THE outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was feared to have spread to the North-East last night. A five-mile exclusion zone, which bans movement of livestock, was placed around a farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall, near Newcastle. A Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries
VIEWERS will be given an amazing insight into the habits of the stars after Comic Relief confirmed it is to stage a Celebrity Big Brother. The identities of the six celebrities are being kept secret until immediately before the show, but organisers have
EUROPE THE Prime Minister's announcement that there will be a referendum on the euro within two years of the election (Echo, Feb 8) tells us what we are aiming for. It gives us a strategic planning horizon and gives the certainty that has been required
DRIVERS can expect disruption during the next few weeks as work is carried out on a main road. It is not the first time Bow Street, Guisborough, east Cleveland, has been closed while Northumbrian Water carries out work, and it is described as a major
A GAY police officer is to return to work after his conviction for molesting a 16-year-old boy in a public toilet was overturned. Sergeant David Jewell, 42, was arrested and charged with the sex attack on the teenager in Doncaster last year. But the Court
A TAXI driver was speeding when he hit a schoolboy, an inquest was told yesterday. Simon Paterson, 13, was knocked down and killed as he dashed across a road, the Teesside Coroner heard. Cab driver Keith Featherstone told police: "He came from nowhere
AN amateur driver is attempting to drive more than 4,000 miles across Europe in a bid to raise money for charity. Keith Harding and two friends from the Navy are looking for sponsorship so they can take part in the annual Cape to Cape Challenge for the
NEWCASTLE are giving a trial to teenage Scarborough midfielder Romain Faure after receiving good reports on the Frenchman. Faure, 18, joined Scarborough from Cannes in 1999 and can also play in defence. A spokesman confirmed: "He's training with Newcastle
THE leader of a local authority has intervened to try to prevent a petrol station selling alcohol. Leader of Derwentside District Council, Alex Watson, has written to licensing magistrates requesting that a Fina garage in Consett be denied a liquor licence
AN unusual method of teaching farmers how to deliver a lamb was revealed at a North Yorkshire farm yesterday. The Practical Lambing Skills course at Lovesome Hill Farm, near Northallerton, used a specially designed box - with a prosthetic sheep womb -
A VETERAN councillor has expressed his concerns over a new integrated service for people with learning difficulties. Councillor Tony Moore said he feared the joint health and social services initiative for Sedgefield borough would not work. The two teams
A MAN whose body was found in a river had been hanged from a tree branch, an inquest heard yesterday. Anthony Lee, 41, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was discovered in the River Swale, North Yorkshire, last November. The inquest, in Richmond, was
TWO products designed to help North-East companies revamp out-of-date technology will be revealed next month. Sunderland University's Towards Tomorrow's Company project will unveil the innovations at a seminar aimed at helping companies to maintain successful
TWO women who stayed calm in the face of an armed raider have been praised by the owner of an off licence and detectives investigating the crime. On Monday evening, the shop assistants were confronted by a masked gunman in a general dealer's store, in
THE results of a series of residents' working parties to decide on traffic calming measures for an east Cleveland village, are to be announced next week. Redcar and Cleveland borough councillors, Brian Hogg and Richard Rudland, who represent the Brotton
BOOKS, bats, magic and snakes are some of the delights on show at a Hancock's Half Term this week. Newcastle's Hancock Museum has been holding a week of fun and games for youngsters to keep them occupied during the half term holidays. It offers youngsters
FAME, it is said, lasts for 15 minutes. Infamy, on the other hand, lasts a lifetime. I thought Bill Clinton would buck the trend. I thought he'd endured his 15 minutes of infamy and was destined for a lifetime of fame. He'd left a thriving economy. His
AFTER more than three years of intensive investigation, 14,000 witness statements being examined, and millions of pounds of public money being spent, there are to be no criminal charges as a result of Operation Lancet. And that should come as no surprise
CARAVAN owners using council land for winter storage are being ordered off after complaints from other residents. Sedgefield Borough Council is mounting a crackdown on vans parked illegally on grassed areas and car parks on many housing estates. They
COUNCILLORS have called for greater involvement in Durham's £29m Millennium City development which sparked a controversial land deal. They echoed the District Auditor's call for councillors to be better informed and more involved in decision making for
A YOUTH drama group is tackling the issue of how to deal with bullies in its latest production. Members of the Tearaways, Shildon Youth Theatre and Drama, are to take to the road with their short drama showing how bullying affects young people in and
A dairy's plans to set up a distribution centre in the North-East could see up to 150 jobs being created. The planned £23m investment by Robert Wiseman and Sons, in Chester-le-Street, could continue the momentum started by other job creation developments
