KEVIN DARLEY'S decision to ride in Hong Kong this winter is far from surprising considering the tempting financial rewards on offer in the Far East. Over there they race for big potatoes virtually all year round whereas Darley finds himself lining up
JIM JOHNSON, former managing director of plastics and electronics group Stadium, is back in business after acquiring retail park maintenance company Trevelyan Hall. Mr Johnson, 51, stood down from Stadium in March. He took over the Hartlepool firm when
YOUNGSTERS have shown their sympathy for those killed or injured in the US terrorist attacks by creating a display of poetry. Pupils at East Cowton Primary School, North Yorkshire, put pen to paper to express their thoughts on the tragedy as part of a
POLICE investigating an incident in which a shot was fired at the cab of a freight train have received fresh information. Following inquiries into the incident, which happened between Thornaby depot, Teesside and Boulby Potash Mine, in east Cleveland,
AIR ambulances are invaluable in the emergency services, often making the difference between life and death, it has been reported. Mission Report, published by the National Association of Air Ambulance Services records the types of incidents air ambulances
INTREPID Lara Victoria Burke decided to baldly go where she had never gone before, to help charity. Lara, 23, had always wanted to get rid of her flowing 22in locks, but was never able to pluck up enough courage. But this week she let the clippers loose
AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a stone was thrown from a school bus into the windscreen of a car. Teachers at Lady Lumley's School in Pickering, North Yorkshire, are investigating after the stone was hurled at Nigel Francis's car. Mr Francis
A WIDOWER has launched a fundraising campaign in memory of his wife, who died from cancer. The Shildon community has rallied to help fish and chip shop owner Danny Scott raise money for the Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland. So far, £2,200 has been
AN £80m UK modernisation programme by Marks & Spencer has provided North-East companies with a boost. Amec, of Sedgefield, has won a £15m contract to oversee the project in 15 stores, including Newcastle, Middlesbrough, and Gateshead. The Amec win
A PC whose quick action saved a woman's life has been praised by St John Ambulance. Dog-handler PC Daryl Edmunds, 31, is to be presented with a St John Ambulance award for dragging a woman from her car and getting her hospital treatment after she had
AN airline last night announced a 24-hour extension to its offer of £1 flight tickets. Ryanair, which operates flights between Teesside International Airport and Dublin, said the move followed a record-breaking sale of mid- week seats for October and
TRIBUTES have been paid to a former headteacher who saved his school from closure and steered it through its formative years. Jim Thurkettle, 72, from Darlington, who died on Saturday, left Sunnydale School in Shildon as his legacy. He started at the
A COUPLE'S children travelled thousands of miles to help them celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary. On September 20, Andy and Margaret Dickson received two telephone calls from their son, Ben, who lives in Staffordshire, and their daughter, Jean
WELL, I don't think I'd mind ID cards really. In fact, as someone who has on occasions forgotten my own name, it could be quite useful - in moments of blank panic, a quick look at that piece of plastic would soon tell me who I was. Very reassuring. Would
THE Oxford English Dictionary, £1,800 worth of paradise, seeks the column's assistance in the mysterious matter of mushy peas. The little green things are assumed - wrongly, probably - to be a particularly North-East delicacy, a spurious fame fanned by
POLICE are hunting a man who performed a disappearing act when police charged him with a bag snatch. An alleged mugger and his accomplice climbed out of a visitors' room inside Gill Bridge Avenue police station in Sunderland and crawled out through a
A GREEN campaign will see a council target 24,000 households in a major recycling scheme. People living in the Wear Valley District Council area will be able to take advantage of a door-to-door newspaper and magazine collection scheme from next month.
