The Headline Challenge is played out every weekday between The Northern Echo and BBC Tees. You can play along by following @echopeterbarron and @alibrownlee on Twitter and listening to the live game at 95fm at 7.55am and 8.55am Monday-Friday. Points are awarded by the independent adjudicator (who happens to work for BBC Tees!) with double points awarded for song titles, books, films, and stage shows. This blog will keep you up to date with the challenge as 2014 progresses. BBC Tees won in 2013. The Echo is out for revenge!

January 2: Two women dressed as nuns take part in the New Year dip at Scarborough.

Echo: Let us spray
BBC:  Not for Wimples

The Northern Echo:

January 3: Ice sculptors in Ontario build a working car out of ice.

Echo: Chilly Chilly Bang Bang
BBC: Ice Cold in A Lexus


RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 8, BBC 1


January 6: A woman in Kuwait divorces her husband after just a week because he won’t use a fork to eat his peas.

Echo: Give peas a chance
BBC: Un-pea-sonable behaviour

January 7: Brothers Trevor, Connor and Austin Bartz spend 95 hours building a 16-foot snow shark outside their house in Minnesota.

The Northern Echo:

Echo: Thaws
BBC: Great white shark

January 8: Japanese footballer Shunsuke Nakamura becomes an internet hit by taking a free-kick which knocks the bride and groom figurines off a wedding cake.

Echo: Goalie matrimony
BBC: Here comes the ball

January 9: Delivery man Rick Mimms makes a name for himself in Norfolk by creating works of art in the dirt on the side of his white van.

Echo: Muckleangelo
BBC:  Where there’s muck there’s Monet

January 10: Puppy called Zeus chews through a can of deodorant, leaves it near a gas fire, and blows up a house in Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire.

Echo: Dyna-mutt 
BBC: Hound of the Blastervilles

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo10, BBC 5

 

January 13:  A house goes up for sale in Teddington, London - the only drawback is that the former owners are buried in the garden.

Echo: Cemetery detached 
BBC: Dead res

January 14: Thousands of commuters travel in their underwear for the annual “No trousers on the Underground” day.

Echo: Knicker-dilly Circus
BBC: Going Undie Ground

January 15: James Hutcheon, 17, of Basingstoke, is so addicted to sprouts, he eats them every day, including with fish and chips.

Echo: Sproutrageous
BBC: All a-sprout the boy

January 16: Romantic Michael Benson proposes to girlfriend Ana Rawls as they swim with sharks off Mexico.

Echo: Jaws the one that I want
BBC: Great white wedding

January 17: MPs are sent letters urging them to measure their waistlines amid fears they are setting an unhealthy example.

Echo: Roly poly-ticians
BBC: MPs' expanses

The Northern Echo:

January 20: German farmer advertises in his local paper for a wife and gets so many replies he can't get on with his work.

Echo: Pick of the crop
BBC: Love on the crops

January 21: Star Trek fan Line Rainville spends a fortune converting her house in Quebec into a replica of the star ship Enterprise.

Echo: No space like home
BBC: The final front door

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 15, BBC 10

January 22: Peruvian artist Pascual Mimbela makes a name for himself by painting masterpieces under water.

Echo: Leonardo Dive-in-ci
BBC: Water way to make Monet

January 23: A workman begins a four-month task of repairing lightning damage to the right hand of the statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro.

Echo: Right-hand man
BBC: Handyman of God

January 24: TV reporter Kate Amara is in the middle of a live broadcast about snowstorms sweeping across Baltimore when a man in a pantomime horse outfit wanders into view.

Echo: Trot The Nine O'Clock News
BBC: News-neigh-t

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 15, BBC 10

January 27: Scotsman Ian Blake starts a bomb scare at Birmingham Airport but the “suspect package” in his bag turns out to be a haggis.

Echo: Auld bang syne
BBC: Och the boom

January 28: German lottery winner Angela Maier flushes her winnings of 400,000 Euros down the toilet.

Echo: Cash in the pan
BBC: Flushing the cash

January 29: Methane gas from 90 flatulent cows explodes and blows the roof off a German barn.

Echo: Farmageddon
BBC: Hans fresian booms-a-daisy

The Northern Echo:

January 30: A drunk man falls through the roof of a London pet shop and lands in a fish tank.

Echo: Tanked up
BBC: On the splash

January 31: More than 500 Britons apply for a place in the UK team taking part in the World Naked Sledging Championships in Germany.

Echo: Cold medallists
BBC: Bits and bobsleigh

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 19, BBC 15

February 3: George, the golden labrador, becomes an internet hit because of his love of watching tennis on TV.

Echo: Rrrruffa Nadal
BBC: Game, set and scratch

The Northern Echo:

 

February 4: Sweethearts Tricia Snider and Tom Watson get married at a bacon festival in Iowa.

Echo: Fried and groom
BBC: From rasher with love

February 5:  Dating expert John Stonehill  predicts the outcome of relationships by examining pictures showing the contents of a suitor’s fridge.

Echo: Two’s company, freezer crowd
BBC: Love me for a freezin’

February 6: Police in China are called to a “domestic assault” at a house in Maine, only to discover the screams are coming from a pig having the time of his life after being put in a pen out the back with five sows.

