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Other content from the Darlington & Stockton Times includes : Farming news. Equestrian news. Weekend Times. Opinion. Auctions.

TEAM-MATES of a rugby player accused of deliberately stamping on the head of an opponent told a court yesterday that he was not a "dirty" player. Mark Briggs, 22, is accused of stamping twice on rival player Ian Cowley with severe force, minutes before

POLICE yesterday mounted a search for stolen equipment used to combat of foot-and-mouth disease. Items stolen from a car parked behind Front Street, Whickham, Gateshead, included a 5-litre container filled with disinfectant Sam 30, a yellow plastic disposable

IT is significant that a group of non-politicians like the North-East Rail Passengers' Committee has come out in favour of more power being devolved from Westminster to the region. The committee says that the only way that the North-East will get a transport

Murray McDowell won't be signing for Darlington after Gary Bennett decided not to pursue his interest in the Scottish striker, as well as four other trialists. The Cowdenbeath forward spent a large chunk of the summer at the Quakers, but he won't become

ROMANCE blossomed at the flicks for a couple who are now celebrating their golden years. As Humphrey Bogart and other stars from the forties and fifties graced the big screen, Dennis and Nancy Carr, from West End Villas, Crook, were enjoying weekly meetings

SUNDERLAND FC has topped the league for the biggest increase in income in the Premiership. In season 1999-2000, the club recorded a 55 per cent growth in income as it returned to the Premier League and reaped the benefits of an extended stadium. The club's

OH Bunty, where are you now that we need you? Girls' comics are not the same anymore, says an academic from Sunderland University. Bunty, School Friend, Girl and Jackie were full of heroines and role models. Today's lot are junior versions of women's

SINCE the route is becoming circuitous, and since there are extraordinary things still to tell, it is best to essay a literary short cut. The story so far: July 18. Innocently enough, David Armstrong in Redcar wonders if anyone knows the score of a song

DISAPPOINTED Paul Arnison last night warned teammate Jon Bass that he is determined to win back his place in the Hartlepool United starting line-up. The right wing-back, who lost out to new boy Bass against Mansfield Town on Saturday, admits to being

NORTHUMBRIA Police say they will put money raised from speed camera fines into road safety. The force spoke out as the number of forces in the country getting money from speeding fines is increasing, prompting national debate about the use of speed cameras

THE multi-million pound redevelopment of a County Durham town centre has taken a further step forward. A Chester-le-Street District Council meeting passed plans for a new community hospital in the town. The hospital, consisting of two three-storey blocks

AN east Cleveland man has put up a spirited performance to gain a specialist qualification. David Crisp, who works at the North Eastern Co-Op superstore, in Marske, was one of a number of staff awarded the Wines and Spirit Education Trust Certificate

YOUNG people in Hartlepool are today launching a clean-up of wildlife areas after vandals used them as rubbish dumps. The group of youngsters, from the Jutland Road area will be spending the day cleaning up two ponds near the Teesbay Retail Park, off

A MEMORIAL service is to be held for a Methodist minister who dedicated his life to helping the homeless. Walter Wilkinson, from Spennymoor, worked throughout his life to improve conditions for homeless people, providing food and soup kitchens in Tyneside

A FORMER Army fitness instructor who claims he was operated on without his permission has reported a surgeon to the General Medical Council. Raymond Allan, 73, from Richmond, North Yorkshire, claims his life has been ruined after surgery at the Friarage

THREE community hospitals in east Cleveland are at the centre of plans to develop primary health care in the area. Stead Memorial Hospital at Redcar, Guisborough General, and East Cleveland Hospital, at Brotton, will become the focus of a new primary

BROUGH PARK is expecting a big turn out on Sunday for what is being billed as its best-ever greyhound sale. And one new owner could scoop a jackpot of £2,000 if his acquisition reaches the final of the forthcoming All England Cup at the Tyneside track

NINE of the North-East's longest throwers are flexing their muscles for a crack at a 119-year-old world best, tonight. The Northern Echo's Greatest Throw on Earth competition reaches its climax this evening, under the glare of the floodlights and the

AN Australian tourist and two mountain bike competitors have all had their mountain bikes stolen in a spate of thefts. The wave of bicycle thefts in Spennymoor has prompted police to warn people to keep their cycles locked in sheds and garages. Over the

