SUPPLIERS of potentially-lethal sweets are being visited by trading standards officers. Last week, the Food Standards Agency advised children not to eat certain mini-cup fruit jelly sweets, because of the risk of choking. The sweets, imported from Asia
ARMED police have set up search stations on the region's roads as part of a Christmas crackdown on terrorism. The move, part of a national campaign called Operation Floodgate, has seen officers stopping motorists on the area's main roads, including the
A woman is in a critical condition tonight after being airlifted to hospital. She was involved in a collision with a lorry at 11.20am while driving along Greenford Road, Gateshead. The fire brigade cut her free and the air ambulance took her to hospital
A BIGGER-than-expected Lottery grant has helped secure the future of one of the region's theatrical gems. The Heritage Lottery Fund had already pledged a provisional £575,000 towards the restoration of The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, North Yorkshire
THE people of Darlington have got behind their Pop Idol as she moves closer to stardom. Teenager Zoe Birkett made it to the final ten in the TV talent show and on Saturday night survived the first sudden-death round. Her version of Whitney Houston's hit
MISS ELLIE returns today to her favourite venue, Musselburgh, where she must have an outstanding chance in the £7,000 Vertis Handicap Hurdle. Although unproven over three miles, Miss Ellie (2.20) has twice won at the course over four furlongs less, each
PAINTINGS depicting life in County Durham's coalmines have been the centrepiece of an exhibition that has toured France and Belgium. Thousands of people viewed paintings by Bishop Auckland artist and former miner Tom McGuinness when they were on display
THE boyfriend of a young woman who died in a house fire more than 16 months ago has been charged by police in connection with her death. John Collings, 47, had been living with 30-year-old university graduate Victoria Barker in a ground-floor flat at
Darlington boss Tommy Taylor is facing up to a nightmare Christmas, with a string of players missing from action. With four League games in ten days, Taylor has several players suspended or injured. Defender Gary Caldwell has returned to Newcastle after
A WOMEN'S writing group is appealing for help to keep its magazine afloat. A group of five women from New Brancepeth, Ushaw Moor and Bearpark came up with the idea for Nub, a magazine for each of the Durham villages, during creative writing sessions.
A woman who died in a road accident on the A19 on Sunday has been named as Sybil Morgan, 73, of Billingham, Teesside. The car she was travelling in with her husband, Ronald Morgan, went out of control and hit a road sign near Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire
An inquest into the death of a man who was found collapsed at his home in the early hours of Sunday was opened and adjourned to a date to be fixed, yesterday. Owen Dudley Harriott, 27, of Viner Street, Ripon, North Yorkshire, was taken to Harrogate District
THE Prince of Wales enjoyed a pint of beer and a malt whisky yesterday as he joked with locals in a Yorkshire Dales pub. Charles was visiting the Craven Heifer Hotel in Stainforth, near Settle, to promote an initiative to help village inns survive by
A FARMER'S fears that building workers could bring foot-and-mouth disease on to his land has held up the opening of a £1m hospital. Patients at the redeveloped Horn Hall Hospital, in Stanhope, County Durham, should have been in the gleaming new community
A 79-year-old man has died after being involved in a road traffic accident on Sunday. The accident happened in Yarm Lane, Stockton, at 7.11pm at the junction of Lauren Street and Shaftesbury Street. The man, a pedestrian, was in collision with a Vauxhall
A GROUP of youngsters has finally realised their dream of becoming recording stars in their own right. Children at the Church of England primary at Barton, near Richmond, were so enthusiastic about their festive show So This Is Christmas that music teacher
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Manager/ess. Full-time, temporary, one month. Required for restaurant. Must have supervisory or managerial experience in busy restaurant. Ref: DUR 29090
THOUSANDS of used tyres were cleared from an illegally-run site after the operator was declared bankrupt. Peter Melvyn Sweeney gathered an estimated 26,000 tyres within a few months on land at Daleside Works, overlooked by a residential street, in Craghead
A CORONER decided yesterday that a moment's inattention on the notorious A66 probably cost a disqualified driver his life. Ian Coulson of Richmond, North Yorkshire, became the latest victim of a road which has been labelled among the most dangerous in
