brownies and the Emerald Nursery
A FORMER mayor died after doctors sent her for an MRI scan - forgetting she had a pacemaker in her heart. The radio waves from the scan scrambled the settings of 83-year-old Molly Brown's implant device and she died within minutes. A coroner criticised
PLANS to extend a pub and build a new shop will be debated next week. The owners of the Queen's Head in Finghall, in lower Wensleydale, applied to Richmondshire District Council for permission to build a single-storey extension at the back of the pub
AGE Concern is to hold a week of events to encourage older people to boost their income by claiming their full benefit entitlements. The annual Your Rights Week will be launched in Sedgefield borough on Monday, April 19. The charity says many older people
LORD Gisborough got his hands dirty in the vandalised grounds of a church. He joined students from Prior Pursglove College and Laurence Jackson School, in Guisborough, and councillors to clean up the grounds of St Nicholas Church, Guisborough. The grounds
SCOOTER enthusiasts will put smiles on the faces of children at a Middlesbrough hospital. Dozens of Lambretta and Vespa riders will visit the James Cook University Hospital tomorrow to deliver chocolate eggs to the children's wards and the paediatric
STUDENTS helped to celebrate 30 years of local government in North Yorkshire. Members of the student council at the Allertonshire School joined officers and county councillors to plant an oak sapling in the grounds of County Hall, in Northallerton, near
A JUICE bar created as a hang-out place for 14 to 17-year-olds has been set up in Marske. The bar gives teenagers an area to chat, listen to music and buy non-alcoholic drinks in a room above the Zetland Hotel, in Markse High Street. Entrance to the bar
Students from Hartlepool are to act as tourist guides when they host students from Sheffield. The visit, in September, will enable students on the leisure and tourism course at Hartlepool College of Further Education to show their visitors what the town
MOTORISTS have been praised for their patience after work to ease town centre traffic congestion was delayed. Hartlepool Borough Council had been waiting for specialist computer software that co-ordinates traffic lights to be delivered. Traffic signals
THEY may have retired from England duty, but Martin Johnson and Neil Back will be going flat out to maintain Leicester's improvement when they visit Newcastle Falcons tomorrow (3pm). The Tigers suffered a poor start to the season while supplying seven
MONEY from Shildon Football Club's FA Cup run has helped to give the town's community groups some new transport. The club is one of the sponsors of a £37,000 community minibus, which was presented on Thursday. The Shildon team were given £7,000 by the
A MAN has appeared in court charged with the murder of a missing teenager. John Chipp, 18, disappeared during a night out in Sunderland two weeks ago. His failure to return to the family home in Sheppard Terrace, Castletown, sparked a search of the River
ARMED police have arrested two men over a drive-by shooting. The men, both from Newcastle's West End, were last night still being questioned by detectives. The arrests, on Thursday night and yesterday morning, followed a drive-by shooting in the Ryehill
AN ecumenical procession of witness will take place in Sedgefield village next Friday, starting at St Edmund's Church, at 10am, followed by a service in the church at 2pm. An ecumenical service will be held in St Catherine's Church, Fishburn, on the same
PLANS have been launched that will see millions spent on north Durham to improve life for residents. The Derwentside Community Strategy, published this week, aims to tackle five areas -health, crime, the economy, education and training, and housing and
AN EXTRA date has been added to the Easter activity calendar in Derwentside to cope with demand. There are no seats left on a bus to the Forbidden Corner, near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on Tuesday. The attraction is a labyrinth of tunnels, chambers and
NORTHERN Rock is anticipating the housing market will remain buoyant as it forecast a 20 per cent increase in its lending in the first half. Good employment levels, a housing shortage and relatively low debt servicing costs meant the home-moving market
TWO sisters snatched at knifepoint by their distraught mother were back at home last night after being found safe and well a mile from where they were abducted. The children, Salina, five, and three-year-old Sarah, were discovered asleep in a house in
SUNDERLAND fan Stuart Spencer is making a 12,000-mile round trip to share in the FA Cup fever sweeping Wearside. Stuart, originally from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is flying from South Africa for a long weekend to see the Black Cats take on Millwall
UNION leaders have called on the Government to save North-East shipyard jobs by bringing forward contracts. A plea for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to speed up future warship procurement was made at a rally in Newcastle yesterday, called to highlight
Brewers T and R Theakston are taking a dip into the music business. The Masham brewery is sponsoring this year's Ripley Blues series of concerts, in Ripley, near Harrogate. Headlining acts in this year's programme include the Yardbirds, Wilko Johnson,
