A FIRE brigade has taken delivery of two new fire engines worth more than £200,000. County Durham and Darlington Fire Brigade has just picked up the keys to two of the latest Dennis Sabre fire engines, which will be based at Durham and Newton Aycliffe
ANDY Campbell last night admitted it is a "make-or-break" season for him at Middlesbrough. And the pacy striker will be bidding to show boss Bryan Robson he can "make it" starting tonight when England Under-21s take on Georgia in a friendly at the Riverside
NORTHERN Electric is to put its headquarters building up for sale. Carliol House, in Market Street, Newcastle, has been the headquarters of the electricity company since 1927, when it moved in its former guise as the North East Supply Company. It retained
AN insurance clerk stole nearly £1,700 by taking customers' payments over the counter and keeping the cash. Kerry West, 27, was cornered when customers received red letter insurance bills when they had already paid. But after she was questioned by police
TANK manufacturer Vickers has been selected as the preferred bidder to build a new generation of tanks for the British Army. The Vickers plant in Newcastle has been selected to construct 66 bridge laying and mine-clearing tanks as part of a £250m deal
TANK manufacturer Vickers has been selected as the preferred bidder to build a new generation of tanks for the British Army. The Vickers plant in Newcastle has been selected to construct 66 bridge laying and mine-clearing tanks as part of a £250m deal
FEARLESS Freddy Parker is to take pride of place among the guests at a North-East commemoration to Britain's war-time fliers. The annual Battle of Britain service at Durham Cathedral takes on extra significance as this year represents the 60th anniversary
THE closure of a local authority's residential homes has moved a step nearer reality. A Darlington Borough Council cabinet meeting supported supported the recommendation of officers that all its residential homes should close. A final decision will not
Horse-drawn carriages could soon be seen on the streets of Darlington once more. The Darlington Independent Taxi Traders Organisation (Ditto) wants to give the town an extra tourist attraction by introducing up to three horse-drawn vehicles as Hackney
THERE might not be such thing as a free lunch but there is certainly such a thing as free web space. Most people get some web pages as part of the deal with their Internet Service Provider such as BT or Freeserve and there are plenty of suppliers online
A NORTH-EAST MP has called for a top-level Government investigation into the role of local authority shareholders at Teesside International Airport. In a letter to the Transport Minister Lord Macdonald, Stockton North MP Frank Cook says he fears the situation
A MOTHER of six stabbed her partner to death during a furious row because she flashed her breasts at a family christening. June Wilkie, 34, finally snapped after suffering 15 years of bullying, abuse and rapes at the hands of her brutal partner David
AN insurance clerk stole nearly £1,700 by taking customers' payments over the counter and keeping the cash. Kerry West, 27, was cornered when customers received red letter insurance bills when they had already paid. But after she was questioned by police
PLANS to create an angling lake have run into objectionss from the Environment Agency, which believes the lake could increase flooding risks elsewhere. The lake proposal, for a site at Greystones Farm between Goldsborough and Knaresborough, in North Yorkshire
DURHAM'S vice-captain Jon Lewis has two matches to work the miracle of keeping them in division one of the PPP healthcare County Championship. But the batting is weakened by the absence of deposed captain Nick Speak from the team to face bottom club Hampshire
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a new football stadium in the North-East are back on track - despite the efforts of protestors who forced a replay. Darlington councillors voted at a cabinet meeting yesterday to back a previous decision to hand over land in Neasham
POLICE are still appealing for witnesses to a brick attack on Tyneside last month. A 22-year-old man was hit on the head by a full house brick thrown from the Tyne Bridge on August 4. He was queueing with friends outside the Tuxedo Princess leisure ship
THREE fun-loving North-East friends are pictured out celebrating Millennium Eve. But just months on, two are dead and the third left devastated after diving out of the path of a car, which mounted the pavement, mowing down her pals. Louise Tinkler, 28
A MAN was so badly burnt in a car blaze he had to be identified by his teeth, an inquest heard. Security guard Karl Rolfe, 32, was on bail accused of theft from his employers and also deep in debt when he was found in the back of his charred car on waste
PLANS to expand a scrapyard on the edge of moorland have been criticised by holidaymakers and local businesses. The scheme submitted to Ryedale District Council is for a scrapyard in the corner of a former airfield at Wombleton, near Kirkbymoorside, on
SINCE first discovering a pregnant Jack Russell on her doorstep 20 years ago, Alex Winwood has helped thousands of pets find new homes. Alex, who until recently ran the Eldon Hope animal rescue centre, in County Durham, opened her boarding kennels business
Voluntary groups in the North-East are being given the chance to set up their own web sites as part of a scheme being launched tomorrow by The Northern Echo. One of the first to benefit under the CommuniGate scheme, will be "One Voice Network" - the umbrella
WILLIE Maddren was only four years older than me. As a young man in the early 1970s, I stood on the terraces at Ayresome Park and watched him - enviously - many a time. He was a local lad made very good. Middlesbrough then were a team to be reckoned with
MEN drivers are being invited to go macho for charity. They are being challenged to climb out of their cars and into the big, bad and the bulky, from Army trucks and heavy lorries to fire engines. The Marie Curie Cancer Care charity is asking men to turn