NEWCASTLE United manager Bobby Robson is quite happy to see the title talk focus away from his own side's Premiership challenge. Third-placed Magpies will go top of the League tonight should they overcome second-placed Arsenal, and end a 29 game winless
SHOCKING new figures have revealed the rising level of violence on the region's trains, as tempers boil over at the crumbling state of Britain's rail network. Figures obtained by The Northern Echo show that GNER staff are facing more violent attacks than
THE final phase of a redevelopment of a Ferryhill playing field could go ahead if funding is granted this evening. About £70,000 has already been spent on improving the King George V field during the past 18 months. The field, which previously only had
THE show is to go on at one of the region's famous theatres, even though it has gone on the market. Scarborough Borough Council and Clear Channel Entertainment have agreed that the Futurist Theatre will operate under their current arrangement until the
CAMPAIGNERS are planning to set up an anti-bullying service in Darlington. Anne McGrath and Geoff Freeman are hoping to create a counselling and support service for children who are suffering at the hands of bullies. The pair have already created a website
bones dug up during a city-centre excavation could belong to an unknown victim of Nazi bombers in the Second World War, it emerged yesterday. The remains, unearthed by a developer building a Morrisons supermarket in Byker, Newcastle, have mystified police
A burglar who was desperate to feed his £60-a-day heroin habit was jailed for 18 months yesterday. Keith Wills, 21, used his heroin-heating spoon to force open a window at a neighbour's flat, said Sarah Farnsworth, prosecuting. He was spotted by a passer-by
A SUPERMARKET is on the verge of gaining approval for controversial plans to extend its opening hours. The Co-op store in Boroughbridge Road, Northallerton, has applied to Hambleton District Council for permission to open from 7am to 10pm every day. The
HOUSEHOLDERS in the Ryedale area are being urged to dispose of their old fridges and freezers carefully as new laws are introduced to protect the environment. From January 1 all ozone depleting substances (ODS), such as chlorofluorocarbons, must be removed
THE cause of a gas explosion which left a family's home in ruins, remains a mystery. The force of the blast hurled 30-year-old mother of three, Marie Johnson, through a ground floor window and into the garden of her home in Eamont Road, Norton, near Stockton-on-Tees
TEES health chiefs are backing a new campaign to manage short-term sickness. Employers are to be targeted in the scheme, which urges them not to insist on their employees producing sick notes from their doctor when they are absent from work for only a
TWO teenagers have admitted an attack which left a 14-year-old boy with severe head injuries. Daniel Robinson and Steven Webster, both 18, admitted attacking the youngster as he walked in Cranberry Road, Hylton Castle, Sunderland. The boy underwent emergency
A GROUP of North Yorkshire villages has become the first in the region to win cash to help them plan for a prosperous future. The Hillside Parishes, near Thirsk, have been awarded almost £15,000 by the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages initiative to
Support Needed: Councillor Wilf Dobinson, chairman of Wear Valley District Council, is hoping that the people of Wear Valley will support his charity fundraising event on New Year's Eve. Tickets for the evening, which features the Rascals, cost £7 and
NORTHUMBRIAN Water has been fined £1,200 after hundreds of fish died when raw sewage discharged into a river near Durham. The company was also ordered to pay £2,803 in costs by magistrates at Consett, County Durham, after admitting breaching two sections
SEDGEFIELD Borough Council has revised the opening times for its leisure centres over Christmas and New Year. All centres will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, but all will open as normal between Thursday, December 27 and Sunday
A TWO-YEAR-OLD is proving she has what it takes to become a top saleswoman. Single parent Tanya Uernlianin has been taking her daughter Belle to work with her since opening her business, ABC Babi, in Redcar. The shop is an expansion from her home-based
A pig farmer has denied failing to keep records of animal movements just before the foot-and-mouth outbreak. Alan Clement, 58, pleaded not guilty to 14 charges of failing to keep and failing to produce documents proving that he legitimately moved pigs
