THE family of a 23-year-old woman who died four years ago in a bomb blast in Turkey has been awarded more than £1m in compensation by the Turkish authorities, it was reported tonight. Helyn Bennett, from Spennymoor, County Durham, was among
BELIEVE it or not, Middlesbrough are fourth in the Championship. Admittedly, they have just been hammered at home by West Bromwich Albion, drew at Coventry and lost to Leicester City, but is there any sense in fans re-igniting calls for Gareth
Newcastle 1 Queens Park Rangers 1 Harewood the hero as Magpies hit back. HE may have been unwanted in the Premier League, but Marlon Harewood has already found a home in the Championship with Newcastle United. Just when it looked as
NEWCASTLE United players tonight got behind the city's bid to bring World Cup football to the North-East. Players wore specially designed Back the Bid branded shirts as they warmed up on the sidelines at St James’ Park before and during the game against
AN 11-year-old boy left critically ill by a fire in his home has been discharged from hospital - almost two months after the blaze. Jacob Porteous was rescued by fire-fighters from his smoke-filled home in Grenville Road, Thornaby, near Stockton
It seems we may never know what caused the King's Hotel in Darlington town centre to be devastated by fire in August last year. But, at long last, there are signs of some movement on what has become an eyesore in Darlington town centre.
ROLLS Royce workers will next week vote on plans that could save their jobs - but see them work longer hours for the same money. Staff at the firms Pallion plant in Sunderland attended an emergency meeting today at the Stadium of Light where
Billionaire clown Guy Laliberte blasted off today on a Soyuz rocket trip to the International Space station. Wearing a red nose, he is thought to be the first clown in space. Our headline is: "We have laughed off." If that doesn't win tomorrow's Headline
SCHOOLCHILDREN have signed up for a spooky challenge to raise money for charity. Staff and pupils at St Bede’s RC Primary School, in Sacriston, near Chester-le-Street, are taking part in a riverside Halloween Walk organised by Mencap. The two-mile sponsored
A FORMER video store took on a new lease of life today with the launch of a new shop designed to make a city’s streets safer. The building next to the bus station in North Road, Durham City, will be a base for beat officers patrolling the city centre
FORMER miners will gather with other community members to mark the silver anniversary of the closure of a village colliery tomorrow. The demise of Bearpark Colliery, County Durham, was largely unheralded at the time, as it was during the strike of 1984
A large cast of 87 young people are performing in the hit show Grease in Shildon next week. Members of the Tearaways youth theatre group are giving four performances in the Civic Hall on Thursday and Friday at 7.30pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.
A CHARITY ball will be held next weekend in memory of a mother-of-three who died from breast cancer. The Ellen Timney Foundation Charity Ball will be held at Hardwick Hall Hotel, Sedgefield, in County Durham, on Friday October 9. The charity raises
SCHOOLCHILDREN sang for a former publican’s 101st birthday party today. Retired landlady Evie Mason was in good spirits for her celebrations at the Church View care home in South Church, Bishop Auckland, where she was joined by her son Syd, daughter
A COMMUNITY swimming pool which is managed by a Weardale school is to get a £250,000 facelift. When Wolsingham School and Community College took over the baths in their grounds in May, Durham County Council promised to secure its future by funding vital
DRIVERS in Hambleton are enjoying the last two weeks of free car park use as the local council begins the countdown to charges. Hambleton District Council is to bring in the charges from Monday, October 12 in Northallerton, Thirsk, Bedale and Stokesley
Cockfield club is holding a members meeting tomorrow night - Thursday 1st October, at 7-30pm. Financial members and non-financial members are urged to attend the meeting which will take place in the concert room. Committee officials are asked to
Edward Kennett will be one of the star guests boosting the Redcar Select at Giffardsson’s Farewell, the Benefit meeting for Dan Giffard at Redcar on Thursday 22nd October. Dan said “We’ve known each other for a lot of years. I was doing
POLICE are investigating the theft of two caravans from the same village on the same night. Both caravans, each valued at around £10,000, were stolen from outside their owner's homes in Wolsingham, County Durham, overnight on Tuesday. One of the caravans
AN MP has pledged to fight to the bitter end to save a threatened steel plant as workers took their campaign to keep it open to the Labour Party conference. Vera Baird said she would let Teesside Cast Products (TCP) based in her east Cleveland constituency
AUTHOR David Winpenny will be signing copies of his new book, Up to a Point – In search of pyramids in Britain and Ireland, next week. He will be at the Little Ripon Bookshop in Westgate, Ripon, from 10am to noon on October 10. The result
A NEW scheme to build a play area that brings children closer to the environment is set to get underway in Ryedale. The £14,000 development for the Riverside View Play Area, in Norton, near Malton, was designed following consultation with children
AN appeal has been launched to reunite two war medals with the family of the soldier awarded them after the First World War. The two campaign medals were presented to Private J Mason, of the Durham Light Infantry. The silver and gold medals are embossed
There's an interesting story in today's edition of The Northern Echo about £780,000 of taxpayers' money lost in a blunder over a gas pipe in Darlington town centre. A confidential report has concluded that Darlington Borough Council should not pursue