Echo: Sexual Squealing
BBC: Feeling ham-orous

The Northern Echo:

 

February 7: A burglar breaks into a fishing tackle shop in Minnesota but is scared off by Billy, the mechanical singing fish who breaks into a rendition of Take Me To The River.

Echo:  Crook, line and singer
BBC: Scales of justice

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 17, BBC 19

February 10: Prisoners at a French jail make a CD after an X Factor-style talent contest.

Echo: Rock and parole
BBC: Criminal record

February 11: Thirty brass door knockers are stolen from a Manchester street by scrap metal thieves.

Echo: Nicker knocker doory
BBC: Rat-a-tat-scrap

February 12: An orchestra in Vienna plays instruments made out of vegetables.

Echo: The Nutcracker Swede
BBC: The Last Night of the Toms

February 13: London’s first dog cafe is to open in Shoreditch in the spring.

Echo: Scone to the dogs
BBC: Bone appétit

February 14: The curator of the mima art gallery proposes to his girlfriend with a ring from an exhibitor at the Middlesbrough venue.

Echo: Don’t go breaking my art
BBC:  Will you marry mima?

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo, 20 BBC 24

February 17: German woman takes her horse into her home for shelter during the winter storms - but he gets so comfy he doesn't want to leave.

Echo: Horse-pitality
BBC: Don't over-neigh your welcome

February 18: A love-struck prisoner in Arizona scales a wall and crawls through razor-wire to see his sweetheart on Valentine’s Day before being recaptured.

Echo: The date escape
BBC:  Love on the run

February 19: MPs decided to plug gaps in insulation at Westminster with traditional sheep fleeces.

Echo: House of baa-liament
BBC: Woollyback-benchers

February 20: Artist Prudence Staite develops a speciality for creating sculptures of famous landmarks out of chips and mushy peas.

Echo: The Taty Modern
BBC: The Turner Fries

February 21: A cleaner working at a gallery in Italy throws away valuable artworks, including a creative arrangement of broken biscuits, because she thought it was a pile of rubbish.

Echo: You’ve bin framed
BBC: Custard scream

The Northern Echo:

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo, 25 BBC 26

February 24: A football match in Argentina is delayed after a dog runs on the pitch and answers the call of nature in the penalty area.

Echo: Foul in the box
BBC: Messi’s in the box

February 25: A travel company advertises a submarine for hire for £175,000 a night for lovers who want a night of passion on the sea bed.

Echo: How deep is your love?
BBC: A life on the ocean way-hey-ve!

February 26: A boxing club in Redcar doubles up as a venue for stand-up comedy gigs.

Echo: What's the punchline?
BBC: Bout of laughter

February 27: Newly-weds pose for wedding photographs while wearing gas masks to highlight smog lovels in Beijing.

Echo: Wheezy lover
BBC: Fog richer, fog poorer

March 1: Captain Birdseye is retired after nearly 50 years as the face of the fish finger adverts.

Echo: Bye bye Cap'n
BBC: Feet up me hearties

The Northern Echo:

March 2: Chloe, the pet rabbit, has to be rescued by firefighters after a freak gust of wind sucks her up the chimney of a house in Manchester.

Echo: Hot cross bunny
BBC: Feeling hop, hop hop

The Northern Echo: The Headline Challenge 2014

March 4: A Jack Russell puppy called Betty Boop recovers after a 12-mile journey trapped under a car bonnet.

Echo: The bitch-hiker’s ride
BBC: Car-jack

March 5: Golfers playing the toughest hole in the world in South Africa can only reach the mountain-top tee by helicopter.

Echo: Birdie-eye view
BBC: Where eagles dare

March 6: A bird carrying a cigarette back to its nest is blamed for starting a fire at a block of flats in London.

Echo: Tower-wing inferno
BBC: Arson-nest

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo, 29 BBC 39

March 10: A man has to be rescued after getting trapped down a sewer in Oklahoma while chasing a lost $20 bill.

Echo: The grate escape
BBC: Financial drain

March 11: A dog called Northern Echo becomes a Crufts champion.

Echo: Pedigree newshound
BBC: Every dog has its daily

The Northern Echo:

 

March 12: A terrier called Charlie licks poison off a garage floor but vets come to the rescue by realising that the only cure is large quantities of vodka.

Echo: Rover the limit
BBC: Sloshed puppy

March 13: Mohammed Rasid breaks the world record by cracking 155 walnuts in a minute with his head.

Echo: The Nutcracker Feat
BBC: I walnut fail

March 14: Charlie the North Yorkshire parrot wins a part in a pirate show at Legoland.

Echo: Parrot of the Caribbean
BBC: Squawk the plank

The Northern Echo:

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo, 37 BBC 40

March 17: Retired police inspector Bill Bentham opens a coffee shop in Middlesbrough.
Echo: Copper-ccino
BBC: The thin brew line

March 18: British couple Kat and Steven Turner complete an epic honeymoon – a 20,000 mile journey round the world on a tandem.

Echo: Here comes the ride
BBC:  Spoke-n for

March 19: Boxers Adrian Firkins and Ricky Welsby finish a bout – and then propose to their girlfriends from inside the ring.

Echo: Glove me do
BBC: In the wed corner

March 20: A Tibetan mastiff puppy sells for £1.2m in China to become the world’s most expensive dog.