MIDDLESBROUGH football club's progress for the rest of the season could help a charity towards its goal, thanks to a North-East jeweller. Bradleys, which has six branches around Teesside, has pledged £25 to the Clarke Lister Brain Haemhorrage Foundation
Marconi is selling its optical components arm in a £19m deal. Marconi is off-loading the division to Bookham Technology in return for 9.9 per cent stake in the fibre optics group, valuing the deal at £19.7m. Marconi chief executive Mike Parton said the
I WAS more than a bit surprised last week at the reaction to Home Secretary David Blunkett's suggestion that immigrants to Britain should take an oath of allegiance and pledge their loyalty to Britain. The recommendation came in the Cantle Report, commissioned
THEY are the all-conquering champions, but very few people know what they are champions of. Four teenagers from the South Causey Equestrian Centre, in South Causey, near Stanley, head the sport of horseball, a cross between basketball and rugby played
A BURGLAR who had his past 14 Christmas dinners in jail won his freedom yesterday to have this year's on the outside. Dean Williams, 39, from Middlesbrough, thought twice about turning up to be sentenced yesterday, said Stephen Ashurst, defending. Williams
MARK Robinson hopes his chances of regular first-team action haven't been put on ice by Saturday's big freeze. Robinson was back in the Hartlepool side for Saturday's match at Bristol Rovers, which was abandoned after 12 minutes. After sitting out four
REDCAR residents can rest assured their rubbish will be collected over the festive period. Refuse will be picked up as normal until Christmas Eve but there will be no service on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day. After the holidays, residents
A COUPLE tucked up in their County Durham bed came to the rescue of a pair of amateur sailors facing death on the high seas more than 1,000 miles away. As John and Margaret Moore snoozed in their Chester-le-Street home, friends Jill and Robert Watson
A FAMILY firm of travelling showmen has won an appeal against a decision banning them from using a site to store fairground equipment and mobile homes. James Crow and Sons were refused permission to turn a transport depot in Dalton Lane, near Thirsk,
A DEVELOPMENT that would signal the end of a village's brewing tradition is likely to take a step closer today. District councillors in Easington are recommended to give conditional approval to plans to build executive housing and apartments on land adjacent
NATIONAL park chiefs are hoping forays into attics when Christmas decorations are put away next month could help with a project which aims to reflect the pulling power of the Yorkshire Dales. An exhibition of walking paraphernalia from the past century
THREATENING phone calls were made to a woman after a brief liaison with a married man during a stag night out at a North-East seaside resort. Scores of abusive calls were made over the following months to the victim's home in Durham, and the food store
A ROW between two men living in a hostel for the homeless ended with one being chased down the street by the other who was brandishing a carving knife, a court heard yesterday. Prosecutor Michael Hammond told Harrogate magistrates how a man known only
A construction project that will bring indoor tennis facilities to North Yorkshire has got under way. An £11m tennis centre is being developed in York which will create 100 jobs and is expected to end up with more than 5,000 members. The 105,000sq ft,
SUNDERLAND manager Peter Reid, desperate to inject new fire power into a team which has scored only 13 Premiership goals this season, is believed to be ready to more than double the club's transfer record with a bid of £10m for Leeds United striker Alan
A MAN threw a car battery through the window of his girlfriend's home and damaged her father's car with an air rifle, a court heard yesterday. Michael Sanderson, 31, admitted possessing a firearm, two charges of damaging property, two of assault with
A TEAM of social care and health professionals from Hartlepool has won a regional award for modernising services. The Hartlepool multi-link team was judged to be the best from about 250 entered in the category of services for older people. Yesterday,
POLICE are hunting a man who attacked a young mother on Sunday evening. The man grabbed the 18-year-old on the A66 footbridge as she headed towards Ayresome Grange, Middlesbrough, with her son in his pushchair. He tried to drag her into a alleyway, but
A BUS of Fools, which will form the centrepiece of New Year's Eve celebrations, trundled into the city yesterday. The vehicle, containing characters from Geordie cult magazine Viz, will be set alight in a fire and pyrotechnic display at Newcastle's Haymarket
