A DIY enthusiast has turned his home into a shrine after the image of Christ appeared before him while he plastered his kitchen wall. Colin Cram, the 44-year-old second cousin of Olympic athlete Steve Cram, dropped his trowel in shock when he stepped
WHEN Auf Wiedersehen Pet was firstbroadcast in 1983, the series about Geordie building labourers working in Germany was a novelty. Viewers hadn't seen or heard anything like it before - a British series that wasn't a copycat version of a US police or
DISILLUSIONED Durham paceman Melvyn Betts will sign a three-year contract with Warwickshire today. He has received help in negotiating the deal from his former Durham team-mate John Morris in his role as a players' agent. Morris is still a Nottinghamshire
A TEENAGE robber who held up a dales village cycle shop at pistol point was warned yesterday that he faces several years behind bars. Stuart Smith, 19, will be sentenced in a few weeks following his conviction, "on the clearest evidence", by a jury at
A BANNED driver turned to taking petrol from garages without paying in order to support his family, a court was told. Alistair McCulloch feared there was a warrant out for him, so he did not sign on to claim benefits, but used the petrol as income. Yesterday
CONVICTED murderer Steven Grieveson has denied being involved in the murder of Sunderland teenager Simon Martin. Simon, 14, was found battered to death in Gillside House, Roker, Sunderland, in May 1990. Detectives last week arrested Grieveson at Full
POLICE are trying to trace a woman who escaped the clutches of two would-be muggers. Shortly after the attempt to snatch her bag, she warned another woman to be aware of the youths responsible. Moments later, the second woman fell victim to the pair as
TWO men threatened staff at a Newcastle bookmakers with a handgun and baseball bat during a raid. They struck at Stanley Racing, Slatyford Lane, at about 3.15pm on Saturday. One of the men leapt over the counter and grabbed some money before both ran
PLANNERS behind the Gateshead Millennium Bridge hope it will be in place by tomorrow. Yesterday's storms meant plans to transport the bridge up the River Tyne from the Amec shipyard, in Wallsend, had to be scrapped. Forecasts for tomorrow show an improvement
AN era has come to an end in Northallerton with the retirement of one of the best-known people in the town. Joan Stenson is stepping down after 34 years as the local registrar of births, deaths and marriages. She first joined the service in 1967 as a
A DRAMA teacher has been recognised as a star in his own right by being presented with a top playwright's award. As well as teaching at the Stagecoach drama school's Darlington and Yarm branches, Philip Harrison is gaining a reputation as a writer. For
AN OUT-of-hours club for children with working parents has been launched at a Derwentside school. Dipton Out-of-Hours Club is designed to take care of children before and after teaching hours at Dipton Colliery Primary School. Run by Gillian Raine, the
Kevin Keegan came out fighting last night in a bid to defend his reputation in the wake of the recent free-for-all criticism of his reign as England coach. The former England boss has assiduously kept his silence in the wake of his resignation from the
POLICE in Darlington are investigating a spate of burglaries over the weekend. Thieves broke into several houses between Friday and Sunday, stealing property such as jewellery and cash. In Bloomfield Road, Darlington, burglars broke into a house at about
Darlington manager Gary Bennett is to ask Sunderland boss Peter Reid about an extension to the loan of midfielder Thomas Butler - but the Irishman might not be able to play in the FA Cup. Butler has impressed since he moved to Feethams on loan from the
PLANNERS risk the wrath of a North Yorkshire village today if they vote to accept a new use for a building in the heart of an old school campus. A meeting in nearby Richmond today will look at a report on Randall Orchard Holdings Limited's bid to convert
WORK on a controversial leisure development will mean fewer parking spaces in the centre of Durham. Demolition of buildings on the site of the planned £21m Walkergate development, which has drawn opposition from some residents and groups because of the
AN engineering firm that has struggled through an uncertain year in the car components market, looks set to end 2000 on a high after launching a major recruitment drive. Tallent, which employs 900 at its Newton Aycliffe site, is looking to take on around
A STUNNING collection of natural landscape photographs has gone on show in Stockton's Green Dragon Museum. The exhibition, called Landscape Light, features work by Joe Cornish, of Great Ayton. To support the exhibition, Joe is giving a public lecture
COLLEGE staff have shown their caring sides by filling shoeboxes with gifts for children who have suffered through war, poverty or other disaster. The staff at Stockton and Billingham College have collected, decorated and filled with gifts more than 100
POLICE are appealing for information after a robber targeted an elderly woman in Hartlepool. It happened on Saturday at 6.10pm, at Anchor Court on the Headland, as the 77-year-old was on her way to a bingo session. The thug attacked her from behind and
POLICE are "increasingly concerned" about about a missing North-East teenage girl. Lisa-Marie Perry, 17, of Lanchester, County Durham, has been missing since October 26. She is 5ft 5in, of medium build, and has a fair complexion with brown, straight,
A SCHOOL is opening its doors for longer to make life easier for working parents. Teesside High School, in Eaglescliffe, now opens at 7.45am and pupils can stay in the school until 6pm. The school has provided specialist supervision during the extended
