A SNOOKER club boss has complained after it took council environmental health officers more than a week to respond to reports of rats near his premises. Peter Everett says he saw rats at the back of Darlington Snooker Club, in Corporation Road, on Saturday
PROMISING new boy Danny Mellanby was pleased to get his first game in a Darlington shirt under his belt on Saturday, despite the Quakers' going down to Southend. The 22-year-old was given his first taste of professional football when Gary Bennett threw
A GP pressured two mothers into having their baby sons circumcised by an insufficiently experienced surgeon friend who botched the operations, a disciplinary hearing heard yesterday. Dr Michael Harbinson, of Rowlands Gill, Tyne and Wear, gave the children's
THE future of an inquiry into the Operation Lancet anti-corruption investigation was thrown into doubt last night after a retired senior police officer was found dead in the bedroom of a North-East hotel. Former Hampshire Chief Constable Sir John Hoddinott
ONCE there was a chap in London called Mr Zebedee, obliged to go ex-directory after countless callers simply said "Boyng" - or possibly "Time for bed", though in a strictly non-sexual manner - and summarily replaced the receiver. Anyone who has ever climbed
A TEENAGER was threatened with violence by thieves who stole his mobile phone in a Darlington park. The attack, in South Park on Sunday, follows incidents in the town's Duke Street and Abbey Road last Wednesday and Thursday, where people had mobile phones
MORE than 1,000 refugees are missing from the region after failing to arrive at their allocated accommodation. Home Office figures reveal that one in five asylum seekers never gets to the place allocated for them to live. Records show that out of 4,629
A BIKER left devastated after his fiancee left him just before their wedding was caught speeding at 122mph on his bike, a court heard. Police stopped Michael Joseph Bainbridge, 34, of Beckett Close, Bishop Auckland, for travelling at twice the speed limit
THE wife of a family man who suffered possible brain damage in a vicious street assault has revealed that the Good Samaritan was going to help another man when he was attacked. Christopher Malt, 46, was severely beaten after a night out in Yarm with colleagues
The prices manufacturers pay for fuel and raw materials fell at their fastest rate for more than two years last month, official figures showed yesterday. A sharp drop in the cost of crude oil saw the seasonally adjusted input price index fall 1.8 per
WHEN landlady Linda Birkett saw a teenage girl giggling at the top of the stairs on a cold February night in 1995, she thought it was a guest. As she approached to help the lost girl she noticed she was wearing Victorian clothing, and then it dawned on
MISFIT defender Marcelino last night insisted he wants to win over the Newcastle United fans who booed his substitute appearance in Robert Lee's testimonial at St. James' Park. The Spanish centre-back, a massive flop in the two years since his £5m-plus
MIDDLESBROUGH defender Steve Vickers last night faced up to the "hardest'' decision of his career. The Boro centre-back was having further talks with Crystal Palace boss Steve Bruce about a proposed £500,000 move to Selhurst Park. Vickers, unable to persuade
NEWCASTLE'S first public art gallery is celebrating its centenary this week. The Laing Art Gallery was founded by Scottish businessman Alexander Laing, who moved to Tyneside in 1849 and made his fortune from bottling beer. In 1900 he approached Newcastle
BRAZILIAN central defender Emerson Thome, sent off in Sunderland's final pre-season friendly in Holland last Friday night, will not be banned for the big derby game against Newcastle at St. James' Park a week on Saturday. The £4.5m club record buy does
Kalvant Singh died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, police said last night. Stallholder Mr Singh was described as a loving father by Detective Superintendent Mark Braithwaite, who confirmed that the 41-year-old, who plunged to his
SEVENTEEN newly-crowned World champions will compete in the final televised meeting of the British season - the Norwich Union Classic - at Gateshead International Stadium on Sunday, writes FRANK JOHNSON. Pride of place will go to Tyneside's adopted son
A DOUBLE-edged warning for residents and burglars is being issued on Teesside. Stickers carrying a two-way message are being distributed at libraries throughout Redcar and Cleveland. Designed to be displayed on front doors, they warn callers: "We don't
RACEHORSE trainer David Nicholls has been ordered to demolish 50 stables built at his yard without planning permission. Mr Nicholls, known throughout the racing world as Dandy Nicholls, is thought to have invested more than £500,000 in the stables development
