THE UK will move to five-year fixed-term parliaments as part of the coalition deal between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, it emerged tonight. Sources indicated that the parties had also agreed to a significant acceleration of efforts to reduce
‘‘Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to form a new government and I have accepted. ‘‘Before I talk about that new government, let me say something about the one that has just passed. ‘‘Compared with a decade ago, this country is more open at home and
A MAN arrested on suspicion of murdering Sunderland Pc Keith Blakelock 25 years ago was re-released on police bail today. Mr Blakelock was hacked to death during the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham, north London, in October 1985. The 40-year-old
As you know, the General Election left no party able to command a majority in the House of Commons. I said that I would do all I could to ensure a strong, stable and principled government was formed, able to tackle Britain's economic and political
DAVID Cameron entered 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister tonight promising to lead Britain through to better times ahead. Arriving from his audience at Buckingham Palace where he formally kissed hands with the Queen, the Conservative leader
Education Secretary Ed Balls - a close ally of Mr Brown since Labour’s last period in opposition - described the resignation as: ‘‘A sad day for the Labour Party." But he added: "Gordon Brown can go out with pride in his great achievements in government
CROFT Circuit, near Darlington, is launching an official supporters club for fans and competitors. The Croft CircuitOfficial Supporters Club aims to attract members from throughout the region and further afield to preserve and improve the facility, while
STUART Easton and the Guisborough-based Swan Honda team are gearing up to repeat their race-winning form this week as they return for an assault on the International North West 200. Easton currently lies third in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship
GORDON Brown has resigned - the final act of the General Election which took place last Thursday. The announcement that Mr Brown has quit brings to an end 13 years of New Labour. David Cameron has visited Buckingham Palace in the last
A MULTI-MILLION pound school got the royal seal of approval it was officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester today. His Royal Highness, Prince Richard, opened the 16.4m St Aidans Academy, in Darlington, as part of his visit to the region. He met staff
PARAGON DRIVE COPY 10 PERSONAL. Price: £19.95. MOVING to a new PC should be simple - just switch on, load your favourite software and away you go - but it's usually fraught with difficulties. Paragon Drive Copy 10 takes the stress out of
POWER tools were stolen during a break-in at a garden centre. Overnight between Sunday May 2 and Monday May 3, a break-in took place at The Nurseries at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield. The doors of two outbuildings were forced open, one having the hinges
A MAN died this morning after the cherrypicker he was working in hit live power lines. The 26-year-old was helping to construct a hen shed when the incident took place at 9.20am this morning. Police, road ambulances and the Great North
NEWCASTLE owner Mike Ashley has insisted he is not looking for his interest-free loan to the club to be repaid. Latest financial figures show Ashley has loaned the club £111m, which is repayable on request. There has been speculation, since Ashley announced
THE first part of the redevelopment of a former industrial complex in north Durham has been completed. A store to be operated by Tesco in Blackhill, near Consett, has been created by the Oakapple Group and is due to open on Saturday. Tablemat producer
THREE pubs and one off-licence in Barnard Castle have failed in a test purchase operation run by the police. Earlier this month officers asked a 15-year-old volunteer to enter seven licensed premises in the town and ask for alcohol. The Turks Head,
A LONG harsh winter helped British Gas to rack up hefty profits in the first quarter of the year, it emerged yesterday. Parent company Centrica said it expected a strong performance this year, after households cranking up the heating in the freezing
AS the three main parties discuss coalition deals in the wake of the hung Parliament result, the item high on their agenda will be how to tackle the £163bn budget deficit. Millions of households face a similar squeeze, with pay freezes on salaries