A £100,000 focal point of the multi-million pound restoration of a North-East park has been switched on. The fountain in Albert Park, Middlesbrough, which was presented by Joseph Pease in 1869, has been restored by heritage restoration specialists from
A DELEGATION from Durham University will attend the funeral in Switzerland today of its Chancellor Sir Peter Ustinov. A service will be held in St Pierre's Cathedral, Geneva, and will be followed by a private burial in the nearby village where he lived
ONE of the region's top spring flower shows will boast a new feature this year - a marquee for the country's plant societies. Seventeen stands will be manned by plant experts at the event at Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The experts will provide daily practical
MALCOLM Crosby might have been Sunderland manager for just 13 months, but his hectic spell in control of the Black Cats means he and his family will be rolling back the years this weekend. Despite his North-Eastern roots, Crosby wasn't the obvious choice
RELATIVES friends and teachers of a teenager who drowned in the Italian Alps during a school trip boosted a trust fund in his memory with a charity football match. There was a poignant moment at the match in memory of 17-year-old Boro fan Alex Foulkes
NORTHERN Rock is anticipating the housing market will remain buoyant as it forecast a 20 per cent increase in its lending in the first half. Good employment levels, a housing shortage and relatively low debt servicing costs meant the home-moving market
OLIVIER Bernard has no fears about playing at Liverpool on the final day of the season - but the French full-back hopes the battle for fourth spot has already been won by then. Newcastle trail Gerard Houllier's side by a point going into this afternoon's
FISHING vessels in part of the region are seeing a return of their fortunes through shellfish, according to a report. Whitby's fishermen are experiencing especially good landings with a rise recently of 37 per cent, says the Scarborough Borough Council
CASH-STRAPPED Darlington Football Club is expected to announce on Monday that it has secured a deal to continue trading to the end of the season. The Quakers' future was in the balance after a proposed takeover by the Sterling Consortium was delayed.
WHEN many would prefer to run for cover, Jason McAteer is looking forward to renewing old acquaintances at Old Trafford tomorrow. The Sunderland midfielder will go head on into his own personal battle with Millwall's confrontational cockney player-manager
FOOTBALL PARKING: THERE is a possible solution to the ongoing problem of parking around Darlington football ground that would benefit all. Why doesn't the council approach industrial sites and schools which have large car parking space standing empty
MILLIONS watch Stars In Their Eyes: Kids 2004 (ITV1) but few, I suspect, constantly keep flicking to other channels, and I don't mean during the adverts. At first I had no idea what the woman in my life, who could tell the whole of Eurovision a thing
GAVIN Strachan has had enough of looking on from the sidelines. The Hartlepool United midfielder will be back in the starting line-up as Pool go to play-off rivals Brighton this afternoon. After being forced on to the sidelines since injuring a knee at
Her early career was based on her looks, but it was a different sort of part that really got Charlize Theron noticed. Steve Pratt meets Hollywood's lastest Oscar winner. CHARLIZE Theron appears the typical, glamorous Hollywood actress as she sashays into
A BUSINESS school in the region is hoping to emulate the success of North-East sporting teams by training the industry leaders of the future. Sunderland University is working with business coaching company soundbusiness to find commerce's answer to Bobby
VILLAGERS who were told they must remove flowers they planted on an ancient green believe they have found a solution to the row. The group, which calls itself the Norton Nine, have won the support of an MP who says she has also planted flowers on her
MORE than £5m is to be invested in housing in Darlington over the next year, council officials have announced. Darlington Borough Council confirmed that the spending would be used to enhance properties throughout the town. Under the plans, more than £2m
SPORTS students have been rewarded for helping to bring to life an exhibition celebrating local football heritage which closes today. Pupils from Bishop Auckland College ran sports challenges in the Discovery Centre, in the town Market Place, to bring
SECONDARY school pupils in Darlington have received their tuberculosis vaccinations for the final time before a decades-old system changes. Almost 200 pupils at Carmel Technology College received their TB vaccinations from a team of school nurses. But
A CHARITY and council chiefs have clashed over claims that homeless families are being rehoused ahead of Government targets. Official figures show there are only two families living in guest houses in east Cleveland and they are due to be rehoused before
Easington manager Peter Grasham feels his team need to beat Prudhoe today to have a chance of avoiding relegation. They go into the game six points away from safety, with just five games of their Second Division season remaining. "We badly need a win
