FIRE crews are tackling a large fire at a derelict Victorian mansion tonight. Nine fire crews are at Tunstall Court, off The Parade, in Hartlepool. The emergency services were called at 7.48pm to a fire in the roof. It is now
TWO men and a dog had to be rescued by RNLI crews tonight after they were cut off by the tide while walking on the North-East coast. The men, both from Saltburn, raised the alarm just after 3.30pm when they were trapped at Huntcliff near Saltburn.
HARTLEPOOL United switched to a 4-5-1 set-up for their trip to Charlton. Chris Turner opted for a five-man midfield following Saturday's humbling at the hands of MK Dons. Into the team came Steve Haslam, Sam Collins, Colin Larkin and Denis Behan at
Four of Darlington's six new signings make their debut as Quakers finally return to action at Rotherham United this evening. Alan White is at centre-back, alongside Ian Miller, while making their first starts for the clubs are midfielders Gary
A SUPERMARKET'S plan to open a town centre shop could crush local independent trade, a councillor has warned. Sainsburys has bought an empty unit at Duke Street, Darlington, and the retail giant is set to open a mini store at the site next month. But
SHEFFIELD United have completed the signing of winger Mark Yeates from Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee. Yeates, 24, put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year deal after a successful medical at Bramall Lane. He will not be available for the FA Cup
AN innovative scheme transforming scrap bikes into shiny new sets of wheels has proved a huge hit. The Cycle Centre in Middlesbrough Bus Station was donated many broken children’s bikes last year which were destined for the tip. Mike O’Reilly, Cycle
A PRIMARY school has been described as ‘exceptionally caring’ and a ‘good school’ following a visit from Government inspectors. Ofsted visited West View Primary School in Hartlepool last month as part of a national programme of school inspection. The
A FORMER correspondent for The Northern Echo and its sister newspapers has passed away. Marjorie Spark died on January 15, aged 87. Mrs Spark, nee Jeffery, was originally from Kent and during the Second World War worked as a telephonist
ONE of the largest hauls of amphetamines ever found on Teesside has been seized in dawn raids. The Class B drugs, with a street value of around £180,000 were found a addresses in Irvine Road and off Innes Road, Hartlepool on Friday, at 7.45am. A large
JOHN LAYFIELD is trying to find two old friends with whom he has work connections. Mr Layfield worked with Carol Alderslade at Cleveland Car, in Grange Road, Darlington. He knew Mrs Alderslade and her husband David, until he moved to
The national cup draw took place last weekend and with two teams entering this season Middlesbrough are hopeful of claiming some silverware. The senior team have been drawn against Kent based rivals HBU CSL - having already beaten them comfortably in
Bishop Auckland’s Independent Liberal parliamentary candidate Sam Zair is to hold a question and answer session. He will be at Barnard Castle’s Witham Hall on Wednesday January 27 from 6pm to 7.3pm. All are welcome.
