Archive

  • Former Darlington striker heading to Oxford United

    Former Darlington striker John Campbell is to join Oxford United having impressed while on trial with the League Two club.Campbell, who has already scored 24 goals this season for Jarrow Roofing in the Ebac Northern League, spent last week training with

  • Roofers land in hot water after Fish Tank flare-up

    TWO workaway roofers’ night on the tiles nearly landed them behind bars after trouble flared near a city centre night spot. Durham Crown Court heard Shane Anthony Upton and Aaron Richard Boultbee, who were working in Durham, were involved in a

  • Consett mourns death of Hughie Malone

    TRIBUTES have been paid to a much-loved actor who performed for audiences for more than 65 years.Hughie Malone, one of Consett’s premier entertainers, died suddenly in hospital after suffering from heart problems aged 80 on Wednesday morning.He has performed

  • County Durham restaurant shortlisted for national award

    A COUNTY Durham curry house has been short-listed for a national award.The newly opened Cinnamon Club restaurant in Trimdon, which features a champagne bar, has been nominated by the public in the best newcomer category, for restaurants which have been

  • Remote dales community researches fallen heroes

    A COMMUNITY is trying to find out more about four soldiers from a remote village in the Yorkshire Dales killed in the First World War.Members of Keld Resource Centre, in Upper Swaledale, have spent months researching the lives of the four people named

  • White Ribbon event to raise awareness about domestic abuse

    AN international event to stop abuse against women and girls will be marked in Redcar & Cleveland with an awareness event.White Ribbon Day is an annual event, designed to get as many men and boys as possible to pledge to never commit, condone or remain

  • Football stars to take to the catwalk

    FOOTBALL stars will take to the catwalk next week for an annual charity fashion night.Fashion Strikes takes place on Monday (Nov 24) when Sunderland AFC players become models for the evening at the Stadium of Light.The annual event will raise money for

  • Christmas song competition with a fire safety twist

    CLEVELAND Fire Brigade is asking people to get in the Christmas spirit and record a festival favourite with a fire safety twist.The force is inviting Teesside residents to put together their own version of the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, but with

  • Pupils enjoy official opening of new football academy

    PROUD pupils enjoyed taking part in the official opening of a football academy in their school.Wolsingham School and Community College opened its doors to a new Martin Gray Football Academy for the first time today (Thursday, November 20), unveiling smart

  • Police to hold open day at mosque

    POLICE are to hold an open day at a mosque.Officers from Northumbria Police will hold the event at the Laygate Mosque in South Shields on Saturday, November 22, from 1pm to 4pm.Neighbourhood Inspector John Smith said: "Open days such as these are

  • Eggs-citing news for restaurant

    A RESTAURANT is hatching a plan to become more sustainable, with the help of more than 30 chickens.The Clarence Villa at Coxhoe, County Durham, has taken delivery of its own brood of Longhorn and Gingernut hens, which lay up to 20 eggs per day between

  • Keep cool while Christmas shopping, says MP

    AN MP is urging shoppers to keep their cool this Christmas.Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods joined leaders of the Usdaw union to ask shoppers to treat shop workers with respect during the hectic and often-stressful festive season.The MP said: “Christmas

  • Courageous children honoured at Braveheart awards

    THE bravery of 26 of the North-East’s most inspirational children will be recognised at a special ceremony next week.The annual Bravehearts of the North East awards take place at St James’ Park in Newcastle on Thursday, honouring children from York to

  • Proud day for sailor Liam

    A NORTH-EAST sailor has graduated from his Royal Navy training.Able Rate Liam Elliott has completed his phase two training with Victory Squadron at HMS Collingwood, Fareham, Hampshire, and is now a communication information specialist, having learned

  • New unit for those with dementia

    A SPECIALIST £3.9munit for people with dementia has been opened in North Yorkshire,The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu officially opened Springwood complex needs unit in Malton.The unit has 14 single en-suite bedrooms, one of which is equipped as

  • Cosmic shower at festive star party

    A COSMIC shower produced by a flaky asteroid is just one of the out-of-this-world attractions at a festive star party.Starmaker astro-guides are staging a Christmas-themed event under the dark skies of the North Pennines AONB at Bowlees Visitor Centre

