Archive

  • Hartlepool 6th Form Leapfrog Middlesbrough

    Basketball in association with Game Time & Ravenwood Roofing in Middlesbrough & Teesside (01429 291793) Middlesbrough College have been overtaken as leaders of the college league by Hartlepool 6th Form Hurricanes who have also completed

  • Manor Rally Late Surge in Schools League

    Basketball in association with Game Time & Ravenwood Roofing in Middlesbrough & Teesside (01429 291793) Manor Heat have crept ahead to go top in every league from U14 girls to U16 boys after claiming a number of victories to provide an exciting climax

  • Warning after skimming machine found at cashpoint

    POLICE have told people withdrawing money from cash machines to be on alert after a skimming device was discovered today. The device was found in the South Tyneside area. Police are not giving the precise location were it was located and have not said

  • Durham forced to settle for draw

    MARCUS Trescothick, Justin Langer and Craig Kieswetter all compiled centuries to earn Somerset a draw against LV County Champions Durham at Taunton this afternoon. Langer made an unbeaten 122, Kieswetter hit 106 and Trescothick racked up 105

  • Mum, dad and kids helping hospice

    A HOSPICE fundraiser will be a family affair, with a mum, dad and their three children all taking part. Husband and wife Kevin and Alison Bradley will take part in the St Cuthbert’s Hospice Sunflower Cycle or Saunter with son Stuart, 14, and twins Mark

  • Big Ride photos on display

    PHOTOGRAPHS taken during a mass bike ride have gone on display in a town hall. The pictures were taken by members of the Durham Photographic Society during the 2008 Durham Big Ride. They can be seen at Durham Town Hall until the end of May. More than

  • Woman falls off cliff in mobility scooter

    A 76-YEAR-old woman had to be rescued after she plummeted over the edge of a cliff in her mobility scooter. The woman had been travelling along the South Bay in Scarborough when the accident happened. Her fall was broken by bushes. She was caught

  • Police station gets facelift

    A MAJOR refurbishment of the police station in Peterlee starts next week. The development starting on Tuesday is part of an ongoing £465,000 initiative to improve the facilities and public access to a dozen stations in the force area. The front office

  • Author ready for charity dates

    A POPULAR author has signed up to take part in a pirate fun run for charity. Horrible Histories author Terry Deary will tackle the Durham Pirate Fun Run for Grace House North-East Children’s Hospice Appeal. Mr Deary has previously run the Race for Grace

  • Cathedral ready to pass go

    DURHAM Cathedral and its nearby castle are among the most popular landmarks among people who voted for places to include in the county’s edition of Monopoly. Winning Moves UK, makers of localised versions of the ever-popular board game, received more

  • Mini-marathon fund-raising effort

    A TEACHER came 14th in one of the world’s smallest marathons to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Andrew Roberts, 25, of Chester-le-Street, was one of about 125 runners who took part in the Tresco Marathon on Tresco, one of the Isles of Scilly

  • Crowd gathers to watch training carnage

    05:00 Delta Platoon gets up and packs 15 kg of weight into our day sacks and takes on plenty of water, today is our training day and we are starting with battle PT. Everyone weighs in their day sacks on the scales and we form up outside. The PT instructor

  • Youths seized over pub attack

    POLICE investigating an incident outside a pub that left three people injured earlier this month have arrested eight teenagers. Two men and a woman were injured, one of the men seriously, when they were assaulted by a gang of up to 12 youths outside

  • Councillors sets sights on Houses of Parliament

    A COUNCILLOR on the newly-formed unitary authority in Durham is to stand for parliament. North-West Durham Liberal Democrats have selected their parliamentary candidate for the next General Election. Owen Temple is represents the county council for

  • Do you own Marmalade the cat?

    THE RSPCA is hoping to reunite a blind cat found wandering in a street with its owner. The cat, named Marmalade because of his colour, is being cared for at the Felledge Cattery in Chester-le-Street after being found wandering in Baltimore Court, Washington

  • Shopping centre sales up

    A SHOPPING centre is reporting rising sales despite the ongoing recession. Prince Bishops Shopping Centre, in Durham City, said its like-for-like sales figures had risen for the sixth consecutive month. Centre managers have released its first quarter

  • Acting like bait for VIP convoy

    We were given the call to conduct a VIP route clearance tasking, this basically entails two fire teams in two vehicles travelling ahead of the VIP’s convoy to prove the route, almost acting like bait. In theory if insurgents want to hit the convoy, hopefully