A WOMAN admitted starving a dog to death in what an animal pathologist described as the most emaciated animal she seen. Kathleen Jaffray, 48, pleaded guilty to cruelty to two dogs yesterday at Teesside Magistrates' Court. Co-defendants Christine Dawson

FORMER miners and steelworkers have the chance to receive free advice about industrial diseases compensation claims next week. Claims experts from Industrial Diseases Compensation, a private company specialising in bronchitis, emphysema, vibration white

RECESSION THE news that the manufacturing sector of the economy is in recession (Echo, Aug 7) shows the Government's boasts about abolishing boom and bust to be garbage. It is almost as if Tony Blair thinks he can hold back the tides of the economy just

SUNDERLAND manager Peter Reid has been left sweating over the fitness of nearly £10m worth of talent as four of his first team squad turn out for international duty tonight. The Wearside boss has already had to withdraw striker Niall Quinn and midfielder

A FURIOUS cabbie has been refused a licence because his taxi is the wrong shade of black. Khalid Hussain shelled out £4,500 for his Vauxhall Vectra, which is described as black in its log book. But as far as Newcastle City Council is concerned it is not

JUDGEMENT Day arrived in Saltburn this week with the town bracing itself for a good performance in the Britain In Bloom competition. The east Cleveland seaside town is a stalwart in the Northumbria In Bloom, Britain In Bloom and Nations In Bloom event

A GROUP of Japanese tourists travelled 6,000 miles to the North-East for a haircut - only to find the barber's shop closed. The group came all the way from Tokyo to visit Durham City barber Terry Moderate, but discovered it was his day off. Terry, 51,

A ONE-DAY strike called by tanker drivers threatens to disrupt supplies of fuel to forecourts next week. The strike next Tuesday, which has been called by the Transport and General Workers' Union, will hit hundreds of Jet garages. The dispute centres

AIR safety investigators are calling on the RAF to fit its planes with new safety equipment following a near miss between a Tornado and a passenger plane over the North-East. The incident, which happened last September just north of Hexham, Northumberland

THE dedicated team of gardeners which has designed and tended Darlington's bid for Britain in Bloom success is awaiting the judges' arrival. The award-winning group has spent countless hours cutting, snipping, trimming and watering the thousands of bedding

A NURSING union has claimed overseas nurses are facing unfair and discriminatory treatment in the region. Martin O'Neill, Northern regional officer for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said the recent influx of overseas nurses, had resulted in "quite

THE Second World War seemed exciting stuff to 13-year-old Robert Harbron. As a youngster growing up in the village of Norton, on Teesside, the threat from Nazi Germany seemed a world away. But 60 years ago, on August 15 1941, tragedy struck his village

Volunteers are needed urgently by a charity that provides help for people who have suffered a stroke. The Northallerton Goal - Go Out And Live - Club was formed 18 years ago to provide recreational, social and therapeutic help for stroke sufferers. Initially

NORTHUMBRIA Police say they will put money raised from speed camera fines into road safety. The force spoke out as the number of forces in the country getting money from speeding fines is increasing, prompting national debate about the use of speed cameras

BOB the Builder will be one of the special guests as a town meets for its annual Teddy Bears' Picnic. The popular cartoon character is travelling from London to join the Three Bears at the event at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, tomorrow. A host of

TRAINEE builder Gareth Hutchinson is young bricklayer of the year. The 18-year-old from Coxhoe, County Durham, won the junior bricklayer of the Northern region title by constructing a near perfect brick model. Gareth, who is on an advanced modern apprenticeship

FIFTY new jobs are to be created at a North-East crisp factory. Walkers Snack Foods, which operates the former Tudor site in Peterlee, is one of the biggest employers in east Durham and provides work for about 400 people. The company decided to increase

A COUNCILLOR claims footpaths and roads are falling into disrepair because they are being maintained with cheap materials. Sedgefield Borough Councillor Ben Ord has called on Durham County Council to stop using slurry seal, an alternative to Tarmac, for

RAILWAYS in the North-East will be starved of investment unless there is a change in government policy, passenger watchdogs have warned. The warning comes amid increasing fears that cash is being directed towards high-profile projects in London and the

