We've all been to godless funerals, even with the priest in all his feeble frippery, but how many to a humanist one? We've many of us been to funerals where the minister got the name wrong, where the conveyor ran on automatic pilot - dead man's handle
THE RSPCA admitted last night there was little it could do to prevent the slaughter of animals at leisure and visitor attractions, as the epidemic continues to spread. Chief Inspector Neil Mitchell, who covers North Yorkshire, County Durham and Cleveland
RADICAL surgery to rebuild a little girl's disfigured face is due to take place this weekend. Hope Elliott, five, of the Redhouse Estate, Sunderland, suffers from a rare condition, known as cystic lymphovenous malformation. It means that she has a large
FERRARI'S Michael Schumacher yesterday overcame torrential rain and calamity in the pits to become the only man alive to win six races in a row. Only the late Italian Alberto Ascari stands ahead of him, winning nine consecutive races in 1952-53. Schumacher
Nasser Hussain emerged from his finest achievement as England captain to give a unique insight into the pressures and problems involved in leading the cricketing hopes of a nation. Hussain has become the first England captain since Mike Brearley more
SURELY no-one can have any doubts about Hartlepool United's promotion credentials now. If a club record-breaking 18 games without defeat isn't enough to convince, the way they took the game to top-four rivals Brighton must be enough to persuade even the
A WORLD-CLASS engineering company could face hundreds of thousand of pounds of compensation claims for vibration white finger after a former employee won a substantial out-of-court settlement. Contractor Stanley Barber, 74, received an undisclosed payment
A LOVESTRUCK dog turned into a latter-day Lassie when his frantic yapping brought rescuers to save his pregnant girlfriend, who was trapped down a rabbit hole. Seven-year-old springer spaniel Benji refused to leave his long-term pooch partner Sharni when
AS the number of confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease last night passed the 320 mark, Agriculture Minister Nick Brown warned the epidemic is likely to persist for "several months" yet. Mr Brown admitted it would take at least three months to wipe
LINGFIELD'S Bet Direct-sponsored Winter Derby is a relatively new addition to the all-weather calendar, but it has not been slow to attract some top-notch performers, lured no doubt by the £55,000 purse on offer. A couple of established class acts turn
A MAJOR employer in the region has responded to taunts that call centres are modern-day sweatshops by launching a health promotion scheme in partnership with the NHS. Last month, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) claimed that too many call centres were
DARLINGTON will have mixed feelings about this well-earned point at Aggborough as they moved up a place in their fight against relegation. Quakers were much better than they were on Tuesday night, when manager Gary Bennett blew his top after the game
SUNDERLAND manager Peter Reid is ready to cast a world-wide net as he tries to establish Sunderland as a top-five Premiership club. The Wearside boss has just returned from a six-day scouting mission to Argentina, where he checked personally on recommended
NEWCASTLE United boss Bobby Robson last night revealed that £20m-rated Kieron Dyer has been suffering a stress fracture for much of the season. The England starlet, who was thought to have a shin-splint problem, undergoes a bone graft today in a bid to
A MOTHER-of-three was behind bars last night after letting an Internet chatroom user seduce her schoolgirl babysitter after he and his friend travelled hundreds of miles to visit her home. Married father-of-three Andrew Mandefield and a friend travelled
BRYAN ROBSON could be forgiven for feeling like an interloper today as the grandfather and the godfather of English football attempt to settle a little local dispute at St James' Park. Never in the history of North-East derbies can the managerial combatants
WHEN she began advising women on contraception on March 17, 1921, Marie Stopes was a trailblazer - for Britain was not a sexually-enlightened nation. Ignorance was so rife that Stopes, who married in 1911, had been a wife for more than a year before she
MOVING tributes were paid yesterday to a much-loved student who died after an incident on a late night train. Fellow undergraduates, joined family and friends to pay their last respects to 21-year-old Patrick Brown at a funeral and thanksgiving service
A NORTH-East partnership is planning to put a successful series of greetings cards characters on to mobile phone covers. Originator of the Babelicious concept, Newcastle's Paul Windle Design (PWD), has agreed a licensing deal with advanced imaging company
FOR obvious reasons, feelings in rural communities are running high at present. Emotions are charged among farmers who are living in fear of having their livestock slaughtered. And businesses in the countryside are struggling as the public have stuck
As William Hague breezes cheerfully into The Northern Echo's offices, the morning's papers are still being digested. Mr Hague, though, has already consumed them all and is ready to spit them out. "I don't believe the Labour Party's lead is anything like
TORY leader William Hague got some Comic Relief from election fever yesterday when he visited the head offices of The Northern Echo. Mr Hague visited the newspaper offices in Priestgate, Darlington, yesterday morning as part of his build-up to the General