A WORKING party is to be set up to consider what changes can be made to improve wheelchair access for taxi-users. Middlesbrough Borough Council has decided to establish the group after officers drafted a report highlighting the lack of provision for wheelchair
FLOODS have paralysed areas of the North-East, bringing life in parts of water-logged Teesside to a virtual standstill. Schools and roads across east Cleveland were closed yesterday, while hundreds face a challenge getting into work this morning. "It's
RESIDENTS watched helplessly as the River Gaunless crept dangerously close to homes still recovering from flooding earlier in the year. An emergency refuge was set up in a Bishop Auckland school yesterday for South Church residents forced to abandon their
A STEEL firm has escaped enforcement action after agreeing to restore a wildlife haven. Ward Brothers levelled 7.3 acres at Cleveland Street, Darlington, which local authority officers said rid the area of its wildlife. The firm had won the right to use
A DARLINGTON college has announced plans for a £2.6m extension. Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College is proposing an L-shaped extension to the west wing at its Vane Terrace site. If successful, it will mean new laboratories for biology and chemistry, a
SPECIALIST equipment is helping blind, partially-sighted and dyslexic university students with their work. Durham University has been given a £17,150 grant by the Northern Rock Foundation to equip special study rooms in the city and at Stockton. The rooms
YOUNG County Durham sports enthusiasts have been given a big cash boost. Siemens Business Services and Sportsmatch, the Government's sports sponsorship incentive scheme, are each giving £10,000 to Durham Sport, a partnership of councils and sporting bodies
YOUNG musicians are being offered the chance to take their first steps to stardom by enrolling on a professional programme. The Redcar and Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency and Studio 64 have joined forces to run a series of free workshops in a professional
CONSULTATIONS to gauge people's views on the health service have been hailed a success after almost 100 took part. The initiative was organised by the Middlesbrough and Eston Primary Care Group as part of its plans to improve and modernise services. It
DETECTIVES have renewed their appeal for help in their investigation of an armed robbery. The attack happened at the Harrowgate Hill post office, North Road, Darlington, at about 3pm last Thursday. A masked man, brandishing what is thought to be either
CORNATION Street's Denise Welch has revealed that she is expecting a baby boy. Denise, whose pregnancy is being written into the top soap's script, is due to become a mother for the second time in March. The baby will be a brother for 11-year-old Matthew
PEOPLE in Durham are being urged to make it another bumper year for the city's Poppy Appeal. Last year, £21,000 was raised in the city and surrounding area - a 22 per cent increase on the previous year that was beaten only by County Down in Northern Ireland
WORK begins this week on a £1.1m investment on Teesside to construct the new UK headquarters for computer connection firm Lindy. The two-storey, 10,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility is taking shape on a brownfield site of one-and-a-half acres on Teesside
MARKS & Spencer has announced plans to axe six stores after a fall in half-year profits. Pre-tax profits for the 26 weeks to September 30, fell to £183.4m, against £192.8m for the same period last year. Chairman and chief executive Luc Vandevelde
LIKE Wally or Herbert, for example, the name Nigel now has undertones, slightly giggly and wholly inexplicable. At least two Nigels work in this office, both perfectly good eggs. One of the Arsenal's legendary back four was a Nigel, Nigella Lawson's old
The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that we have become a nation of atheists. Is he surprised? Twenty-six years ago Parliament granted the General Synod of the Church of England control over its orders of service. The Synod sidelined the Book of Common
Alan Shoulder, one of the North-East's most respected footballers, has been sent off at the age of 47 - after telling the unsighted referee that he deserved to go. It is a story, alas, of dark deeds on a filthy day at Stanley United's legendary Hill Top
BUS and train operator FirstGroup expects no long-term harm to passenger numbers from the extensive repairs and disruption on the railway network since the recent Hatfield rail crash. Chief executive Moir Lockhead conceded its rail business, including
AS he was bundled into a police cell, Andrew Spence was told of the death threat against his wife and children. A man claiming to be connected with the armed forces had rung up his wife Julie while Andrew was manning a blockade at the Jarrow oil refinery
HARTLEPOOL United's Norwegian contingent could be boosted with the arrival of Tommy Knarvik. The former Leeds midfielder is set to move to Victoria Park on trial after Pool boss Chris Turner took advantage of his club's close links with crack Norwegian
HUNDREDS of heroic emergency workers who have battled tirelessly to beat back rising flood waters were praying last night that their monumental efforts had succeeded. Across the region, they have worked round the clock shoring up flood defences with sandbags
A THUG is facing jail today for stealing an expensive watch from soccer chief George Reynolds. Tayo Aladesuyi, 23, wrenched the £41,000 Rolex from the multi-millionaire's wrist and tried to prise a diamond ring from his finger during a street mugging.