I RATHER like tomorrow's Memories. It is about probably the most famous person to come out of the village of Hurworth on the southern edge of Darlington: William Emerson, an 18th Century mathematician of whom most Hurworthians have never heard. The article
HUNDREDS of people gathered today to pay their respects to an Army bomb disposal expert who died in Afghanistan. Sapper David Watson, of the 33 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, was killed by a roadside bomb on New Years Eve. Hundreds of mourners
RUGBY union commentator Bill McLaren has died aged 86. McLaren, from Hawick, was known as the voice of rugby after almost 50 years as a national broadcaster. He retired in 2002, having made his first appearance on national BBC radio in 1953. He received
AN initiative to help overweight youngsters and their families is to start up a service in Richmondshire. The MEND programme, which stands for mind, exercise, nutrition...do it, was due to start on Monday but has now been delayed until February to allow
A BLITZ on youth crime across the region - including street sweeps for troublemakers and 'payback' punishments - has reaped big rewards, it was claimed yesterday. The government hailed the success of its tough 'Youth Crime Action Plan', pointing
THE consecration of the new Bishop of Whitby will take place next week at York Minster. The Reverend Canon Martin Clive Warner, 51, is taking over the role in succession to the Right Reverend Robert Ladds. Currently Canon Treasurer of St Paul’s Cathedral
GORDON STRACHAN might have been looking to bring in players he was familiar with, but now he has been forced to look to the continent in a bid to strengthen Middlesbrough’s squad. As well as handing former Manchester City goalkeeper Nicky Weaver
SUNDERLAND have been handed a much-needed boost with the news goalkeeper Craig Gordon is likely to return for Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Portsmouth. Scotland international Gordon has been out of action since breaking his arm following a clash
A WOMAN arrested in a murder-style inquiry has been released without charge, after tests showed the man died of natural causes. A 23-year-old woman was arrested after a 47-year-old man was found dead in a home on Ramsey Close, off Sherburn Road, Durham
THE future of town twinning in Northallerton is in doubt after the chairman and secretary of the organising committee indicated their desire to retire. Northallerton has been twinned with Ormesson-Sur-Marne, a Paris suburb, since 1993 and residents from
AN independent childminder is celebrating after receiving an outstanding rating from Ofsted. Sarah Butler transformed her Richmond home into a nursery, dedicating several rooms, and her garden, to Midget Gems, the name of her private company. Mrs Butler
LEAGUE-topping footballers have been able to keep warm in the freezing spell thanks to the generosity of a local car dealer. The under-tens side of Bedale Juniors currently head the Wensleydale League but with temperatures plummeting, training on a Friday
A WOMAN who made two false rape allegations to detectives in a matter of days will face a possible prison sentence when she returns to court next month. Faye Branighan was due to discover her fate today but had failed to keep appointments with probation
ANGLERS are being invited to an event to discuss improving fishing on their river. A one-day workshop is to be held next month to help develop an action plan to improve the future of angling on the River Wear. The Environment Agency and newly-established
BUILDERS working on the refurbishment of an award-winning museum uncovered rather more than they bargained for. They came across an ancient skeleton buried in a shallow grave as they worked on the drains of the Yorkshire Museum in York.
BUILDERS working on the refurbishment of an award-winning museum uncovered rather more than they bargained for. They came across an ancient skeleton buried in a shallow grave as they worked on the drains of the Yorkshire Museum in York. Archaeologists
RESIDENTS dumping rubbish at a recycling centre are being warned they could be fined £2,500 and the site closed. Hambleton District Council runs a site at Tesco, on Station Road, Thirsk, with recycling bins for many items. Over the last
POLICE are appealing to residents to take simple measures to help cut crime. Last weekend, two handbags were stolen from Durham pub tables after their owners left them unattended to use the toilets. Meanwhile, on Friday, January 15, a glass dining table
PEOPLE are being urged to register as bone marrow donors to help save lives. The Anthony Nolan Trust is holding a session on Friday (jan22) at Northumbrian Water’s head office at Pity Me, Durham City, from 10am to noon. Stephen Bell, 32, of Lanchester
A DRIVER suffered a fractured collar bone and a fracture to a bone in his back when his Land Rover crashed and overturned. The accident happened outside East Edmondsley Farm, on the road from Edmondsley to Holmside, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham
IF THE prospect of a Tuesday trip to Charlton wasn’t already unappealing, having to do so on the back of Hartlepool United’s worst home loss in 16 years makes it even harder to stomach. Pools head to third-placed Charlton this evening, following
A NEW commercial development has opened in the heart of Stokesley which combines 19th-century architecture with contemporary design. Richmond-based building firm, newroc, had to totally change the renovation schedule so that first tenants, stockbrokers
STAFF and youngsters at a nursery in a market town are celebrating after receiving a grant of more than £4,500 for their ‘inspiration and inclusion’ project. Bedale Under Fives received £4,641 from the National Lottery’s Big Lottery fund.
