NIGEL TINKLER'S long search for Group One glory with his stable star Sugarfoot (2.35) may finally come to fruition in this afternoon's £150,000 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. Based at the tiny village of Langton just outside Malton, Sugarfoot has won ten
Peter Mandelson was out on the stump in Hartlepool yesterday as he ruled himself out of a return to Government. Mr Mandelson is expected to keep his seat despite fierce opposition from candidates such as Arthur Scargill. Yesterday he looked every bit
The Emmerdale actor John Middleton, who plays the Reverend Ashley Thomas in the soap, will support Labour in Tynemouth today. He will be joined on stage by Norman Dunn, who used to star in Tyne Tees TV's What Fettle? comedy programme, at the launch of
A FORMER wholesale grocer's depot in Sunderland is being transformed into a training centre that will recreate a manufacturing factory floor. Productivity training specialists, The Automotive Sector Strategic Alliance (Assa) has invested £35,000 in a
Worms World Party. Published by Virgin. Format: Dreamcast (£29.99) ANYONE who loves video games probably dreams of sending an idea to a publishing company, who plucks it from the thousands of suggestions they get every year and turns it into a best-seller
GNER is to resume a number of new services with the launch of its summer timetable tomorrow. The East Coast Main Line operator says the timetable will feature new early morning and evening services on Saturdays between London and Newcastle. During the
RADIO presenter and Hartlepool fan Paul "Goffy" Gough will appeal live on air for millionaire Darlington football boss George Reynolds to stop taunting him. The Century FM star has been inundated with phone calls from the Quakers' chairman since Hartlepool
Bobby Robson claims to have performed miracles during his tenure as Newcastle boss; none more so than this keeping the Magpies fans interested enough to keep coming back for more. Despite an indifferent season, the Newcastle fans have flocked in their
The former chief-of-staff of the Provisional IRA, Sean MacStiofain, has died in hospital aged 73 after a long illness. He headed the republican paramilitary group after its split from the Official IRA at the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
THE Conservatives went on the offensive over asylum yesterday in an attempt to recapture the initiative in the election campaign. Despite Labour's apparent difficulties over Deputy PM John Prescott's punch-up with an egg-throwing demonstrator, and the
Darlington are hoping the lure of playing for his home-town club might persuade Neil Maddison to turn down the chance of First Division football. Quakers head the queue of clubs who want him but they face competition from several higher division outfits
TWO years ago Blaydon were not considered the most fashionable club in the region. They failed to win the Tyneside Senior League and there were question marks in some quarters when they were admitted into the Foster's North-East Premier League, launched
THIRTEEN months after he first hit the headlines, Nicky Peng reminded us yesterday what all the fuss was about. Still only 18, Peng became Durham's youngest century-maker in first-class cricket with a wonderful innings of 101 against Middlesex. On a more
Scientists yesterday explained how they had bred Britain's first test-tube horses in the hope of boosting the nation's chances of winning Olympic equestrian medals - and preserving endangered species. Two male foals - produced using artificial fertilisation
SCOTTISH international Don Hutchison found himself in strict isolation from his team-mates last night as he tried to ditch a stomach bug in a bid to play in this afternoon's crucial game at Everton. In more normal circumstances the Tynesider would have
RUTHLESS Chris Turner yesterday freed nine players as he plotted Hartlepool United's mission to avoid the play-offs next season. After losing in the play-offs for the second season in succession this week, and being outplayed by Blackpool, Turner wasted
THERE is something strangely disconcerting about seeing a usually popular tourist attraction almost deserted on a scorching Sunday in May. To begin with, you start to worry that you've missed a news bulletin warning of an imminent nuclear attack, or that
WITH the gardening season in full swing we are now generating quite large quantities of organic waste. Weeds, lawn mowings and discarded spring bedding plants can all be put to good use if a compost heap is organised now. Make sure it is a compost heap
COXWOLD Sunday, and Solomon in all his glory may not have been arrayed like the colourful crowd - Lycra for like - assembled in St Michael's. It is the 75th annual Cyclists Touring Club service, the one at which the Kingdom of God was once likened unto