AN ADVICE centre to help companies clean up their act has opened on Teesside. The Clean Environmental Management Centre was established by Teesside University to allow firms to get actively involved in the environment. Headed by Gareth Kane, it provides
A COUNCIL plans to change its budget proposals following consultation with residents. Residents and businesses in Gateshead have backed their local authority's approach to find efficiency savings in administration - protecting front-line services as far
POLICE say they remain concerned about a "still vulnerable" missing pensioner who needs hospital treatment. Charles Dickens, 69, walked out of Darlington Memorial Hospital last month without telling staff. He suffers from low blood pressure and is understood
THE WINNERS of a weekly game of bingo have been given a sweet surprise by a local confectioner. Every Wednesday afternoon, a group of pensioners from Friendships in Durham, a social group for people with learning difficulties, visits Manor House, in Annfield
A TOUCH of the exotic arrived on Teesside yesterday, in the form of an Asian weddings workshop. Participants were invited to learn the basics of wedding preparation, including scenery, decoration, costumes and food. They were also taught how to tie a
MUSICIANS struck up a tune to promote an orchestral extravaganza planned for the summer. Performers taking part in this year's Last Night of the Proms, at Ormesby Hall, Middlesbrough, gathered at the venue yesterday to advertise it. The prom will take
THE search is on to find the Darlington Citizen of the Year. Darlington Borough Council and The Northern Echo have launched the annual hunt for the town's unsung heroes - the volunteers and charity workers who deserve to be recognised for their community
JEFFREY Archer has gone too far. His loyal, long-suffering wife Mary may have stood by him through bankruptcy, betrayal and political scandals. But surely even she can't let him get away with it this time. Her husband is a national disgrace. He should
CASH to care for the people who care has been granted to a north Durham group. The Leadgate Carers were presented with a National Lottery Awards for All grant at a ceremony in Leadgate, near Consett. The group, of people who devote their lives to looking
THIS year's Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal has been officially launched in the Yorkshire Dales. Community fundraising manager Susie Fothergill was joined by Deirdre Clark of the Richmond support group for the formal launch. Daffodil Day will be on March
A COUNCIL has scored a goal with a football club. News that Middlesbrough Borough's Cabinet has agreed in principle to back the £59m Middlehaven development, is music to the ears of the Boro. For six years, embarrassed bosses of Middlesbrough Football
THERE is an opportunity for people in the Owton Rossmere area of Hartlepool to meet their beat police officer tomorrow. An open day has been organised by Owton Manor Community Police Team and Hartlepool Borough Council's community safety section, at Wynyard
A QUIET village was disturbed by a car chase yesterday, as police pursued two people wanted for allegedly stealing petrol from a garage. Up to six police cars were involved in the chase, which started when the pair drove away from a Sedgefield petrol
A DISCOUNT food store is to get a new look as part of a £14m nationwide investment programme. The Kwik Save at Stanley is getting a £100,000 facelift that will leave the store looking lighter and brighter and with streamlined check-outs. Staff will be
THE stench of a dead rat has forced an elderly couple to seek refuge in the homes of relatives. Tom and Ann Tomlinson said the rat got into their home in Ashfield, Newton Aycliffe, through a hole in the wall, which they claim the council should have bricked
A MAN who held off police marksmen during a 22-hour siege at his flat has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Robert Thomson, 38, played a day-long game of cat and mouse with police, who surrounded his house after he told them he had a gun. His drink-fuelled
A DOG show town is bracing itself for a foreign invasion. Following the relaxation of quarantine laws, dozens of foreign animals are expected to compete in the Darlington Championship Dog Show. Although the closing date for entries is still months away
THE NORTH-EAST'S largest indoor visitor attraction yesterday welcomed its 175,000th visitor since opening last May. Brian Edwards, of Crawcrook, near Ryton, Tyne and Wear, was visiting Life Interactive World, in Newcastle, with his wife Margaret and friends
YOUNGSTERS in Darlington took part in a workshop with a dance company, yesterday. The Green Candle Dance Company worked with the children before putting on a performance of Alanna and the Tree, at Darlington Arts Centre. The show, aimed at seven to 12
FAME, it is said, lasts for 15 minutes. Infamy, on the other hand, lasts a lifetime. I thought Bill Clinton would buck the trend. I thought he'd endured his 15 minutes of infamy and was destined for a lifetime of fame. He'd left a thriving economy. His
YOUNGSTERS are invited to turn detective in an attempt to help rid their estate of crime. They are being urged to join Throston Estate Crime Solvers (Tecs), in Hartlepool, under the leadership of community policeman PC Keith Morrison. The junior neighbourhood