Echo: Rover-priced
BBC: Mastiff price

March 21: County Durham bride-to-be loves crisps so much she has a wedding dress made out of crisp packets.

Echo: Weddy salted
BBC: Cheese and union 

The Northern Echo:

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo, 40 BBC 45

March 24: A restaurant opens in India on the site of an old cemetery.

Echo: Come dyin' with me 
BBC: One foot in the gravy

March 25: The world sheep shearing championships in Ireland are in doubt because of a shortage of shaggy sheep.

Echo: Your country needs ewe!
BBC: Sheep deprived

The Northern Echo:

 

March 26: Student Melissa North, 22, of Kent, can’t walk past a deli counter without having a panic attack due to a cheese phobia.

Echo: Edam-sel  in distress
BBC: Things can only get Feta

March 27: A job is advertised for a polar bear spotter in Siberia.

Echo: Ice little earner
BBC: Arctic role

March 28: A dog called Sophie accidentally calls the emergency services while playing with her owner's phone.

Echo: Canine nine nine
BBC:  The long arm of the paw

April 1: A man persuades his girlfriend to join him on a 15,000-ft sky-dive and then proposes when they land on a romantic Australian beach.

Echo: In descent proposal
BBC: Taking the plunge

April  2:  A public restaurant opens inside Brixton Prison.

Echo: Jailhouse rock cakes
BBC: Under lock and quiche

April 3: A Yemeni man divorces his wife for snoring too much.

Echo: Snooze sorry now
BBC: D.I.V.O.R.Zzzzzz.E

April  14: A businessman angry at the latest Royal Mail price increase hires a flock of pigeons to deliver packages to customers.

Echo: Coo-rier service
BBC: Coo got mail

The Northern Echo:

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo, 44 BBC 49

April 7: A passenger jet makes an emergency landing after a cargo of 390 cows sets off the fire alarms.

Echo:  Jetmoo.com
BBC: Grounded beef

April 8: Police are called out to a “burglary in Massachusetts – but the intruder turns out to be a duck.

Echo: I’m innocent mallard
BBC: Robber ducky

The Northern Echo:

 

April 9: A man walks into Elm Ridge Garden Centre in Darlington and runs off with a £70 carp under his coat.

Echo: It's a fair carp
BBC: Scales of justice

The Northern Echo:

 

April 10: A prankster in Norfolk County in the US is charged by police after puutting a skunk in a man's car, causing thousands of pounds of damage.

Echo: Road to smell 
BBC: Scent down

April 11: A Chinese man builds his son a fully-working tank for his sixth birthday.

Echo: Tanks a million
BBC:  Found out in the morning on BBC Tees (95fm)

 

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo, 49 BBC 54

 

April 14: A mobile ice cream man has his “ding-a-ling” chimes stolen.

Echo: Ring chime-stoppers
BBC: Nicker-bell-a-glory

April 15: Fund-raiser Tony The Fridge announces his retirement after back-to-back London marathons.

Echo: No more Mister Ice Guy
BBC: Freezer jolly good fellow

The Northern Echo:

 

April 16: County and western fan has his record player seized by a court for playing songs too loudly.

Echo: All quiet on the western front
BBC: Stand by your ban

April 17: TV channel gets teams of lambs to play football matches in a bid to predict Premier League results over Easter.

Echo: Aran Shearer
BBC: They think it's wool over

April 22: A scuba diver dressed as the easter bunny organises an underwater egg hunt.

Echo: Watership drown
BBC: Glugs bunny

April 23: A cow and a bull are married in a lavish ceremony in India.

Echo: Happily heifer after
BBC: Moo-ly weds

April 24: Football fans are spooked by a “ghost” which appears to be haunting a stadium in Bolivia.

Echo: Ghoul of the month
BBC: The spirit of the game

April 25: The Reduced Shakespeare Company breaks a world record by performing the works of The Bard at 37,000 feet.

Echo: A Midsummer Flight’s Dream
BBC: Shakes on a plane

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo,52 BBC 58

April 28: Traffic is brought to a standstill in Madrid when a motorcyclist goes in search of his false teeth which flew out when he sneezed.

Echo: Sneezy rider
BBC:  Yamah-atishoo

The Northern Echo:

 

April 29: A Chinese woman is lauded as a national treasure for devoting her life to swatting flies.

Echo: Simply the pest
BBC: Swat's the story earning glory

April 30: Motoring enthusiast Steve Bainbridge, who lives in Michigan, spends £15,000 converting a car into a driveable banana.

Echo: Peels on wheels
BBC: Fruit of the zoom

May 1: Police commandeer golf buggies to round up hooligans who had run off across a golf course in Stanley, County Durham.

Echo: It's a fair(way) cop
BBC: Par for the force

May 2: A dog in China, called Duoduo, is hailed as a maths genius after being filmed barking out the answers to mental arithmetic questions.

Echo: Pedigree sum
BBC: Pywagoruff

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo,58 BBC 62

May 6: Baby Arlo Roache becomes the world’s youngest football fan after he is taken to see Torquay United play 30 minutes after he is discharged from hospital – and he sleeps through the match.

Echo: Fan-babby-dozy
BBC:  We’ll support you ever snore

May 7: A restaurant in Melbourne delivers customers' sandwiches by plastic parachute.