THE funeral of Middlesbrough legend Willie Maddren will take place at St Cuthbert's Church in Billingham on Monday. Members of the public are asked to note that the Maddren family have requested that the service is restricted to family and close friends
THE owner of one of the North's leading animal rescue centres has been forced to sell up following two heart attacks. Alex Winwood, who with her husband Fred ran the Eldon Hope rescue centre, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, said she was heartbroken
FILM fans will get an X-tra special treat when they visit a movie and television exhibition at a North-East museum. Props from the latest blockbuster, X-Men, have arrived at Newcastle's Hancock Museum, for the Top Secret exhibition. The film, based on
A NEW media design company is proving big news with The New York Times, thanks to a two-year contract to develop the company's website. Baryll Blue, based at the North East of England Business and Innovation Centre (BIC), in Sunderland, beat off strong
A COUNCIL is a step nearer to taking action to prevent motorists from parking illegally at a taxi rank in the centre of Darlington. Darlington Borough Council wants to adopt an area around the town's Covered Market as a public highway, in a bid to stop
"I THINK the team have been improving a lot every game, it's very positive. On Friday, we didn't play a good game against Sheffield but we played better against Manchester on Saturday. I was not happy with my game against Sheffield although I'm improving
AN SOS was on its way to the Government last night after a failed bid for better flood protection for a vulnerable village. Town hall chiefs at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council applied to the Environment Agency last month to upgrade Skinningrove Beck
WIDE-RANGING improvements to sports facilities have been promised as part of a far-reaching initiative. The five-year leisure strategy has been drawn up after a comprehensive consultation exercise with groups involved in sport and the arts in Hambleton
A CRICKET-MAD haulier has turned missionary in the name of his favourite sport. Bill Troup, of Trimdon, County Durham, who makes regular aid trips to Romania, decided to stage a couple of cricket matches to entertain youngsters. And, to his amazement,
FLOOD victims in County Durham are celebrating after being told they will be back in their council homes before Christmas. Wear Valley District Council has confirmed that a programme of work, likely to cost £500,000, will start on Monday for tenants across
THE future tenants of a major Darlington store were announced yesterday (Wed) after months of uncertainty. C&A has been planning to abandon the two-level anchor site in the Cornmill Shopping Centre for more than a year. Company management have announced
A NORTH-EAST wedding firm is being forced to change its name after it was threatened with legal action by world famous Paris fashion house Chloe. Bosses at Chloe almost toppled off the catwalk when they heard of a bridal wear company of the same name
A NORTH-East Euro-MP has called for a European Union regulations amnesty to save a charity ambulance fleet. Martin Callanan spoke out yesterday after St John Ambulance officials warned the organisation faced a financial crisis because hundreds of its
IT MAY not be said that this one will run and run, perhaps, but the story has legs, nonetheless. We mentioned last week The Northern Echo's annual Easter Monday walking race from Sunderland to Darlington, forgot about our ten bob Mystery Man - the Echo's
TWO former Newcastle United stars have been named as being involved in an FA Cup final ticket scandal. Former Magpies players Andreas Andersson and George Georgiadis were said to have sold tickets for the 1999 final against Manchester United to a tout
A road rage driver who caused a pile up in which two children were injured was spared a jail sentence yesterday because a judge said the consequences for his wife and family would be disastrous. Jason Woodhouse, 31, who admitted dangerous driving on the
TWO cancer sufferers have set up a town's first support group for people with the disease. George Wilkinson and Jeanne Whitehead decided to set up the Helping Hands Cancer Support Group in Chester-le-Street when they realised there was no support in the
WORK is continuing on one of Darlington's best-known landmarks. Steeplejacks on Darlington's Market Square Clock Tower have turned their attentions to the weather vane at the top of the tower, providing a spectacular sight on the town's skyline. Other
HUNDREDS of poppies are to be scattered in the sea off a North-East town in a poignant tribute. A crew member on the Redcar lifeboat will toss the tributes on to the water, close to Redcar seafront, during a veterans' parade on Sunday. September 3 is
A HOUSING estate where three people died is coming out of mourning to show the world how it pulls together. Families living in Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, were devastated earlier this year when six friends from the estate were involved in an horrific fireball
HEARTBROKEN parents are demanding an inquiry into the freak accident which killed their son in a holiday complex owned by one of Europe's regal playboys. Nick Robinson died when he was electrocuted as he tried to fix a water pump in a well on the paradise
LEADER of the opposition and MP for Richmond William Hague yesterday claimed the Government was "letting children down". Speaking at the launch of the Conservative Party's Children First initiative he said children in care were a "minority" being let
A NATIONWIDE scheme to combat health problems by improving housing is to be launched in Chester-le-Street this week. The scheme will allow local health care professionals to prescribe house insulation instead of medication when they are faced with patients