TEESSIDE University has opened a gateway to its support services with a new Centre for Enterprise. David Irwin, chief executive of the Small Business Service, opened the centre in Victoria Road, Middlesbrough, yesterday. Dr John Bridge, chief executive
She was a real head-turner in her day but, 27 years later, her ability to surprise and shock has lessened. Regan MacNeill's devilish behaviour of vomiting green bile, uttering foul language and doing unmentionable things with a crucifix made 1970s cinema
ANGRY farmers last night accused ministers of irresponsibly jumping the gun by trying to reopen the countryside despite the foot-and-mouth epidemic. Environment Minister Michael Meacher said the countryside was not out of bounds, as long as visitors behaved
THE compensation fight faced by thousands of North-East miners took a new twist last night after it was revealed it could still take five years to test every claimant. About 7,000 men in the region whose lungs have been wrecked by coal dust remain trapped
POLICE believe they have recovered the body of a man who jumped into a fast-flowing river to evade a police helicopter he thought was following him. A mountain rescue team, using canoes, discovered the body, thought to be that of 21-year-old John Fisher
DEVASTATED Dean Windass last night admitted he was reduced to tears by the freak back injury which forced him to miss Middlesbrough's derby victory at Newcastle. The £1m signing from Bradford City, who was due to make his debut, cried in pain and anguish
WE'VE all heard of placing a microchip beneath the skin of pets. The practice is common in cats and dogs. Even tortoises and fish can be "chipped". But what about using the same technology to monitor the performance of professional footballers? As far-fetched
Letters from The Northern Echo POWER LINES COUNCILLOR Jeremy Atkinson (HAS, Mar 8) can be assured the NRPB Report suggests power lines are not a major source of childhood leukaemia, though the evidence suggests that relatively heavy average exposures
SURPRISE package Sunderland finally beat a 44-year jinx at Stamford Bridge as they kick-started their Euro-drive with a first double of the season. But even the most optimistic Wearside fan could have expected Peter Reid's men to put four goals past a
TERRY VENABLES last night confessed he has fallen in love with Middlesbrough - and that their Premiership survival is more important than his personal pride. The former England coach is refusing to make any commitment to Boro beyond the end of the season
DARLINGTON have been hit by the news that Martin Gray has now been ruled out for the rest of the season. Gray hasn't kicked a ball for Quakers since he played in the 2-2 draw at Lincoln in January because of a back injury, and a specialist has now recommended
MARKS & Spencer is still deliberating on whether or not to close a batch of its European stores. A spokesman for the troubled retailer said reports it was about to announce the closure of one-in-five of its European outlets were "pure speculation"
BUS and coach builder Henlys said its US acquisition of the yellow school bus maker Blue Bird had driven pre-tax profits to record levels. Blue Bird, bought for £415m in October 1999, accounted for more than half of group turnover, which increased 91
A YOUNG man is making his way as an agricultural entrepreneur after nurturing links with New Zealand. Richard Hawlor, of Barnard Castle, County Durham, is finding his niche in the business world thanks to a formula from his grandfather and the help of
HEAD to toe in red, the little boy stands with his face pressed to the wire. Ferrari hat, Ferrari shirt, Ferrari shorts, desperately hoping to see his hero, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher. Beside him is his brother, resplendent in the yellow of rival
FOR the second successive season Newcastle's Gareth Maclure has the chance to impress before a full house at Welford Road today. Leicester Tigers can expect noisy backing from their fans as they can clinch the Premiership title with the expected victory
The hunt is on for what may have been LS Lowry's last work - a rough sketch on the back of a menu. The artist gave the picture of a dog - which could be worth thousands of pounds today - to a waitress at a Sunderland hotel, but it has never resurfaced
FOCUSED Hartlepool United manager Chris Turner knows this afternoon's clash with bogey side Brighton is one his side can't afford to lose. Pool lie two places and ten points behind Mickey Adams' side in the promotion race. And even though Chesterfield's
Darlington fans will be suffering a sense of deja vu when they travel to Kidderminster today. Quakers' last visit to the Worcestershire club was in May 1990 in their penultimate game of their Conference winning season - but now the Conference is beckoning
TONY Moore was last night described as a champion of the people - a man who will be sorely missed by the community he represented for almost 30 years. The 59-year-old councillor died after a suffering a heart attack yesterday afternoon at the pool-side
THE generous North spirit shone through yesterday, as thousands of fundraisers in the region rallied round to help brighten the lives of millions of deprived people around the world. Fundraising stunts ranged from the ridiculous to the remarkable, as
A BUS route providing a link to a hospital has been thrown a temporary lifeline. Arriva has proposed changes to the 3B service, which runs between Bishop Auckland and Hartlepool. It says the section between Ferryhill and the Trimdons is little used, and