  • Punks take over school for a day

    GREEN hair, studs, chains, make-up and studded collars were all the rage at a school. Children at Mowden Junior School, in Darlington, discarded their school uniform to come dressed as punks for the day. The pupils had been reading a book Crummy Mummy

  • Places available for charity walk

    Walkers have only a few days left to sign up to a charity walk to a County Durham beauty spot. Walk the Extra Mile - a hike around the waterfalls in Teesdale - will raise money for Diabetes UK and celebrate the charity's 75th anniversary. The five-mile

  • Threats of suicide bombers

    It was our turn this week to guard the base through the nights; this entails guarding the main gates at the front and the rear as well as manning the towers that surround the walls of the base. On a night the city is a completely different place. Only

  • First look at insurgent informants 'Dickers'

    My fire team was woken at 06:00 for our first vehicle patrol; we were all looking forward to getting out on the ground and do what we had been training for the last few months to do. We sat in the briefing room and the commander gave us our orders

  • One more case of swine flu confirmed in England

    An adult from the North-West has tested positive for swine flu, the Government has confirmed. The latest case brings the number of victims in England to nine - with 642 suspected cases still awaiting laboratory confirmation. In Scotland the UK's first

  • Meeting our Italian comrades

    We woke up and stood outside for inspection, it was light and the base looked quite different, maybe as it had been snowing hard, the weather was certainly not like what we had experienced down south in Kandahar and I could hear one or two words

  • Delta platoon had finally arrived

    In the early hours of the morning we boarded the Hercules and strapped ourselves into the seats that lined its hull, it’s a monster of a plane. With it being so noisy we had to wear ear protection as well as our armour and helmets. We roared off

  • Witnessing first-hand the magnitude of campaign

    We set off in the early hours of Tuesday morning to a base in the west to be processed and our luggage to be checked in. We spent until around 7am in the holding area before being shipped off to RAF Brize Norton for our flight, which was cancelled when

  • An emotional farewell

    After an emotional farewell to my family, the Platoon headed down south to Southampton. It was a long coach journey and a very quiet one, as most of the lads were deep in thought, as I was. With all the emotions and memories of friends and family in

  • Pupils in Thirsk perform Grease

    PUPILS have headed back to the era of rock and roll as step in to John Travolta and Olivia Newton John’s shoes to perform Grease. The youngsters at Queen Mary’s School, at Topcliffe, near to Thirsk, are to perform the smash hit musical. The show’s cast

  • Battle of Britain pilots honoured by North Yorkshire memorial

    A MEMORIAL to a school’s former pupils killed fighting as pilots in the Battle of Britain has been unveiled near York. Ampleforth College has erected the memorial plaque to honour eight ex-pupils killed as they fought the Nazis. The plaque is the result

  • Hannah Montana: The Movie (U)

    Stars: Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment, Jason Earles, Mitchel Musso, Lucas Till, Vanessa Williams, Margo Martindale, Peter Gunn, Tyra Banks Running time: 102 mins Rating: ★★ IF I was a teenage girl (and one look at me will

  • Collingwood accepts Twenty20 captaincy

    DURHAM all-rounder Paul Collingwood will captain hosts England in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in June. The 32-year-old from Shotley Bridge has been given the job just nine months after he resigned as one-day skipper. The 15-strong squad includes

  • Is Anybody There? (12A)

    Stars: Michael Caine, David Morrissey, Anne-Marie Duff, Bill Milner, Leslie Phillips, Rosemary Harris, Sylvia Syms, Peter Vaughan, Elizabeth Spriggs Running time: 92 mins Rating: ★★★ EDWARD (Bill Milner, one of the boys from Rambow) is a strange

  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine (12A)

    Stars: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.i.am, Lynn Collins, Kevin Durand, Daniel Henney Running time: 111 mins Rating: ★★★★ WITH this X-Men spin-off, to be followed by the

  • Durham v Somerset (LV County Championship, 4th day)

    DURHAM’S chances of completing a deserved victory at Taunton receded rapidly on the final afternoon as they were defied by Justin Langer and Craig Kieswetter. The 21-year-old wicketkeeper adopted a fearless approach when he joined his captain on

  • Regeneration group needs new leader

    A GROUP devoted to improving the quality of life in one of Hambleton’s market towns is seeking a new leader. The Stokesley and Villages Community Regeneration Group needs a new chairman as the current holder of the post, Mike Richardson, is stepping