WILLIAM HAGUE IT becomes increasingly obvious on a day-to-day basis, that William Hague is not fit to lead the divided remnants of his own party, let alone take on the mantle of Prime Minister. How can that man seek from Tony Blair, an assurance that
Everton 2, Sunderland 2 SO NEAR and yet so far. Sunderland fans stayed behind to applaud their heroes after a rousing finale at Goodison Park - but they trooped away feeling dejected that the glittering prize of playing in Europe had been allowed to slip
CHARRED remains of thousands of animals are to be removed from a field after funeral pyres failed to destroy the carcasses. Maff yesterday(fri) admitted it was concerned over the health risks of the failure to burn the livestock, which has left bones,
Middlesbrough 2 - 1 West Ham United THE Boro faithful sang: "There's only one job on Teesside.'' And if Terry Venables wants it, he can have it - and more. The cutting wit of the Riverside choristers was triple-edged; the inspiration was provided by a
HOUSE builders insist there is still a need for new homes - despite a report highlighting the number of empty properties. Figures compiled by the Empty Homes Agency showed there were about 45,000 homes standing empty in County Durham, Tyne and Wear and
Q I am now 85 and my son, aged 54, gets benefits as he is unable to work due to disability. I would like to leave him most of my assets, but his friends have told him that if I do he will have to pay it all over to repay past benefits. Is this so? A Definitely
The Liberal Democrats launched a ten-point plan yesterday to rescue the rural economy. Leader Charles Kennedy said: "The problems of the countryside can't be cured overnight. There must be long-term renewal." The plan includes compensation for foot-and-mouth
DURHAM County's new season gets underway next Saturday when Northumberland provide the opposition in all three Northern Counties competitions. In the A team event for the Muras Trophy as familiar face will be missing from the Durham - last season's team
MIDDLESBROUGH'S fight to keep Terry Venables at the Riverside Stadium still hangs in the balance and could drag on to next week. Talks between Venables, Boro chairman Steve Gibson, manager Bryan Robson and chief executive Keith Lamb, broke up last night
MIDDLESBROUGH last night insisted FIFA had "no jurisdiction'' to ban them from domestic competitions over former striker Marco Branca's claim for £500,000 in unpaid wages, writes CLIVE HETHERINGTON. The FA have stepped in to sort out a dispute which escalated
NEWCASTLE United boss Bobby Robson has told England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson he has a future star in Carl Cort. Robson has already put his money where his mouth is by splashing out £7m to lure under-21 striker Cort from Wimbledon last summer. Eriksson
DIGBY Jones, director general of the CBI, has called on businesses to get their message across to all political parties in the run-up to the General Election. Mr Jones was speaking as he opened a new steel lintel plant at Birtley Building Products in
THE league's appeals committee has thrown out a bid by champions Leadgate to have their 100 point punishment overturned. The unanimous decision comes a week after the league's disciplinary committee decided they had broken league rules by not resigning
IT used to be a typical Northern city with a rich heritage gleaned from its textile, engineering and manufacturing industries. Leeds always had decent shops, museums and a good selection of pubs, but somehow it never quite achieved the stylish stature
DARLINGTON hope to secure their fifth promotion today when they entertain Manchester-based Aldwinians in the play-off for a place in North Division One. Blaydon also have home advantage as they attempt to get out of North One into National Three North
OUR front page story today about a knife attack on a driver on a North-East road, underlines again the dangers of road rage. Annoyed at being overtaken on a bend, the victim made the mistake of flashing his lights and sounding his horn. That led to him
JOHN Prescott, the punching politician, went to ground somewhere in the North-East yesterday with the nation's media kept well out of harm's way. Two days after he infamously threw a left jab at an egg-hurling protestor, the Deputy Prime Minister was
A Selby rail crash survivor who feared he would be wheelchair-bound for life walked down the aisle with his bride yesterday. Train steward Thomas Kaplanis feared he would never walk again after the devastating crash which left him with a broken back.
SHAREHOLDERS in diamond firm De Beers have given approval to a £13bn bid to take the company private. De Beers, which is listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange, said at its shareholders' meeting in South Africa, the requisite number of votes to approve
