THE North-East has one of the best chances of recording house price rises in the coming year, according to a report.

The Sunday Express/Technical Forecasts house price index revealed yesterday that the price of an average UK home has risen from £140,000 to £157,000 since last summer. It has left potential purchasers, especially first-time buyers, struggling to be able to find affordable homes. But the index also shows that house prices have remained stagnant in the past month - and are not expect to increase further over the next year. The North-East and the North-West are said to be the only two regions likely to record rises.

Barn blaze: Firefighters were called to End Friar's Pardon, Hurworth, near Darlington, in the early hours of Saturday to tackle a barn fire. About 250 tonnes of hay had caught fire shortly before 4am. Fire crews spent more than an hour bringing the blaze under control.

Lucky winners: Winners in the last Great North Air Ambulance lottery draw were: £200 - 18388 Darlington; £100 - 172277 Craster; £50 - 10617 Staithes; £50 - 17451 Swainby; £25 - 07163 Darlington; £25 - 17764 Northallerton. The £10 winners were 18369, 17927, 13817, 11145, 08300, 07959, 19212, 14314, 08181, 14420, 19270, 09200, 07238, 10082, 02574, 05687, 16447, 05398, 06510, 03524, 03805, 06081, 10277, 13387, 05145. To join the lottery or help the appeal, call (01668) 213969.

Waster' summit: A European Union-backed summit on how to dispose of waste is to be held in the region. Experts will converge on Preston Hall Museum, Stockton, on Wednesday, for the start of a new 1.7m Euro project called Making Waste Work. They will discuss how to minimise the amount of waste produced and how different regions within the European Community can co-operate. Stockton Borough Council will be lead members of the panel, but others authority members come from Norway, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

Kite festival: A kite festival will take place at the back of Grangefield School, off Oxbridge Avenue, Stockton, on Sunday. It is being organised by held Malcolm Goodman, known as The Kiteman, who for more than 25 years has pursued his hobby of kite flying and now has one of the largest comprehensive collections of oriental kites in the country. Admission to the event, from 10am, is free.

Residents' warned: A number of walk-in burglaries have taken place in the Norton Grange area of Stockton in the past few weeks, with stolen property including mobile phones, jewellery and money. Yesterday, police urged homeowners to keep all doors and windows shut and locked as much as possible.

Man found: An elderly man who had been missing from home for more than two days, has been found safe and well in a remote forest. Geoffrey Noble, 79, of Scarborough, went missing on Thursday. He was found unhurt in the Harwood Dale forest and was returned home to his family.