20/11/1996 Ray Mallon becomes the new head of Middlesbrough CID and takes the extraordinary step of pledging to quit if he fails to slash the crime rate by 20 per cent. 08/01/1997 His confrontational style of policing, known as Zero Tolerance, wins the
DARLINGTON yesterday snapped up another Tiger for their fight against relegation. After signing David Brightwell and Steve Harper from the crisis-hit Hull City, striker Clint Marcelle decided to follow his two teammates up the A1 and put his name on an
WHEN new England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson names his first squad this afternoon, it will bring back happy memories for at least one of his predecessors. As the Swede sets out his vision for the future of the nation's international side, Middlesbrough coach
FAST-IMPROVING Whistling Dixie (2.10) is hard to ignore in the opening two-mile Showcase Handicap Hurdle at Kempton this afternoon. Mary Reveley's southern hoodoo has been well and truly smashed this season by Function Dream's successive wins in high-profile
A SHEEP breeders group is hoping to attract a flock of members in an attempt to safeguard the future of one of County Durham's oldest and rarest breeds. The Teeswater Sheep Breeders Association wants to boost numbers of both the breeders and the sheep
A MAN who held off police marksmen during a 22-hour siege at his flat has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Robert Thomson, 38, played a day-long game of cat and mouse with police, who surrounded his house after he told them he had a gun. His drink-fuelled
A TRIO of young North-East musicians are preparing to give something back to their home area in the form of a concert. The Fenice Trio was formed in September 1996 by pianist Stephen Ridley, from Redcar, cellist Martin Johnson, from Yarm, and violinist
A youth development worker has been appointed to cover Ferryhill for the first time. The town has wanted a youth worker for years, and a community appraisal identified it as a priority. Now Beth Storey, a full-time education worker employed by Durham
POLICE are mounting an operation this weekend to protect wildlife and wild flower habitats from being wrecked by bikers. Cleveland Police are following up two weekend crackdowns on trial bikes using protected dunes at South Gare, near Redcar. Failing
A Nurse education information afternoon is to be held at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, on March 14, to encourage people to take up a career in nursing. Visitors will get up-to-date information on York University's three-year full-time diploma
AS if a battle against the climate was not enough of a disadvantage, England also lost the crucial toss which enabled Sri Lanka to bat on a wicket which by the close had begun to deteriorate and should offer great assistance to Muttiah Muralitharan later
SO many people want to see a tribute show to Roy Orbison that Billingham Forum Theatre has juggled its timetable to add in another night. The biography of Orbison, entitled This Lonely Heart and performed by Larry Branson, has been extended to two nights
Residents living off the stretch of Gypsy Lane, Nunthorpe, controlled by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, are full of praise for the authority, for making a temporary road closure, permanent. However people living on the section of Gypsy Lane administered
THE father of murder victim Julie Paterson, whose body parts were allegedly eaten, has condemned a website glorifying the exploits of her killer, David Harker. Jim Paterson said the website, Cannibals Anonymous, uncovered by The Northern Echo, was "pure
FEMALE staff from a supermarket were put through their paces by the Royal Marines in the name of charity yesterday. The six women from the Asda branch, in Stanley, teamed up with six youngsters, preparing to join the armed services at Derwentside College's
THE ANGEL of the North has appeared in many forms and sizes. It has been the backdrop to movies, featured on countless calendars, and plays a central part in Gateshead's bid for European cultural capital status. Now, in its latest guise, the controversial
A MAN threatening to throw himself to his death from a railway viaduct confessed to his police rescuers that he had just raped a woman, a court was told yesterday. The alleged rape victim alerted police after 44-year-old Trevor Jones used his mobile phone
ELDERLY residents may soon be moved out of an east Durham home following the discovery of a faulty heating system. But independent county councillor Tony Moore called yesterday for an assurance that the proposed evacuation was not a ruse to close down
An inquest opened into the death of motorist Elisabeth Crisp, 26, of Eagle Park, Marton, Middlesbrough, following an accident on the A66, near the Teesside Airport junction. Teesside coroner Michael Sheffield adjourned the inquest after hearing evidence
A FREE CD giving advice on healthy lifestyles will soon be available to businesses and other organisations. The CD, entitled First Steps to Health, has been produced by Tees Health Authority and Teesside University in a project funded by Health Action
THE Government is facing a back-lash from angry North-East teachers who say they are fed up with the pressure of covering for chronic staff shortages. Teachers in Middlesbrough are expected to come out in favour of taking action. The National Union of
PEOPLE living in the Hundens Lane area of Darlington have been warned to be vigilant against fly-tippers. Local councillor Ian Haszeldine said he had received a number of complaints. Items dumped have included shopping trolleys, household waste and tree