  • Vandals target college's garden project

    POLICE are appealing for information after vandals targeted a college's gardening project. The attack happened between Friday, April 24 and Monday, April 27 at the Garden House Project in the grounds of Redcar and Cleveland College. The damage was caused

  • Wheelchair bound man found with £25,000 worth of drugs

    POLICE who raided the home of a disabled man found a stash of drugs worth almost £25,000, a court heard today. Jeffrey Aylesbury had never before been in trouble and was said to have smoked a small amount of cannabis to ease his pains. A search of his

  • Warning issued after spate of distration burglaries

    HOUSEHOLDERS are being warned to be on their guard following a spate of distraction burglaries. The first incident took place in New Road, Billingham, at around 10am on Thursday morning when three men claiming to be from the electricity board managed

  • Football training for rural schools

    YOUNGSTERS from four primary schools took part in five-a-side football tournament as part of a scheme to bring the sport into isolated rural areas. And coaches from the FA Tesco Skills programme were also on hand to train the 48 players from Sessay,

  • Mortgage rescue package flops

    A FLAGSHIP £200m ‘mortgage rescue’ scheme has failed to help a single family facing repossession anywhere in the region, the government has admitted. The initiative, announced last autumn, was intended to allow recession-hit homeowners switch

  • Swine flu - reducing the spread of infection

    Health chiefs are issuing information to health care professionals and the public about minimising the spread of infection during the swine flu alert. Posters have been produced and are being distributed to front line health and social care staff

  • On course for success

    Just got back from playing eight holes at the stunning new golf course at Rockcliffe Hall in my home village of Hurworth, near Darlington. The course won't be open for another six weeks but I was invited to one of a number of taster days. I have to

  • Headline Game Update

    Got a point this morning for the headline on the story about the bloke in Sunderland who had to be freed by firemen after getting his finger stuck in his car petrol cap. We went with "Silly fuel" and TFM radio couldn't beat it. I needed two points to

  • New look for pregnant police

    POLICE have joined forces with textile students - to design a new uniform for pregnant officers. Although they cannot perform front-line duties while pregnant, a growing number of female officers are opting to remain in uniform. But the existing maternity

  • Youths damage Thirsk church

    YOUNG vandals have damaged gravestones and started fires in a church porch leading to fears they will burn it down. Staff at St Mary’s Church, Thirsk, have been blighted by troublemakers who cause damage at 589-year-old church. Over several months graves

  • Archbishop of York visits North Yorks church

    THE Archbishop of York has helped a local church to mark the centenary of worship there with a special visit. Dr John Sentamu visited All Saints Church, East Cowton, near Darlington, last Sunday (apr 26) to lead the service. The church was founded in

  • Traffic cop jailed for three years for mowing down schoolgirl

    A NORTH-EAST traffic officer who killed a schoolgirl after reaching speeds of 94mph without blue lights or a siren has been jailed for three years. Hayley Adamson, 16, died instantly after she was hit by PC John Dougal's Volvo estate as she crossed a

  • Artistic engineering students' work unveiled

    YOUNG engineers have been drawing on their creative side to design a sculpture for a new visitor centre at a North-East steelworks. The Seahorses artwork was the vision of year ten and eleven engineering pupils from Middlesbroughs Hall Garth Community

  • Soldier-turned-clown returns to his roots

    FORMER Green Howard Charlie "Spuggy" Wardell served in some hot spots in his time as a soldier. He was with the regiment from 1948 until 1953 and by the time he left he had been in Suez, Malaya and Austria. But by then he had caught the travelling bug

  • Cash boost for youth groups

    PROJECTS for young people are in with another chance of receiving a financial boost over the next two years. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has over £590,000 of funding for young people aged 13-19yrs, as part of its Youth Opportunity and Youth

  • Sea Life Centre expects some happy events

    AN animal care team is preparing to have its work cut out - as its prepares for the sound of even more happy feet. Four sets of resident Humboldt penguins at the Sea Life Centre in Scarborough are showing signs of carrying eggs. And

  • "High Tower" Burton title fight cancelled

    DARLINGTON heavyweight Chris "High Tower" Burton declared himself "devastated" this morning after his European Masters title fight was cancelled due to his opponent suffering a scalded hand. Burton was due to make the first title challenge