NORTH Yorkshire Police has appointed a new assistant chief constable to take up duties within the force. Tim Madgwick will take up the role after spending six months as the acting assistant chief constable (ACC) in North Yorkshire. Before that he held
AN invitation has just landed to attend a regional editors' lunch with David Cameron. Now that the Tory leader has got The Sun on his side, he obviously wants to see what he can do with the regional newspapers. Local papers like The
THE recession has shattered hopes for a £1bn redevelopment programme that could have created up to 9,000 jobs. The hunt for a developer to take on the much-hyped York Central project has been suspended because of "market conditions." The project had
I'VE had a couple of queries about the map of South Church which was used in last week's Memories. As I mentioned in today's paper, some people think Adelaide Colliery should have been placed further up the bank near Shildon. Alan Bell writes: "I lived
MICK KINANE believes Sea The Stars is as strong now as he has been at any stage this season as he bids for glory in Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. The son of Cape Cross has enjoyed a sterling season which has seen him emerge
FREE seasonal flu jabs are now being offered across North Yorkshire to people over 65 and others with certain long-term health conditions. Everyone over 65 is eligible for a free jab as part of the this year’s national Influenza Immunisation Campaign
Eden by name, but not by nature. It was so bad, in fact, that one suggestion was to drop a bomb on it, but people down South had other ideas, as Echo Memories reports. EDEN should be “a place or state of great delight or contentment”, but in Durham
TWO policewoman who looked after each other’s children on the days the other worked, have been told that their scheme is illegal because neither is a registered childminder. It counts as “reward” apparently and Ofsted doesn’t like it. So now the
The apparently impossible, Doris Woodward called Full House on only 15 numbers. The column calculates the odds. IT’S for a different reason entirely, to record how pub ladies’ darts team captain Linda Ithurrallde has at 47 also become BDO World Masters
A SLIP road on to the A1 in North Yorkshire is to be closed for two weeks to allow major drainage work to be carried out,. The work is part of the £318m scheme to upgrade the Great North Road to motorway standard between Dishforth and Leeming, It will
THE future of a 24-hour superstore on a former steelworks site will be determined by councillors. The Government Office North-East has decided that no public inquiry is needed to determine whether Tesco can build an out-of-town store at Consett. It
AN exhibition of proposals for a long-awaited £35m bypass around a market town and two surrounding villages is being extended after a high level of public interest from members. Plans showing the proposed Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar bypass will now
A YOUNG dancer has shown her talent by triumphing in a scholarship audition for a top ballet school. Lucy Benson, 15, from Northallerton, was named the winner of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) North East Scholarship audition, finishing ahead of 18
ARNOLD Schwarzenegger was ordered to "terminate" a controversial website that allows men to recommend hundreds of prostitutes from across the region. Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, condemned the site - called 'PunterNet' - for encouraging
A SPECIALIST cheesemaker has clinched a gold medal for the region for its work after it battled against the best in the industry nationally. Shepherds Purse Cheeses, of North Yorkshire, won a gold along with four bronzes in the British Cheese Awards
A DARLINGTON ice cream business which opened as a visitor attraction is among a host of finalists for awards recognising the best of the North-East’s tourism. Regional development agency One North East yesterday announced the finalists for this
EFFORTS to save a closurethreatened Teesside chemical plant are being stepped up with a feasibility study planned to help determine its future use. Since the Dow plant, in Wilton, announced its closure earlier in the year, “continued and determined
THE first seven North-East organisations to reach the gold standard for investing in their staff have been named. The businesses, organisations and schools have been presented with the region’s first Investors in People (IIP) Gold Awards. IPS
WOMEN’S networking organisation Win has secured £100,000 from the Government to engage North-East businesswomen in the arts. Win’s Art For Art’s Sake project has secured financial backing as part of a learning for pleasure innovation spearheaded
WE have a Liberal Democrat from Durham City, Mark Wilkes, who has been selected to be the party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for the Bishop Auckland constituency (Echo, Sept 29). He has never done anything for this constituency in the
I AGREE with Christopher Wardell on the future of Durham Tees Valley Airport (HAS, Sept 26). If it cannot attract the airline operators there is little point in keeping it open. It was not so long ago that we were assured that market research
WE are promised by Gordon Brown that if re-elected he will cut out all the waste, inefficiencies and unnecessary spending that currently occurs. Excuse me for sounding sceptical, but has Gordon not been in power since 1997? It begs the question
DEBT problems which pushed a care home group to the brink of being sold have finally been resolved, it emerged last night. After a year of negotiations Four Seasons Health Care, which employs 200 people in Lingfield Point, Darlington, has signed