An investigation is to be carried out after fire broke out in a vicarage in Norton. Firefighters had to saw a hole in security boards to get into the building to tackle the blaze in the disused vicarage at The Green, Norton. Vandals had cut holes in the
A LIFELINE was today given to a North-East brewery as hopes remain high that a takeover by a former rival will take place in the New Year. Proposals by Castle Eden Brewery to buy near neighbour Cameron's at Hartlepool, from owner Wolverhampton and Dudley
NISSAN'S great new hope for European domination began rolling off the Sunderland production line last night. The new Primera is a large family car designed with European drivers in mind. Nissan hopes its new model's bold new looks will help boost sales
Cattle markets in the North-East can re-start from next February, the Government announced today. The significant easing of movement restrictions would also allow agricultural shows without sheep to commence at the same time. A move from individual to
PROPERTY development company Terrace Hill approaches the end of the year with a great deal to celebrate. Its recent appointment by Gateshead Borough Council as preferred developer for Gateshead's Baltic Business Park, will keep the Teesside firm busy
A pub in a former pit village has been hailed as a shining example of how to invite to revitalise village communities. Paul White pulled up a stool at the bar to hear a landlord's tale WHEN Trevor Dunn took over the Diamond Inn in Butterknowle, a former
PLANS by a trust to set up a halfway house for young people has brought it in collision with residents. The Depaul Trust, which was set up by Cardinal Hume about 12 years ago, is planning to build three flats in Bishop Auckland where young people who
Historians and railway buffs have reacted with dismay to the news that a North-East icon is to be removed from an English banknote. The Bank of England has announced that railway pioneer George Stephenson is to be replaced by 19th Century prison reformer
WHAT A way to do it. Newcastle United ended their London jinx on Tuesday night at the 30th time of asking, and in doing so took over at the top of the Premiership table. Referee Graham Poll controversially sent off two players and gave an even stranger
Leeds United midfielder Lee Bowyer has hit back at his club after being placed on the transfer list, claiming he has been "victimised". The West Yorkshire side took the decision to place Bowyer, 24, on the transfer list after refusing to accept a fine
A MAN given only a slim chance of surviving cancer shot himself with a revolver, an inquest heard today. Michael Stephenson, 63, from Darlington, had been diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas and was told that without an operation he would live two years
A TEENAGER and four children are lucky to be alive after a blaze broke out in a bedroom. The teenage girl was babysitting the youngsters, all aged under 12, at Toft Crescent, Murton, near Seaham, when the fire started just before 11.30pm on Monday. They
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Care home manager, Shildon, £14,500pa, 37.5hrs shifts, age 25 plus, must have nursing qualifications or NVQ 4 in management. Ref: BIS 10110. Deputy
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Janitor, Northallerton. £5ph, 3.30-7pm, plus weekends on rota. Experience not essential as training given. Must be 18-plus. Ref: NOE 15318. Administration
PLANS by a trust to set up a halfway house for young people has brought it in collision with nearby residents. The Depaul Trust, which was set up by Cardinal Hume about 12 years ago, is planning to build three flats in Bishop Auckland where young people
A CURRY house is planning to beat its competition by offering to prepare free meals with leftover turkey. The Capital Indian restaurant, at Claypath, Durham, is running the promotion to use the leftovers of large birds in interesting ways. Owner Sofed
VANDALS are threatening a successful drive to improve the environment and keep down council tax bills. Derwentside District Council yesterday issued a warning to the vandals that their destruction of "bring sites", where people take rubbish for recycling
A MAN who burgled a pensioner's home while she was in the bath was sent to a young offenders' institution for three-and-a-years yesterday. Joseph Niles, 20, of Thorpe Street, in Easington, County Durham, admitted four charges of burglary at Teesside Crown
A WARRANT has been issued for the arrest of a man found guilty of trapping wild birds. John Tams - also known as John Dugdale - was found guilty in his absence of ten charges of possessing three wild birds and bird trapping equipment, on November 12.