  • ‘Shrunken city’ accusation by conservationists

    TRUSTEES of a respected conservation group have criticised a newly-established council planning system. In their 67th annual report, trustees of the City of Durham Trust say the unitary Durham County Council has left Durham “a shrunken city – a

  • Disappointment as tax bill increases with new council

    LIKE many people, retired teacher Janet Gill had hoped the new unitary authority would save money and leave her with a lower council tax bill. The reality was that her first bill was £87.75 higher than last year – an overall increase of 4.23 per

  • Five-a-side league needs new team

    A five-a-side football league is on the lookout for a new team after a vacancy arose. The Maidendale League plays matches every Thursday evening at Firth Moor Community Centre, in Burnside Road, Darlington. Interested teams should contact league secretary

  • Climbing Everest is child's play

    CHILDREN as young as seven have been scaling Mount Everest - all 8,850 metres of it - from the safety of their school playground. The youngsters, plus parents and friends of Ravensworth Junior School, Normanby, joined forces to tackle the 24-hour challenge

  • Scooby-Doo And The Pirate Ghost, Billingham Forum

    CHAOTIC, crazy and good fun, the second stage instalment of Scooby-Doo packed out Billingham Forum with excitable youngsters and, to be honest, fairly baffled adults as the cowardly, ghost-chasing dog went through his paces. Best of all, Gateshead

  • Fightstar, Newcastle O2 Academy 2

    AS Fightstar emerged on stage, they received an amazing reception from the sold-out crowd jampacked with teenagers. If I didn’t know any better I’d say they have been in rock ’n’ roll forever. Front man Charlie Simpson, the former Busted vocalist

  • White blues

    Blues Britannia: Can Blue Men Play The Whites? (BBC4, 9pm); Boy Meets Girl (ITV1, 9pm) BBC4 has carved an entertaining and informative niche with its music documentaries and the latest, Blues Britannia, keeps up the good work with a mix of

  • Money for beginners: The soaring cost of a summer getaway

    HOLIDAYS are meant to be relaxing, right? Well as we build up to the holiday season, you’d better prepare yourself for a shock. Not only will it cost you more to get to your holiday resort this year – all those extra charges and taxes that

  • Say cheese!

    AFTER the demise of their village store last year, John and Naomi Foy decided to open their own place to fill the gap… and offer much more. The couple, who moved north with their four children and four dogs from Wiltshire six years ago, opened

  • Suspicious death of man in terraced house

    POLICE are investigating the suspicious death of a man after his body was discovered at a house in a County Durham village late last night. Officers were alerted after paramedics were called to the property in West Chilton Terrace, Chilton, at about

  • Reader holidays

    MY sister and I have just had a lovely four-day break, thanks to The Northern Echo’s Reader Holiday Offers. The Ashley Court Hotel, in Torquay, is a very nice, clean, well-maintained place. The staff are all very happy, young people, and so friendly

  • Flag it up

    MY wife has been pestering me to allow her to bake a cake celebrating the birthday of an old pal. I refer, of course, to the wooden cable reel which pokes its upper flange suggestively from the waters of the River Skerne at the back of Wilkinson

  • Reader's Question

    Joe has just started his first allotment and is growing potatoes to help break up the soil. He has noticed that some of the other allotment holders have mounded over the top of their potatoes. He wants to know if there is a reason for this, how

  • ‘MS is not a death sentence’

    A recent poll showed that people in the North-East have the poorest understanding of multiple sclerosis in the country. Health Editor Barry Nelson talks to one family who’ve been struck twice by the disease. LIGHTNING isn’t supposed to strike

  • Hospital praise

    WHILE in Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital recently I read your report about television presenter Selina Scott criticising the cardiothoracic wards (Echo, April 16) over her late father’s treatment. Since Christmas 2007, I have been

  • Mystery lights

    I WAS fascinated to read about the mysterious lights that were filmed flying over Darlington recently by a member of the public (Echo, April 28). I managed to watch the footage on The Northern Echo website, and I was truly astonished. In your

  • Betrayed

    YOU’VE really got to wonder at the ability of some people not to see realities that are staring them in the face. A five-year-old of average intelligence would have been able to tell that you can’t screw a system the way bankers and speculators

  • MPs' expenses

    WE now all live in difficult times and a reduction in public spending is inevitable, which must include the amounts spent on MPs. A second home should be provided by the state for MPs to rent while in office, which would be rented to their successor

