A SUSPECTED mortar shell discovered by workers developing a park and ride site in York turned out to be an ornamental device designed to look like a bomb. Workmen building the new Park&Ride site at Askham Bar dug up the device shortly before
THE man cleared of killing Pc Keith Blakelock in the 1985 Tottenham riots has spoken of the anger and disappointment he would feel as a member of the murdered policeman's family. Nicky Jacobs, who was found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter
IT might have ended in the heartbreak of an 89th-minute concession, but Gustavo Poyet is hoping last night's 2-2 draw at Manchester City inspires a rousing revival that could yet carry Sunderland to safety. The Black Cats looked to be heading for
Full-time: Manchester City 2 Sunderland 2 WHAT is it about Manchester and calamitous goalkeeping errors? Three months after David De Gea's last-minute error sent Sunderland's supporters into delirium in the Capital One Cup semi-final at Old
FA Vase finalists West Auckland drew 1-1 with Crook at the Seagraves Stadium last night. Crook had a good first half, and took the lead on 37 minutes when Robbie Bird scrambled the ball past West keeper Oliver Simpson. However, West levelled
FIRE fighters across County Durham have been called to a series of blazes tonight, including incidents in Darlington, Willington, Peterlee, Horden and Newton Aycliffe. Crews in Darlington were called to a fire in a bin cupboard at Dunrobin Close
A BENEFITS cheat who pocketed more than £24,000 in disability payments while opening the batting and keeping wicket for his local cricket team is likely to lose his home after being ordered to return a substantial chunk of his ill-gotten gains.
SANTIAGO VERGINI and Seb Larsson return to Sunderland's starting line-up for this evening's Premier League game at Manchester City. Vergini replaces the suspended Phil Bardsley in the back four, although it remains to be seen whether the Argentinian
Somerset v Yorkshire: LV= County Championship (Day Four) JASON GILLESPIE says there is room for improvement both batting and bowling wise for his Yorkshire side after their opening round LV= County Championship draw against Somerset at Taunton.
A SECOND World War fighter pilot – who was one of the last of the Few – has died. Stockton-born Len Davies was just 19 when he fought in the Battle of Britain and helped to prevent a much-feared German invasion. A month after the battle began
A MAN has been jailed for a year after he was found guilty of affray. A jury at Teesside Crown Court took just 20 minutes to convict Carl Durkin of the charge. The 30-year-old had admitted possessing a knife in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland
THE mother of a missing man broke down in tears as she thanked everyone who helped in the search. Clare Jordan was devastated when her son Matthew's body was discovered in Windermere more than two weeks after he went missing in the Lake District
A MAN who began growing his own cannabis in order to smoke the drug for pain relief has been given a suspended jail sentence. Philip Newnham increased his intake of the drug to such an extent that he decided he would save money by growing it himself
ONE of the North-East’s most successful family firms has been granted permission to build a new £3.4m store in the town where it all started. Furniture retailer Barker and Stonehouse will open a new shop on the site of a derelict former leisure
A MAN has appeared in court charged with the murder of a 50-year-old mother. Paul Alan Smart, 49, of Eddleston Walk, did not enter a plea when charged with the murder of Angela Smeaton at Hartlepool Magistrates Court today (Wednesday, April 16)
A POPULAR cafe in a Darlington park has been taken over by the council to keep it open after a private operator pulled out. The South Park cafe was closed over the winter period but has now reopened its doors in time for the Easter holidays under
A TERRITORIAL Army unit that has the freedom of Spennymoor has strengthened its links with the town for possibly the last time. D Company, The Rifles, based in Bishop Auckland, has formed close links with Spennymoor and it creates a guard of honour
AN AGRICULTURAL show will have a new venue for 2014 on part of Dishforth Airfield. The Aldborough and Borobridge Show, on Sunday, July 20, will have its usual attractions of horses, ponies, shires, shetlands and donkeys, sheep and cattle. Popular
YARN DAY: On Saturday, May 3, a Richmond wool shop will celebrate the first National Yarn Shop Day. Knit Owl, in Frenchgate, Richmond, will be offering taster sessions, 10 per cent discount on all yarns, and spinning demonstrations. Customers
WELLIES are no longer required at a popular play park that has reopened following resurfacing work. The children’s playground, at Hardwick Park in Sedgefield, County Durham, was closed in January after it became so boggy it was barely usable.