A CAR park which hasn’t suffered a single vehicle theft in 11 years has won another award. The 400-space multi-storey car park at the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre, in Durham City, has been awarded the Park Mark award for the 11th year in a row. The
HERE are a couple more Bedalian memories from my anonymous 89-year-old caller. "I learned to swim in Bedale Beck, many, many, many years ago," she says, "with an old car tyre round me. There were lots of bricks and glass on the bottom, but I wore plimsolls
MEMBERS of a church made a big splash over Christmas - by donating the money they would have spent on greetings cards towards the purchase of a well for a village in Kenya. So generous were the donations from members of Northallerton United Reformed
We’ve teamed up with Saks to show you some gorgeous and wearable looks that are bang on trend for spring 2010 – and there’s a chance of winning your own stunning makeover. ONE TO LONG FOR Long hair is as popular as ever. On this shape
COMPERE Chris Ramsey has supported some of the biggest names in stand-up comedy and, despite his youth, is becoming one of the circuit’s rising stars. The 23-year-old, from South Shields, South Tyneside, has some great material about his experience
EastEnders (BBC1, 8pm); I Believe in Ghosts: Joe Swash (BBC3, 9pm); How to Look Good Naked with a Difference (C4, 8pm) THE Albert Square soap is on a roll at the moment with the double whammy of the mystery of evil Archie’s murder and the appearance
TEESSIDE long jump star Chris Tomlinson will clash with Godfrey Mokoena at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow on Saturday, January 30. The pair, who won gold and silver respectively at the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia, are set for
The column may be all adrift but it finds that there’s a Burns Night nip in the air. When icicles hang by the wall, And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And Tom bears logs into the hall And milk comes frozen home in pail, When blood is nipped
I LOOKED forward all week last week to your supplement, The Big Freeze From the Air (Echo, Jan 15), but where were the photographs from the Teesside area – bridges, airport, town centres, schools, the river, etc? As is often the case, we were
RECENTLY, my nephew – who lives in Johannesburg, South Africa – sent me a copy of an article that appeared in your newspaper about Don Manson closing up his butcher’s shop in Darlington indoor market which was originally owned by John Twentyman
IN his letter referring to massive cuts in industry in the Eighties, David Taylor-Gooby (HAS, Jan 13) says “one side-effect… was a rise in single-parent families because men couldn’t get a job. There was bad health because of depression and educational
THE trauma and raw emotion of the miners' strike has been captured in a painting - The Picket Line - created by a self-taught artist. Tom French credits the driving force behind his paintings as coming from well-known local artist, the late David Mulholland
THE Winter Freeze Tonight report on ITV last Thursday gave a good example of how in Finland they cope with the severe winter conditions on their roads, how they keep their airports open throughout much more wintry conditions than ours and how
I WOULD like to give my wholehearted thanks to everyone who offered their support to our staff throughout the recent snowy and incredibly difficult weather conditions. The kind offers of assistance from all parts of the community really did make
RE CT Riley’s letter about the “extremist” Islam4UK (HAS, Jan 14). There is no way that they are brave enough to be called “extremists”. A true extremist is willing to put his life on the line for a cause. How many of these safe-in-this-country
RE recent reports about minimum alcohol pricing. As a pensioner who enjoys a glass of wine with my dinner I do not see why I should be priced out of the market because young people drink too much. Increasing the price of cigarettes has not stopped
AT his inauguration a year ago, President Barack Obama was hailed as a messiah, a great saviour who would come to set America and the wider world at ease with itself again after all the damage done by George W Bush. Understandably, the American
Even hardened drug users have found a new “legal high” hard to handle. Health Editor Barry Nelson listened to warnings about a synthetic narcotic which is becoming more widely available across the region. PAUL from Teesdale ended up on suicide