NEW foot-and-mouth disease regulations allowing cattle and pigs to be moved within high-risk counties have come into force this week. The controls do not allow animals to be moved in or out of the high-risk area. Department for Environment, Food and Rural
A FREE course offering an introduction to Christianity is being run in Darlington. The Alpha course is being held at the Kings Church. A programme about the Alpha course is currently being shown by ITV on Sunday nights and more than four million people
TEN young adventure seekers are back behind their desks at a North-East school, reflecting on their experience-of-a-lifetime. A party of sixth formers at Durham School, backed by teacher Andy Wallace and his wife Lizzie, spent four weeks of their summer
PUPPET fans young and old are in for a FAB time after characters from one of television's favourite shows arrived in the region. The stage show Thunderbirds FAB made its debut at Darlington Civic Theatre last night, having previously broken box office
DOZENS of shoppers are believed to hold the key to the search for a robber who pushed his victim to the ground before running off with about £800. The attack happened outside the Woolworths store in Darlington town centre at 3.15pm on Friday. The victim
CAMPAIGNERS fighting for a public inquiry into the Richard Neale scandal are to press ahead with legal action. Members of a group which represents victims of the former North Yorkshire surgeon are in London this week to hand in a 42-page document to the
TWO weeks on from the atrocities in New York and Washington, the United States still enjoys a remarkable level of support in its campaign against terrorism. That such unity continues to exist among the diverse nations of the world is testimony to the
RICHMOND councillors have agreed they need more time to debate the Army's request for a painting of Richmond to hang in barracks at Catterick. The Mayor, Councillor Tom Burrows, told fellow town councillors on Monday night that 8 Transport Regiment had
The Mayor of Durham, George Cowper, received a cheque for £250 for the Durham Centre for People with Learning Difficulties and the Durham and Chester-le-Street Alzheimer's Society, yesterday. The money was provided by housing association, Home Housing
HARTLEPOOL United fans this morning wake up with their side no further away from the bottom of the Football League. Last night's defeat at Lincoln, coupled with Exeter's draw with Rushden, leaves Pool stuck in second bottom spot. It's a position not alien
history is about to be made with the biggest reform in the constitution of one of the region's cathedrals in almost four centuries. The new constitution for Ripon cathedral, in North Yorkshire, will alter the way the cathedral is run for the first time
THE world of surgery will be opened up to girls in the region today. Members of the Women in Surgical Training will visit Sacred Heart RC Comprehensive School, in Newcastle, for a workshop to persuade sixth- formers that surgery is not just a profession
BOBBY ROBSON has issued a stark warning that the goodwill of the paying public will be lost if England's professional footballers strike over their demand for a greater share of TV revenue. Newcastle United's former England manager believes Professional
POLICE are hunting a man who performed a disappearing act when police charged him with a bag snatch. An alleged mugger and his accomplice climbed out of a visitors' room inside Gill Bridge Avenue police station in Sunderland and crawled out through a
POWER chiefs have offered a town a new children's playground - in return for building a new overhead line near homes. National Grid is in talks with Redcar and Cleveland Council about putting money into Eston, where there is opposition to work going ahead
FASHION designer Jeff Banks was in the North-East to launch his new range of clothes. Jeff & Co has been designed by the former Clothes Show presenter for Sainsbury's and includes women's and men's clothes and accessories at affordable prices. It
RESIDENTS on Hartlepool's historic Headland have been given the chance to come even closer to their heritage. Mark Simmonds has been appointed community archaeologist for the area, and is looking forward to helping residents uncover their roots. Over
AN arsonist spared prison after he set fire to his own home was jailed for two-and-a-half years yesterday after failing to comply with a judge's order. John Vaughan, 45, was sentenced to a two-year community rehabilitation in July this year after he admitted
FORMER Olympic medallist Lord Sebastion Coe shared the platform with former Conservative leader William Hague MP at a gathering in Thirsk. The evening was a celebration to mark the achievement of students who had won their county sports colours. It was
THE search is on for dancers to join an amateur drama group's pantomime cast. The Centre Stage Theatre and Drama Group, in Shildon, is hoping to form a dance troupe to take part in its version of the pantomime Sleeping Beauty, at the town's Civic Hall
THE foot-and-mouth crisis has a new casualty - Santa's team of reindeer. Rudolph and his pals have been branded a potential disease risk in the region and asked to stay away this year. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
AIRLINE passengers were left shaken but unhurt when their aircraft veered off the runway at Newcastle Airport as it landed yesterday. Several flights to and from the airport were disrupted as firefighters helped disembark 54 passengers and four crew from
THE National Trust is at the centre of a row after public vehicle access to one of its properties remains due to fears of spreading foot-and-mouth. The trust, which manages Studley Royal Deer Park, Ripon, North Yorkshire, said the parkland was still in
CONSULTATIONS on plans for a town's second city academy will begin today. The first of a series of meetings for parents, staff and communities on the plan for south Middlesbrough is being held at Coulby Newham Secondary School at 6.30pm. It will discuss
THE family of a teenager who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome claim she is being forced into treatment against their wishes. Gregg and Jackie Carr claim that a disagreement over treatment with staff at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough
MIDDLESBROUGH manager Steve McClaren yesterday insisted that Hamilton Ricard is part of his plans, even though the Colombian striker has started only two games this season and failed to make the substitutes' bench in the last three matches. Boro's leading
SEASONAL stalls and ice-skaters will transform Spennymoor this Christmas. Plans to turn Spennymoor town centre into a winter wonderland, with a temporary ice-rink and Christmas market, have been given approval by Sedgefield borough councillors. The market