  • Artist to stage Tolkien-inspired exhibition at cinema

    AN artist is set to stage an exhibition inspired by JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to coincide with the release of the final film in The Hobbit series.John Cockshaw will unveil the results of seven years' work at The Curzon cinema, in Ripon, alongside

  • Volunteers required for food bank drive

    VOLUNTEERS are needed to help collect food donations in the North-East for people in need this winter.The collections are for food redistribution charity FareShare who with foodbank charity The Trussell Trust are taking part in Tesco’s Neighbourhood Food

  • Good support for shoe box appeal

    THOUSANDS of shoe boxes filled with gifts are heading to deprived youngsters in Eastern Europe.More than 5,000 have been donated so far by people in County Durham for children in Belarus, formerly part of the Soviet Union.A team of 70 volunteers are collecting

  • Village is first to become dementia-friendly

    A NORTH Yorkshire village has become one of the first in the country to become dementia friendly thanks to the efforts of one of its residents.Kim Pennock, became a “Purple Angel Ambassador'' last year with the aim of raising awareness of the condition.Now

  • Godspell production looking for North East choirs

    A TOURING production of the hit musical Godspell is giving North-East choirs the chance to shine.Godspell is visiting Darlington Civic Theatre in the spring and producers are looking for choirs local to the venue to perform on the professional stage.Applications

  • Cookery school scoops national awards

    A COOKERY school from one of the region’s most famous tea rooms has had a double helping of national recognition.Bettys Cookery School, next to Bettys Craft Bakery in Harrogate, has been named best cookery school in the Looking to Cook UK Cookery School

  • The Northern Echo praised in national cricket awards

    THE NORTHERN ECHO has been praised by the judges in the ECB’s fourth annual County Cricket Journalism Awards.The newspaper was commended in the Regional Newspaper of the Year category, with the judges impressed by its comprehensive coverage of both Durham

  • Rug firm to roll out red carpet for unsung hero

    FIVE inspirational people are in the running for a day of luxury.Modern Rugs, based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, will roll out the red carpet treatment for the winner of its competition, County Durham’s Unsung Hero.Charities across County Durham

  • Four gold awards for Coxhoe butcher

    A BUTCHER has picked up four gold awards.Coates Butchers, in Coxhoe, County Durham, entered six products for this year’s Smithfield Awards and four won gold – its pork and stuffing chipolata, pork and champagne burger, Christmas bacon and wholemeal steak

  • Two cannabis farms found by police

    DRUGS squad officers have uncovered two suspected drugs farms in the North-East.Police swooped on a cannabis farm near to a primary school in Bowburn, County Durham, and discovered four plants, worth about £5,000, and £3,000 worth of technical equipment.A

  • Ten-year-old cook impresses restaurant critics in TV contest

    A YOUNG chef has proved she can keep a cool head under pressure after impressing restaurant critics in a television contest.Amelie Hunter, ten, from East Harlsey, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire has won through to the final of Junior MasterChef on

  • Police dogs feature in calendar

    A NORTH-East police force’s dogs are the stars of a new calendar.Animal lovers can mark the passing of 2015 with photographs of Durham Constabulary’s canine coppers,Proceeds from the sale of the Paws Up Calendar will go to the Durham Retired Police Dogs

  • Doomed, I tell ye…

    THE Oldie magazine, required reading these days, has a lengthy piece lamenting the demise of star sports writers – “once regarded as the air aces of the circulation war.” It gets yet more worrying. “In football,” writes Matthew Engel, “critics

  • Whistle happy

    MICK Henderson refereed the Over 40s League match between Trimdon Vets and Hartlepool Stag and Monkey (a peculiarly Hartlepudlian coupling) on Saturday morning. In the afternoon he took charge of a Durham University match, together his 41st and

  • Student plumbers help Brownies to mark centenary

    A SNAPSHOT of time has been captured for posterity thanks to student plumbers who wanted to help their local Brownie group.Darlington College students fabricated a time capsule using a plastic pipe after being approached by the local Brownie troupe.To