Echo: Panninis from heaven
BBC: Ciabatta believe it

May 8: Roger Federer celebrates the birth of twin boys – four years after wife Mirka had twin girls.

Echo: Mixed doubles
BBC: Two sets to love

 

The Northern Echo:

 

May 9: A US company offers bereaved families the chance to have their loved ones’ ashes put into a bullet.

Echo: Gun but not forgotten
BBC: Going out with a bang

May 12: Murphy, the Labrador, scoffs £400 his owners have saved for a holiday in Spain. They get it back when nature takes its course.

Echo: Cash in hound
BBC:  Flush puppy

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo,65 BBC 65

May 13: Shakey Jakey, the world’s fastest greyhound, is retired after one race because he’s too valuable at stud.

Echo: Running in the family
BBC:  From race to eternity

May 14: A cafe for ornithologists opens in Tokyo, where customers can have a drink and snack while interacting with birds.

Echo:  Starlingbucks
BBC:  Nestcafe

May 15: Paul Emerson, from Middlesbrough, proposes to girlfriend Sheila Collins at Thirsk races.

Echo: Bridle and groom
BBC: Getting down on one neigh

May 16: Singer Morrissey is in talks over a part in The Archers.

Echo:  This farming man
BBC: Moo-rissey

May 19: A bathroom company comes up with a unique FA Cup Final souvenir for Hull City fans - a toilet seat in the club’s colours.

Echo: Loo-sers!
BBC: Hullaba-loo

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo,68 BBC 68

May 20: Billy, the Jack Russell, helps his disabled owner with the household chores, including emptying the washing machine.

Echo: Home yelp
BBC: Dogsbody

May 21: Artist Quentin Devin carves portraits of famous footballers out of Brazil nuts.

Echo: Malcolm Crackdonald
BBC: Nut Lofthouse

 

The Northern Echo:

 

May 22: France's national rail company orders 2,000 trains which are too big for the platforms.

Echo: Ticket too wide
BBC: Too Large Le Track

Click here to listen this week's Headline Challenge

May 27: Lawyer swaps his luxury home and six-figure salary to work as a human cannonball in a travelling circus.

Echo: Bang on the money
BBC: No wings, no fee

May 28: A man trying to get into his ex-wife’s house in California is heard sobbing after getting stuck down the chimney and having to be rescued by firefighters.

Echo: Sooty and weep
BBC: Stuck in the middle with flue

May 29: To mark the World Cup, The Northern Echo launches a competition to find the region's best footballing pet.

Echo: They think it's all Rover - it is bow wow!
BBC: Kennel Dog-leash

The Northern Echo:

May 30: Comedian Patrick Monaghan (below) is to perform a stand-up routine on the "comedy train" between Darlington and London to promote the Darlington Comedy Festival.

Echo: Do the joke-o-motion
BBC: Mind the gag

 

The Northern Echo:

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 72, BBC 73

June 2: A new curry restaurant opens in an old passenger jet parked at an airfield in Leicestershire.

Echo: Jalfr-Easy Jet
BBC: Plane nan

June 3: An inflatable church goes on the market as a wedding venue.

Echo: Love is in the air
BBC: I now bounce you man and wife

June 4:  Busy mum eventually gets round to checking lottery ticket stuck to fridge for three weeks and finds she’s won £1.2m.

Echo: Ice little earner (1)
Tees: Cool winnings (2)

June 5:
Woman makes emergency call to police over the lack of sprinkles on top of her ice cream.
Echo: Call Ninety-nine nine (2)
Tees: Breach of cone-tract (3)

June 6: A zoo worker wearing a gorilla suit for a practice drill in Tenerife is accidentally shot with a tranquiliser dart because no one told the vet it wasn’t for real.

Echo: Oooh-oooh-ah-ah!
BBC: Primate suspect

June 9:  A guinea pig, nicknamed Randy, escapes from his pen at a Warwickshire animal sanctuary and impregnates 100 females during a love rampage.
Echo: The Mate Escape
BBC: Papa New Guinea Pig

 

The Northern Echo:

 

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 74, BBC 80

 

June 10: A swimming pool especially for dogs opens in Barcelona.
Echo: Splash-hounds
BBC: Pool-dle parlour

June 11: A man called Philip Thorne wins the world nettle-eating championships.
Echo: Sting when you’re winning
BBC: Cheese and prickle

June 12: A fireman uses dry ice in a friend’s garage to create a fake fire before proposing to his policewoman girlfriend in Houston.
Echo: Love me tender
BBC: Ring of fire

June 13: A piano-playing pig becomes an internet sensation.
Echo: Pork chopsticks
BBC: Play it again, Ham

June 16: A man is arrested in the US Open course after driving a golf buggy over a policeman’s foot.

Echo: Crash course
BBC:  Nicked Faldo

RUNNING TOTAL:  Echo 74, BBC 80

June 17: A restaurant opens next to a waterfall in the Philippines, ensuring that diners get soaked as they eat.
Echo:  Wet your appetite
BBC: Mouthwatering

June 18: England fan Fran Sheridan, of Worcester, teaches his pet parrot, called Slipmatt, World Cup songs and chants.

