THE house sparrow has emerged as the North-East's garden bird champion in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch.

The bird came top in the charity's survey in Northumberland, County Durham and the Tees Valley. Nearly 8,000 people in the region took part in January's survey, in which the sparrow relegated the starling to second place.

INTERIOR DESIGN: Tyne Tees Television presenter Vicky Locklin looks at a number of homes in the region tomorrow as part of the fourth programme in the ten-part series Home. She will talk with interior designer Suzie Cookson, of Cedar House Interiors, Stillington, near York; visit a suburban villa in Jesmond; and call in at O'Brien's salvage yard in Cleadon, South Tyneside.

INQUEST OPENS: An inquest will be opened today into the death of Craig Anthony Foreman, 20, whose body was found in a roadside ditch in Daisy Hill, near Medomsley, Consett, County Durham, on Monday. Mr Foreman went missing from his home in Denecrest, Medomsley, on October 26, last year. The inquest will be adjourned to allow for the circumstances of the death to be investigated.

COFFEE TIME: A coffee morning will be held in aid of Zoe's Place Baby Hospice, on Saturday, from 10am till noon, at St Hilda's Church Hall, Mersey Road, Redcar, east Cleveland.