WHEN the car scrappage scheme was introduced in May last year, few expected the Government plan would revitalise a moribund motor trade and provide 400,000 owners with newer, greener vehicles. But that seems the likely result of £400m of Government
LAST week, we published a front page photograph of three small boys engaging in so-called “bus-surfing”. It was a shocking illustration of the dangers involved in a new craze which has reached the North-East after leading to the loss of young lives
INVESTOR extraordinaire Warren Buffet advised those in search of success in investment to “be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful”. That maxim would have been well applied at two notable points in recent memory
THE firm behind the Honey Monster’s Sugar Puffs yesterday confirmed it is planning to list on the stock market. It is expected the move could value Big Bear, which also owns Fox’s Glacier mints and Poppets chocolates, at more than £75m. Big Bear
PAUL Bird returned to Croft circuit at the weekend and successfully defended the Cartersport Jack Frost Stages Rally title which he won for the first time 12 months ago. Along with Scottish co-driver Kirsty Riddick, the pair finished over two minutes
MAPELEY Estates Ltd has jointly instructed BNP Paribas Real Estate and Sanderson Weatherall to market Fountain Court, Grange Road, Middlesbrough. Built in 1990, Fountain Court comprises three floors of office space for let on a floor-by-floor
PETER Lovenkrands last night dedicated his point-winning goal against West Bromwich Albion to his father, Bent, who died on Friday. Lovenkrands’ 55th-minute header earned Newcastle a 2- 2 draw with the Baggies, and extended their lead at the top
An innovative ground care system is keeping this year’s cold snap at bay for a growing number of the biggest names in world sport. Dan Jenkins reports on the game-changing stadium technology developed by a North Yorkshire engineering firm.
DARLINGTON’S Lingfield Point has become one of the first business parks in the North-East to launch a dedicated business advice service for its customers. In conjunction with the North East Chamber of Commerce, Business Link and Darlington Borough
FARMER’S son Peter Rooke was lucky to escape with only a broken leg after falling 18ft through a roof light. He crashed onto the concrete floor below and was airlifted to hospital where surgeons pinned his left leg with a steel rod. His father
AN entrepreneur has used her 50th birthday to launch a horsebox business. Maisie Watson has set up Equine Roadrunner – which offers self-drive horsebox hire and horse transport – in Moorside, near Consett, County Durham. The venture was set
SNOW drifts up to 5ft deep failed to stop milk tankers reaching farms in Wensleydale. Drivers working for The Wensleydale Creamery, in Hawes, North Yorkshire, did not miss a single pick-up from farms or delivery to retailers, despite the Arctic
CADBURY today backed a higher £11.5bn recommended takeover offer from its US suitor Kraft Foods. Philadelphia cheese maker Kraft said it had the support of the Cadbury board after tabling a revised offer worth 840 pence a share. Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld
TWO brothers with more than 50 years of home improvement experience between them have teamed up to form a company. Peter Conley, 45, of Gilling West, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, is a qualified electrician and runs a successful painting
NATIONALISED lender Northern Rock yesterday pledged up to £10m to sponsor Newcastle United for the next four years, in a deal that was condemned as an unjustifiable use of public money. The contract – valued at between £1.5m and a potential £10m
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS has appointed a leader of its forensic services team. Tony Parton, who is also the firm’s UK corporate investigations leader, is a qualified chartered accountant with more than 25 years experience with PwC. He has extensive
A NORTH-EAST college is opening an on-campus travel agency to help its students gain practical experience of the industry. Gateshead College’s Baltic campus will be home to BQ Travel, which will offer a full range of holidays. The agency will
FIVE not-for-profit organisations in the North-East have been awarded a combined £560,000 to help them contribute to regional economic development and address the issue of worklessness. The investment marks the second round of funding from