  • Lest we forget

    Dad At Large usually focuses on the light-hearted side of parenthood. But, in the month of Remembrance, here’s a letter I was asked to read last week at a “Lest We Forget” service at St Mary’s Church, in Norton, near Stockton-on-Tees...December 17th,

  • Adventurer inspires scouts

    STAINDROP scouts were treated to an inspirational talk from adventurer Ian Usher as part of a weekend of events to raise funds to rebuild the village’s Scout and Guide HQ.More than 65 people turned out to see Mr Usher, a former scout from Barnard Castle

  • Cameron deals a blow to devolution hopes

    DAVID Cameron dealt a blow to devolution hopes today (Thursday, November 20) when he ruled out giving the North tax powers – despite extra freedoms heading to Scotland.The prime minister’s stance triggered a furious row with MPs and accusations that he

  • FA chief's appeal over sexist comments dismissed

    THE vice-president of a North-East county FA who told a female referees development officer that "a woman's place is in the kitchen and not on a football field" has lost his appeal against a four-month ban.John Cummings, vice-president of the

  • Broadband boost for Bishop Auckland

    ABOUT 1,000 homes and businesses in the Bishop Auckland area are now benefitting from fibre optic broadband.Coundon, Newfield and Leeholme are just some of the latest areas to benefit from the arrival of the high speed technology, which is part of the

  • School placed in special measures

    A PRIMARY school in north Durham has been placed in special measures after a visit from Government inspectors.Shield Row Primary School, near Stanley, has fallen from the second highest Ofsted rating to the lowest in three years.The school, which has

  • Bollard which killed toddler was in 'pretty bad condition'

    A BOLLARD that toppled over and killed a County Durham toddler at a Scottish agricultural show was in poor condition, a jury heard today. (Thursday, November 20)Construction industry safety expert Peter Cheesman was called to the Royal Highland Showground

  • Trout return to stream

    SEA trout are again spawning in a stream following improvements in water quality and measures to help wildlife.The Cong Burn, a tributary of the River Wear in the Chester-le-Street area, was once polluted by industry.Parts of it had also been modified

  • Councils under pressure over Living Wage

    PRESSURE is growing for councils to adopt the Living Wage, after it emerged no North-East authority has yet done so.Yesterday (Wednesday, November 19), Durham County Council, the biggest in the North-East, announced plans to adopt a “local living wage

  • Steel firm makes major investment in cranes

    TATA'S steel distribution centre at Redcar has invested more than £1.5m in special cranes to improve order turnaround. The refit at the Lackenby Works includes the installation of four 12 tonne overhead travelling cranes from Street Crane Company

  • Warning after chip pan fire

    FIREFIGHTERS have issued a warning after a blaze broke out when a chip pan was left unattended.The fire in a flat in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, on Wednesday, November 12, broke out when the male occupant fell asleep.No-one was hurt but the property

  • Pub's £8k bill for football copyright breach

    A NORTH-East pub has been hit with a bill topping £8,000 for showing Premier League football illegally.The Happy Wanderer, in Durham City, was one of four pubs found guilty of breaching Premier League copyright.The four were banned from making further

  • Police pleased with Durham gun amnesty response

    PUMP-ACTION shotguns, pistols, ammunition and a World War Two semi-automatic rifle were handed in during a gun amnesty.Durham Constabulary gave people in the county the chance to surrender firearms that may have become illegal following a change in the

  • Cruise and country

    THE thought of a cruise complimented by a week of country music sounds an ideal holiday for any country music fan. Following the success of this year’s sold out, inaugural 2014 Country Music Cruise, StarVista LIVE are now making their 2015 Cruise

  • Top folk tradition at Gateshead Sage

    There’s plenty happening around the local folk scene this week, as usual, beginning tonight with some top-rated traditional songs from multi-instrumentalist Steve Turner at Gateshead’s Sage. On Saturday, my Bad Pennies cohort Andy May, along with

  • Brown forced to quit the professional game

    JAMES BROWN, the former Hartlepool United attacker, has been forced to quit professional football. Brown, 27, is leaving Gateshead, where he has been for the last two seasons because of a persistent ankle injury. He was freed by Pools in May 2012