A NORTH Yorkshire father and daughter are through to the finals of a competition to find the UK’s most wildlifefriendly farmer. John Harrison and Ruth Russell are arable and beef farmers at The Cobblers, Settrington, near Malton. Hugely enthusiastic
CONTROVERSIAL Government proposals for cost sharing in the animal health sector will come under scrutiny on the eve of Beef Expo 2010. The main speaker will be Rosemary Radcliffe, independent chairwoman of the animal health responsibility and
FARMLAND values continued to rise in the first quarter of the year – performing even better than gold. Experts at Savills expect they will continue to increase to comfortably outstrip inflation by the end of the year. Andrew Black, from the company
NATIONAL commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton has made two senior promotions within its Newcastle office. Graham Oldfield becomes a director after three years with the firm. Graham, who heads the property management team in Newcastle
Commercial Property Consultants Lofthouse and Partners is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The Wearside-based chartered surveying practice was established in 1985, specialising in commercial property agency, acquisition, landlord and
FARMING leaders have expressed “no confidence” in the senior management of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). After years of problems they have called for the agency blueprint to be torn up to start again. The stinging criticism was made
A NORTH Yorkshire book shop has been named as one of the best in the country. White Rose Books in Thirsk, has been voted the top independent bookshop in the North and Scotland region. And as a regional winner, the shop goes on to the shortlist for the
CORRINA JAMES runs her business with her husband, and got the idea for creating Wemmi wipes – a wipe which expands from the size of a pound coin into a 230mm x 250mm biodegradable, chemical- free product – when they were travelling. The
NEWCASTLE Falcons prop Jon Golding has earned a surprise call-up to the senior England squad for this summer's tour of Australia and New Zealand. Golding is one of nine uncapped players selected by head coach Martin Johnson for a five-match tour that
VICKI LLOYD set up NEDay Crafts in May last year to spend more time with her children. The business is based on her love of crafts, and hopes to encourage children to get creative by taking part in workshops. She has already received
CHARLOTTE NICHOLS set up her own PR company, Harvey and Hugo, after working for an agency and realising how inaccessible and expensive PR and marketing could be to small businesses. From that experience, Harvey and Hugo was set up to offer
LINDA BRITTON and her company, Lakey Wells, which helps companies in branding and marketing for a female audience, have created Seriously Feminine TV, an online television channel and website with features and programmes aimed at women.
EDDIE PROUDMAN, of Funkywood, built on his experience as a joiner to recognise the need for doors, skirting boards and door frames to be created in contemporary and unusual styles. His wife, Helen, works with him to help with designs, and oversees
NEGOTIATIONS between Labour and the Lib Dems have failed - leaving David Cameron free to form a coalition government. Labour sources have confirmed the talks "barely got off the ground" - despite Gordon Brown's shock resignation. Reports
DURHAM’S hopes that Steve Harmison would have an instant impact on his first championship appearance of the season were unfulfilled. It left them struggling to stay in the game as Nottinghamshire reached 75 for one at tea in reply to Durham
FIVE of the region’s most promising businesses yesterday put forward their cases to become finalists in a North- East entrepreneurial challenge. The faces behind each of the ventures pitched to a panel of business experts in the hope their
FIFTEEN jobs have been created through the launch of a store selling Pandora jewellery in the North-East. Pandora Sunderland, dedicated solely to retailing the charm bracelet, has been opened by Harry Collinson in the city through a £500,000
NORTH-East MPs are in open revolt over Gordon Brown’s last-gasp bid to secure a Lib-Lab deal. They raised a long list of objections to a power-sharing arrangement with Nick Clegg’s party, pointing to the Commons arithmetic, likely public anger
A FATHER-OF-THREE has opened a baby equipment shop after seeing first-hand the costs of bringing up a child. Michael Bates has opened Tiny Tots in Willington, County Durham, which supplies products including prams, pushchairs and cots, and offers