POLICE investigating the murder of drugs tycoon Peter Beaumont-Gowling returned to the scene of the shooting yesterday, in a bid to jog the memory of potential witnesses. Their return to Osborne Road, in the suburb of Jesmond, Newcastle, came a week to
A PREGNANT pause in the career of ex-Coronation Street star Denise Welch will end when she stars in pantomime. The 42-year-old North-East actress, who is expecting her second child next month, has been signed up to play the title role in Jack and the
FILTRONIC is on course to meet its 500 jobs pledge - despite concerns over the slowdown in the sale of mobile phones. The firm, which bought the old Fujitsu microchip plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is looking for a partner for its compound semi-conductor
A FARMER has been visited by council officials in what he suspects is a lead-in to court action over his successful bed and breakfast business. Len Webster is in trouble with Hambleton District Council because his income from bed and breakfast is more
DARLINGTON Borough Council has tried to allay residents' fears over a new playground at the Harrowgate Farm housing development. Some residents objected to the playground claiming it was too near to an overhead pylon. The playground was included in plans
A LIST of seven candidates was announced last night to contest the seat of Durham North for the Labour Party. Labour's national executive committee in London will consider the list of candidates over the next few days and compile a shortlist of candidates
A YOUNG woman has returned from the slums of India, where she helped the forgotten victims of leprosy. Sarah Bennett, 24, swapped the green hills of Wolsingham, in Weardale, for the slums of Nagpur, where she spent a month helping her friend, Leah Pattison
CHIEF CONSTABLE Barry Shaw faced calls to quit last night as Britain's longest running police corruption inquiry Operation Lancet ended with no criminal charges. The controversial investigation cost millions, left Cleveland constabulary racked by internal
A DURHAM pet store is holding a special event to explain how to look after reptiles responsibly. Pets at Home, on the Arnison Retail Park at Pity Me, on the city's outskirts, has invited specialists in the subject to visit next Saturday and Sunday, March
WHEN Kirsty Brown went for a drive the engine of her car seemed to be purring rather louder than usual. When she lifted the bonnet she was amazed to see two little eyes blinking at the sunlight - eyes that belonged to a black female cat that had just
NORTHUMBRIAN Water is splashing out to help create jobs on Tyneside. The company has pledged £75,000 to the Working Capital Newcastle Employment Bond Scheme, which aims to create 1,000 jobs and help regenerate some of the city's most run-down areas. The
SOFTWARE company Techtonik has won a contract to supply software and support to the world's largest agency brokerage firm, Instinet in New York's Wall Street. The deal is the latest in a string of export successes for the Sunderland company. The contract
THIS week saw a major step forward in the Prime Minister's campaign to get Britain online with the launch of the web portal www.ukonline.gov.uk. Rather unkindly dubbed "Pravda.com" in some sections of the media, this attempt to link up Government services
PEOPLE power looks set to save a carnival which has become a lifeline for local charities - thanks in part to The Northern Echo. Earlier this week we reported how the Northallerton Charity Carnival was in danger of folding after 25 years because of a
A RESIDENTS' group is calling for lorries to be banned from a road in Newton Aycliffe. The Kings Drive Residents' Association is concerned about pedestrian safety in Burn Lane, and members are collecting signatures for a petition. They say that some large
TRAINEE firefighters have thrown a lifeline to two charities. The 19 new Teesside recruits raised £2,000 in a street collection to be shared equally between the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. The newcomers
ANIMAL rights activists last night vowed to continue a campaign of hate against animal research companies, which has spread to the North-East. Protest group SHAC said it was behind leaflets posted in the Darlington area aimed at "naming and shaming" shareholders
JOHN Alderson was a miner's son who lied about his age to join the army, became a major, married the general's secretary, began a new life in the United States and in a 50 year silver screen career has appeared in over 150 films. From Horden to Hollywood
STOCKTON Borough Council is being recommended to adopt a cautionary approach to the siting of mobile phone masts on its land. At a cabinet meeting today councillors are expected to agree to a new policy for the number of phone masts that will be allowed
TWO mothers have launched a Mary Poppins-style childcare business aimed at matching nannies with families. Angela Brown and Anne Sutton, established lecturers in childcare at New College, Durham, have been prompted by a desire to help more families and
FORGET the snow, this splash of white is a sure sign that spring is on the way. More than 200,000 snowdrops are in bloom in the grounds of the 14th Century Carthusian ruins, at Mount Grace Priory, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, heralding warmer
A MINING charity at the centre of an investigation last night pledged to continue working for former colliery communities. The Charity Commission is investigating the Durham Mining Convalescent Homes Fund, which was set up to look after sick ex-pitmen