POLICE are appealing for help to trace a man missing from prison who is suspected of causing criminal damage. Daniel Pearson, 28, absconded from HMP Kirkham in Lancashire in February where he was serving an indeterminate sentence for a robbery
HEROIC knights, magnificent birds of prey and traditional games and entertainment will bring medieval magic to a North-East town next month. Now in its 44th year, Sedgefield Medieval Fair regularly attracts more than 1,000 people from across the
A CYCLIST has sustained three fractures to her neck in a collision with a car beside a town centre roundabout. The 35-year-old local woman was taken to the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton after her bike collided with a blue Ford Fiesta, in
THE great-grandson of a forgotten Labour pioneer and North-East MP is on a mission to have his ancestor’s achievements recognised. Mark Tallentire reports. HE helped found the Labour Party and reduced a British Prime Minister to tears in the House
WORK on a medical research centre hailed as a coup for technology and industry in the North-East has started with a ground-breaking ceremony. The National Biologics Manufacturing Centre, part of the flagship Central Park development in Darlington
A MAN who died following a crash in Gateshead has been named. A Northumbria Police spokesman confirmed Neil Readman, 49, of Dipton, near Stanley, County Durham, died when his Peugeot left the road and collided with a hedgerow, causing it to roll
A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of murder following a house fire which claimed the life of a man. A police spokesman said a 53-year-old man, who suffered severe burns in a fire in Gateshead yesterday (Tuesday, April 15) had died of his injuries
A CATHEDRAL’s head gardener is celebrating 25 years’ service. Geoff MacCullum applied for job at Durham Cathedral in 1989, after seeing a job advert in the Durham Advertiser. The 55-year-old said: “The people who work here are wonderful.
ANGLERS are being warned after two fishermen had their equipment seized and were banned from the sport for a year. The pair were caught using a banned fishing method known as “stroke hauling” in the River Wear at Framwellgate, in Durham City last
A MARKET town is to sacrifice one of its two existing car-parks as part of the drive towards a new £42.5m bypass. The sale of Bedale’s Auction Mart car-park will help fund a now-approved gateway car-park by the bypass on the edge of the town.
A BUSINESSMAN and former councillor who donated £1m to Durham University is to receive an honorary degree from the institution. Bob Young, a former miner turned haulage magnate and Durham County Council cabinet member, will be made an honorary
A KEEN gardener is preparing to show off her garden for charity – which features an impressive display of more than 8,000 daffodils. Annabel Fife, a teacher and garden designer from Great Langton, near Northallerton, said she decided to plant thousands
POLICE had to close a city centre pub after a disturbance erupted into a mass brawl. Trouble broke out at The Bishops’ Mill, a Wetherspoon pub in Walkergate, Durham City, on Saturday evening (April 12). Paul Anderson, Durham Police’s neighbourhood
COFFEE MORNING: The British Heart Foundation will be holding a coffee morning in Richmond Town Hall on Saturday, April 26, from 9am. There will be a tombola, cake stall and bric-a-brac table. SPRING CONCERT: Richmond ladies choir Musicality will
POLICE are hunting vandals who caused damage valued at thousands of pounds to a local school. The yobs struck sometime between 11pm on April 15 and 2am on April 16, when they smashed 27 windows at Bedale High School. Police Community Support
THOUSANDS of the world’s best academic papers are now available for free at Darlington libraries thanks to a new initiative. Darlington Borough Council has joined the Access to Research project which is a collaboration between librarians and publishers
A NORTH-EAST freezer firm will feature on primetime TV series looking at the state of the British manufacturing industry. Former CBI Director General, Lord Digby Jones, has spent months working behind the scenes with the team at Ebac establishing
THE Co-operative Group is expected to post losses as high as £2.5bn tomorrow as the mutual faces more pain from the biggest crisis in its history. Former City minister Lord Myners, who has drawn up proposals for a major reform of the business,
Langley House Care Centre in Sunderland Road, Horden, near Peterlee, has appointed Deborah Wild as its new manager. The mother-of-four, who lives in Horden, has been promoted from deputy manager to run the 26-bedroom owned by the Durham Aged Mineworkers
A DARLINGTON trombonist has played her way into the record books by completing the London Marathon whist performing with a brass band. Natalie Davies, 20, of Firthmoor Crescent, finished the course with the Huddersfield Marathon Band and their
FORMER librarian Jodi Taylor was back among the bookshelves this week – but this time with a novel of her very own. The 61-year-old returned to Northallerton library – where she worked for 20 years – to sign copies of her debut novel Just One Damned