CITROEN C1 VTR+ PRICE: £10,590 WHAT do the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, the 458 Italia, and the beautiful Ferrari California have in common with the humble Citroen C1? They were all designed by the same man - Donato Coco - who is a former head
TWO Teesside University students have launched a business which could change the way water is sold, and have pledged to pour a percentage of their profits back into projects in their African homeland. Patience Katsama and Khulani Ndebele are both
THE Liberal-Democrat group on North Yorkshire County Council has elected a new leader. Geoff Webber is to take over from Bill Hoult, who has led the 11-strong group since 2006. Coun Hoult, who represents Knaresborough on the county council
THE East Coast Main Line franchise will return to private control whoever moves into Downing Street this week. Elaine Holt, chairwoman of publicly- run East Coast, said plans to hand the franchise back to the private sector in November next year
SOARING numbers of employment tribunal claims are set to cost UK employers £2.6bn over the next three years through paying employee claims and funding defence, research from a North-East law firm has revealed. The Dickinson Dees Employment Tribunal
NORA BRIGHAM is trying to find a friend who was her bridesmaid more than 40 years ago. She was Eleanor Scott, also known as Eleanor Burbeck. They were friends when they went to dances together in Willington, County Durham. Mrs Brigham can be contacted
HUNDREDS of Tees Valley insurance workers were facing an uncertain future last night, after Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced more than 2,000 potential job cuts. About 460 workers at Churchill Insurance’s office in Teesdale, Stockton, are
THE county town of North Yorkshire has a new mayor. Councillor Sally Anderson was unanimously elected to the post at the annual meeting of Northallerton Town Council in succession to Tony Hall, who has completed two years in office. The new mayor has
CITROEN C3 1.6 16V HDi Exclusive. Price: £15,290. IT'S not just Jamie Carragher who's good at making comebacks. Ten years ago Citroen looked as though it was down and out. Its range of drab cars were an insult to the marque's reputation for
A GANG of four teenagers are believed to be responsible for a series of muggings and attempted robberies in a North-East town. Police are appealing for information after four incidents in the Middlesbrough area which are believed to be linked
TALKS between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives resumed today over the possibility of forming a power-sharing government. The new discussions came after almost three hours of negotiations this morning between Lib Dems and Labour, followed by the surprise
The Redcar Bears will operate the rider replacement rule for Maks Gregoric, who fractured a femur in a track crash at Workington Speedway on Saturday night, when they face the Rye House Rockets in Premier League action at the South Tees Motorsport
The longer the political negotiations go on, the more convinced I am that Labour must accept defeat and retreat into opposition. The idea that a government could be formed by Labour, the Lib Dems and cobbled together minorities simply doesn't
ARTISTS from across Teesdale are being encouraged to take part in an open studios festival in the autumn. October half term will see the third Teesdale Open Studios but a quality vetting event takes place in June, at which this years participating artists
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce hailed Darren Bent after the striker was named in England’s 30-man squad ahead of next month's World Cup Finals. "The call-up is Darren's reward for an excellent first season for us. What Darren has done for Sunderland
SUNDERLAND striker Darren Bent's chances of heading to the World Cup have improved after his inclusion in a provisional 30-man squad for this summer's finals. Bent's 25 goals this season have seen him named among a group of five strikers, ahead of the
A WIDOW is to honour the memory of her late husband by taking part in a Midnight Walk. Rosamund Clark, a 62-year-old from Belmont, is to take part in this year’s Midnight Walk in Durham, raising money for St Cuthbert’s Hospice Mrs Clark lost
IT was a rare sight indeed when Dale Benkenstein’s stumps were splattered this morning by the perfect late in-swinging yorker from Charlie Shreck. Durham’s Mr Reliable had put on 81 with Ian Blackwell after they came together at 36 for three