RECENTLY, Stockland Group, the property consortium which owns Billingham Town Centre, reported a $1.8 billion trading loss. There are now reports that it intends to sell its UK assets. This latest news could represent yet another major setback
NINE engineering students are celebrating after the car they designed, built and drove came second in an international competition at the home of British motor racing - Silverstone. The single-seater vehicle, which was built from scratch by the Newcastle
IT wasn’t a bad speech. In fact, it was pretty decent, with some interesting – if typically vague – proposals. But the truth is that Gordon Brown’s speech was never going to change the mood of the country overnight. Voters made up their minds about
A LOCAL MP is to raise farmers’ concerns in the Houses of Parliament after a meeting with them in her constituency. Anne McIntosh, the Vale of York MP, met with farmers at Lockton, near Pickering, with members of the National Farmers’ Union on Monday
IN the media feeding frenzy trying to make political gain from this story I hope the issue of deep deception, forgery, dishonesty, and illegal residence in my country will not be overlooked or played down. Loloahi Tapui somehow gained entry to
ROB Merrick as usual is informative and interesting with his comments about the political status quo (Echo, Sept 24). At election time if voters are put off by the arrogant behaviour of politicians some of his observations will come to pass. I
LORD Mandelson, carer of our Prime Minister, commonly acknowledged as the most influential figure in British politics today, is confident the North-East will back labour at the General Election. He blames unemployment for damaging the party in its
Political Editor Chris Lloyd scrutinises Gordon Brown’s speech made in Brighton yesterday and wonders how many outside the conference hall were jolted into listening. LAST year, Gordon Brown’s speech to the Labour Party conference was billed
A NURSE is planning to cycle more than 300 miles across South-East Asia to raise funds in memory of her mother. Clare Whiteside, 37, from Richmond, North Yorkshire, is looking for sponsorship for her 330- mile journey through Vietnam and Cambodia
NURSERY youngsters were jumping for joy when they heard they were taking part in a national competition. They got to spend the afternoon in their outdoor play area smashing and squashing cartons. The Ridgeway Day Nursery in Richmond
A MOTHER-OF-THREE was told yesterday that she is likely to be jailed for a fraud involving more than £28,000, which left others in her community heavily out-of-pocket. Rachel Allday used personal details and documents from her victims in Guisborough
A GRANDFATHER has returned from Africa after sinking a well in an impoverished village in memory of his wife. Jim O’Connor, who has tranformed the lives of thousands of people with the creation of Dorothy’s Well in Tanzania, plans to return to
NO further action should be taken to recover £780,000 of taxpayers’ money lost in a blunder over a gas pipe during town centre pedestrianisation works, a report has recommended. A legal report costing £40,000 has concluded that Darlington Borough
AN overturned lorry caused disruption for thousands of motorists yesterday after spilling its load of chemicals on the carriageway. The road was closed shortly after 6.30am, when the lorry collided with barriers and its cargo spewed across the
THE North-East looks certain to have another major tourist attraction after councillors yesterday passed plans for an energy village on a remote dales site. The development would reverse years of economic decline and create Britain’s first
A YOUNGSTER is at the forefront of a new road safety campaign to get people to fasten seatbelts at the start of every journey. Nathaniel Todd is helping promote the 95 Alive York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership scheme. An
A NEW programme of walks for the autumn months has been released by the Hambleton Strollers. Weekly outings take place in Stokesley, Northallerton and Great Ayton and fortnightly works are held in Thirsk, Bedale and Easingwold. Organisers plan route
INSPIRATIONAL teenager Lyndon Longhorne and his family have spoken of their delight at meeting Prince Harry at an awards ceremony. Lyndon, who lost both his legs and part of his arm to meningitis, was in London to receive a national accolade
SUNDERLAND striker Kenwyne Jones will only have a short time to recover from a punishing 12,000-mile round trip before he faces Liverpool at the Stadium of Light next month. Darren Bent’s explosive start to life on Wearside had overshadowed Jones
JONAS GUTIERREZ fears he will be unable to return to his homeland if he fails to help Argentina qualify for the World Cup finals this month. But the fit-again winger insists Newcastle’s return to the Premier League would mean as much as an appearance
A popular Crook pub DJ is appealing for help with his online radio project. The Kings Head’s Chris Burns, 49, wants presenters and producers to pitch in with Wear Radio - an internet project for those who live in Wear Valley. The station is aimed
CARETAKER boss Craig Liddle was left lamenting Darlington’s failure to convert their chances as they crashed to a 2-0 home defeat to Rochdale last night. Quakers should have been in front before Dale opened the scoring in the 60th minute with
A DEFIANT Gareth Southgate last night insisted the Riverside boo-boys would not get the better of him, despite a series of chants calling for his head in the latter stages of a 1-0 defeat to Leicester. Lloyd Dyer’s 83rd-minute winner condemned
THE mother of missing chef Claudia Lawrence has told of her sadness as she prepares for another family celebration without her daughter. Joan Lawrence told The Northern Echo that her instincts tell her the 35-year-old is still alive.