  • Airshow memories plea

    I AM researching the history of British airshows in order to produce a book marking the 100th anniversary of the first British event in 1909. I was wondering if any readers of The Northern Echo had recollections they may wish to share and photographs

  • MPs with eyes to the wreckage

    WHEN you start a new job, you’re full of ideas about how you’re going to change things for the better. It’s the same whether you’re a postman or Prime Minister. Take Gordon Brown, for example. He dreamed of becoming PM for years, and schemed to

  • Gurkhas

    RE your letters complaining about the planned restrictions on Gurkhas being allowed to live in this country (HAS, April 28). I have never felt so ashamed of our country. Treating the Gurkha soldiers and their families as proposed was a disgrace

  • Speeding

    RE Ralph Musgrave’s letter about speeding (HAS, April 27). It appears he has points on his driving licence for speeding and had “just been flashed by a speed camera in Newcastle”. His letter seems aimed at the unfairness of disqualification on

  • What will be our Iraq legacy?

    The Iraq war sharply divided opinion over whether ousting Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime justified the enormous human and financial cost. Nigel Burton asks if British soldiers leave behind a better country or a failed state. ABOUT 100 miles south-east

  • It’s time to go, George

    IF the future for Darlington Football Club looked bleak at the start of the week, it looks even bleaker at the end of it. The departure of Dave Penney leaves the club completely rudderless. No one can blame Penney for moving to Oldham. Indeed he

  • Naved back in action

    WITH the weather holding Yorkshire back on the pitch, a dramatic turnaround off it has seen their overseas star Rana Naved return to the UK, and put himself in contention for a comeback in Sunday’s game against Gloucestershire in the Friends

  • Woakes focused

    CHRIS Woakes shrugged off his own ambitions to express his delight at helping England by undermining West Indies’ stuttering top order in their final warm-up match yesterday. The 20-year-old Warwickshire seamer continued his impressive form

  • Collingwood to lead challenge

    ENGLAND will today reveal their Twenty20 thinking under new coach Andy Flower hot on the heels of their enterprising Lord’s Test squad. Paul Collingwood is expected to be reappointed as captain of the side for June’s World Twenty20, having also

  • Durham have hard work ahead to beat Somerset

    JUBILATION turned to frustration for Durham yesterday and for the second successive match they will have to bowl out their opponents on the final day of a game they have dominated. After Yorkshire held out last Saturday it will be a gross injustice

  • New position for pilates teacher

    A PILATES instructor has been given a senior regional role in a international pilates organisation. Angie Stirland, who is regional pilates coordinator for Bannatyne's North-East health clubs, been appointed as one of only seven UK regional

  • Jonny ready for exit

    JONNY Wilkinson will only complete his proposed move to French club Toulon if he passes a stringent set of medical tests next week. The Newcastle Falcons flyhalf is understood to have agreed a three-year deal at Toulon worth between 800,000-1m

  • Homelessness charity gets £500 boost

    A GROUP of kind-hearted friends have raised more than £500 for a charity which helps homeless young people. Seven friends, who were all pupils of The Immaculate Conception School, formed a group called The Darlington Ladies to raise money for Depaul

  • Redcar success should prove a strong platform

    LADY Lube Rye booked her place in the Hilary Needler Trophy at Beverley in four weeks’ time with a narrow victory at Redcar yesterday. Connections have targeted the Listed contest at the East Yorkshire track on May 27 for some time, but kept

  • Burton targets a title lift to boost his profile

    DARLINGTON heavyweight Chris Burton will fight for the vacant International Masters title tonight, believing that victory will provide a “massive boost” to his boxing career. The fight with Londonbased Nigerian Franklin Egobi was originally scheduled

  • Jeffries backed to succeed

    AHEAD of Tony Jeffries’ homecoming bout, the Sunderland light heavyweight has been backed to avoid becoming the new Audley Harrison. It’s almost nine years that Harrison successfully claimed the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics and caught the

  • Pools vow to go for it

    CHRIS Turner insists Hartlepool United won’t be going to Bristol Rovers tomorrow in the aim of shutting up shop to try and secure their League One status. Pools must avoid defeat tomorrow to make sure they stay in the same division for next season

  • Fears supermarket plans threat to town centre trade

    FEARS proposals to expand a supermarket could threaten town centre trade and exacerbate conditions in the economic downturn have been raised. Sainsbury’s have submitted plans to expand their Darlington store in Victoria Road to include a single storey

  • Celebrating stitches

    Darlington Embroiders' Guild will hold an exhibition in Barnard Castle to celebrate its 30th birthday. The display will be held in The Witham Halls Castle Gallery from May 7 to May 13. The exhibition will be open from 10am until 4pm every day except

  • Police renew public appeal

    DETECTIVES investigating the disappearance of university chef Claudia Lawrence have again turned to the public for help. They have renewed their appeal to identify a left-handed smoker seen with a woman on Melrosegate Bridge, in York.