A NORTH-EAST law firm played a significant role in ensuring the smooth transition of an iconic tower, created by Northern Rock before its collapse, into new hands. Last year, Newcastle City Council bought the ten-storey Northern Rock Tower in
SENIOR partners from two firms are taking leading roles in a farce to raise money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Martin Levinson, partner and commercial property specialist based at TBI Solicitors’ Wynyard offices, near Stockton, is appearing
IF the first few freezing weeks of this decade have highlighted one thing, it’s the importance of having a bright warm house to come home to after braving the elements. And this is why it is so important we have a reliable, secure energy supply
LEGISLATION coming into force over the next three years will add £819m in costs to North-East businesses, threatening their recovery from recession, research has revealed. The figures, released by the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC),
EMMERSONS Solicitors is marking its 12th year by offering free legal services to 12 North-East firms that are less than two years old. Emmersons opened its Sunderland branch in 1998 and opened a branch in Gosforth last year. It is planning
LAW firm Dickinson Dees has played a central role in a deal that will simplify the provision of work experience in North Yorkshire. The York office of the law firm provided legal advice for the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership
BUSINESSES must make employees’ rights clear and have policies in place for workers who may be forced to take time off because of bad weather, a North-East law firm has warned. Muckle LLP has advised businesses they should have clear policies
THROUGHOUT our life we often do things without pausing – almost on autopilot – with no serious adverse consequences. Relating this scenario to pensions and retirement, there are many people who have conscientiously saved into a pension for years
IT is now expected to be summer before the Nissan Sunderland car plant learns whether it has won the contract to build electric vehicles, the company said last night. Trevor Mann, senior vicepresident for manufacturing of Nissan Europe, said
TARATEENO has made breathless progress this term and can bring up the hat-trick at Southwell. Paul Murphy’s seven-year-old began his winning spree at Towcester in November, when he readily accounted for Barrys Ark, who is not a bad yardstick
FIFTH seed Andy Murray was happy to quickly wrap up his first-round match with qualifier Kevin Anderson on a wet and windy opening day at the Australian Open. The Scot conceded just four games as he swept aside the 6ft 8in South African 6-1 6-
RONNIE O’Sullivan has written off Mark Selby’s chances of claiming a World Championship title after seeing the same inconsistency in the PokerStars.com Masters champion that he suffers from himself. Selby regained the Masters title with a thrilling
DURHAM’S Mark Davies is nursing another ankle injury, which may have contributed to his absence from the England squad to tour Bangladesh. Davies was summoned to join the full squad in South Africa prior to the Test series, and played in one
IT HAD not been expected, nor was it intended, that when the Railroad to Wembley began we should find ourselves going backwards. That is to say, travelling north. The hope, like the song, was of faraway places with strange sounding names, or
THE England captaincy passed temporarily from ‘‘jaded’’ Andrew Strauss to untested Alastair Cook as contingency plans were formulated for the tours of United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh. Foremost among a raft of issues clarified by the naming
THE father of missing university chef Claudia Lawrence has outlined plans for a renewed appeal for information. Balloons with pictures of Miss Lawrence’s face on them will be released over York on Claudia Awareness Day, on Friday, February
A FAMILY has scaled Africa’s highest mountain in memory of a lost loved one. The Dickenson family – mother Nikki, sons Stephen and Mark, and daughter Gemma – climbed the 19,341ft Mount Kilimanjaro in tribute to John, who died last April. John
EIGHT out of ten households across the region do not have an audible carbon monoxide alarm, research has revealed. And today a campaign warning people of the dangers of the “silent killer” is launched by television presenter Kirstie Allsopp.