GRASSROOTS sport in the North-East is to benefit from a cash boost. The funding - £770,000 in total - announced by Sport England will go to 12 community projects in the region covering a number of sports. A £20m pot has been made available nationally
UNIVERSITIES across the North-East have been given approval to increase student numbers by almost 700 over the next two years. The foundation degree places range from engineering and emergency services to travel and tourism, and the Universities of Teesside
PEOPLE living with long-term medical conditions in east Durham have been invited to take part in an Expert Patient Programme. The scheme, run by the Easington Primary Care Trust, is part of a national project designed to help people cope with conditions
MORE than 30 jobs will be created when a £200,000 bar and restaurant opens. A 160-year-old listed office building in John Street, Sunderland, is being converted into a Hollathans eatery. It will serve food from Mediterranean and Pacific Rim countries,
WOMEN aged between 50 and 70 who live in the Eston and Middlesbrough areas are to be invited for breast screening. They will receive a letter over the next few months inviting them to take part in the screening Women will automatically receive a letter
A COUNCIL hit squad is out to nail two feathered fugitives responsible for a £2,500 car wrecking spree. At first, two-legged vandals were blamed for the damage in a council-owned car park. Wiper blades were being stolen every day and furious vehicle owners
A MARKET town is hoping to mark the 850th anniversary of the granting of its first charter with a summer-long festival next year. A working group has been formed to begin the preparations for Richmond's celebrations, which could include a series of heritage
ADVICE has been issued for Sunderland fans following their team to tomorrow's FA Cup semi-final. The Black Cats face Millwall in the weekend's second semi-final, on neutral territory at the home of Manchester United. About 31,500 Sunderland supporters
A £4M project to upgrade a leading North-East college reached a high point yesterday. An extension is being created at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, in Darlington, and will include a new sports hall, glass atrium and walkway link to the main building
THOUSANDS of North-East women are turning their backs on health checks that could make the difference between life and death. Doctors who run the region's cervical cancer screening programme are increasingly concerned at falling attendances. Since the
A NEW kind of hospital consultant has started work in the region. Rosalind Tetlow, a consultant breast practitioner at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, and the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, is believed to be
A TEENAGER from Chester-le-Street is one of three Army cadets selected to represent Great Britain in an open target rifle shooting competition. Staff Sergeant Richard Stebbings, 17, will shoot at a contest in the Channel Islands, in August. He has been
THOUSANDS of Durham City council taxpayers have been sent the wrong bill. The city council is responsible for collecting money for itself, Durham County Council, the police, fire brigade and parish councils. It then distributes the money to the other
YOUNG footballers in Newton Aycliffe will soon be enjoying new training facilities, thanks to a £142,000 grant from the Football Foundation. The cash boost, part of the foundation's and the New Opportunities Fund's £30m commitment of National Lottery
RESIDENTS are planning their next move following the closure of the only pub in their village. More than 100 people attended a public meeting to condemn the decision last week to close The Hett Arms, three miles south of Durham. The licensees posted a
BOMBED and strafed by time, and by vandals, the wrecked control tower at RAF Skipton-on-Swale still stands as a memorial to the men who flew from there, and to the 232 who never came back. It lies amid the flatlands, the fat lands, of the Vale of York
SIR Bobby Robson last night highlighted Jonathan Woodgate's continued fitness as a critical component in Newcastle's push towards the Champions League. Woodgate will play a fifth successive game for only the second time this season when Everton visit
DETHRONED champion hurdler Rooster Booster (2.20) has the class to get back on the winning trail in £150,000 Martell Cognac Hurdle on a superb supporting card to the Grand National at Aintree. Some would argue Richard Johnson botched the job at Cheltenham
Q Will I be eligible for Mobility Allowance to get a car? I phoned the Benefits Agency and they sent me the forms for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) but this does not seem to be what I need. A DLA has two parts, one paid for care needs, the other for
MIDDLESBROUGH chief executive Keith Lamb insists the club have not opened talks with Carling Cup-winning manager Steve McClaren over a contract extension, but hope he will lead them to further glories. McClaren, tipped as a contender for the England job
POLICE have launched an investigation after holes were found drilled into the walls of shower cubicles at a North-East university. Students at Durham University complained at the end of last term, two weeks ago, after discovering holes in nine unisex
AFTER the beating it took from the Hutton Report, the BBC was at its lowest ebb. The report left it weak. The subsequent departures of Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke left it leaderless. It could have been tempting for the Prime Minister to take advantage