SUNDERLAND manager Peter Reid has rebuffed all approaches to take his exciting young striker Kevin Kyle on loan in case the Scottish Under-21 international is wanted for an emergency first team call up. And the 20-year-old former Irish Sea ferries baggage
THE Workers Education Association is offering a variety of 11 week courses in Redcar. Budget cookery with an emphasis on healthy eating sees people coming together in an informal environment to plan and cook a healthy two course meal, which is then eaten
A JURY has been discharged in the trial of a teenager accused of raping a woman in a graveyard as she made her way home. David Yeaman, 19, was said to have grabbed the woman, who is in her 40s, as she walked past a cemetery in Gateshead, and then pushed
STUDENTS and staff at Wolsingham School and Community College celebrated a successful year at a presentation evening last night. Pupils achieved excellent examination results, produced a show, made several trips abroad and earned a national Sportsmark
FOOTPATHS in east Cleveland closed because of the foot-and-mouth crisis look likely to be reopened. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said it had received the go-ahead from the Government to reopen paths in the eastern part of the borough. Only three
THE owners of the Newcastle Jesters Ice Hockey Club have been told to settle the club's debts within three weeks or face expulsion from the league. London-based Fablon Investments, which owns the club, still owe an estimated £150,000 to last season's
A WOMAN whose dogs were allegedly involved in a vicious attack, yesterday denied letting the animals roam free. Lisa Cowley wept as she told Teesside Crown Court that the dogs were taken away from her home by police and council dog warden officers. She
HOPES that Harrogate Town soccer club could expand its ground by relocating to the Great Yorkshire Showground have been dashed. But club chairman Bill Fotherby says the search for a new ground continues apace. Talks between the club and Yorkshire Agricultural
A SCHEME to promote opportunities for people with learning, physical and mental health disabilities and their carers has been launched by Stockton Borough Council. To highlight the issues raised in the Welfare to Work agenda, the council is holding two
INSTEAD of the usual "bottle of beer" infants understood perfectly when Nip the Dog mouthed Eine Flasche Bier. For the children at South Pelaw Infants School in Chester-le-Street were being entertained this week by local ventriloquist Eileen Thompson
MORE than 1,000 objections have been received over plans for one of Britain's most historic cities. The formal inquiry into Durham City Council's new Local Plan - the blueprint for new development in the Durham area until 2006 - began at the city's Town
A team of Cruse Bereavement counsellors from the region has had its mercy mission to New York called off. Counsellors, including two from Darlington, were on stand-by to travel to New York to help bereaved British families cope with their grief following
A TRIO of cricketers took the honours at last night's Darlington Young Sportswinner monthly awards. Thirteen-year-old Mark Dobinson was presented with the overall award, sponsored by Orange, after a year in which he played for a total of 11 teams. Mark
POLICE have expressed concern over reports of a man calling door-to-door in Billingham offering cheap central heating boilers. Officers have received a spate of calls saying the man has taken money in return for cut-price heating offers and then disappeared
ELDERLY people are being offered the chance to stay safe in their beds thanks to Darlington's trading standards department. Darlington Borough Council has joined forces with Age Concern to offer elderly people free electric blanket safety checks. Most
A LOCAL authority has come under fire for failing to comply with gas safety regulations. Chester-le-Street District Council, which acts as landlord for 5,600 council houses in the area, was criticised in a scathing Audit Commission report published last
ASDA plans to create 3,000 jobs in the next three years. The supermarket chain wants to increase the number of outlets in its specialist division, or stores-within-stores These will include photo centres, pharmacies, vision centres and jewellery departments
NAVY divers have been repeatedly called in to search for unexploded bombs in the sea off a North-East holiday resort in recent weeks. The move follows the washing up of live wartime munitions on beaches in the Saltburn area. Five explosive devices have
LEEK growers in Darlington will be out in force this weekend as they battle for the title of "Champion of Champions". After months of lovingly tending their prize vegetables, members of the Darlington working men's clubs will be vying for success in a
TEES and North Yorkshire NHS Trust has been named Regional Employer of the Year. The trust, based in Middlesbrough, won the DTI sponsored award for a large organisation with more than 250 employees and the overall accolade for North-East Employer of the
HOPES of expanding parking space at Darlington Memorial Hospital may not be realised until a major development on the edge of the town is completed. South Durham NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has been seeking extra parking capacity for a number
AFTER five years in the Army, Hugh Bell knows the importance of being prepared. As soon as his mail order package arrives, he is going to hand out the contents to his nearest and dearest. A bulk order of 15 gas masks may seem excessive, but Hugh is taking
THE best hospital trusts in the region are to be given powers to set up their own businesses and profit from any new technology they develop, it was revealed yesterday. The top 35 trusts in the country, four of which are in the North-East, will be free
A STRATEGY has been approved to change the way people with diabetes are treated. The South Durham Health Care NHS Trust board has approved the strategy, which encompasses primary, intermediate and secondary care. Proposals have been drawn up to develop
HOSPITAL chiefs believe new plans by the NHS to improve catering could lead to funding problems. The South Durham NHS Trust, which runs Darlington Memorial Hospital and Bishop Auckland General Hospital, said it would be difficult to meet the "six-figure
A festival of acrobatics, aerobics and gymnastics is taking place at Spennymoor Leisure Centre on Sunday. The Durham County Gymnastics Festival is free to children and £1 for adults. Anyone wishing to take part should go dressed in shorts and T-shirt.