A HINDU fighting for the right to be cremated on a traditional funeral pyre took his case to the Court of Appeal yesterday. Spiritual healer Davender Ghai, 71, who believes that a pyre is essential to “a good death” and the release of his spirit
A COLLECTION of self portraits by leading British artists has gone on display. The Ruth Borchard Collection, featuring works by Euan Uglow, Tom McGuiness, Michael Ayrton and Roger Hilton, is on display at Durham Art Gallery and DLI this month
A PEDESTRIAN who died following a car accident in a village late at night might have collapsed before the incident happened. Police are appealing for witnesses after an accident in Hurworth, near Darlington, at 11.49pm on Saturday. Thick fog
THE drive to open up wellpaid jobs to talented workingclass youngsters is “top of the political agenda” after a landmark Government report, Alan Milburn said yesterday. The Darlington MP spoke of his delight after Gordon Brown accepted the
TWO brothers appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of a man stabbed to death in his own home. Anthony Ferguson, 34, of Tower Street, Sunderland, appeared before magistrates alongside his 18-year-old brother, Ryan Ferguson, of St
A HOLIDAY company has increased its flights from a regional airport. Thomson Airways’ programme for flights from Durham Tees Valley Airport between November this year and April next year includes, for the first time, the popular Red Sea
ARTWORK exploring teenagers’ ideas about God has gone on show. The Images of God exhibition, which includes paintings, sculptures and drawings, was created by youngsters from 11 Catholic schools across the North-East, and is being exhibited
LAWYERS acting for Durham Tees Valley Airport will return to court next week as they seek to overturn a judge’s decision not to award the airport £12m damages for a claim against airline bmibaby. Peel – the company that owns the airport – yesterday
THE body of a North-East soldier who died on patrol in Afghanistan is being flown back to Britain today. Father-of-two Corporal Lee Brownson, 30, from Bishop Auckland, was killed in a bomb blast near Sangin, in Helmand province, on Friday.
A FAMILY has taken home a charity’s 50,000th dog. Sooty was the Retired Greyhound Trust’s landmark rehoming when he was selected by the Hodgson family. Mike, Joanna and six-year-old Poppy Hodgson, from Darlington, picked Sooty from County
A FOOTBALL-MAD Irishman’s lifetime ambition to see Darlington FC ended up being a damp squib last Saturday after he spent more than £300 flying to the North-East with his son only to find the Quakers match rained off. But Darlington have stepped
DARLINGTON expect to finally resume their interrupted season having been assured they will play this evening when they travel to Rotherham United. Saturday’s home match with Aldershot was unexpectedly called off due to a waterlogged pitch, so
LIVERPOOL are ready to test Sunderland’s resolve by tabling a £12m bid for striker Kenwyne Jones after their attempt to set up a loan deal was rebuffed over the weekend. Black Cats officials turned down Liverpool’s offer of a short-term deal for
Newcastle 2 West Bromwich Albion 2 DURING a night when character assessments were made on two of the Championship’s rivals for automatic promotion, one man stood out more than most. Peter Lovenkrands spent the weekend mourning the death
A DRUG user who ended up on suicide watch in a psychiatric hospital after bingeing on new “legal high” drug mephedrone last night called for the substance to be banned. The 28-year-old, from Teesdale, County Durham, spoke out to warn other
YOUNGSTERS who visit a museum can set off on the trail of excitement thanks to a booklet produced with the help of parents. The Toddle Trail booklet, at The Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, offers children the chance to explore the exhibitions
A MOTHER was praised by police last night for reporting her son after seeing a photograph of him “surfing” on the back of a bus. Police said Catherine Malone was “very brave” for taking the unusual step of identifying her 12-year-old son, Marcus
Redcar and Cleveland Local Enterprise Growth Initiative is looking at the bigger picture...with an £80,000 investment for Redcar's Regent Cinema. The new hi-tech installations - digital projection equipment and 3-D Digital Projection Capability
A SINGLE mother seduced a schoolboy and kept a diary of their sex sessions before she bought him a pair of trainers when he reached a milestone. Angela Sullivan, 36, had sex with the boy almost 200 times and gave the 12-year-old the gift as
THE victims of terror attacks abroad will finally receive compensation, after the government bowed to pressure from campaigners including a North-East woman. Payments will be made only after future incidents, but Britons injured in atrocities dating
THREE adults have been taken to hospital after a car crashed off the road. The accident, outside East Edmondsley Farm, on the road from Edmondsley to Holmside, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, happened at 10.50pm. A spokesman for
