A DISTRESSED woman threatening to jump off a North-East bridge was rescued by the emergency services and members of the public. Northumbria Police were called to reports of the woman climbing over safety railings on the Wearmouth Bridge in Sunderland
TWO controversial new Free Schools have been announced in the North-East. Grindon Hall Free School in Sunderland and Cramlington Village Primary, in Northumberland , are the only two North-East schools to feature on a list of 55 new Free Schools
PRINCESS Anne has officially opened the North-East’s newest landmark. Northumberlandia, the world’s largest human landform, was created in the Northumberland countryside with spoil from a nearby opencast mine. The reclining figure of a naked
TWO teenage carers have spent their holidays building a playground for impoverished children, camping on a mountain top in sub-zero temperatures and holding baby crocodiles thanks to their community. Danielle Brown, 16, and Matthew Littlefair
RESIDENTS are being invited to have their say on plans for 23 affordable homes on the outskirts of a Weardale town. Social housing company Riverside is in the process of submitting plans to Durham County Council for a new housing estate on the
Follow the trend for Moroccan style and enjoy an exotic visual feast in your home Gabrielle Fagan sources the vital ingredients. IF you’re brave enough to throw away the decor rule book and embrace a profusion of colour, pattern and exotic accessories
Would you pay £30 a year to use Twitter? Dalton Caldwell’s new app.net service lets people communicate in a Twittery sort of way, but charges an annual $50 fee. Is it worth it? Giles Turnbull reports LISTEN carefully, and you’ll
A £5M FUEL fuel poverty scheme has been launched in Middlesbrough with more than 1,100 homes likely to benefit. Fuel effiency measures designed to lower energy bills by up to £750 a year for each house will be installed in properties across the
BUILDERS hoping to site hundreds of homes on Yarm School's former playing fields have applied for 235 more homes than originally planned. In the revised plans, Bellway Homes and Yarm School have asked for permission from Stockton Borough Council
Felicity Kendall talks to Steve Pratt about Strictly, roles for older women and why she waits for the work to come to her FELICITY Kendal may not have kept on her dancing shoes after competing on Strictly Come Dancing two years ago, but appearing
A SUPPORTER of a local charity is celebrating after winning £10,000. Kevin Wilson, of Normanby, Middlesbrough, is the first jackpot rollover winner of £10,000 courtesy of Teesside Hospice Lotto. He said "I was quite shocked and amazed to receive
PRIMARY school children have gained an extra week on holiday following delays in major improvement works. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool , had been due to reopen today. Letters have been sent
Lauren Pyrah visits a new Saks salon on a country estate ON a list of things you would expect to find in the depths of the countryside, it’s a pretty safe bet a hair salon wouldn’t feature. But Saks Scotch Corner, who tapped into the trend for
Chocolate lovers across the North-East are now learning how to make their own Belgian truffles. Ruth Addicott finds out about the new trend for chocolate workshops IF you’re a chocoholic and have always wanted to have a go at creating handcrafted
BRITAIN’S five-a-side football team now face a must-win situation to reach the London 2012 Paralympic semi-finals, but coach Tony Larkin is backing Lee Brunton and Dan English to deliver it. Brunton, from North Shields, and English, from Washington
Sheridan’s Smith’s rising star has seen her move speedily from sitcoms to Olivier awards. Now she’s snapped up a dream role as Ronnie Biggs’ former wife SHERIDAN Smith was in Australia, filming a TV series and driving to meet the
JOHN ROBERTSON insists he’s right in contention after consolidating his fleet position at the Paralympic sailing regatta in Weymouth. Robertson and his Sonar crew of Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas recorded two fifth positions to sit fifth overall
For the first time, the tale of Ronnie Biggs’ former wife Charmian is being told on film. Steve Pratt finds out how her life changed after the Great Train Robbery. CHARMIAN Biggs knew that allowing TV to tell her story in a drama series was going