Staff at one of the country's most famous tea shops found themselves rubbing shoulders with the Queen's representative yesterday. The Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Lord Crathorne, was in Harrogate to present Bettys and Taylors with a Queen's Award
The bunting that welcomed Our Boys home from the Second World War had scarcely come down when the poet Cecil Day Lewis turned his gaze to the future. He saw "peace guttering down to war, like a libertine to his grave''. And here we are, on the verge of
SCHOOLS throughout North Yorkshire are gearing up for a series of fun events to promote the joys of walking during national School Walking Week. The event, which runs from Monday to Friday next week, has been designed to encourage people to take to two
STUDENTS Sara Eldrett and Chris Bowden gained their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award during a month in Kenya. Sara, 17, and Chris, 18, from Newton Aycliffe, who have just returned from Africa, spent the first week-and-a-half of their trip at a Kenyan Scout
THE principal of a town's first city academy has been appointed. Eddie Brady, headteacher of Hermitage School, in Chester-le-Street, will take up the post at the Unity City Academy, in east Middlesbrough, in January. He will lead the new academy through
A CARE assistant is accused of slapping an elderly dementia sufferer in the face as she tried to dress the woman at a residential home. Durham Crown Court was told that Linda Hope, 26, was heard shouting at the 96-year-old woman as she attempted to get
DIVERSE creations by art club members are intended to catch the eye many visitors to a council's headquarters building in next few weeks. More than 80 paintings and drawings by members of Beamish Hall Art Group were mounted at County Hall, Durham, on
A BID to introduce a by-law banning alcohol in two parks has been shelved. Richmond councillors claim vandalism and disorderly behaviour are commonplace in the town's Ronaldshay Park and Friary Gardens, on Friday and Saturday evenings. A meeting on Monday
A SCHOOL is celebrating its 40th anniversary with an exhibition. Hurworth Comprehensive School, near Darlington, opened on September 26, 1961. To mark the milestone, an exhibition has been created at the school. Staff stayed back after school last night
YOUNGSTERS from the region have become the first in the country to receive free cycle helmets thanks to a pioneering project. Funding from the Teesside Health Action Zone allowed Mike Hall, road safety officer for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council,
WHEN George Eastman invented the box camera, little did he realise the impact he would have on Bishop Auckland. First of all, in 1885, Eastman invented a film which could be rolled up and used inside a special camera. Three years later, he invented the
A NEWTON Aycliffe artist is staging her first solo exhibition in the town this week. Greenfield School Community and Arts Centre is exhibiting the work of Rita Chape, a member of Newton Aycliffe Art Group and Darlington Art Society. Almost all of the
A GROUP of students have organised a book sale to raise money to help others. Charity shops are being urged to support the event. Members of Interact, the junior division of Rotary International, who study at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington
DARLINGTON head into Saturday's game at home to Rushden with confidence having picked up a point, thanks to Barry Conlon's late leveller from a tough encounter at Macclesfield Town last night. But Quakers's downfall in a game they should have won was
INVESTIGATORS could face weeks collating information about an arms cache found at a North-East house. Last night, Raymond Fothergill, 66, and John Lambert, 55, of Kexwith Moor Close, Firthmoor, Darlington, were charged with a total of eight offences following
LIVERPOOL and their former defender Christian Ziege have been charged by the Premier League over the controversial £5.5m transfer which saw the German international quit Middlesbrough at the start of last season. Northern Echo Sport has learned that Champions
AN MP is to hold urgent talks with a Government minister to win a better cash deal for firefighters in County Durham and Darlington. MPs from across the region have been campaigning for the revision of a national funding formula, which they claim are
ST Paul's Church, in North Road, Darlington, the Reverend Robert Anderson Jardine's church which burnt down in 1973 and has been the focus of a long-running Echo Memories series, came under attack by the Germans during the Second World War. Alan Lee,
AN immediate review of transport provisions to day care centres is being called for after a study highlighted failings. Middlesbrough Council's social care and health scrutiny panel was commissioned to carry out a survey of travel to and from the authority's