A LEGAL battle is looming between a council and a cafe owner. Dennis Mack was on the brink of bankruptcy when Middlesbrough Borough Council closed Stewart Park, for 15 weeks, to protect its zoo animals during the foot-and-mouth crisis. His business, Den's
Just weeks after setting up in County Durham, the North-East Mobility Warehouse has quadrupled the size of its premises from 800 to 3,200 sqft. More importantly, for potential customers there is now the opportunity of test driving the electric wheelchairs
AWARD-winning audio visual specialist Saville is celebrating ten years of its mail-order educational wing with three new appointments to its SchoolsVision arm at its York head office. They are JON HUBERY, ALISON COTTRELL and LOUISE TAYLOR. Until now they
A HEADTEACHER will put all talk of UK class sizes and performance tables into perspective when she jets off for an African adventure next month. With 60 to a class and no running water or electricity, the Ghanian school where Judith Lees will spend part
TWO weeks of frantic negotiations have staved off the shutdown of an agency supporting 900 businesses in one of the most deprived parts of the region. A cash flow crisis at Wear Valley Development Agency, in Bishop Auckland, had forced its board to give
POLICE cricketers are padding up for a charity match in memory of a former colleague who died from cancer, in April 1999. The match is on PC Michael Wright's home ground, at Crook, where he had opened the batting since he was a teenager. The father-of-four
A YOUNG man, who was said to have a "love-hate relationship with his mother" has been jailed for six months after causing £800 damage to her home. Karl Sutcliffe, 18, of Wensleydale Square, Bishop Auckland, appeared at Sedgefield Magistrates' Court yesterday
ELDERLY County Durham people are to benefit from technology designed to keep them safer in their homes. About 100 elderly people are being given an assortment of smart sensors, which can detect a crisis situation and alert the control centre. These include
Post Office parent company Consignia yesterday confirmed it will shed up to 250 jobs as part of a massive call centre closure plan. The organisation is to shut 59 of its 70 sites across the country, which handle about a million customer inquiries a month
A LIBRARY has cast aside its quiet, studious image and opened its doors to ventriloquists, magicians and cartoonists. Yesterday, Wizzo Wizard, otherwise known as Frank Johnson, paid a visit to Crook Library to entertain youngsters with a magic show and
THE future of one of the North-East's leading breweries looked to have been secured last night after a hostile take-over bid for its parent company was turned down. A bid by Hartlepool-based Pubmaster to buy Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries (WDB), owners
NEWCASTLE'S first public art gallery is celebrating its centenary this week. The Laing Art Gallery was founded by Scottish businessman Alexander Laing, who moved to Tyneside in 1849 and made his fortune from bottling beer. In 1900 he approached Newcastle
HE may be only eight, but a young martial arts fighter has joined the sport's elite. Bradley Smith, from Kirk Merrington, near Spennymoor, has been awarded a black belt, 1st Dan, by the Tae kwon do Association. He showed his prowess before a panel of
NINETY apprentices received achievement awards from South West Durham Training at an annual presentation day. Winners included Iain Armstrong, of Express Dairies, who was named Engineering Apprentice of the Year, and Deborah Miller, of David Penman Cars
MOST Australian schoolchildren know about the legendary courage of South Shields man John Simpson Kirkpatrick, but his heroics are largely ignored in Britain. The man with the donkey, as he became known, saved the lives of over 300 men during the bloody
POLICE cricketers are padding up for a charity match in memory of a colleague who died from cancer, in April 1999. The match is on PC Michael Wright's home ground, at Crook, where he had opened the batting since he was a teenager. The father-of-four,
THE public is being urged to help police capture a thief who snatched a woman's handbag in a Darlington town centre subway on Saturday. The incident happened at 6.20pm, while some people will have been leaving the shopping area, and others will have been
POLICE are working with city council bosses to secure a ban on a proposed National Front march in the region this weekend. Northumbria Police fear public disorder if the march - planned in Sunderland on Saturday afternoon protesting against asylum seekers
A NORTH-EAST town is pioneering a scheme forcing utility companies to pay rent for roads they dig up during maintenance work. As first revealed by The Northern Echo in March, Middlesbrough has been selected alongside Camden, in London, to test the scheme