  • O'Grady is still top dog on ITV

    Paul O’Grady: for the Love of Dogs (ITV1, 8.30pm) FOR the third year running Paul O’Grady’s acerbic and always emotional look at lost, abandoned and unwanted dogs at London’s Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is in the running for a National Television

  • Tour de France jerseys to boost charity coffers

    THOUSANDS of miniature jerseys are being given a new lease of life as a lasting reminder of the Tour de France.The tiny jerseys were all hand-knitted and festooned around the Harrogate district to welcome the race when it made its historic Grand Départ

  • Trains supporting Movember with new "mogo"

    A RAIL company has unveiled a temporary new logo on its fleet of trains in support of Movember.Grand Central Rail unveiled its new moustachioed logo - or ‘mogo’ – which is adorning trains running between London, Yorkshire and the North-East until early

  • Georgian-style creations on show at York attraction

    SWEET-TOOTHED historians in York have unveiled a creation which will form the final piece of an impressive Christmas cake display.Renowned food historian Ivan Day has created a centrepiece Twelfth Cake for the city’s Fairfax House's Keeping of Christmas.By

  • Moving visit to grandfather's grave

    THE grandson of a First World War soldier killed in Northern France has spoken of his moving trip to visit his grave.Arthur Wheeler, from Richmond, travelled to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Merville to pay tribute to his grandfather

  • Gifts needed for abandoned dogs

    ABANDONED dogs are hoping for a visit from Santa Claus.Jerry Green Dog Rescue – which has a centre at Catton near Thirsk – has launched its annual shoe box appeal to make Christmas extra special for pooches without a home.Dog lovers are invited to support

  • North-East men living six years more than 20 years ago

    NORTH-East men are living six years longer than 20 years ago, while women can expect to live an extra four years, new figures reveal.Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that average life expectancy rates in the region remain among

  • Phil has lion's share of new role

    Viv Hardwick chats to North-East-born Phil Corbitt about joining The Chuckles Of Oz at Darlington VETERAN TV and stage actor Phil Corbitt is revelling at the prospect of becoming a heroic character in his 15th panto performance, even if it means

  • New theatre show to highlight problem with binge-drinking

    A SHOW that includes real drunken stories submitted by the public is coming to Stockton to highlight the dangers of binge-drinking. Thirsty was developed by Leeds-based theatre The Paper Birds and maps the trial and tribulations of a night out from the

  • 'My 15-year musical stretch'

    Sean Jones talks to Steve Pratt about his long association with Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers SEAN Jones jokes that “the judge says if I behave myself I’ll be out in five years”. He’s being funny, talking about his long-serving time spent not

  • Classical by Gavin Engelbrecht

    WHAT’S ON: John Wilson and the John Wilson Orchestra, Cole Porter plus special guests, at Sage Gateshead, at 3pm and 7.30pm tomorrow (Friday,Nov21) Box office: 0191 443 4661. Reviews: Handel: Messiah (Warner Classics) One of the leading exponents

  • Road signs leading to motorist confusion

    “MISLEADING” signs on the A66 near Stockton mean Teesside drivers have racked up thousands of extra miles, it is claimed.Resurfacing is being carried out by the Highways Agency in both directions on the main artery road close to the Yarm and Eaglescliffe

  • Jazz by Peter Bevan

    WHAT’S ON: Friday, Vasilis Xenopoulis, Travellers Rest, Cockerton, 01325-382676; Sunday (5.30pm), Dean Stockdale Trio, Forum Music Centre, Darlington, 01325-363135; Sunday (8pm), Tim Kliphuis Trio, Witham, Barnard Castle, 01833-631107. CD REVIEWS

  • Mice on the menu

    IT’S great to see village halls offering a little Christmas magic on the doorstep for local children and their families to enjoy. The Mice Who Ate Christmas is a fictional story of how the hymn, Silent Night came to be written by a couple of mice

  • Meet Mr and Mrs Claus

    A magical adventure based exclusively at Whitworth Hall Reindeer Park is set to make Christmas an enchanted experience in County Durham. Highly trained ‘Elf Guides’ are jetting in from the North Pole to take families on a magical adventure that

  • Don't panic! Top Durham cop in Dad's Army remake

    DON’T panic! Don’t panic! One of Durham’s top cops has been called up to help in the remake of a classic comedy.Devoted Dad’s Army fan Ian Butler was recruited as an extra for the Hollywood version of the Seventies TV series currently being shot in East