Echo: You'll never squawk alone
BBC: You're not singing any macaw

June 19: Charlie, the shih tzu, who lives in Middlesbrough, has his hair dyed red, white and blue in time for the World Cup.
Echo: England till I dye
BBC: Every dog has its dye

The Northern Echo:

June 20: A naked woman trying to get an all-over tan in Vienna dangles her legs and bottom out of a third-floor window and causes a traffic pile-up.

Echo: Flash, prang, wallop
BBC: Tan go and crash

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 79, BBC 85

June 23: A funfair advertises for a phantom to scare people on the ghost train - but gets no takers.
Echo:  Head-haunted
BBC: Job-freakers

June 24: A couple have their wedding blessed beneath the lamp-post where they have their first kiss.
Echo:  Love at first light
BBC:  A shine romance

June 25: American Sean O’Connor is struck by lightning in Atlanta and has his shoes blown off.

Echo: Sole survivor
BBC: Bolt from the shoe

June 26:  A shopping mall in Shanghai installs World Cup urinals in the gents toilet which allows users to score goals into miniature nets by aiming at a ball.

Echo: U-bend it like Beckham
BBC: Back of the netty

June 27:  A fundraiser plans to push sprouts up Mount Snowdon with his nose to raise funds for cancer research.

Echo:  Aint no sproutin’ high enough
BBC:  Sprout to the top

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 83, BBC 92

June 30:  An overweight police horse in Oregon called Murphy goes on a diet and gallops off to catch his first criminal.

Echo:  Charge of the lighter brigade
BBC:  Murphy’s Law

July 1:  Niccki Donohoe, 37, from Sheffield, makes a fortune as Britain’s top leg model.

Echo: The thigh’s the limit
BBC: Pin money

July 2: A butcher in Ripon heralds the arrival of the Tour De France in Yorkshire by creating a bicycle made from pies, sausage rolls, chipolatas, and black pudding.

Echo: Wheel meat again
BBC: I want to ride my pie-cycle

The Northern Echo:

July 3: An attempt is to be made to break the world record for the fastest jacuzzi, created out of a converted Cadillac.

Echo: Bubble car
BBC: I’ve been driving in my spa

July 4: Sheep in a field near Harrogate are fitted with video cameras to capture film of the Tour de France riders flying past.

Echo: Ewe Tube
BBC: Ewe've been framed.

The Northern Echo:

July 7: A drunk man scales an 80ft crane in Bury to sing to passers-by.

Echo: Drunk hits high notes
BBC: Singing in the crane, just singing in the crane...

July 8: An American pet shop owner vows to live on dog food for a month.

Echo: Pedigree chomp
BBC: Doggy brag

July 9: Bertie the tortoise, from Durham, bids to set a world speed record.

Echo: Like a Bert out of shell
BBC: Revved up reptile

The Northern Echo:

July 10: A chef is forced to leave his job after developing leguminophobia - a fear of baked beans.

Echo: Has bean 
BBC: Beanz meanz screamz

July 13: The Mayor of a Mexican fishing marries a crocodile in a traditional ceremony to bring luck to local fishermen.

Echo: Snappily ever after
BBC: Down the aisle, crocodile

July 14: A Far Eastern firm buys Pizza Express in a £900m deal.

Echo: Chinese takeaway
BBC: The Orient Express

July 15: A ghost is filmed, apparently watching a World Cup match, at a pub in Bolton.

Echo: Ghoul of the month
BBC: Four-four-boo

July 16: A 28-year-old woman in America fails her driving theory test a record 110 times.

Echo: Flop gear
BBC: The Big Prang Theory

July 17: Couple in Shrewsbury have Harry Potter-themed wedding.

Echo: You're the wand that I want.
BBC: Quid-hitched

July 18: Piano-playing dog in Russia becomes an internet sensation.

Echo: 1812 Roverture
BBC: Woofgang Amadeus

July 21: More than 6,000 charity runners take part in the Color Run in Sunderland, getting covered in paint as the complete the 5k course.

Echo:  Going for a matt finish
BBC:  Running through the paint barrier

The Northern Echo:

July 22: A boy, aged five, is crowned the world snail racing champion.

Echo: Ready, steady l’escargot
BBC:  Usnail bolt

July 23: A Spanish football team, CD Lugo, strike a sponsorship deal with a brewery and have their shirts designed like pints of beer.

Echo:  Real ale Madrid
BBC: San Mi-goal

July 24: A hiker is rescued by firemen in Austria after he is trapped in a cattle grid for three hours and yodels the alarm.

Echo:  Moo-dini
BBC: When I’m calling moo-ooo-ooo

July 25: A bride is given away by a giant duck which is the mascot of her late father’s favourite American football team.

Echo:  Feather of the bride
BBC:  Your ring, mallard

July 28: Former world boxing champion David Haye presents the world's first weather forecast for dogs.

Echo: Downpaws
BBC: The Mutt Office

July 29: Man is arrested in North Colorado for drink driving while in charge of a lawn-mower.

Echo: Half-cut
BBC: Tipsy turfy

July 30: Pub landlord finds his lost watch when the alarm rings to remind him its last orders and he hears it inside his dog Charlie’s stomach.

Echo: Clocker spaniel
BBC:  Yappy hour

July 31: Police officers, on their way to a fancy dress party in Coventry as a zebra and a monkey, arrest a yob in a supermarket.