DARLINGTON YMCA has awarded certificates to some of its members who have been on training courses. The presentations were for the basic health and safety certificate, first aid and computer literacy and information technology (Clait). The majority of
WILLIAM HAGUE left the cut and thrust of Westminster politics behind at the weekend to enjoy produce from his North Yorkshire constituency. The former Tory leader helped out at Richmond's monthly farmers' market, distributing hot drinks among more than
Colds, coughs and flu could strike up to 77 per cent of UK households over the next month, experts advising GPs warned yesterday. The Benylin Forecasting Service, which obtains health data from family doctors, pharmacists and school staff around the country
YOUNGSTERS who have helped improve the look of their village have enjoyed some festive fun. Members of the New Brancepeth Youth Group have created a "pocket park'' on dere-lict land near the village hall and installed artwork on it. During a day of festive
POVERTY campaigners are urging older men in the North-East to take up free Government handouts for fuel after thousands missed out last year. More than 4,500 men last winter failed to claim their winter fuel payments, which are each worth £200. The payments
PLANS are under way to further improve a climbing wall in Newton Aycliffe, which is already rated as one of the best in the country. Rock Antics, which runs the wall at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, has rec- ently extended the facilities which now occupy
INVESTMENT in the people who run our health service is as important as investment in new buildings and equipment. Extra resources will be ineffective in reducing waiting lists if staff are insufficient in numbers and low in morale. Pay has to be a crucial
YOUNG artists have been using their creative talents to help sick animals. Mount Pleasant school held a Christmas card competition to raise funds for Stanhope Park vets, in Darlington. The veterinary clinic needs to raise £10,000 to buy an endoscope which
Brewer does shares u-turn brewer Wolverhampton & Dudley is changing plans for a £100m shares buy-back after receiving little interest in the offer. Shareholders snubbed Wolves' plans to buy shares at 491p after seeing the brewer's market value surge
A JURY returned an open verdict on the death of a man who was struck by a train at Newton Aycliffe. Joseph Michael Creen, 45, of Priestman Road, Newton Aycliffe, was killed when he was hit by a train in Aycliffe Village on May 31 last year. The inquest
SALES of new upmarket homes in the South-East should revive after a recent downturn, housebuilder Persimmon has forecast. The York-based housebuilder, which snapped up rival Beazer in March, said higher priced properties in the region had suffered in
A PROPOSAL to place a youth shelter on the outskirts of the Dean Bank area of Ferryhill has been rejected by councillors. Ferryhill Town Council and Sedgefield Borough Council are hoping to install a youth shelter on the Dean Bank estate. in an effort
A FORMER miner and social worker has been named Sedgefield Village's Citizen of the Year. Allan Smart was named the winner at the civic wine and cheese evening in the Parish Hall, on Friday. The award was presented by Basil Watson, treasurer of sponsors
ARMY chiefs have condemned vandals who went on the rampage in a military cemetery, destroying the graves of war heroes. The devastation was discovered yesterday at a churchyard near Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. Headstones and graves of soldiers
IN a change of roles Robert De Niro would be proud of, North-East actor Stuart Wells has swapped a little white number for battle fatigues. As the effeminate best friend of Billy Elliot in the hit film, he toyed with wearing a tutu and tried to plant
Mayors and other civic representatives from the North-East joined with villagers at the civic carol service in Sedgefield Methodist Church on Friday. The Mayor of Sedgefield, Councillor Ellen Robinson, gave a reading, and the service was conducted by
A REMARKABLE meeting took place at a North-East nursing home at the weekend. Mary Bramley, 89, a former matron at Stockton and Thornaby Hospital, presented Barbara Elenor with her latest qualification, 45 years after presenting her with her original State
Leeds United stars Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer will face private legal action from the young Asian student they were cleared of assaulting. The family's advisors also said they were seeking to bring a private prosecution, claiming conspiracy against
THE reopening of one of English Heritage's most treasured sites will be celebrated at the weekend. Mount Grace Priory, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was forced to shut earlier this year because of foot-and-mouth restrictions. But the ruin will
ARTISTIC pupils at two Middlesbrough schools have produced some winning designs for a poster competition on the theme of community and home safety for the elderly. The entries from pupils at Abingdon and North Ormesby primary schools will now be incorporated