A PAIR of rare ospreys nesting in the North-East have produced three eggs, conservationists revealed today. The birds of prey have made their nest in the remote 155,000-acre Kielder Forest in Northumberland Last summer, the pair raised three chicks,
TIM Easterby usually takes a couple of weeks to get his team in top form but after hitting the ground running this term, his Fibs And Flannel can complete the hat-trick in Warwick’s TurfTv.co.uk Handicap. Owned by Channel 4 pundit Jim McGrath,
SUNDERLAND will kick off their pre-season preparations in Ireland after agreeing to play a Munster XI at Thomond Park in Limerick in aid of the Shane Geoghegan Trust. The Black Cats will travel to the principal city of County Limerick on Tuesday, July
THE Railroad to Wembley, begun here on September 5 and everoptimistically essayed, ended on Sunday where always we’d hoped it would. A richly rewarding exercise, it had begun in front of a crowd of just 25, Eccleshill United v Norton and Stockton
A chance to sample Mannas from heaven, follow the trail of a local nude, and make teatime a habit. THE Shakespeare Lecture Hall, on no account to be confused with the celebrated pub of the same name – and in the circumstances unlikely to be – is
AFTER the General Election we are seeing attempts to cobble together a coalition. David Cameron wants to join up with the Lib Dems even though they are committed to ever closer union with the clowns in Brussels. Nick Clegg wants proportional
MY wife and I normally do the weekly shopping at Morrisons in Redcar as we have a static caravan there and it is convenient. At the recent Bank Holiday weekend we did our normal shopping and bought a large, uncut white loaf on “special offer”
DON’T talk to me about hung parliaments. The last time there was a hung parliament was in 1974 when Leeds United won the then Football League championship. Thirty-six years later, they have executed a minor copy of that feat by gaining
A chance to enjoy a three-course meal cooked by a Michelin-starred chef at one of the region’s most luxurious venues? Yes please, says Deborah Johnson, as she goes along to Rockliffe Hall’s inaugural Ladies’ Lunch event. IWOULD love to be a lady
ONCE again the Conservatives are unable to collect enough parliamentary seats to command a majority – it couldn’t be something to do with ridiculous constituency boundaries perhaps? As a resident of Middleton St George, my constituency is Sedgefield
GORDON BROWN has been rejected by the people of this country as their Prime Minister and it is, therefore, right he should stand down. He has done so in the knowledge that there was no true possibility of him hanging on to power but, despite that
Gordon Brown’s 13 years in Government have taken him from the elation of becoming Prime Minister after a decade-long wait to the despondency of last week’s election result. Sam Marsden looks at the key highs and lows of his often turbulent political
A TEAM of football legends triumphed over college students during a match last weekend. Former Newcastle United star Steve Howey and current keeper Steve Harper, former Middlesbrough hero Dean Gordon, Sunderland stalwart Michael Proctor and Hartlepool
AN acclaimed photo-journalist is to deliver a memorial lecture last this month. Dennis Thorpe, named Ilford Photographer of the Year in 1988 and a former winner of the World’s Press Photo Gold Medal, will deliver the Harry Holder Memorial Lecture on
ONE of Ethel Stobbs’ childhood memories is of a Zeppelin flying over Hartlepool. Mrs Stobbs, who has just celebrated her 106th birthday, was born near Marske, in Cleveland, on May 2, 1904. Of the German airship which flew over Hartlepool by mistake
FORMER arms dealer Peter Bleach – who spent eight years in an Indian prison after being convicted of an illegal arms drop – has been given fresh hope in his lengthy battle to clear his name. Kim Davy, the alleged Danish ringleader of the plot
THEY call her the Yorkshire Mary Rose and, like her Portsmouth counterpart, the treasures she took with her to a watery grave tell a fascinating story of the past. The General Carleton – the subject of a new book – was a 390-ton merchantman, built
NEWCASTLE Falcons have kicked off their summer recruitment drive by signing two players from opposite ends of the rugby spectrum. Scotland international Ally Hogg will form the bedrock of Alan Tait’s new back row after moving from Edinburgh,
CHRIS Read might be considered a reckless gambler. But his decision to repeat last year’s mistake of putting Durham in at Trent Bridge paid dividends on a truncated first day. Only five overs were bowled before 4pm because of occasional drizzle
