Archive

  • What will Kate do next?

    Kate Winslet's opening answers don't indicate a full and frank conversation is likely. "No and no," she says with emphatic brevity, dealing with the prospect of a career as a singer, and of making an album following her top ten chart success. Short, sharp

  • Officers may act over 'evil' speech

    THE fallout from Operation Lancet and the resignation of former CID chief Ray Mallon was continuing last night with new claim and counter-claim. Cleveland Police Federation revealed it was taking legal advice over Chief Constable Barry Shaw's "empire

  • When terror walked the streets

    THE tour guide warned us in advance. "Anything can happen on the next part of the walk," he said, as we moved from the prosperous City of London into the seedier East End. We were walking in the footsteps of Jack the Ripper, the infamous serial killer

  • Boro in last eight

    FIVE years ago Middlesbrough reached the FA Cup final when many fans thought their name was on the prestigious trophy but dejection followed with defeat to Chelsea. This morning, after having time to reflect on events at the Riverside on Saturday, those

  • Pool suffer York defeat

    GETTING fired up for a derby game shouldn't be a problem; but if Hartlepool United needed a slight gee-up it may have came at Bootham Crescent on Saturday. Pool went down to a single, Lee Nogan goal in a game they should have had wrapped up before half-time

  • Keegan's return ends in defeat

    KEVIN KEEGAN returned to Newcastle and gave Bobby Robson the type of fright he can do without at the age of 69 as ten-man Manchester City took the Magpies all the way in a nail-biting FA Cup fifth-round tie at St. James' Park. The prodigal Keegan did

  • MMR: Permanent clinic to be set up

    A PRIVATE health care company has announced plans to open a permanent clinic in the North-East offering separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella. Direct Health 2000, a London-based firm, is hoping to open the centre in the heart of Health Secretary

  • Appeal hopes fade for palace gaffe police chief

    A POLICE chief convicted of urinating against the Lithuanian presidential palace is facing defeat as he bids to launch an appeal. Chief Superintendent Kevin Pitt, of Cleveland police, was forced to resign in embarrassment over the gaffe, which was caught

  • Lloyds to axe 5,000 jobs as profits slip

    BANKING concern Lloyds TSB has revealed plans to axe 5,000 jobs as it reported an eight per cent slide in profits over the past year. The group said the jobs would go this year, mainly from its central and support areas, although 2,000 jobs would be created

  • Scrap wood fuels green idea

    THE region has taken a step closer to becoming the recycling capital of the UK, following commissioning of a £300,000 plant to turn scrap wood into fuel pellets. The plant, at Premier Waste Management's Coxhoe recycling centre in County Durham, can produce

  • Time for a proper mark of respect

    OVERGROWN, windswept, hidden from view, the graves of the 168 men and boys of the North-East's biggest ever pit disaster lay almost forgotten. Forgotten until the day a few locals took some photographs to the church yard and worked out where the men they

  • Our friend in the North

    This month, sometime, Mike Neville celebrates 40 years in regional broadcasting. He recalls how he went from a rep actor to become the face of Tyne Tees Television. Steve Pratt reports. WHEN Mike Neville complained that his watch gained five seconds,

  • Hobby venture hits the mark

    A FORMER soldier turned bus driver is on target for success, after turning his hobby into a business. Keen archer Dennis Brown has established Castle Longbows, with help from the North-East of England Business and Innovation Centre's (BIC) Business Start

  • Hear All Sides

    Letters from The Northern Echo COUNCIL TAX DURHAM County Council is to increase its council tax by 14.8 per cent and Sedgefield Borough by an estimated 12.5 per cent, at a time when inflation levels are approximately two per cent. If the final Sedgefield

  • Sunderland deny Phillips for sale

    SUNDERLAND angrily denied a report yesterday that they are prepared to sell their England star Kevin Phillips. Speculation is mounting that the Wearside club might be forced to part company with their ace striker this summer, with Championship contenders

  • Tiutchev set for repeat

    NICKY HENDERSON'S marvellous record at Ascot appears all set to continue courtesy of Tiutchev, bidding to repeat his victory of 12 months ago in the Ritz Club Chase. Henderson's horses invariably peak at this stage of the season - an ominous sign for

  • Plan paves way to new markets

    PAVING specialist Sharcon has invested £100,000 in new products, as it looks to expand into new markets. The Shildon, County Durham, business has worked with experts from Sedgefield Borough Business Service (SBBS) on a plan to boost its development. Graham