  • Exports hit manufacturing growth

    UK manufacturing growth remains above average, but sluggish export demand means the recovery has slowed, a report has said.A CBI Industrial Trends Survey revealed expectations for growth in output volumes over the next three months declined to a 13-month

  • Girl lands leading West End role at first audition

    A TEN-YEAR-OLD aspiring actress has taken a huge step to fulfilling her dream after landing a leading role in a West End musical.Connie Fisher, of Northallerton, made her debut in the Victoria Palace Theatre's long-running production of Billy Elliott

  • Students club together to raise cash for Pudsey

    HUNDREDS of students made fundraising a casual affair to raise thousands of pounds for charity.Three schools forming the Northallerton and Catterick Federation combined their efforts swapping uniforms for casual wear in a sponsored event for Children

  • Lack of work on A1 encourages speeding

    WHILE I agree with North Yorkshire's Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick that construction workers on the A1 are entitled to a safe working environment the relevant word here is "working".I have had the misfortune over recent years of having

  • Jackpot joy for lucky winners

    Many dream of winning a big cash prize by playing the lottery. Some even remember to put it on. Gavin Havery meets some who became rich overnight BEFORE he became a millionaire, Andy Garth was sound and lighting technician living in a two bedroom

  • Miserable failure on cheap homes front

    IT will take another 41 years to clear the 12,930-strong waiting list for social housing in County Durham, at the current – miserable – rate of building. But people crammed into damp-ridden flats, or bed and breakfasts, shouldn’t feel too hard

  • Remembering those who have gone missing from home

    A SPECIAL service is to be held next month to remember those from across the north of England who have gone missing from home.The charity Missing People has organised the carol service at St Michael-le-Belfry in York on December 18 at 7pm.Among those

  • Final wishes of fallen soldiers available online

    WILLS of ten First World War soldiers buried alongside each other in the Belgian town of Ypres have been published online.The last wishes of the British servicemen have been made available to commemorate the centenary of the global conflict.They ranged

  • Deal 'will trigger £90m Tees Valley investment'

    A DEAL has been signed to trigger £90m of investment in the Tees Valley and create hundreds of jobs.Local Growth Minister Penny Mordaunt visited the region to officially sanction a Growth Deal at Tees Valley Unlimited Local Enterprise Partnership (TVU

  • Newcastle boss defends his conduct over Gutierrez

    ALAN PARDEW has defended his decision to tell Jonas Gutierrez to look for a new club, insisting the move was motivated purely by “footballing reasons”. Gutierrez is due to return to training with Newcastle United next month after completing his

  • Runners have chance to join Olympian in 5k trail race

    OLYMPIC long jumper Chris Tomlinson will be putting his running shoes on to join nearly 300 runners for a picturesque woodland race this weekend.Keen athletes will have the opportunity to run alongside the Teesside athlete in the Gavin Duffy Memorial

  • Deal saves coal jobs

    COAL bosses say scores of North-East posts have been saved after a deal to rescue a firm from administration. UK Coal Surface Mines Limited has been sold to UKCSMR Limited in a pre-packaged deal after succumbing to falling global coal prices.

  • Bettys' staff fund cow shelter at school

    A CAFE and coffee merchant business is set to fund a shed for rare-breed cows at a school for children with learning difficulties after raising £125,000 in a fundraising drive.Staff at Harrogate-based firm Bettys & Taylors raised more than £62,000 for

  • Photo becomes a permanent reminder of the Tour

    ONE of the winners of a competition to find the best Tour de France cycling snaps is leaving his legacy to his local school. Steven Cooper has donated his winning photograph to the primary and nursery school at Bainbridge in the heart of the Yorkshire

  • Queues begin for Foo Fighters stadium gig

    FANS of American rock giants Foo Fighters will finally get their hands on tickets for their idols' North-East stadium gig tomorrow (Friday, November 21). Queues are expected to build outside the Stadium of Light in Sunderland from this afternoon