INDIAN folk singers, brass bands and up-and-coming rock groups are among the attractions lining up to perform at this year’s East Durham Music Festival. The annual event, which runs from Saturday (October3) to Sunday, November 22, promises something
In 1825, an 'Experiment' was launched which was to catapult a North-East town onto the global stage. David Roberts learns about a new project which aims to, once again, focus the eyes of the world on Darlington. AS Locomotion No 1 trundled along the
BEN the puppy had a lucky escape when he went to investigate an interesting smell. The 12-week-old Labrador gave his owners Paul and Barbara Bell a scare when got his head and paws jammed between a drainpipe and a wall. Numerous attempts to free the
GORDON BROWN urged vot- Pages 37 to 41 ers to reject a Conservative party that had made all the “wrong choices” on the recession, as he told the worried Labour faithful: “We are not done yet.” In a rousing conference speech, the Prime Minister
THE future of a 24-hour superstore on a former steelworks site will be determined by councillors. The Government Office North-East has decided that no public inquiry is needed to determine whether Tesco can build an out-of-town store at Consett. It
TEN people have been arrested in London in the second phase of a Northumbria Police operation targeting an organised crime group suspected of organising, maintaining and running Vietnamese cannabis farms in force area. The arrests comes as part of Operation
You have to smile at the hypocrisy of it all in politics, don't you? Peter Mandelson has responded to The Sun's damaging declaration that it no longer supports New Labour in sneering fashion. He says the paper's readers do not want to see it turned
With a savage sense of timing, The Sun has stuck the knife well and truly into Gordon Brown this morning. On the day he was hoping to capture positive front pages after his party conference speech yesterday, The Sun has announced it has switched its
I'm back in it in the Headline Game on TFM Radio after snatching a point this morning. The story was about Spanish men being the world's best lovers. Our headline was "Juan track mind". TFM's Graham Mack came up with "Pedromantic". Not bad but I fully
My thanks to the Ladies Circle in Hartburn, near Stockton, last night for welcoming me so warmly as guest speaker. The group, which meets at Greens Lane Methodist Church, started as the the Young Wives Club but that was a little time ago. One member
Middlesbrough 0 Leicester City 1 AFTER the optimism of the opening weeks of the season, the harsh reality of life in the Championship is hitting home. In front of the lowest league crowd in 14 years at the Riverside, Middlesbrough last
RUTH Dalton, the MP for Bishop Auckland for just three months in 1929, gets a mention in this morning's Echo Memories. She was just keeping the seat warm for her husband, Hugh, who famously became Chancellor of the Exchequer and resigned for leaking
A CONVICTED knifeman threatened to kill his neighbour during a violent rampage, a court was told yesterday. Adam Mackay also smashed the man’s van after he refused to let him borrow it so he could drive to Teesside to buy drugs. Darlington Magistrates
COUNCILLORS are considering spending nearly £300 of public money on badges for four female members – but they do not yet know where the money will come from. The badges cost £10.95 each, but with a minimum purchase of 25 the total price would
FIRE crews have been called to two large-scale fires involving bales of straw and hay tonight. In the latest incident, a large quantity of straw bales are on fire at Eryholme, near Darlington. Two crews from Northallerton, one from Yarm and one from