PROSECUTORS have revealed that no-one will be prosecuted in the wake of the school trip to the Yorkshire Dales which ended with the death of two teenage girls. The Crown Prosecution Service has decided there is insufficient evidence to bring manslaughter

A WOMAN has given birth to sextuplets at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. The premature babies were born 12 weeks early on Thursday, August 9. Five of the six babies, two boys and three girls, are said to be in a stable condition and making

A MAN was stabbed by a stranger as he made his way home from a night out, a court heard. Christopher Cruddas had been drinking with friends in Durham City and was going to the Market Place to get a taxi when he was attacked by Adnan Qureshi. Newcastle

TAXI drivers will benefit from a new system which means they no longer need an MoT certificate. Last month, Darlington Borough Council obtained a certificate of exemption meaning that private hire or Hackney Carriage taxis licensed by them do not need

RESIDENTS will argue today that stringent safety measures should be introduced on a village road before a major housing development goes ahead. Darlington Borough Council is meeting this afternoon to discuss a planning application for 233 houses to be

DEPUTY Prime Minister John Prescott gave his seal of approval yesterday to a music centre held up as the jewel in the crown of a city's regeneration. Mr Prescott, who was visiting the region as part of his role overseeing the work of the Social Exclusion

BEVERLEY-bound Shirley Not (4.30) should not be missed in the five-furlong dash for the £12,000 Tote Placepot Handicap today. The Steve Gollings-trained sprinter was a desperately unlucky loser at Pontefract last time when he was caught sleeping in the

A MENTAL health trust in the region is to help pilot a new national scheme designed to help the NHS learn from mistakes. The Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust is to become one of 26 specially selected trusts to test out the new system. The aim is

THE common view that floodlit matches are decided by the toss will not trouble Durham in tonight's crucial Norwich Union League match against Hampshire at the Riverside. All three of Durham's floodlit matches to date have bucked the trend, with the side

A STRONG new car market has helped CD Bramall report record profits for the first six months of the year. The Harrogate group, which changed its name from Sanderson Bramall at the start of the year, yesterday revealed pre-tax profits of £11m, an increase

A NEW £1m purpose-built events centre will open in a 17th Century country house hotel next month. The centre, at the Redworth Hall Hotel, between Bishop Auckland and Darlington in County Durham, will be unveiled on September 10. The hotel is owned by

IT HAS never been clear, at least to me, exactly why Nick Brown was dumped as Minister of Agriculture. Though sharing the countryside opinion, if not the usual reasons for it, that his handling of the foot-and-mouth epidemic was a disaster, the truth

Here are the rest of the Darlington 10K Race and 2K Fun Run results. Finishers are unattached unless club or organisation is specified. 501 Lynn Woods F50 New Marske H 50.51; 502 Kenneth Airlie. 50.52; 503 Sharon Drew F35 Quakers RC 50.54; 504 Harry Dalkin

Farmers are "living on borrowed time" if they do not look to the future in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis, the Government's rural recovery co-ordinator said yesterday. At a news conference in Penrith, Cumbria, one of the worst-hit regions, Lord

TWO police officers and a nurse who battled to save the life of a pensioner after he collapsed in the street, have been praised by St John Ambulance. The trio were presented with their awards yesterday morning, at Darlington police station, where the

POLICE fear a flood of applications from pubs seeking to open until 2am, if permission is granted today for two new late licences. The Bacchaus Bar, in Houndgate, and Yates Wine Lodge, in Skinnergate, both Darlington, have applied to Darlington Borough

GREEN-fingered pensioners used a life-time's experience of gardening to create an award winning horticultural trip down memory lane. Staff and pensioners at Greenways Court Day Centre, in Consett, set about transforming their garden into a colourful display

POLICE are hoping to put the brakes on a spate of cycle thefts in east Cleveland. Uniformed officers with the District Community Policing Team, at Redcar, east Cleveland, will be carrying out a range of checks in target areas. Cyclists will be stopped

TENANTS in east Cleveland have lost the latest round in a long-running campaign to get the local authority to replace their defective windows. Elderly people in Fenton Street and Shepherd Court, Boosbeck, have had a long-running battle with Redcar and

POLICE said they have been unable to recover a number of documents in their inquiry into the death of a psychiatric patient 26 years ago. Officers are investigating the death of Jonathan Longstaff, who died in a fire in the psychiatric wing of Darlington