  • Birds of prey stolen from aviary

    A MAN whose passion for birds of prey gives him a purpose in life has been devastated by the theft of several of his prized birds. Leslie Copeland woke on Wednesday morning to discover the aviaries in his garden had been raided and birds worth

  • Bassong has no fear

    SEBASTIEN BASSONG has admitted he faces a huge challenge to shut out Liverpool hit man Fernando Torres, but urged any doubters among the Newcastle faithful to stay behind their team. Neither the Magpies’ French centre-half nor Liverpool’s Spanish

  • Hospital changes become imminent

    CONTROVERSIAL changes to a North-East hospital which include the closure of an accident and emergency department will get under way this summer. The changes also mean that increasing numbers of patients from Darlington and Durham City who are

  • Burglar filmed chip and pin numbers at petrol station

    A BURGLAR who installed a camera to monitor a chip and pin machine at a petrol station slipped up when he forgot to retrieve the footage. Owners of the BP Garage, in Norton Road, Stockton, discovered the recording device, containing a month

  • County crime figures show significant drop

    POLICE chiefs have welcomed a significant fall in violent crime across County Durham and Darlington. Area commander for the north, Chief Superintendent Trevor Watson has attributed the drop mainly to the targeting of problems arising from night-time

  • Food for thought on bank holiday

    THE Dales Festival of Food and Drink will bring together the best of local produce this bank holiday weekend. The festival, which is in its eighth year, will have a range of attractions, from beekeeping demonstrations, bread-making sessions

  • Learn in the great outdoors

    A FOREST school has opened to children for the first time. Outdoor learning facility Water Howe Woodland, has been created close to Esh Winning Primary School, in Esh Winning, near Durham. Forest schools aim to take the curriculum out

  • Singh issues quit threat after Penney’s exit

    DARLINGTON Football Club’s only known potential saviour has threatened to walk away from his offer for the club following Dave Penney’s resignation. Raj Singh had hoped to tie up a bid for the administration- hit Quakers last week until a deadline

  • Turnbull hopes for pleasant reading

    Ross Turnbull has been Middlesbrough’s forgotten man since he was dropped three months ago. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson met the goalkeeper at the town’s library and discussed the story of his season. WHEN Ross Turnbull spent half-an-hour extolling

  • Penney left frustrated as he moves on up

    AS Dave Penney exited Darlington, he last night admitted moving up a division represented ‘mission accomplished’. However, he said he had hoped to do it by sealing promotion with Quakers. Penney yesterday signed a two-year deal with Oldham that

  • Keane not a fan of Reid

    LESS than a week after stepping back into management Roy Keane has directed a swipe at one of his former Sunderland players by accusing Andy Reid of lacking fitness. Reid’s omission from the Republic of Ireland squad in recent months has become

  • Shutter specialist wins £1m contract

    A NORTH-EAST industrial shutter specialist has won contracts worth more than £1m to work on what is being hailed as the most advanced urban rail system in the world. Hart Door Systems is providing industrial roller shutters for the creation of

  • A new way to say cheese

    A LOCAL cheesemaker is launching its latest product at the Dales Festival of Food and Drink in Leyburn this weekend. The Wensleydale Creamery, at Hawes, is to launch its new recipe Real Yorkshire Wensleydale with pineapple at the festival, which

  • Hill still romps home

    BOOKMAKER William Hill yesterday said a revenues boost from gaming machines and the internet helped it overcome a tough start to the year in horse racing, despite its success in the Grand National. The amount left by losing punters in its traditional

  • Nissan cuts jobs without compulsory redundancy

    NISSAN yesterday revealed it has made all of the 1,200 planned redundancies at its North-East plant without any compulsory job losses. The Japanese car giant said in January it would be making the cuts at its Sunderland plant – which involved

  • Market report

    THE FTSE 100 Index reached its highest point for almost three months yesterday amid signs that the worst of the global recession could be over. US Federal Reserve comments that the economic outlook had ‘‘improved modestly’’ and GDP figures showing