THE worst often brings out the best in people. There can be little doubt that the rains currently inundating the North-East are the worst in living memory and, in some places, the worst in many generations' collective memories. But, in many places, it
FUEL SO farmer Andrew Spence, one of the organisers of the fuel protest, likens their plight to the most dignified protest in British history, the Jarrow March. He urges slow moving vehicles to cripple our roads if the Government refuses to surrender
THE stormy weather has wreaked havoc throughout parts of Teesside. At 7.30am yesterday, a crew from Stranton fire station, Hartlepool, was called to Kesteven Road, after it looked as though a car port roof was going to blow off. Firefighters managed to
A MOTORCYCLE enthusiast who rode his classic bike the length and breadth of Britain to raise money for a hospital handed over his double donation yesterday. Self-employed mechanic Steve Race tackled the 2,000- mile marathon to help seriously ill babies
A MAN was left traumatised and in need of counselling after he feared he would be taken to the moors and killed by a man who claimed he owed him money, a court was told. Graeme Thurston tied tape around Christopher Hodgson's wrists and ankles, and then
PARALYMPICS star Tanni Grey-Thompson came to the rescue when the weather threatened a celebrity Christmas lights switch-on. Astronomer Patrick Moore had been due to launch the decorations at the Gateshead MetroCentre last night. However, he had to cancel
ONE of the men accused of robbing Darlington FC chairman George Reynolds has walked free from court after a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence against him. Leoul Belete was said to have snatched a £41,000 Rolex watch from the multi-millionaire
VILLAGERS in Hurworth, near Darlington, were last night preparing for the worst after a flood alert was placed on the River Tees. The river was continuing to rise following days of heavy rain and was expected to peak in the village during the evening.
A MOTHER is warning parents of the dangers of leaving child-ren unattended after she foiled an attempt to snatch her son. The woman was shopping at High Newham Court, at Hardwick, in Stockton, on Saturday, when she left her two-year-old son in his pushchair
A WOMAN who threatened to kill a Good Samaritan was placed on probation yesterday, on condition she received psychiatric treatment. Teesside Crown Court heard that Valerie Hurry took a large carving knife into the bedroom where Erica Rudd was sleeping
Newcastle's Clarence Acuna has given Bobby Robson a tonic by snubbing one of the biggest qualifying games in the World Cup. Acuna is wanted by Chile for their South American showdown with rivals Argentina next week, a clash his country must win to stay
CAMPAIGNERS fighting for the victims of bungling consultant Richard Neale are to meet experts sent in to help a hospital improve its image. The victims' support group is calling for a major inquiry into the scandal and a review of complaints procedures
AN artwork featuring the hand prints of people who witnessed the greatest events of the 20th Century has gone on display at Durham Cathedral. The work was produced by local painter Bob Barron, who spent a year collecting the prints from people born in
A STARVING horse left tethered to a chain in baking heat had to have the soles of its feet removed to give it any chance of survival, a court heard yesterday. The seven-year-old mare, owned by Steven Wilkinson, was shockingly emaciated, riddled with worms
Siamese twin Jodie was last night battling for survival after the mammoth 20-hour separation operation which ended in the death of her weaker sister Mary. The next 48 hours are vital for Jodie, currently in a critical but stable condition in the intensive
A TRAILER manufacturer has been forced to lay off around 20 staff in response to the present fuel crisis. Customers of Northallerton-based Utility International have put 60 orders on hold while they gauge the outcome of the present dispute over fuel prices
A FORMER pit village's £130,000 plan for a play area in its new community park has been boosted by the National Lottery. The Lottery's charities board has given £58,345 for the scheme at Cornforth, developed by the Cornforth Partnership, a charity set
ANGRY Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson last night accused Liverpool and Christian Ziege of "lies and deceit'' over the the German international's controversial move to Anfield. Boro have protested to the Premier League about the conduct of the Merseyside
DAY trippers could hold the key to a murder which happened off a quiet moorland road. The naked body of murdered Middlesbrough prostitute Vicky Glass, 21, was found close to West Lane, near the village of Danby, North Yorkshire, at the weekend. As 40
MORE than 30 New Deal clients from Sunderland have scored a huge success with their employers and, as a result, have been honoured at a ceremony at the Stadium of Light last week. The trainees have all been highly commended by either their employer or
A COUNCIL leader is urging refuse collectors to think twice before taking industrial action. Councillor David Walsh, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, was reacting to the results of a ballot of Unison members supporting protest action over shift