Charity seeks help at fair Help the Aged in Darlington is already looking for volunteers and street performers for a country fair next year. Bands, fortune tellers, face painters and other entertainers are needed to make the event in June a success. Anyone
A FORMER North-East counsellor is helping English families in the US to cope with their loss following the September terrorist attacks. Alan Leach, from Middlesbrough, was a volunteer for Cruse Bereavement Care in the UK before moving to New Jersey. He
New date for forum meeting A meeting of Sedgefield Borough Council's Area 1 Forum, due to be held at Kirk Merrington Village and Community Centre, had to be cancelled last night. The meeting, which covers the Spennymoor and Tudhoe areas, was called off
A FARMER'S wife who was worried about the effects of foot-and-mouth was found hanging in a barn by her husband, an inquest heard. Recording a verdict of suicide, Coroner John Sleight-holme emphasised there was no hard evidence to prove the crisis had
PROCEEDINGS at a crown court were abandoned yesterday when it became too cold to concentrate. Temperatures in York's dome-topped Georgian crown court building plummeted to near freezing. A court spokesperson said the central heating failed during the
YOUNGSTERS have proved themselves craftsmen and gained a model store's sponsorship. Teams from St Leonard's RC Technology College and St Godric's RC Primary, both in Durham, worked hard for several months to create three models each for the BAE Systems
A RESIDENTS' association has issued a last-ditch plea to Stockton Borough Council not to go ahead with the closure of two residential homes. The Low Grange Residents' Association, in Billingham, has written to the council just before it makes its final
BAKER Milligans has teamed up with the Co-op to open an in-store bakery at a Wearside superstore. The bakery is part of a new supermarket in Houghton-le-Spring. It follows Milligans opening at the Chester-le-Street Co-op earlier in the year. Milligans
ROBBERS threatened shop staff with a hammer during a robbery. Two men, one wielding the tool, burst into Morris Newsagents, in Usworth, Washington, Wearside, and threatened to injure staff. They forced them to hand over an undisclosed amount of cash,
A FORMER headteacher of Yarm Prep boys' school has taken up a new post at Teesside Prep school for girls in Eaglescliffe. Mike Abraham, who, until July last year, had spent ten years as headteacher at Yarm, will take up his post at Teesside Prep School
PLANS to build a primary school in Ingleby Barwick have been approved. Councillors from Stockton Borough Council have agreed to the scheme to build the school in the Broom Hill Village area of the estate. In 1991, the master plan for Ingleby Barwick was
A TEENAGE girl sustained serious head injuries when she was involved in a collision with a car. The accident happened on Saturday night as the 16-year-old, from Bearpark, near Durham, was crossing Toll House Road, Durham, at the west end of the bridge
A MOTHER who refused to press charges against her boyfriend despite enduring a catalogue of violence failed yesterday in an Appeal Court bid to stop her children being put up for adoption. The woman, in her twenties, from County Durham, fled to a women's
WHEN Trevor Dunn took over the Diamond Inn in Butterknowle, a former pit village in County Durham, customers were few and far between, a sign of a widespread and sharp decline in the fortunes of village pubs. There was every indication that the empty
BIRMINGHAM City completed their swoop for Middlesbrough defender Steve Vickers last night. The 34-year-old, who has been on loan at St Andrews for a month, has been a target of new City boss Steve Bruce for some time and could cost as much as £500,000
A LYING driver who had two crashes in as many minutes and then ran off was yesterday jailed for nine months after telling police his car had been stolen by a house burglar. Bricklayer John Clasper, 25, left two people injured in the second smash, York
YVONNE RIDLEY YVONNE Ridley tells us why she must go back to Afghanistan (Echo, Dec 10). It beggars belief that she can't understand what she did wrong in going into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan at such a crucial time. Then for her to say: "What the
SICK children met soccer stars Kevin Phillips and Michael Gray, courtesy of a charity. The youngsters, who have life-threatening or terminal illnesses, met the Sunderland AFC players and manager Peter Reid during an event organised by the Rainbow Trust
KITKAT bosses have stuck two fingers up at new figures which say the popular chocolate is no longer Britain's favourite. The figures, which appear in The Grocer magazine, place Cadbury's Dairy Milk in the top position, with Mars second and KitKat in third
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Plant fitter, Stockton. 40-45hrs pw, 8am to 5pm, Mon-Fri. One position on compressors, one on powered access. Must have experience working with plants
More than £300,000 of Government cash is being used to change the face of public transport in Hartlepool. The money has been given by the Government to provide a new transport interchange in Church Street, with a bus station for out-of-town buses. The