VICTIMS of crime, road accidents and anti-social behaviour are being given a bigger say in how they are treated after such incidents. A survey is being held across North Yorkshire, the results of which will be used to help shape future services
A FORMER Northern Echo journalist who won an award for exposing abuse at a Sri Lankan psychiatric hospital has died at the age of 81. Brian Edwards, of Newton Aycliffe, posed as an inmate at the Mental Hospital-Angoda while living in Sri Lanka
A GROUP of businesses has sparked a war of words by claiming a city is being failed by its political leaders. Ripon and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce said a fresh approach was needed to revitalise the city’s economy, as its members believe
A FORMER assistant bar manager and DJ has turned licensee and is reopening a Darlington town centre venue under its former name. No 10 Crown Street, which was most recently known as Aspire, is opening on Thursday (April 17). Carl Williams,
TIME is running for athletes of all ages and abilities to take their marks in aid of a North-East charity. Sunderland AFC’s charity, The Foundation of Light, is appealing for anyone who is available to strap on their running shoes for the Sunderland
THE parents of a girl who has battled a rare cancer have spoken of their devastation after donations to their £500,000 drive to fund life-saving treatment slowed to a trickle. Garry and Michelle Simpson said after surgeons confirmed their six-year-old
A SCHOOLGIRL has been robbed at knifepoint as she waited at a bus stop. The 12-year-old was left shaken but uninjured after having her phone and headphones stolen by a man in his 20s during the early morning incident in Newcastle. She was waiting
STEVE CRAM has agreed to take on an advisory role with British Athletics as part of the organisation's Endurance Programme. Cram, who was one of the world's leading 800m and 1,500m runners in the 1980s, will act as a key advisor for guiding and
ONE of the region’s leading experts in Regional Growth Fund (RGF) applications is celebrating securing more than £4.3m for his clients. Neville Baldry and his team at accountants and business advisers, Clive Owen & Co LLP in Darlington, has
NORTHALLERTON Sing and Discover group is inviting singers to join it for rehearsals in preparation for a Sounds of the Summer concert, featuring 200 voices and the National Festival Orchestra, at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, in June. Rehearsals
NORTH-East energy experts have welcomed a landmark report on tackling climate change. Thinkers from the Durham Energy Institute (DEI) spoke out after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Climate Change 2014 study earlier
YORKSHIRE'S opening pair Adam Lyth and Alex Lees have comfortably moved their side to safety before lunch on day four against Somerset at Taunton. Somerset advanced their first-innings score from 530-9 to 553 all out this morning before Steve Patterson
FUNDING has finally been secured to make new high-speed trains for the line linking the North-East with London and Scotland in a North-East factory. The Government has confirmed that a total of 497 carriages for the East Coast line will be built
A WEEKEND of family activities has been lined up to celebrate Easter in Darlington. An Easter egg trail will be taking place between 11am and 4pm on Easter Saturday around the town centre, with entry forms available from Distinct Darlington’s Ranger
ANY result remained possible until Chris Rushworth struck with the last ball before tea to tip the balance in Durham’s favour. Northants will go into the final session on 125 for five, still needing 194 from 32 overs. They appeared to have
A MAN has appeared in court charged with the murder of a 50-year-old mother. Paul Alan Smart, 49, of Eddleston Walk, did not enter a plea when charged with the murder of Angela Smeaton at Hartlepool Magistrates Court today (Wednesday, April 16)
THINGS did not go entirely to plan for Durham on the final morning as their five remaining wickets went down for the addition of 66 runs in 90 minutes. But a target of 319 in 69 overs was not too far short of what they would have wanted to set
AN ANNUAL bike ride which attracts hundreds of cyclists of all abilities and ages is returning this summer. The countdown to the Durham Big Ride 2014 was officially launched in Durham Market Place today (Wednesday, April 16). The Big Ride,
A YOUNG musician is hoping to land the gig of a lifetime in front of 10,000 people. Apollo Art, aka Richard Smedley, is one of ten finalists in The Big Audition 2014. The talent contest will be held at Newcastle College on Thursday, May 1,
THREE properties were raided this morning as police targeted suspected drug dealers operating on a Middlesbrough estate. More than 30 officers took part in the operation that resulted in several arrests and the recovery of a quantity of suspected
A REUNION for past pupils of Sedgefield Comprehensive School, now Sedgefield Community College, will take place at the Crosshill Hotel on the town green from 8pm on Saturday, May 3. The free reunion is for pupils who joined the school in 1980.