A YOUNG woman who went missing after leaving her mother's home on Sunday has been found safe and well. Concerns were raised when Leanne Mason, 17, left her mother’s home on Waldridge Road in Chester-le-Street on Sunday but did not return. She
A PAIR of rare locomotives will be back on the tracks this weekend at a spectacular steam event on the world’s oldest railway. The engines are thought to be the only survivors of the H Class locomotives designed to work on the tightly twisting
A NEW sixth form centre has opened its doors to its first students. East Durham College welcomed its first 60 A-level students to its new ED6 centre in Peterlee this rmorning. Principal Suzanne Duncan said: "We want East Durham Sixth Form to
ALAN PARDEW has been hit with a two-match touchline ban after he accepted a FA charge of improper conduct. The Newcastle United manager has also been fined £20,000 for shoving referee's assistant Peter Kirkup during the 2-1 win over Tottenham
MORE than 60 dogs posed for the cameras as a cutest dog contest got underway. St Cuthbert’s Hospice, in Durham City, launched the search for a canine cutie over the weekend. Pooches will battle it out for the title with online voting due to open
I AM surprised that in the tributes paid locally to Neil Armstrong there has been no mention of the fact that on March 11, 1972, he was in Langholm, in Dumfries, a town which is famed as the traditional seat of the Armstrong clan who were probably
I REFER to the miserable Norman Smith (HAS, Aug 29) about Darlington FC. He must be a very unhappy man to say such things, which clearly are not true. He is trying to live in his miserable past and his words are very upsetting to a lot of honest
LABOUR and Tory supporters are all culpable in the continuing iniquities of the capitalist system. To argue whether this or that action would have happened under the alternative administration is mere sophistry and navel gazing. Capitalism continues
NO, I’m not referring to the controversial erotic book but to the footpaths in Hamsterley Drive, Crook . Durham County Council in its wisdom has decided to re-surface one side of the street and leave the other side. Hence one side is an even charcoal
IS Darlington council trying to fold local businesses through its new policy of charging us £5 per day when working for people who have permit parking only outside their properties? This is beyond belief. The cost of work either goes up
IT would appear that my pointing out that Pete Molloy is not from Spennymoor has caused him some distress (HAS, Aug 31). That was not my intention, but I would have thought a prospective BNP candidate would be made of sterner stuff. It is interesting
DID anyone else notice the large orange light in the sky above Bowburn on Wednesday evening at about 8.30pm? It was moving quite fast in a large circle, faster than a hot air balloon, and with no sound at all. It did that three times then disappeared
THIS is for Christopher Wardell. My wife worked in a care home until she was made redundant. The care home closed for refurbishment and new, skilled staff were employed. Before the residents arrived, the staff experienced weird happenings
THE London 2012 Paralympic Games are a huge success. Every venue is a sell-out and Channel Four is clearing its schedules to screen more of the Games after record audience figures, including 11 million for the Opening Ceremony. The names of the
A FIRE has delayed the start of the new term for pupils at a County Durham primary school. Children were due to start back at St Francis Church of England Junior School on Scholars Path, Newton Aycliffe, tomorrow but this has been postponed
Dallas, the US soap series set among the Texas oilfields, is back on our screens this week. Steve Pratt investigates the appeal of the original series, as well as the greatest cliffhanger in TV history A BUSINESSMAN is working late in the office
A Taoist monk has been warned he could face jail after police uncovered a £12,600 cannabis farm growing in his home. Holy man Michael Martin claimed the drug was for his own use and was smoking up to 15 joints a day in a bizarre attempt to give
In the NTSL, Swalwell took a massive step towards their sixth consecutive title with an eight-wicket win over Tynedale, one of their main rivals.
In the Durham Senior League, Burnmoor take a 29- point lead into their final two games with Castle Eden the only rivals able to snatch the championship. The Moor won’t want a repeat of Saturday’s form which saw them lose at home to Horden.