  • Farmers urged to help barn owls

    FARMERS are to be encouraged to help barn owls living on their land.The Campaign for the Farmed Environment has organised a free event at the Three Horseshoes Inn, Running Waters, near Durham on Thursday, November 27 starting at 7pm. John Olly will provide

  • Bikers rally round to help send girl on Disneyland trip

    A GROUP of motorcyclists have raised more than £4,500 to send a ten-year-old girl with cancer on a dream trip to Disneyland.Millie Gallant, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, on June 2 this year

  • Oustanding award for Darlington's Pocket Park

    A POCKET Park in Darlington has been honoured by The Royal Horticultural Society and Northumbria in Bloom.Volunteers and members of the South Terrace residents group toiled for weeks to create The Gerald Lee Pocket Park on a small patch of land underneath

  • Banker bonus case rejected

    CHANCELLOR George Osborne's challenge to Europe's cap on banker bonuses faces rejection by the EU Court of Justice after it was dismissed by the court's legal adviser.Ministers argue the rules limiting pay-outs to no more than 200 per cent of basic salary

  • CCTV released in hunt for Darlington bike thief

    POLICE are trying to track down a man they would like to speak to in connection with the theft of three bikes worth £6,000.Darlington police have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to following the theft which took place on Wednesday, October

  • Emission focus fuels chemical firm

    A CHEMICALS company operating North-East plants says changes to pollution control have fuelled its growth.Johnson Matthey revealed its emission technology division saw sales rise seven per cent, with underlying operating profits 25 per cent higher for

  • Keeping youngsters safe when they are out and about

    AN OPTICIAN is ensuring youngsters stay safe – by donating 200 high-visibility vests to a local primary school.Specsavers in Northallerton has given the bright yellow vests to the town’s Alverton primary school to mark the national Road Safety Work.Optical

  • Pools announce ticket prices for FA Cup derby fixture

    HARTLEPOOL UNITED have revealed the ticket prices for their FA Cup second round fixture against Blyth Spartans. Prices for the game, which takes place at Victoria Park on Friday, December 5, will be £20 for adults and £10 for concessions with sales

  • Village suffers 15-hour power cut

    RESIDENTS of a Yorkshire Dales village were left without power for more than 15 hours following a cable fault. Nineteen properties in West Witton, near Leyburn, were affected. The fault occurred shortly before midday on Tuesday and was not

  • Thieves steal £65,000 of chocolate and fudge

    THIEVES in North Yorkshire have stolen £65,000 of chocolate and fudge from a business park. The chocolates were stolen between 2pm on Saturday, November 1 and 6.30am the following day from premises on Hornbeam Park, Harrogate. The thieves stole

  • Hoboken Grill, Darlington

    Chris Webber can’t claim to be cool, but he can tackle a smoke-on-site burger at Darlington’s Hoboken Grill IN my defence, in these trendy burger bars where the young staff are cooler than cool with super-fashionable jeans and chic tops, it can

  • Cream Tees with Carthy

    Helen Brown finds that youth music is a growing force in the Barnard Castle area MARTIN Carthy, one of folk music’s greatest innovators and one of its best loved, will be making a guest appearance at the Witham Hall on Friday, November 28. Carthy

  • Do you fancy a look downstairs?

    THERE'S a fire down below and Jimmy King asks Bob Hope to put it out in Emmerdale (ITV1). That explains why Jimmy is holding out his trousers (he's still wearing them) so that Bob can peer down at his lower regions and inspect the damage to his undercarriage

  • Match Report: Leek Town 0 Spennymoor Town 1

    AN own goal just five minutes from the end put battling Spennymoor Town into the last qualifying round of the FA Trophy at the expense of Leek Town last night. Despite missing three regulars, Moors improved as the game went on, and the winner gives

  • Lancaster denies Farrell nepotism

    Stuart Lancaster denies paternal favouritism has any influence over Owen Farrell's ongoing selection after the Saracens playmaker survived the cull completed by England's head coach. Farrell under-performed in the QBE Internationals against New

  • Airport profits fall

    PRE-TAX profits at an airport headed by a North-East boss have slipped slightly. Gatwick airport, vying with Heathrow to be chosen as the site for a new runway, made a pre-tax profit of £122.4m in the six months ending in September. The figure