SAM Collins has revealed an arm around the shoulder of Gary Liddle from the captain went a long way to securing Hartlepool United’s League One status. The central defenders were solid in Saturday’s draw at Brentford, a result that kept Pools
OUTDOOR enthusiasts who book tickets on heritage railway’s first train of the weekend can take part in a tour of tulip gardens with a garden specialist. Phil Robinson will conduct the tour, exclusively for Wensleydale Railway passengers, at Constable
JULIO ARCA still has one year remaining on his contract but admits there is uncertainty surrounding his future following a season of disappointment at Middlesbrough. Boro boss Gordon Strachan will spend the next few months tinkering with his
LAST week was a big week for different kinds of reasons, I played my fourth tournament in a row feeling quite unwell with flu and I also had to miss my little girl's second birthday. I was never really going to play at the BMW Italian Open but having
SUNDERLAND’S year-long pursuit of Kevin Kuranyi is at an end after the striker revealed he will join Russian club Dynamo Moscow this summer. Kuranyi, who will become a free agent when he leaves German side Schalke at the end of the month, has
A WOMAN arrested in the US more than a decade after stealing almost £300,000 from her employer is facing a prison sentence in the UK. The warning was given to Joanne Phillips yesterday after she admitted taking £293,257 belonging to Taylor
THIS weekend’s financial revelations could have far-reaching effects at St James’ Park this summer, but Jose Enrique is desperately hoping he is not sacrificed in order to swell Newcastle’s transfer kitty. Magpies owner Mike Ashley changed the
AN aspiring designer who returned to fashion despite having part of her skull removed following a stroke is to be honoured for her courage. Kathryn Thompson was a fit and healthy 22-year-old when a blood clot in her neck caused her to suffer a
NORTH-EAST MP David Miliband begins the campaign to replace Gordon Brown as Labour leader as favourite. The successor will be chosen by the party’s electoral college and will be enthroned at the annual conference in Manchester in September.
POLICE are appealing for help to reunite a set of decades-old war medals – including the Military Cross – with their rightful owner. The six Second World War medals were found by a member of the public near the River Swale, in Richmond, North
A POLICE officer has spoken of the dramatic episode in which he saved the life of a young woman. PC Dave Cuthbertson pulled the distressed 20-yearold to safety after spotting her on a bridge over the A1(M) near Darlington, threatening to jump
THOUSANDS of pupils in the region will miss out on their Sats this week as headteachers boycott the tests. Hundreds of schools in the North-East and North Yorkshire have told education chiefs they will not run the tests, which were due to start
GORDON BROWN dramatically said he would resign as Labour leader yesterday in an audacious bid to strike a deal with the Liberal Democrats and keep the Tories out of power. The Prime Minister announced he would remain in No 10 to try to lead the
THREE men were arrested after a concerted bid to remove a village store cash machine was aborted early today. A gang using a mechanical digger and home-made 'stinger' devices attempted to remove the 'hole in the wall' machine from the Co-op
It looks like I'm going to have to admit defeat in my ambitions to run the Darlington 10k in aid of the 3 Rifles. I had an operation on my knee yesterday, expecting it to be a minor affair which would require six weeks on the sidelines, and give me enough
SIMON Davey’s Darlington revamp took a huge stride forward yesterday when he told seven more players they are surplus to requirements. Two weeks after announcing the first stage of his clearout, there were few surprises as the Quakers manager
You are damned if you do and damned if you don't... I can't help feeling that Gordon Brown can't win in the eyes of the Tory press. For days since the election, The Sun has accused him of being a squatter in Number 10. Today,
DAVID Cameron insisted today that it was "decision time" for the Liberal Democrats as power-sharing talks ran into their fifth day. With still no clear outcome to the negotiations in prospect, the Tory leader appealed to Lib Dem leader Nick
FERRYHILL residents are invited to the annual town meeting this week. The meeting will be held at St Luke’s Parish Centre, on Church Lane, on Thursday May 13, 6pm to 8pm. The meeting gives local groups a chance to share their plans for the next year