The Skernedale Dog Training Club starts a new eight-week basic dog obedience training course for beginners on May 1. It will include socialization with dogs and people and takes place at Hurworth Grange Community Centre, Croft Road, Hurworth, at
THREE properties were raided this morning as police targeted suspected drug dealers operating on a Middlesbrough estate. More than 30 officers took part in the operation that resulted in several arrests and the recovery of a quantity of suspected
FIVE council-run care homes will close after councillors heard it is too expensive to keep them going. Members of Durham County Council's cabinet said it was a with heavy heart they decided to close Cheveley House in Belmont, Feryemount in Ferryhill
A CHURCH project set up to tackle poverty and exclusion and promote well-being has celebrated the first six months of success at an open house event. The scheme launched in November 2013 is led by Anglican church of St Michaels and All Angels,
QUESTIONS have been raised in court about the severity of medical ailments suffered by dogs owned by a County Durham breeder. Steven Hutchinson, 34, of Bishop Auckland, has been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to some of the 44 dogs
A RACEHORSE stables open day celebrating its 21st anniversary on Good Friday hopes to attract families and enthusiasts alike. The Middleham Stables Open Day will feature 15 stables with more than 500 horses for visitors to see, while racing will
With the upcoming launch of a new system letting you transfer money to family and friends via a mobile phone, Vicky Shaw looks at how the value of the nation’s small, informal IOUs quickly adds up SENDING money to family and friends is about to
TLW has welcomed a new solicitor to its experienced team. Eve Hebbron has a background in dealing with disputed and complicated personal injury and clinical negligence cases, helping people who have serious or complex injuries. She has joined
TILLY Bailey and Irvine Solicitors has announced the appointment of a new partner. Kenton Bazeley, pictured, a specialist in all areas of commerciallitig ation, with an emphasis on professional negligence and insolvency, has been promoted to partner
NORTH-EAST LAW firm Sintons helped a Manchesterbased organisation strengthen its place as one of the UK’s biggest social care providers. Through the acquisition of Delos Community, Creative Support now has more than 5,000 employees across the country
SINGER Joe McElderry has announced an acoustic show later this year. The South Shields-born performer is to play the Empire Theatre, in Consett on Friday, October 24. McElderry, former winner of The X Factor, is to play two sell-out dates at
UTILITY services firm G4S utility and outsourcing services has invested further in apprenticeships through Gateshead College to equip its workforce with the latest smart metering technology skills. The move follows investment by the college to
RETAILER JD Sports Fashion says significant improvement has stopped losses across its outdoor leisure division. The group revealed its Blacks and Millets brands broke even in the second half of the year to February 1, compared with losses of £4.9m
ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger hailed the ‘‘perfect touch’’ of striker Olivier Giroud after his sublime finish and a double from Lukas Podolski gave the FA Cup finalists a 3-1 win over West Ham to move back up into the top four of the Premier League
Stocks of my latest children's book, Fidgety Bridget Wrigglesworth, have arrived today so I'm wriggling with excitement. FBW is the third book in the Monstrous Morals series following on from Fartin' Martin Sidebottom and Black-toothed Ruth Black
REGULAR work experience while in education significantly increases a student’s chances of gaining employment, research commissioned by a school has found. The research comes as Studio West, the North-East’s “studio school” for 13 to 19- year-olds
FOUR people are confirmed dead and almost 300 are missing after a ferry carrying mostly students sank off South Korea's southern coast. Authorities now say four people have died and more than 290 are unaccounted for. Dozens of boats, helicopters
FROM pouting pop star to award-winning fashion designer, Victoria Beckham has undergone a serious image evolution. She’s achieved the near-impossible, fashioning a credible design career and becoming a bona fide style icon in the process. Victoria