The Durham Coast League disappears into history, for the same reasons as their County counterparts, when the final games are played this coming weekend. Murton are favourites to be the last championship winners. They enjoyed a win by a margin
There was another good day for Blaydon in the NEPL as they take an 18-point lead into the last game of the season with the expectation of becoming league champions for the first time. A repeat of Saturday’s win over Newcastle when they entertain
ESH WINNING go into the history books after winning the Durham County League for the fourth time in 11 seasons. The summer’s outstanding performers will be the last champions of this competition which is now being disbanded as clubs go their separate
THE title race is set to go down to the wire after Darlington snatched back the lead from Richmondshire, in one of the most captivating championship contests for years. And the battle for survival, now between four clubs - two of which will drop
AS Steve Howard strode up to take his first penalty back in a Hartlepool United shirt, Neale Cooper didn’t watch. Pools’ new spot-kick taker was given the chance to score his first goal for the club since he left in 1999 in the closing stages of
WHILE the early signs are that Middlesbrough’s home hoodoo could be at an end, the lack of killer instinct that haunted last season’s performances at the Riverside has now affected their away record. The season is young, just four games have
MARTIN O'NEILL was satisfied to return to the North-East with a point from South Wales but thinks Sunderland can learn how to keep possession in the Premier League from Swansea City. Despite taking the lead twice at the Liberty Stadium, the Swans
STEVEN FLETCHER'S move to Sunderland took so long to conclude it must have felt like he had walked 500 miles and then he had to fly more than that just to make his Premier League debut in a red and white shirt. But it all seems worthwhile for
SCOTT McDONALD’S Middlesbrough exile looks set to continue as Tony Mowbray believes he has seen no reason to select him ahead of his other strikers. The Australian centreforward has not appeared for Boro this season and was left out of Saturday
Power boat racing took place on the waters on the River Tyne for the first time over the weekend. Gavin Havery wonders whether the roar of high-speed motorboats could become a regular feature on the famous waterway SEVERAL years ago, beneath
The company behind £1.5bn plans for a potash mine in the North York Moors National Park will answer public concerns at a series of exhibitions. Lauren Pyrah looks at the design and location of the scheme REVEALING the design and location of a
Darlington aim to bring in two players this week after lodging their interest in a pair of forwards presently at fellow Northern League clubs. Durham City's Stephen Thompson and Jamie Owens of Billingham Town are both on Martin Gray's radar having unloaded
A TEENAGER was hauled to safety by an RAF Search and Rescue winchman after he broke his arm in a fall near a viaduct. Emergency services called in a team from RAF Boulmer, Northumberland , on Saturday when the youth became trapped on the outskirts
A TEENAGER sobbed in court as closed-circuit television camera footage of a shameful attack he carried out in a town centre was played. Christopher Horsburgh could not bear to look at the shocking pictures as he appeared in the dock on a charge
THREE North-East community projects have received nearly £1m each of Lottery funding to help vulnerable people cope with rising food and fuel costs. Middlesbrough Environment City Trust (MEC), Sunderland Black and Minority Ethnic Network (SBMEN
ALAN Pardew last night admitted Newcastle United were paying a high price for last month's transfer speculation, but insisted he would have his players' minds back on the job when the Premier League resumes in two weeks time. The Magpies produced
TEETHING troubles that can easily be addressed or a more deep-rooted malaise that threatens to seriously undermine Newcastle United's season? Alan Pardew has the two-week international break to discover the answer. For the third league game in
Yorkshire are determined to seal County Championship promotion in style. Not content with clinching an immediate exit from division two in second place, they have leaders Derbyshire in their sights ahead of their final two matches, starting with Glamorgan
IT'S taken a while, taken some encouragement and support, but Luke James may have rediscovered the sort of form that has him earmarked as a future talent. The Hartlepool United teenager has had to wait a long time to get his name on the scoresheet
FORMER Westoe players made a big impact on their winning debuts in National One as centre Tommy Banks scored a hat-trick for Blaydon and Ollie Stedman bagged a brace for Tynedale. Blaydon crowned a good week on the sponsorship front by winning 43-19
A MINING company has unveiled designs and a preferred location for a proposed project that would create up to 5,000 jobs. York Potash wants to create a concealed mine at Dove Nest Farm and Hacksby Plantation, off the B1416, about 2.5 miles south