A £13m Village Leisure Hotel is to be developed by the De Vere Group on North Tyneside. It will create around 350 full and part-time jobs in the construction, hospitality and leisure sectors. Village Newcastle, incorporating a 127-bedroom hotel, restaurants
JUDY, the dieting Dalmatian, is hoping to knock spots off her canine rivals in a slimming competition. The nine-year-old bitch is one of the ten regional finalists who will battle it out in the North-East heat of the Hill's Pet Slimmer of the Year Competition
ONE of the last independent cooperative societies in the North has made one of its bosses redundant in a cost-cutting exercise. William Craig, who has been retail manager at the Stanhope and Weardale Co-operative Society, in County Durham, for the past
SOUND takes on colour in a project to create a musical sculpture. Children at Newport Primary School, in Middlesbrough, are working with the musician Cathryn Dew and the visual artist Kerrie Marshall on the project all this week. Some of the pupils will
A ROMANIAN opera singer is hoping to win a place with a top company. Mihaela Ionescu, 26, a well-known soprano throughout eastern Europe, hopes to make her name on Britain's top stages. She has auditioned for the Royal Opera, at London's Covent Garden
A STAFFORDSHIRE firm is proving that inward investment is still alive and well in the North-East. RGK Wheelchairs, which makes wheelchairs for sporting use, has been based near Cannock for the past 11 years, but is now setting up a satellite operation
BISHOP Auckland past and present is the focus of an exhibition. Photographer John Clarke has captured scenes in the Market Place, and the people who work there, for the display, which runs from November 16 to December 16, at the Discovery Centre. The
A MAYOR is leading by example to promote recycling. Middlesbrough Mayor, Councillor Kath Bevington, filled a heavy duty sack with old newspapers and magazines to launch new, experimental, fortnightly waste-for-recycling collections. Working with Middlesbrough
A NEW rapid response service will provide short-term care to pensioners in their homes during times of crisis. The Dales Primary Care Group has commissioned and funded the service for elderly people in Wear Valley and Teesdale. It aims to respond quickly
A SCHOOL was in mourning yesterday following news that a popular young teacher had died suddenly at her home in Darlington. Pupils and staff at Teesdale Comprehensive School, in Barnard Castle, were told during morning lessons that 27-year-old history
VILLAGERS can see final plans of a £90,000 scheme to improve a dangerous stretch of the A68, at a public meeting tomorrow. Speeding on the A68 through Tow Law, near Wolsingham, has been a cause of concern for residents for years. But thanks to European
TRIBUTES have been paid to a former showjumping champion and his horse trainer partner who died in a head-on smash on treacherous roads. Tom Helliwell, 51, and his partner, Helen Burrows, 39, died when their Peugeot 309 collided with a Renault Megane
NURSES are being coached in self-defence to combat a growing number of assaults on hospital staff. Instructors from Cleveland Police are teaching "breakaway techniques" to 200 Middlesbrough nurses and medical staff. The courses aim to ensure staff are
A PLAN is to be drawn up to ensure no more damage is done to the grass at Darlington's South Park. The park has suffered badly in recent months from a combination of heavy vehicles churning up the ground and wet weather. Now, with the weekend's fireworks
A SCHOOL celebrating a special birthday has marked the millennium in a special way. The Northern Echo helped pupils and staff at Raventhorpe Preparatory School, in Carmel Road North, Darlington, mark their 60th birthday with a millennium photograph .
A RECORD store has fallen foul of planners again despite toning down its futuristic appearance. The Virgin V shop, based in an 18th Century building in Durham's Market Place, ran into trouble with the city council because it did not fit in with its location
New line on street parking Durham County Council's highways committee will be recommended tomorrow to remove double yellow lines that were laid in Beamish Street, Stanley, in 1968, before Front Street was pedestrianised. Two objections have been received
POLICE in East Durham have warned that a crackdown on winter crime will leave lawbreakers with no place to hide. In an operation codenamed Darc, house burglars have been targeted through a series of new measures. The anti-crime package is intended to
Nanny, Richmond. Live-in. £300 gross per week. Mon-Fri 8am-6pm. Must be qualified and experienced. To look after three pre-school children. Must be car owner with clean driving licence. Cottage supplied to live in. REF: RID 13442. Driver/Courier, Richmond
HARTLEPOOL United boss Chris Turner could be handed a boost this week with influential skipper Michael Barron set to return to full training. The 25-year-old centre-back has yet to figure this season after a troublesome knee injury. Barron underwent an
Admin Assistant, Sacriston. £4.50. Two days per week to suit. Duties to run and organise a small office. Computer experience essential. Previous bookkeeping experience and good customer service skills preferred. REF: SCM 12759. Lift Fitter/Engineer, Chester