Cleaner/janitor, Durham area, £4.20ph, 5.30am to 11pm (3hr shifts on 6-day basis), experience preferred but not essential, buffing experience and transport an advantage. Ref: DUR 27415. Bar supervisor, wages dep on exp, full time, required for pub/wine
HE may be only eight, but a young martial arts fighter has joined the sport's elite. Bradley Smith, from Kirk Merrington, near Spennymoor, has been awarded a black belt, 1st Dan, by the Tae kwon do Association. He showed his prowess before a panel of
THE first month that tragic teenager Kayleigh Ann Mart-ell used tampons was also her last. She died of toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a rare victim of an even rarer condition. Caught between being a girl and growing into a woman, she was delighted at the
OPERATION Lancet must have some kind of evil curse upon it. Seemingly, every police officer, and many civilians, who have come into contact with it have ended up as its victims. From Cleveland Chief Constable Barry Shaw, whose distinguished career was
MARATHON men Martyn Lowrie and Gerry Hehir have raised just over £2,000 for the Bethany Davison Appeal. Two-year-old Bethany, daughter of Sedgefield police officer Mick Davison and his wife Nicola, suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy resulting from
THE countdown has begun for the organisers of Darlington's bid for glory in this year's Britain in Bloom competition. Months of hard work by the organisers and gardeners from Darlington Borough Council will come to an end when the national judges arrive
A FINANCIAL worker who took part in a church tower abseil has raised several hundred pounds for charity. Moira Appleton, from Spennymoor, recently abseiled 100 ft down St John's Church, in Shildon, to raise money for the Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland
TWO week-long courses to help young people improve their leadership skills will take place later this month. Eastbourne Sports Complex, in Darlington, is running the junior sports leaders award (JSLA) courses next week and the week after. There will be
THE BBC has been much criticised for its poor coverage of religion. Well, this week's output must surely go a long way to answering those criticisms as TV viewers are being treated to daily programmes about Islam. This is a good thing. The Pope himself
TEMPERATE young police officers are calling time on their station's licensed bar. With drink sales not even covering bar staff wages, the club at Stockton Police Station is being wound up. Club secretary PC Bill Hall said gone are the days of "bulk''
A LIBRARY has cast aside its quiet, studious image and opened its doors to ventriloquists, magicians and cartoonists. Yesterday, Wizzo Wizard, otherwise known as Frank Johnson, paid a visit to Crook Library to entertain youngsters with a magic show and
THE top 500 runners in Sunday's Darlington 10km Road Run are listed below, giving position, competitor's name, club and finishing time. The rest of the competitors will be featured tomorrow, along with entrants in the 2km fun run. 1 Martin Scaife, Ch-le-St
HIS word against her word. Her word against his. And while the jury will decide whether it has been rape, in truth, it is society that will judge. That same society has moved on leaps and bounds in recent years in the sensitive handling of one of the
KARL BURKE'S decision to send Legal Set (3.15) on the expensive near 300-mile trip from Middleham to Brighton may well be richly rewarded in the Pot Noodle Claiming Stakes. Legal Set, an impressive winner at Lingfield in July, is the clear form pick in
THE BBC has been much criticised for its poor coverage of religion. Well, this week's output must surely go a long way to answering those criticisms as TV viewers are being treated to daily programmes about Islam. This is a good thing. The Pope himself
IN Coronation Street he plays evil Alex Swinton - whom half Britain presently loves to hate. In reality, actor Joe Simpson is a Peterlee lad, Sunderland football nut and - by common consent - a charmer. "One of the nicest men you could possibly hope to
CHILDREN on a Darlington estate have been trying their hand at animation. The youngsters from the Firth Moor estate took part in an animation workshop as part of a summer playscheme. Animator Sheryl Jenkins taught the youngsters all about creating cartoons
THE failure of Pubmaster's takeover bid yesterday ends months of uncertainty for the Camerons brewery and its 110 employees. And it brings to a close a bitter battle for control of Camerons' parent company Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (WDB), which
DETAILS of the sale of 2,000 eggs of endangered species of birds were uncovered on a former collector's secret computer records, a court heard. Computer crime investigators opened files seized from the home of Michael Terence Davidson to reveal a transaction