Echo: Law of the jungle
BBC: Jungle booked

August 1: A farm in Burton-on-Trent announces a bid to break the world record number of scarecrows.

Echo: Who scares wins
BBC: Outstanding in their field

The Northern Echo:

 

August 4:  A company in Houston offers dog owners the chance to have the ashes of their dead pets blasted into space.

Echo: Rover the moon
BBC: Extra-terrier-estrial

August 5:  Thirty babies take part in the annual “Diaper Derby” in New York – a race in which parents use cuddly toys to encourage their babies to complete a short course.

Echo:  Nappy rush
BBC:  The winner takes it crawl

August 6: A man is spotted driving through Brazil with a horse in the passenger seat of his car.

Echo: High-neigh code
BBC: Sat nag

The Northern Echo:

August 7: A couple on safari in South African national park have a narrow escape when a bull elephant uses their VW hatchback to scratch an itch.

Echo: Itch-hiker
BBC:  Itchy zoo park

August 8: A man is fined for pretending to be a ghost in a Portsmouth cemetery by waving his arms and going “woooo”.

Echo: Ghost busted
BBC: The Phantom Menace

August 11: Nine sheep take part in a Shakespeare production at a theatre in Sussex.

Echo: To bleat or not to bleat (0)
BBC: Et ewe Brute (1)

August 12: Newly-weds and their guests carry on dancing at a wedding reception in a teepee tent after Hurricane Bertha floods the dance-floor.

Echo: Do the hokey soaky
BBC: Splashdance

August 13: A painter and decorator wins £7m on the lottery.

Echo:  The jackpot of paint 
BBC: The colour of money 

August 14: A man makes a name for himself at a musical festival in Cambridge by singing and playing a guitar from inside a litter bin.

Echo: You’ve bin a great audience
BBC:  Sting of the dump

August 15: A Doctor Who-themed restaurant opens in New York.
Echo: Dalek bread
BBC: Gallifrey up

The Northern Echo:

 

August 18: A man robs a bank in Illinois while stark naked.

Echo: Flash and grab
BBC:  The Naked Gun

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 97, BBC 124

August 19: A man plays fetch with his dog on an Essex beach, not realising he’s throwing a Second World War grenade.

Echo: The Hound of the Blastervilles
BBC:  Blastardly and Muttley

The Northern Echo:

 

August 20: Masked raiders break into a pound shop in Birmingham and steal a load of shampoo.

Echo:  Dandruff justice
BBC:  Schwarzkopf and robbers

August 21: Northern Echo editor Peter Barron endures the Ice Bucket Challenge in aid of Motor Neurone Disease.

Echo: Cold the front page
BBC: News splash

The Northern Echo:

August 22: The world’s oldest wing-walker, Tom Lackey, 94, prepares for his 33rd air-show

Echo: The oldest winger in town
BBC: Gerry-air-tricks

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 104, BBC 128

August 26: A sprightly woman in her 80s receives a letter from her pension provider, informing her that she’s dead.

Echo:  The last post
BBC: Dead letter day

August 27: The New Zealand All Blacks are to use Darlington as their base for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Echo: All Black Magic
BBC:  Try-umph!

The Northern Echo:

August 28: A mother expecting to endure the ice bucket challenge at a farm in Somerset is sprayed with slurry by prankster relatives.

Echo: Who’s slurry now?
BBC: “I’m slurry – that’s not very ice.”

August 29: A panda called Ai Lin cons keepers into thinking she’s pregnant so she gets extra buns, bamboo shoots, fruit and better living quarters.

Echo: Pandamonimum
BBC:  Bamboozled

September 1: A roofer, called Andrew Wilcox, becomes an internet hit after showing off his rooftop dance routines.

Echo:  Jiggler on the roof
BBC:  Slate to the rhythm

September 2:  A car mechanic called Colin Meyrick gives the ice bucket challenge a new slant by having 30 litres of motor oil poured over himself.

Echo: Fuel if you think it’s over
BBC: Oil in a good cause

September 3:  A family go for a curry in Stockton and believe they’ve seen the face of their dead grandmother in a naan.

Echo:  Back from the bread
BBC:  Nan bread

September 4:  A woman who stole a white cow in Peru tries to cover up her crime by painting black spots on the animal.

Echo: Moo-dunnit?
BBC: Camoooflage

September 5:  A Great Dane in Oregon needs an operation after eating 43 socks.

Echo: That’s some feet
BBC:  Darn that dog!

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 111, BBC 131

September 8: A groom upsets his bride-to-be in Kenya by turning up for their wedding in a Manchester United shirt.

Echo:  Goalie matrimony
BBC: Wed devils

September 9: A German waiter has broken the world record by carrying 27 glasses full of beer in one go.

Echo: A glass act 
BBC:  Wunderbar!

September 10: Tetley’s advertise the chance to go around the world as a trainee tea-buyer, tasting 500 brews a day.

Echo: The sip of a lifetime
BBC: A whole brew world

The Northern Echo:

 

 

September 11: A football team in Brazil powers its own floodlights by playing on a pitch made of hich-tech tiles which convert their energy into electricity.

Echo: Here we glow, here we glow, here we glow
BBC: Striker light

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 113, BBC 136

September 15: Emily Keat, 19, becomes Britain’s first professional mermaid.