POLICE officers working in Wallsend town centre have moved into a new office - in the middle of a shopping precinct. The two Wallsend community beat officers who cover the town centre now start and end their shifts from an office in the Forum shopping
FOR millions of homeowners across the country, the chances of being struck by flooding are greater than the risk of a house fire. Last year's floods, which brought large parts of the region to a standstill as emergency services and the Army battled to
COUNCILLORS look set to get £2,000 handouts to spend on worthy projects in their neighbourhood. When Harrogate Borough Council's ward boundaries change next year, it is likely each of the 54 members will get their own budget. If the move is approved by
GOLFERS did their bit yesterday for a relief fund for New York firefighters. All money raised from the third golf tournament staged by Northallerton's Broadacres Housing Association will be donated to a fund set up in the wake of the terrorist attacks
DEPARTMENT store group House of Fraser, which owns the Binns stores in Darlington and Middlesbrough, has cut back its losses in the first half of the year. The company claimed that confidence on the high street had not yet been dented by the US terrorist
CONSTRUCTION and engineering group Kvaerner, which employs more than 1,000 on Teesside, has revealed more details about its financial state. The Norwegian group is locked in crisis talks to save it from bankruptcy, after its debts rose to more than £750m
Richmondshire Millenniumaires are celebrating success at the White Rose competition at Primrose Valley, on the North Yorkshire coast. The 22-piece marching band were named the most entertaining at the competition, from a total of 22 bands from all over
A 17-YEAR-OLD youth had his front teeth knocked out during an unprovoked attack in a town centre. Shaun McGee was waiting for a taxi with a group of friends outside the Odeon cinema building, in Corporation Road, Middlesbrough, at 2.30am, on Saturday,
GEORGE W BUSH IN the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in New York, George W Bush is now rightly attempting to build a world-wide coalition to fight and hopefully eliminate terrorism, if that is actually possible. It is worth remembering that the
THE flag of St Oswald will once again be the emblem of the region after 1,300 years - if the North-East Constitutional Convention campaign gets its way. The group, which is hoping the Government will grant a regional assembly within the life of the current
FINISHING touches are being put to a town's bid to become a city. Middlesbrough is hoping it will be third time lucky in applying for the status. The town's hopes of success are boosted by messages of support from across the North-East, with Middlesbrough
A CHILDREN'S activity area will provide youngsters in Darlington with a place to meet and play games. The play area at Headingley Crescent, was opened yesterday by local councillors and youngsters from Red Hall Junior School. The Headingley Crescent play
DETECTIVES investigating the suspicious death of a North-East woman are appealing for help in tracing a pair of shoes. The body of 44-year-old former teacher Debra McNicholas was found near the children's play area and paddling pool at Redcar at 7am on
ANIMAL burial site protestors could face charges after being arrested last weekend in connection with an alleged assault on a security guard. Last night, six of the women who keep a daily vigil outside the Inkerman site, at Tow Law, County Durham, said
A SECOND flooding crisis in the space of two years could send insurance premiums in badly-affected areas soaring once again. The Association of British Insurers has set the Government a deadline of two years to improve defences against flooding before
MEMORIES will come floating back today with the return of the River Wear ferry. After an absence of almost a decade, the ferry is ready to return and is to be launched by the Mayor of Sunderland, councillor Ken Murray. Sunderland's last ferry, known as
A TEENAGE robber who bit a mother and punched her nine-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. Steven Williams set upon Carol McCartney as she was walking from the shops with her two children. Williams, 18, of Craggs Street, Stockton
POETRY ranging from Wordsworth to rock 'n' roll will be provided in County Durham soon. Five libraries will host Durham County Council's poet in residence, Kevin Cadwallender, and his guests, who will remind audiences of works by poets old and new. The
A TEENAGE bullying victim who was threatened with a knife by her aggressors, is using her experience to produce a play tonight. Rebecca Severi was bullied for a year at her school in Darlington and during her traumatic ordeal she was subjected to verbal