VILLAGERS are being urged to turn out in force later this week to persuade planning officials to block proposals for a £500,000 meat processing factory near their homes. More than 230 West Auckland residents have already signed a petition calling on Wear
A RUGBY player twice stamped on the head of an opponent with severe force, a court heard. Mark Briggs, who denies a charge of malicious wounding, is said to have attacked rival player Ian Cowley minutes before the end of a cup match last year. Teesside
A LECTURER hopes to become the first person in the country to earn a PhD for her research into the once-popular world of comics for girls. Mel Gibson has studied the disappearance of titles such as Jackie, Bunty and Twinkle, and how modern girls have
Union leaders said yesterday they had won assurances that the future of the Vauxhall car factory at Ellesmere Port is "secure". The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) said car production would continue there and the claims it could close
LUCK was on the side of two pilots caught up in a Friday 13th landing drama at a North-East airfield. The two flyers, one a 74-year-old commander, scrambled uninjured from the Cessna aircraft after it nose-dived on to the landing strip at Shotton Colliery
DETAILS of the sale of 2,000 eggs of endangered species of birds were uncovered on a former collector's secret computer records, a court heard. Computer crime investigators opened files seized from the home of Michael Terence Davidson to reveal a transaction
POLICE raided a man's house and found £2,000 worth of cannabis in a kitchen drawer. The drugs were being looked after by unemployed Kevin Topping as a favour for a friend, Teesside Crown Court heard. Topping, 37, of Ninth Street, Blackhall, east Durham
CLUB officials believe Sunderland football fans will be purring when the new Premiership season kicks off next Saturday. The club hopes supporters will be impressed at what they see both on and off the field at the Stadium of Light after a £1m refurbishment
SCHOOLBOY Sean Landless went to the pictures last night - not as an ordinary cinemagoer, but as the star of a £3m British movie that film-makers hope will be the next Billy Elliot. The 15-year-old, from Sunderland, stars opposite Scottish comedian Billy
UNIVERSITIES across the region are being encouraged to recruit more students, despite some suffering from a sharp drop in applications. The Government wants to see more than half of people under the age of 30 going in to higher education by 2011. More
A POET is returning to his North-East roots to write about the men and women who gave service to the Durham Light Infantry. Hartlepool-born Dave B Calder, whose father served in the regiment, has taken up a residency with Durham County Council's arts,
A WOMAN repaid hospital staff for treating her husband and mother by presenting them with a cheque for £1,650. Wendy Stanton, a switchboard worker at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, was so impressed by treatment at the cardio thorasic
A 13-YEAR-OLD girl from the North-East has become the youngest ever victim of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) in the UK after using tampons for the first time, an inquest heard yesterday. And coroner Michael Sheffield is to write to the Department of Health
RICHMOND COUNCIL I AM the Richmond Town councillor who made the protest about not being able to sit where I wanted in the council chamber (Echo, Aug 1). My protest came after 15 months of following the correct procedures, without success. It was about
A WATCHDOG has criticised a council over its decision to give planning permission for an extension to an industrial estate on farmland. Local Government Ombudsman Patricia Thomas said Derwentside District Council was guilty of maladministration causing
AT the age of 87 Les Greathead has tried his hand at a new career - as a demolition man. Mr Greathead used to live at the Orchard House sheltered housing scheme, in Brompton, Northallerton. And when he was invited back it was not for nostalgic reasons
PROPOSALS for a housing development in a tiny village have been rejected by council planners. Miller Homes' plans for 23 houses to be built on 4.5 acres of land at Village Farm, in Appleton Wiske, near North-allerton, were turned down by Hambleton District
MARATHON men Martyn Lowrie and Gerry Hehir have raised more than £2,000 for the Bethany Davison Appeal. Bethany, two, daughter of Sedgefield PC Mick Davison and his wife Nicola, suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy resulting from complications after
A FINANCIAL worker who took part in a church tower abseil has raised several hundred pounds for charity. Moira Appleton, from Spennymoor, recently abseiled 100 ft down St John's Church, in Shildon, to raise money for the Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland
THE National Canine Defence League is trying to rehome a dog which was abandoned in its car park. Bruno, a tan long-haired collie cross, was found by staff at the charity's Sadberge centre, near Darlington. They left him alone at first because they thought
VILLAGERS are being urged to turn out in force later this week to persuade planning officials to block proposals for a £500,000 meat processing factory near their homes. More than 230 West Auckland residents have already signed a petition calling on Wear
POLICE raided a man's house and found £2,000 worth of cannabis in a kitchen drawer. The drugs were being looked after by unemployed Kevin Topping as a favour for a friend, Teesside Crown Court heard. Topping, 37, of Ninth Street, Blackhall, east Durham
VILLAGERS have won a long-running battle against plans for a rural church to be turned into a house. Residents of Thornton-le-Beans, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, opposed the conversion of the former Chapel of Ease, as they thought residental occupation
BOY band A1 were the stars yesterday as children's television favourite Blue Peter took its first roadshow to the seaside. The chart-topping group performed before an audience of hundreds of screaming fans on the beach at Scarborough. The show, fronted
EMERGENCY services have issued a warning about the dangers of flooding after a man and his 11-year-old nephew became stranded on an island in a fast-flowing river. The anglers were trapped about 15 metres from the banks of the River Swale, at Great Langton
MORE than 150 residents in the village of Spofforth near Harrogate have joined a battle to secure a signal controlled crossing for their community. The plea comes despite an imminent curb on heavy lorries using the area as a shortcut to the A1. Petition
DEVELOPERS of a housing scheme bowed to a request by councillors to delete a terrace of homes from its plans. But when Ripon City councillors, in North Yorkshire, considered the scheme, minus terrace homes, they decided the plans looked better with terrace
VILLAGERS have won a long-running battle against plans for a rural church to be turned into a house. Residents of Thornton-le-Beans, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, opposed the conversion of the former Chapel of Ease, as they thought residental occupation
SIX sheds and garages were burgled in two Darlington streets late last week and during the weekend. Three consecutive houses in Ayton drive, off Carmel Road South, were the scenes of attacks between the evening of Thursday and early morning on Friday.
THE tampon industry is big business - selling more than one billion tampons a year. Peter Stephenson is the former managing director of Tambrands, which make Tampax, and is now the director general of the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. MoT tester, Darlington, 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday, required for class four vehicles, must be experienced. Ref: DAE 26625. Sales assistant, Darlington
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Catering assistant, Northallerton, £4.19pw, 35hrs pw, temporary, basic food hygiene certificate desirable but not essential, NVQ Food Preparation in
A PENSIONER who was confronted by a burglar at her home, died just two weeks later, a court heard. Cancer sufferer Cora Best, 81, of Marton, Middlesbrough, was said to have shown symptoms of post-traumatic stress following the raid. Teesside Crown Court
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Customer recruitment manager, Stockton, OTE £24,000, flexible hrs to meet clients, experience in sales/customer service and credit control, must be
HARTLEPOOL United will know today the extent of work needed to ensure the Mill House Stand is open for next Monday's Worthington Cup clash with Nottingham Forest. Pool chiefs meet with the Safety Advisory Committee this afternoon when they will discuss
LUCK was on the side of two pilots caught up in a Friday 13th landing drama at a North-East airfield. The two flyers, one a 74-year-old commander, scrambled uninjured from the Cessna aircraft after it nose-dived on to the landing strip at Shotton Colliery
THERE are about 18 cases of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) in the UK every year associated with women and tampons - one of them fatal. Paul Flynn, a consultant gynaecologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, has seen only one case in his 11 years
A NORTH-EAST firm has got its name on the scoreboard at one of Britain's top football venues. Baydale Architectural Systems has signed a lucrative deal with Premiership champions Manchester United to supply the scoreboard gantries at Old Trafford - known
A YOUNG man, who was said to have a "love-hate relationship with his mother" has been jailed for six months after causing £800 damage to her home. Karl Sutcliffe, 18, of Wensleydale Square, Bishop Auckland, appeared at Sedgefield Magistrates' Court yesterday