PERFECT your red carpet pose in a killer red dress like Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscars 2014 look. Snap up Goddiva’s homage to her Dior gown with the Peplum Strapless Dress, £68 (goddiva.co.uk). Jennifer Lawrence, in red Dior arriving at the 86th
A SURVEY by Novotel of more than 1,000 UK mums has found that quality family time is increasingly harder to find. More than 60 per cent wish they could spend more time with their kids. More than half (56 per cent) of mums look forward to holidays
BEN BAILEY SMITH is not the first rapper to take a lead role in a cop series. Ice-T is a regular in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in the US but he is the first in UK TV history. Smith first found fame as Doc Brown, a rapper and comedian
THE series returns to give us another look into the struggle of a life on benefits. In the London borough of Tower Hamlets, hundreds of families who are out of work and reliant on benefits face eviction because of the Government’s welfare reforms.
ON April 15, last year, the Boston Marathon got under way, with runners waiting through 26 seconds of silence for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting the previous December. Two hours after the first runners crossed the finishing
WELL done Josh Heslop, 11, of Ingleby Barwick who climbed Roseberry Topping to raise money in memory of his late step-grandfather (Echo, Apr 14). I am sure he is proud of him. In comparison, it’s amazing that so many people would graffiti tag
A CHARITY auction, featuring a boxing glove signed by former world heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson, will be held to raise funds for an 11-year-old girl battling a rare cancer. Organisers of the event, at the Whitestonecliffe Inn, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe
SO, the Scots are to be bribed to vote “no” in September’s independence referendum by raising the extra funding they get to £733 more per person, more than double the £361 extra they were getting in 2010-11 (Echo, Apr 14). Once again the Scots
HERE we go again, another round of shameless socialist hypocrisy blathering on about coal mines, again implying that every mine that closed only ever closed under a Conservative government. Bill Bartle (HAS, Apr 15) adds his name to the inglorious
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change advises that it is still possible to keep global temperature rises to within two per cent of the preindustrial levels by the end of the century but it relies on measures being taken without delay.
NIGEL EVANS MP, the former Deputy Speaker, makes the outrageous claim that because he has been cleared in a court of law of sexual offences that the Crown Prosecution Service should pay his legal costs (Echo, Apr 14). He may very well have been
WHERE did it go wrong? The season from beginning to end has been a complete disaster. In my opinion, owner Ellis Short has a lot to answer for. Certainly, he is not a football man. We had one in Niall Quinn – a legend and freeman of the city who loves
RIGHT now, there’s no margin for complacency and Hartlepool United’s players need to jump into action in a flash, insists Simon Walton. The midfielder is part of a squad of players involved in a scrap at the wrong end of the Football League with
IN response to Eric Schofield (HAS, Apr 10), there were no fatalities in this year’s Grand National but in a typical week at least three horses die on British racecourses and others die in training. Some are deliberately killed just because their
I LOVED those happy days watching The Fonz, and a trip down memory lane seemed the perfect antidote to the trials of the day. What more could you want? The answer, unfortunately, is less. The cast are heavily miked, yet they shout, which means
IT was sad to see bikes, one with a vintage hand-built frame, in the skips on a recent visit to Darlington’s Whessoe Road recycling centre. They must have been destined for the waste metal crusher. To my mind, it would be more sensible recycling
TOWN hall pensions claimed by thousands of councillors are thankfully to be abolished from May. The number of elected representatives, including council leaders and mayors, who have climbed aboard this local government pensions gravy train has soared
HARRY MEAD’S column (Echo, Apr 9) entitled “The curse of the sea’s plastic soup” should send shivers down our spines. All the wildlife in our seas is under threat from plastic waste. There is a morass of plastic in the Pacific Ocean as big as France