  • Ex-Mapgie Kelly sinks Quakers

    With players being forced to play out of position in a patched-up side picked from the remaining fit members of the squad, Darlington's trip to promotion-chasing Mansfield was always going to be tough - and so it proved. Although Quakers displayed plenty

  • 'Newcastle owe Keegan everything' - Shearer

    NEWCASTLE United skipper Alan Shearer believes Kevin Keegan's influence at the club is still paying dividends more than five years after he quit St James' Park. Keegan is back at St. James' Park tomorrow with his Manchester City side for the FA Cup fifth

  • Comment from The Northern Echo - Even the spin isn't working

    DELIVERY was the word on everyone's lips after Labour's second landslide victory last June. Even Tony Blair agreed that it was time to deliver. Eight months on, the Government is embroiled in one row over spin and another, the Mittal affair dubbed Steelgate

  • Lormor joins Shrews on loan

    HARTLEPOOL United have allowed out-of-favour striker Anth Lormor to join Third Division rivals Shrewsbury Town on a month's loan. Lormor has been unable to force his way into manager Chris Turner's first team and has not started a game since the 2-1 defeat

  • Liddle and Ford are the latest to join injury list

    Injury-ravaged Darlington travel to Mansfield today hoping to avoid defeat against a side third in the table. But with most of the first choice defence unavailable, it's going to be a very tough task. Just when it seemed the injury crisis had peaked,

  • The vicars leading double lives

    NEATLY headlined "Diocese advertises parish job with a catch", last week's Church Times carried a story about attempts to bait a new Vicar for the churches at Gainford and Winston, alongside the Tees between Darlington and Barnard Castle. The "catch"

  • Mother steps up fight to keep girl's killer locked up

    THE mother of a five-year-old who was murdered 14 years ago has vowed to continue her fight to keep her daughter's killer behind bars. Margaret Lowther suffocated in a pool of mud while her cousin, John Johnston, then 17, raped her on a gypsy campsite

  • Growing concern over missing teenagers

    CONCERN is growing for two teenage girls who went missing in the same North-East town last weekend. Claire Louise Smith, 13, was last seen on Saturday, February 9, when she left her home in the North Road area of Darlington to go swimming. She is 5ft

  • Concern for horse tethered in field

    RSPCA inspectors are monitoring the condition of a horse tethered near Darlington town centre, after receiving 70 calls from concerned members of the public. The horse is tethered in a field off Albert Road and residents in the area expressed concern

  • Plan for hospital revamp unveiled

    A MULTI-MILLION pound overhaul is being considered for one of the region's hospitals. A set of wooden wards built during the Second World War were torn down by the local health trust last year and a £3.5m three-storey building had been planned to replace

  • Schwarzer gives Boro boss selection dilemma

    RETURNING goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has declared himself fit to face Blackburn Rovers today but he is by no means guaranteed his place in Middlesbrough's starting line-up. At the start of the season Schwarzer was Boro's automatic choice between the posts

  • Undertaker 'faked his death'

    AN undertaker has been arrested by police investigating allegations that he faked his own death. Funeral director Chris-topher Westcott owns Durham City-based Cathedral Funeral Services, which has several premises around the region. It is understood that

  • Death crash thief a 125mph 'boy racer'

    A 21-YEAR-OLD who was killed when he lost control of a stolen car had been banned from driving only weeks earlier after a 125mph police chase, The Northern Echo can reveal. David Nowlin died when the Vauxhall Nova he was driving skidded off the road and

  • 'Byers must go too' demand as Moore gets on her bike

    Controversial spin doctor Jo Moore and Transport Department Press Chief Martin Sixsmith last night paid the price for their bitter feuding as both quit their jobs. Transport Secretary Stephen Byers announced he had accepted their resignations after being

  • Festive treats boost results for De Vere

    HOTELS group De Vere, hard hit since the September 11 attacks on the US, has posted an improvement in turnover as people treated themselves to holidays over Christmas. De Vere, of Warrington, which owns Northumberland's Slaley Hall Hotel, has suffered

  • Steamed up over new loco works

    A LOCOMOTIVE preservation group has found a new home in the North-East after almost four years of searching. And the first locomotive to be worked on at the Darlington site will be one which was built just down the road. The North-Eastern Locomotive Preservation

  • FA Cup draw: Magpies face Gunners

    Newcastle United will entertain Arsenal in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, whilst North-East rivals Middlesbrough have a home tie against Everton or Crewe. Elsewhere, First Division West Brom play host to Jean Tigana's Fulham and Chelsea travel to White