  • Gordon savours return despite loss

    CRAIG Gordon's first touch on his Scotland return was to pick Wayne Rooney's header out of the net in a 3-1 defeat by England but he was still delighted to end four years in the international wilderness. The 31-year-old former Sunderland goalkeeper

  • Gray keen to give kids a chance

    While maintaining Darlington’s promotion push remains Martin Gray’s top priority, giving local youngsters a chance to perform at first-team level is also high in the manager’s thinking. Quakers return to league action on Saturday at Heritage Park

  • Wolff hopes for fair title-decider

    Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff fears a "personal nightmare" in Abu Dhabi on Sunday should Lewis Hamilton's Formula One world title dream be blown apart by a mechanical failure.The showdown the sport has been crying out for in light of the

  • Almajid: I'll always be in fear

    A whistleblower who made corruption allegations against the Qatar 2022 World Cup bid claims she will live the rest of her life in fear after receiving threats against her and her children.Phaedra Almajid, who worked for the Qatar 2022 bid team before

  • Samoa: We faced World Cup ban

    Samoa's senior players only agreed to call off boycotting Saturday's England match after claiming to be threatened with expulsion from next year's World Cup.Toulouse prop Census Johnston has revealed Samoa's players received a series of warnings from

  • Dickinson prefers to play on grass

    Scotland prop Alasdair Dickinson does not believe the grass will be greener for international rugby if more Tests are played on artificial surfaces.The Dark Blues will face Tonga at Kilmarnock's Rugby Park on Saturday in the first ever full international

  • Hodgson supportive of Southgate's U21 selection

    England manager Roy Hodgson will not stand in Gareth Southgate's way if he wants to select the likes of Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley or Jack Wilshere for the European Under-21 Championship next summer. When Southgate's Young Lions qualified for

  • FA to meet with fans

    The Football Association plans to meet with England supporters to try to stamp out the inflammatory chanting that tainted Tuesday's match against Scotland at Celtic Park.The FA apologised yesterday after a large section of the 5,000-strong England support

  • Poulter looking to rescue season

    Ian Poulter will look to salvage his season with a first victory for two years in the DP World Tour Championship, a win which would be worth almost as much in lost pride as money. Twelve months ago Poulter arrived in Dubai having bet Henrik Stenson

  • Ramside Hall enters new era with new pros and a new course

    RAMSIDE HALL Hotel and Golf Club has entered a new chapter by opening a championship course and it is believed the right spot has been hit after expanding their golf operations team too.Trainee PGA professionals James Harper and Kieran Ayre have been

  • £23.45m deal completed for Darlington's Lingfield Point

    THE new owner of an award-winning business park has pledged to carry on the work of its predecessor after completing a £23.45m deal. Lingfield Point in Darlington has been sold to a fund managed by Clearbell, an independently-owned private equity

  • Government to demand rail firm replaces hated Pacer trains

    NEW train operators will be tasked with making major improvements to the region's rail network - including replacing the unpopular Pacers, a senior Government official has told rail experts. However, the likelihood of the improvements being paid

  • Karanka has options should defensive duo miss Wigan game

    MIDDLESBROUGH are confident the injuries suffered by Ben Gibson and Kenneth Omeruo on international duty are not serious, but Aitor Karanka is pondering his options ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wigan Athletic. There were fears Boro could be without

  • Tribute festival returns to Bishop Auckland

    A MUSIC festival, featuring some of the world’s biggest tribute acts, will return to the region for a second year.Organisers have relaunched The Wannasee Festival, which takes place at Bishop Auckland Football Club’s Heritage Park stadium, in St Helen

  • Tech firm looks to change face of cosmetic industry

    A TECHNOLOGY firm aims to turn back time in pioneering plans to work on anti-ageing treatment.TeeGene Biotech says it is researching ways of developing a product for the cosmetic industry.The company, a Teesside University spin out, is looking at environmentally-friendly

  • Legal fight continues as Husky claims squatters' rights

    CAMPAIGNERS who tried to help a pensioner who was dragged out of his property in an early morning eviction have lodged a legal complaint with council bosses. John Petch – known as Husky – lived in council-owned outbuildings in Dormanstown, Redcar