A STRIKING example of the value put on free speech, the much-vaunted cornerstone of our “mother of democracies”, by those most ready to proclaim it – ie the Government – has just arisen. Organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs, an essay
TWO young women, both dressed down in leggings and jumpers but with cut-glass southern accents, smile and joke with the everyday people of a Stockton street. Describing themselves as TV producers, they are here to cajole some of the residents of Stockton
A DRUG den has been shut down by police after neighbours complained they were being plagued by anti social behaviour stemming from the property. Officers from Spennymoor neighbourhood police team served a ‘crack house closure order’ on 45 Baff
A NORMALLY-BUSY stretch of road was closed to traffic on Wednesday (April 16) morning, after a water tanker toppled over and came to rest on its side. The incident happened on the A66, at its junction with the B6279, on the outskirts of Darlington
A MAN has been arrested after a police drugs raid uncovered 102 cannabis plants in a County Durham house. Officers forced entry to the property on South View, in Shildon, at 8.30am today (Wednesday, April 15) following an intelligence tip-off.
THERE are clear signs that the economy is improving. House prices are rising, unemployment is falling, and companies are looking ahead with greater confidence. The Government can point to that evidence as justification for its determined and
AITOR KARANKA claims Middlesbrough's strong finish to the current campaign will give them the best possible chance of succeeding next season – whether they make it to the play-offs or not. Having been written out of the promotion picture a couple
LOIC REMY and Mathieu Debuchy are finally expected to make their return from injury when Newcastle United entertain Swansea City on Saturday. The pair have seen their prospective comeback dates altered on a number of occasions in recent weeks amid
THE organisers of Friday’s Middleham Open Day are confident the event will prove as popular as ever despite the introduction of Good Friday racing at Lingfield and Musselburgh. Fifteen stables, including those of Mark Johnston, Karl Burke and Ann
WHEN Edwin Tuer retired from farming, he decided he needed a hobby. With his 60th birthday approaching, he could have chosen something sedate – gardening perhaps, or maybe a bit of DIY. Instead, he opted for racehorse training. So much for winding
Somerset v Yorkshire: LV= County Championship (Day Three) YORKSHIRE captain Andrew Gale last night revealed that he declined an approach from Somerset’s Marcus Trescothick to set up a day four run chase in the opening LV= County Championship match
GUSTAVO POYET insists he will not walk out on Sunderland – but the Black Cats boss is set to deliver some damning home truths in a crucial end-of-season debrief with the club's owner, Ellis Short. Having talked of “something wrong with the football
Gustavo Poyet sparked rumours that he had quit his position as Sunderland's head coach when he spoke of “something wrong in the football club” on Saturday. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson examines why the Uruguayan is being so explosively honest as
A COUNTY Durham dog breeder has denied causing unnecessary suffering to animals. Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard today (Tuesday, April 15) that 34-year-old Steven Hutchinson kept 44 dogs and six puppies kennelled at his property at Evenwood
A NORTH-EAST offshore wind farm will be officially opened today (Wednesday, April 16). Energy Minister Michael Fallon and Henri Proglio, president of energy supplier EDF Group, will unveil a plaque to celebrate the Teesside wind farm. Bosses
AN insurance broker aims to create more jobs to continue its expansion. Erimus Insurance Brokers, in Stockton, now has a 30-strong workforce after taking on four workers. The commercial insurance specialist says the move will help it target
A LAW firm has continued its expansion after buying a practice. Coles Solicitors has expanded its presence in Ripon, North Yorkshire, after acquiring Tunnard & Co. The move means Coles now has offices in York, Thirsk, Northallerton, Yarm
YOUNG pupils were given an introduction to university life to help inspire their career decisions in years to come. The group of around 30 year eight pupils from Darlington secondary schools Longfield Academy, The Education Village, Hurworth School
The Government's key job creation scheme has handed North-East firms £57m to create and support thousands of jobs. Deputy Business Editor Steven Hugill looks at how regional companies are set to benefit Robert Young is buoyant. A senior figure