  • Hire company bucks trend

    SHADOW Foreign Secretary William Hague stressed the importance of the hire industry to the economy when he opened a new depot in the region. Richmond MP Mr Hague opened Yorkshirebased SHC Hire Centre’s depot in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

  • Tenants’ leader is the tops

    A FORMER apprentice who has shown commitment to her job has been named employee of the year. Clair Bell, a customer involvement manager with Dale and Valley Homes, in Crook, County Durham, started work with the organisation four years ago. Bosses

  • News in Brief: Pay deals hit a new low

    MANUFACTURING pay settlements have continued to fall to a historically low level in response to the economic squeeze, new research has revealed. Pay data from manufacturers’ organisation EEF for the three months to the end of March shows the

  • Students assured of future prospects

    STUDENT plumbers have been assured that there are still opportunities in the trade. At a talk by British Gas, students at Darlington College were told they had a “great chance” of going into full-time employment. Thirty-three teenagers

  • Rural bidders

    FOUR North Yorkshire businesses are in the running for an award. Aske Hall, near Richmond, Swinton Park, in Masham, the Dales Bike Centre, at Fremlington and Nosterfield Quarry, near Bedale, have been shortlisted in the Yorkshire Rural Awards

  • Team secures award

    A TEAM of security officers at a factory in Barnard Castle have picked up a regional award. Reliance Security Services, based at GlaxoSmithKline, won the Best Use of Technology award in the North-East round of the British Security Industry

  • Region reels under new job loss shock

    THE region was rocked yesterday by the revelation that another 110 jobs are to be lost in its manufacturing sector. World-leading aircraft components company CAV Aerospace said it is to make 60 redundancies as the global economic downturn continues

  • Woman tells of love for fuel inferno victim

    THE woman at the heart of a tangled set of relationships, that prosecutors say led to a brutal murder has spoken of her love for victim Simon Everitt. Fiona Statham said she was in and out of relationships with Mr Everitt and defendants Jonathan

  • Tornado on the Moors

    TRAIN buffs are being offered the chance to travel on Tornado along the scenic North York Moors Railway. The £3m Tornado, the first express steam loco to be built in 50 years, is to run on the line as part of the Spring Steam Gala. The North

  • Wife walks free after stabbing husband

    A CARE worker walked free from court yesterday after she admitted stabbing her “unfaithful” husband through the lung with a steak knife. Gordon Hume was left with two stab wounds and a punctured lung after his wife, Patricia, discovered

  • Living with the fear that virus is getting close

    Nina Baumler, 30, was born and brought up in the North-East. She now lives in the US and has recently returned from her holiday home in Mexico. Here she writes about how it feels living so close to the epicentre of the swine flu outbreak. OVER the past

  • Penney may return for charity fixture

    OUTGOING Darlington FC manager Dave Penney may return for the club’s charity match to thank fans for their support. Although Penney was yesterday confirmed as Oldham Athletic’s new manager, he and assistant Martin Gray organised Sunday’s game

  • Brown scraps expenses reform vote

    GORDON BROWN’S authority was crumbling last night after he scrapped a vote to axe MPs’ second-home expenses to avoid a second defeat in 24 hours. The Prime Minister pulled back from a showdown on linking claims to “attendance at Westminster”

  • Decision day over Boho Two plans

    A VISION to transform a derelict area of a North-East town into a £17m media quarter could move a step closer if plans for a block of innovative apartments are approved. Following the success of Newcastle’s creative cluster, in Pink Lane, comes

  • Airport loses court fight with bmibaby

    A NORTH-EAST airport is to appeal after losing a court action seeking £12m damages against budget airline bmibaby after it withdrew its services. In the High Court yesterday, Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) blamed bmibaby for shattering losses

  • Free meals trial for primary children

    EVERY primary school pupil in part of the region will receive a free school meal in a radical trial designed to improve their learning, the Government will announce today. County Durham has been picked to pilot a £16m experiment, following increasing

  • Two views on the first budget

    In the first of a monthly series analysing whether the new unitary council is delivering for Durham, Mark Tallentire examines council tax. IN the run-up to reorganisation, Durham County Council predicted that a new unitary authority would be able to

  • Decision not to draw on reserves was 'sensible'

    THE council was sensible not to draw on reserves to fund tax cuts, according to a local government expert. Liberal Democrats urged Labour-led Durham County Council to use reserves to keep what they said was a promise to reduce council tax to