LIBRARIES in Redcar and Cleveland are aiming to become involved in a ground-breaking partnership to help people study near their homes. The libraries are joining forces with the University of Teesside to see whether collections of material relating to

BREWERY bosses confirmed yesterday that plans for the take-over of one of the region's leading breweries are already well under way. A spokesman for Castle Eden Breweries said that the transfer of its plant, near Peterlee, to Camerons, in Hartlepool,

VICTIMS of a power station explosion could be identified only from dental records, it has been revealed. Dentist Kathryn Quinton told an inquest opening in Middlesbrough that she recognised dental work she had carried out on Darren Higgins, 28, of Normanby

DETECTIVES are appealing for witnesses after an attack at a filling station, which left a man badly injured. The incident happened at 7.30pm, on Saturday, when the victim called for petrol at the Red Tiles filling station, at Kaysburn, on the outskirts

A MOTHER has criticised a fast- food restaurant after she found a piece of wood in her son's chips. Elaine Ward and her sons, Calvin, two, and Craig, 13, were enjoying a meal at Burger King in Durham City's North Road when Craig spotted something unusual

A POLICE collaboration with firefighters aimed at stamping out arsonists and hoax callers is to be expanded. The Arson Task Force, set up nearly two years ago by Northumbria Police, has proven so successful in Newcastle West and Sunderland area commands

ALAN SHEARER launches his comeback for Newcastle United today with his sights firmly fixed on derby revenge against Sunderland. The Magpies' skipper lines up alongside strike partner Carl Cort in a full-scale practice match, 11 days before the Tyne-Wear

A CHARITY worker could stand against former Cleveland Police officer Ray Mallon - if the electorate of Middlesbrough vote to have an elected mayor. Rod Jones is signing over the charity he founded, Convoy Aid, to his Romanian wife, Gabriella, to allow

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy is being hailed a hero after he saved his little brother from drowning in a hotel swimming pool. James McEvoy did not hesitate when he saw Jacques, four, fall in at the 6ft end - even though he has only recently learned to swim himself

JUST months after it seemed doomed to be consigned to history, a money-spinning charity event looks to have been given a bright long-term future. Earlier this year, Northallerton appeared to have lost its annual charity carnival for good, after 25 years

THE owners of the Newcastle Jesters ice hockey club claim the end of a seven-month pay dispute is still their priority. Last week, club chairman Paul Smith promised the outstanding £150,000 would be paid by August 10, ending a summer of speculation, and

FIVE workers with digger maker Komatsu have won gold medals in the firm's Techno Olympics skills competition. The Birtley business holds the competition every year to demonstrate the skills and ability of its staff. The winners were Brian Smith for welding

ORGANISERS believe that at least 20,000 people will attend events as part of Billingham International Festival during the course of this week. About 150 dancers from South America, Europe and Africa, wearing traditional dress and performing their native

A RETIRED man was hit on the head by thieves who stole his wife's handbag. Frank Barnett, 71, and his wife Margaret, 69, were walking home from the Black Horse pub, in Billingham, Teesside, at 11.45pm, on Monday, when two men asked them the time. While

NATIONAL Front protestors have vowed to defy a possible Home Office ban preventing them from marching through a North-East city centre this weekend - prompting fears of violent confrontations with anti-fascists. Police and Sunderland City Council have

TWO key appointments have provided signs that the long-awaited regeneration of Bishop Auckland's shopping and business heart is at last under way. A new town centre manager is waiting to take up his post, giving a shot in the arm to the commercial fortunes

Other content from the Darlington & Stockton Times includes : Farming news. Equestrian news. Weekend Times. Opinion. Auctions.

IN the run-up to Headingley's 2001 Ashes Test, the story of its most illustrious predecessor, Botham's Test of 1981, has been told over and over again. Missing from all accounts, however, is the contribution to England's sensational victory of an unknown

FOR the second year running, a group of green fingered pensioners have proved you are never too old to dig for victory. Once they reached their eighties, the six members of a Gardening Club at the Moor Grange residential home, in Spennymoor, could have

Computer lessons for older people and a partnership for a safer town are included in a scheme aimed at revitalising communities. The North-East Regional Assembly has also made overcoming social deprivation a key target. It is hoping to boost its prospects