Echo: Pro-fish-ional
BBC: Splash the cash

September 16: A Dachshund called Riley completes a 13,000-ft sky-dive with his owner.

Echo:  Walkies in the air
BBC:  Paw-dropping feat

September 17:  Bride Amanda Cooke finally has her first dance a year after she broke her leg at a roller-skating hen party and having to go down the aisle in a wheelchair.

Echo: Better skate than never
BBC: Save the cast dance for me

September 18: A naked skier lands awkwardly during a somersault and suffers ice burns to his bottom.

Echo:  Ski who bares winces
BBC: A crack in the ice

September 19:  An orchestra playing instruments made out of rubbish is to play at Darlington’s Festival of Thrift.

 Echo: Bohemian Scrap-sody
BBC: Jumping Jack Trash

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 116, BBC 142

September 22: Golfer Andy Sullivan hits a hole-in-one at a tournament in Amsterdam and wins a trip to space.

Echo: Par trek
BBC: Fairway to heaven

September 23: A charity “Nun Run” is to be staged in Darlington to promote Darlington Operatic Society’s production of Sister Act.

Echo: The Great North Run
BBC: Blister Act

The Northern Echo:

 

September 24: The Lion King becomes the biggest box office hit of all time.

Echo: A roaring success
BBC: The Lion Kerrching!

 

 

The Northern Echo:

 

September 25:  A man has his amputated leg turned into a lamp and tries to flog it on eBay.

Echo: Light on his feet
BBC: Twinkle toes

September 26:  A man called Bob Dyer is named the UK’s “Embalmer of the Year” at The Ideal Death Show.

Echo: Stiff competition (2)
BBC:  Dead good (9)

September 29: A man digging in his garden discovers an ugle medieval gargoyle which sells for £1,000.

Echo: Nice little gurner
BBC: Ugly mug haul.

September 30: A drunken student gets stuck in a tree.

Echo: Trunk and disorderly
BBC: Universi-tree Challenge

October 1:  A farewell party is thrown at Bristol Zoo to mark the departure of a gorilla.

Echo: Leaving do-oo-oo
BBC: Kong but not forgotten

October 2: A dog recovers after falling  into a vat of boiling tar.

Echo: Bark from the dead
BBC: Rex appeal

October 3: The world’s first musical highway opens in the US, with “rumble strips” playing drivers a tune.

Echo: Sing of the road
BBC:  Music to my gears

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 118, BBC 151

October 6: A man, aged, 76, is rescued by fire-fighters in Malaysia after climbing a coconut tree to escape his wife’s nagging

Echo: Driving me nuts
BBC:  Enough’s e-nut

October 7: The world milking championships in Italy are hit by allegations that the top three cows were doped.

Echo: Teats don’t prosper
BBC: The moo-er the merrier

October 8: A woman claims a world record after covering a car in human hair.

Echo:  Thatchback
BBC:  Vidal Saloon

October 9: Runners in as marathon in Indiana have a close call when the course leads them over a busy railway line.

Echo: Runner-way train
BBC: Sprinter City

October 10: A runaway horse walks into a police station in Cheshire.

Echo: Clippity cop
BBC: It's a mare cop

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 119, BBC 156

October 13: A man in the Philippines misses out on a 12 million Peso lottery win after his daughter irons his crumpled ticket and burns it.

Echo:  Flat broke
BBC:  Crumpled-still-skint

October 14: The world’s biggest firework, weighing 460kg, goes off in Japan.

Echo: Fuse the Daddy?
BBC: The Big Bang

The Northern Echo:

October 16: William, the cockerel, is served with an ASBO in Derbyshire for crowing too loudly in the mornings.

Echo: Pecking order
BBC:  Cock-au-ban

October 17: A North Yorkshire food bank is flooded with tins of baked beans so makes a 2 for 1 offer for other food items.

Echo: Wind of change
BBC:  Parp exchange

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 122, BBC 161

October 20: A vampire-slaying kit goes up for auction.

Echo: Fangs a lot
BBC: Salem’s Lot 

The Northern Echo:

October 21: A cemetery in Illinois stages a 5k fun run to entice new customers.

Echo:  Dead-heat
BBC:  Dashes to ashes

October 22: A London fast food firm puts the first burger and chips into space using a giant balloon.

Echo: Unidentified frying object
BBC:  Listen in on 95fm in the morning.

October 23: A London fast food firm puts the first burger and chips into space using a giant balloon.

Echo: Unidentified frying object
BBC:  Astro-nom-ical (no we don’t get it either)

October 23: The final wish of a headmaster in Romania is for his skeleton to be donated to his old school’s biology lab.

Echo: Skull’s out
BBC:  Skeleton staff

October 24: A Scottish wedding fair in Glasgow features a wedding dress made out of thistles.

Echo: Getting itched.
BBC: With thistle ring.

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 125, BBC 170

October 25-Nov 1: Headline Challenge holiday.

November 2:  Fred the cockatoo receives a telegram from The Queen after reaching 100.

Echo: Flappy birthday
BBC: Caw blimey

November 4: A national contest is held to find the fastest person at solving the Rubik’s Cube – with their feet.

Echo: Cubic feet
BBC: Two deft feet

The Northern Echo:

 

November 5: A fire officer in Florida is forced to resign after an anonymous video is sent to his bosses showing him having steamy affairs in the fire station.