He's written the music for productions as diverse as Vanity Fair and Queer as Folk, but that's not where Murray Gold's talents end. IT SEEMS appropriate to ask Murray Gold if he's going to write the music for the new Doctor Who series. No one has asked
DOWN-to-earth manager Mick McCarthy is refusing to place any faith in the omens as Sunderland ready themselves for tomorrow's FA Cup semi-final clash with Millwall at Old Trafford. Positive portents are the last thing on McCarthy's mind ahead of a game
A CHARITY firewalk may have raised as much as £5,000 towards a hospice's annual running costs. Durham City accountant Alan Ribchester, who is the auditor of St Cuthbert's Hospice, was among the 32 volunteers who stepped across hot coals in the city's
THE National Trust has unveiled a new-look visitor centre following a £60,000 make-over. The Coastal Centre at Ravenscar, has been revamped in a joint project with the North York Moors National Park, Yorkshire Forward and the EU. New exhibitions and activities
Her early career was based on her looks, but it was a different sort of part that really got Charlize Theron noticed. Steve Pratt meets Hollywood's lastest Oscar winner. CHARLIZE Theron appears the typical, glamorous Hollywood actress as she sashays into
SIR Bobby Robson last night highlighted Jonathan Woodgate's continued fitness as a critical component in Newcastle's push towards the Champions League. Woodgate will play a fifth successive game for only the second time this season when Everton visit
TWO of Britain's best known companies shocked workers by announcing plans to cut as many as 1,750 jobs between them. On a day dubbed Black Friday by unions, BAE Systems said it would cut 760 jobs, mainly at a shipyard which builds submarines at Barrow-in-Furness
A man is to appear in court today charged with the murder of student Lee Walker. Lloyd Smith, 29, of Corporation Road, Darlington, was charged by police yesterday and held in custody overnight. He will appear before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe, County
HOUSE prices rose by 2.2 per cent last month, driven by continued strong demand and a shortage of homes for sale, said the Halifax. Prices continued to rise most rapidly in northern England and Wales, with the cost of property increasing by 9.7 per cent
NEW BBC chairman Michael Grade last night vowed to get the corporation "back on track" after the trauma of the Hutton Report. The former Channel 4 boss said the BBC needed to move forward after its "battering". And he thanked the Government for having
DOWN-to-earth manager Mick McCarthy is refusing to place any faith in the omens as Sunderland ready themselves for tomorrow's FA Cup semi-final clash with Millwall at Old Trafford. Positive portents are the last thing on McCarthy's mind ahead of a game
EIGHT women will be out in pubs in east Cleveland and North Yorkshire over Easter dressed as Easter bunnies to raise money for animals in need. The pub crawler group is raising funds for the Saltburn Animal Rescue Association (Sara). They will visit pubs
A STARTLING recreation of a long-dead face is being used by police in their attempts to solve a mystery that started six months ago. Experts have painstakingly reconstructed the head of a man whose identity is still unknown, despite exhaustive efforts
TWO sisters snatched at knifepoint by their distraught mother were back at home last night after being found safe and well a mile from where they were abducted. The children, Salina, five, and three-year-old Sarah, were discovered asleep in a house in
Spennymoor striker Tommy Raw will play the last game of his loan spell today at high-flying Alfreton. Raw, at the Brewery Field from Scarborough, scored for Moors at Vauxhall Motors in midweek, and manager Tony Lee said: "It was a great goal and overall
A PAINTING, owned by a County Durham museum, which was bought for £8 has been loaned to the National Gallery in London. The painting, which belongs to the the Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, will feature in an exhibition about the work of El Greco. El
BLACK Cats fans were dreaming of FA Cup glory yesterday when they were given the chance to lift the trophy. It was on display at The Bridges, in Sunderland, as the team prepared for tomorrow's semi-final showdown with Millwall. Visitors got a free, instant
NO-ONE in our air-conditioned mini-van spoke during the half-hour journey back from the townships. We were still trying to come to terms with what we had seen. Vast swathes of shacks, built from anything to hand. Corrugated tin, old wooden planks, even
BOMBED and strafed by time, and by vandals, the wrecked control tower at RAF Skipton-on-Swale still stands as a memorial to the men who flew from there, and to the 232 who never came back. It lies amid the flatlands, the fat lands, of the Vale of York
NEARLY seven million of us will be glued to the television at 3.45pm this afternoon to watch the Aintree Grand National, most having made the once-a-year trek to the local betting shop in the hope of predicting the winner. Feathering the bookies' nest
GARETH SOUTHGATE is out of Middlesbrough's rematch with Carling Cup final opponents Bolton today after sustaining a jaw injury in England's defeat in Sweden. It is understood the Boro skipper has been given the all-clear following x-rays, but won't be