A LAW firm with offices in the North-East has made a new appointment. Hempsons, based in Newcastle and Harrogate, North Yorkshire, has welcomed back employment partner Andrew Davidson. Mr Davidson is as a partner in its Harrogate office, and
As London-based TV producers patrolled a North-East road trying to persuade unemployed residents to take part in a new series of the controversial Benefits Street programme, Chris Webber talked to the street’s hard-working people. TWO young women
A FOOTBALL club whose press officer labelled officials of an amateur league as morons has been charged with bringing the league into disrepute. Northern League chairman Mike Amos said Ricky Butler, who also serves as Northallerton Town FC’s matchday
A MINING company could move jobs to Amsterdam, The Northern Echo can reveal. Cleveland Potash, in Boulby, east Cleveland, says bosses are considering plans to switch some back office roles to the Dutch capital. The changes are being looked
AN iconic lava lamp maker is being protected from copycats by a North-East law firm. Mathmos has appointed McDaniel and Co to provide advice and protect its intellectual property (IP). The company was founded in 1963 by Edward Craven Walker
WORK officially starts today (Wednesday, April 16) on a £38m North-East medical research plant. The National Biologics Manufacturing Centre, in Darlington, will develop life-saving cures, putting the region at the forefront of breakthrough treatments
TWO men are in hospital, one critically ill, after a fire on Tyneside last night. The emergency services were called to reports of a fire inside a property in Redemarch, Leam Lane, Gateshead, at 6.36pm. A spokesman for Northumbria Police said
“AMAZING, appalling, shocking.” That was the verdict of Durham Foodbank co-ordinator Peter MacLellan on new figures, released today, revealing a 463 per cent rise in North-East foodbank users in just 12 months. On his County Durham patch, 18,592
DOZENS of bishops and hundreds of faith leaders including the Bishop of Durham will today (Wednesday, April 16) demand the Government take urgent action to tackle the growing food crisis engulfing the UK. In the biggest Christian intervention on
A MOTHER has shed more than two stone to raise funds for a new youth internet cafe. Lisa Metcalf, 35, who works for Willington Community Action Centre, completed the sponsored slim in aid of the charity’s Surf Shack, an internet cafe for youngsters
A CONCERT in aid of a lung charity has been rearranged after a power cut forced the event to be cancelled. The Sing for Life Choir and Thorpe Thewles Pop Choir were performing at the Bishop Auckland Methodist Church Hall, Cockton Hill Road, earlier
COUNCILLORS were booed today (April 16) after agreeing to close their last five care homes to save money. Durham County Council's cabinet said it was a with heavy heart they had to close Cheveley House in Belmont, Feryemount in Ferryhill, Grampian
CHILDREN have been tackling issues affecting their town at a junior community police meeting. More than 30 youngsters, aged between six and nine-years-old, gave their views on anti-social behaviour, littering, off-road biking and speeding.
SCHEMES to improve the centre of Durham City have been given the go ahead by councillors. Members of Durham County Council’s cabinet approved three reports today (April 16) focussing on revitalising different aspects of the city. At a meeting
THE North-East Theatre Organ Association, in High Street, Howden-le-Wear, is holding a concert and cream tea on Sunday, April 27, at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £7 and are available by calling 01388-762467. TEESDALE WALK: The Crook and District Ramblers
AN ambulance was forced out of action after important equipment was stolen during an emergency call. The mobile data terminal, which is used when responding to calls and a North-East Ambulance Service jacket was stolen on St Andrew’s Road, in Bishop
A NATIONAL retailer looks set to open on an out-of-town shopping park. TK Maxx has submitted a planning application for a shop front sign for a unit on the Bishop Auckland Retail Park, in St Helen Auckland. Next, Marks & Spencer, Simply
A DOUBLE black belt winning 84-year-old is proving that age is no barrier as he continues to fight his way through weekly martial arts sessions. Pensioner Ken Nevison, of Shildon, in County Durham, first took up martial arts as a 58-year-old when