Echo: Hose sorry now
BBC: You’ve been flamed

November 6: An accountant smashes his car to bits with an axe because it won’t start and makes him late for work.

Echo: Chop, chop, you’re late
BBC: Accounting the cost

November 7: A farmer pays tribute to his dead sheepdog, Floss, by gaving his car a makeover, with black and white fur.

Echo: Bark-seat driver
BBC: Paw-wheel drive

November 10:  Farmer Dave Watson takes part in a photo-shoot for a naked calendar and ends up running across a field in only his wheels as he chases an escaped cow.

Echo: Doing a mooo-nie
BBC: Rawhide

November 11: Chinese artist makes a name for himself by painting with his tongue.

Echo: Lick-asso
BBC: Taste modern

November 12:  Police officer goes under-cover in a Donald Duck outfit to catch motorists who didn’t slow down at a pedestrian crossing.

Echo: The old bill
BBC:  Duckin’ and drivin'

November 13: Thief is caught after trying to escape from a DIY store in Florida with a chain-saw down his trousers.

Echo: Crime-choppers
BBC: Black & Pecker

November 14: Blue the budgie becomes an internet hit due to his Star Wars impressions.

Echo: Luke Skysquawker
BBC: Chewbeaker

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 131, BBC 182

November 17:  A robber in a Santa Claus outfit steals cash from a Melbourne post office.

Echo: Ho-ho-hold up
BBC: Santa’s little help-himself

November 18: New Zealander Jason Wynyard becomes world lumberjack champion for the sixth time.

Echo: The axe factor
BBC: Tree-mendous fella

November 19:  A drunk man leaves a trail of destruction after stealing a bulldozer to get home after a night on the booze.

Echo: There may be rubble ahead
BBC: Barmy rubble

November 20: A man gets a job with NASA which pays him $18,000 to stay in bed for three months as part of a study into how the body reacts in space.

Echo: The lie-in king
BBC: Houston, we have nod-off

November 24: Fire-fighters rescue 1,400 piglets after a trailer overturns en route to Iowa.

Echo: Squeals on wheels
BBC:  Pork pile-up

November 25: A paintball company advertises for a “bullet impact tester” earning £40,000 a year pro-rata.

Echo: Splat’ll do nicely
BBC: Splash test dummies

November 28: Stockton unveils  the UK’s first singing Christmas tree.

Echo: Thank you ‘fir’ the music
BBC:  We tree kings

December 1: A mansion in New Hampshire fails to meet the asking price of $250,000 because the previous owners were criminals who planted bombs during a police siege.

Echo: Bricks and mortars
BBC: Housing boom

December 2:  A video of plumber who dances while he works has become a viral hit.

Echo: Tap dancer
BBC: Flush dance

December 3:  Martial arts expert  Edin Kujavic becomes a world record-holder by smashing 40 coconuts with his elbow in under a minute.

Echo:  The Nutcracker Feat
BBC:  One shell of a record

December 4: A German trucker is set for stardom after his classical voice was overheard by record label executive.

Echo: Music to my gears
BBC: Nissan Dorma

December 5: South Yorkshire Police take delivery of new squad cars but the letter "i" is missing from the word "Police" emblazoned on the sides.

Echo: I,I,I, what's been goin' on 'ere then?
BBC: iPlod

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 137, BBC 190

December  8:  An amateur inventor aims to cash in by turning old TV sets into a fish tanks.

Echo: Channel swimmer
BBC: Telefishin’

December 9:  A cricket match in New Zealand is held up by a giant swarm of bees.

Echo: L bee W
BBC:  Injured in the swarm-up

December 10: An inquiry is launched after a police officer is photographed asleep in his patrol car.

Echo: Zzzzed cars
BBC: PC Nod

December 11: A customer pulls a gun on a barber in Illinois because he is disappointed with his haircut.

Echo:  Shot, back and sides
BBC:  Locks, stock and two smoking barrels

December 12:  When steaks go missing from a family’s fridge in California, a secret camera is set up to expose the culprit. It turns out that Allie, the ingenious Labrador, has taught himself to unlock the fridge.

Echo: Steak-out
BBC:  Prime suspect

RUNNING TOTAL: Echo 142, BBC 195

December 13: A Romeo hires a crane to serenade his girlfriend at her window but the crane crashes through the roof.

Echo: Hole lotta love
BBC: Crashanova

December 15: Colorado brewery is so angry at coming third in “best beer” contest that it threatens to move out of town.

Echo: Hopping mad
BBC: Stout of order

December 16: First-time flier opens plane door “to get some fresh air”.
Echo: Airhead
BBC: Plane stupid

December 17: Michigan couple have their wedding photos taken while snowboarding in full wedding outfits.
Echo: Snowboardy does it better
BBC: Here comes the slide

December 22:  A Scottish trawler crew become internet hits for stripping down to their pants to sing and dance to pop songs while at sea.
Echo: There’s no business like shoal business
BBC:  Kecks on decks

December 23:  Hewie, the border terrier, gets his own Twitter account at Bishop Auckland solicitors Hewitts, and gives out legal advice on animal-related matters.

Echo: Called to the bark
BBC: Pro-bono

The Northern Echo: