Archive

  • Events for the young

    LEISURE centres in Hambleton are hosting Easter activities for youngsters. Leisure centres and swimming pools in Thirsk, Northallerton, Stokesley, and Bedale are holding activity sessions for children with lots of energy. The popular Scrap Heap Challenge

  • Eating Owt: The Magpie? There are plenty more fish in the sea

    WITH the possible exception of Betty's Cafes, the Magpie in Whitby may be the most universally extolled eating place this side of Offa's Dyke. Critics tumble over one another to spruce their superlatives and to spangle it with stars; the rest of the world

  • Family of tragedy teacher aid children

    THE family of an early years teacher who died last year have ensured her legacy lives on by helping pilot an education scheme for young children. Anne Turner, 47, worked for Durham County Council's Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and

  • Raising cash in memory of Sara

    MORE than 100 young people pushed themselves to the limits to raise cash for a fund in memory of murdered student Sara Cameron. Finnish-born Ms Cameron, 23, was killed as she made her way home from a party. Her body was found in a field in Earsdon, near

  • Thousands gather to support widow in her hour of grief

    The politics surrounding the war in Iraq were put firmly to one side yesterday when a Dales community said farewell to Captain Philip Guy, who will be remembered as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Steve Parsley reports "For God

  • Priceless statues vandalised

    Priceless statues at a North-East mansion have been vandalised beyond repair. The three figures at the Grade II* listed Lartington Hall, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, had their heads removed and taken away. A large vase was also smashed during the

  • Bellamy in court over claims of racial abuse

    Newcastle United star Craig Bellamy will appear in court this summer over claims he racially abused a nightclub bouncer. The 23-year-old Welsh international is alleged to have made the racial slur to an Asian doorman. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS

  • Selby driver loses appeal

    THE driver jailed for causing the deaths of ten people in the Selby train crash lost a Court of Appeal bid to challenge his conviction yesterday. Three judges in London refused Gary Hart's appeal launched after he was found guilty of causing death by

  • Friends get chance to prove case

    THE community group behind a bid to have Richmond's old railway station has been given the elbow room it wanted to research its proposals. The Friends of Richmond Station were worried that they could put hard-won cash into a feasibility study for the

  • Entrepreneurs unveil £1.1m play centre plans

    A plan to build a £1.1m indoor children's play centre - the biggest in the country - have been unveiled. Entrepreneurs Scott and Victoria Hilary are seeking planning permission to build the leisure facility at the former Thornaby Airfield site on Teesside

  • Full military funeral for casualty

    A second victim of the Iraq war is to be given a military funeral in North Yorkshire. Royal Marine Christopher Maddison is to be laid to rest with full military honours at Scarborough's Parish Church of St Mary on Wednesday. It comes days after 3,000

  • End it in style, says Tait

    Darlington manager Mick Tait has called on his players to finish the season with a flourish. Having reached the 50-point survival target set by Tait after Saturday's 5-1 mauling of Shrewsbury, the caretaker boss has now challenged his side to give fans

  • Artist supports hospital

    A CHANCE conversation led to a sizeable donation to Richmond's Friary Hospital. Pet shop owner John Meynell was telling his Finkle Street neighbour Mackenzie Thorpe about the high standard of care provided by the hospital staff when his mother was ill

  • Free transport to help estate children have fun

    CHILDREN on two Darlington estates have been given free transport to encourage them to take part in organised events in the school holidays. The youngsters on the Redhall and Firthmoor estates can now join in activities at the Dolphin Centre thanks to

  • Drinks charges are considered

    TRADING standards officers may prosecute off-licences caught selling alcohol to 15-year-olds. Teenage volunteers were recruited to test whether licence-holders were following the law on not selling drink to anyone under the age of 18. From October to

  • Mobile skate success

    YOUNGSTERS waiting for Derwentside's first skate parks can get in some practice on a set of mobile ramps. The YMCA in Parliament Street, Consett, has bought two ramps, thanks to a £4,000 grant from Connexions County Durham. The kit has already proved

  • Musicians from band of '78 prepare for fantasyland trip

    YOUNG musicians from the Band of '78 are preparing for a real Fantasyland concert. For the youngsters, none of whom were alive when the band was formed in 1978, will today make the journey to EuroDisney's Fantasyland stage in Paris. The 55 young Teessiders

  • Grassroots: Crook

    IRISH SINGER: Frank McCaffrey, Irish singer and humourist will perform at the Civic Hall, Crook, on Saturday. Proceeds will go towards the Stanhope and Weardale Multiple Sclerosis Society. Tickets cost £6 and are available from Vi Todd on (01388) 762634

  • Wurlitzer concert lined up

    A wurlitzer concert will be held at the James Finegan Muncipal Hall, Fabian Road, Eston on Sunday, April 27 at 2.30pm. It will feature organist Kevin Morgan and entry is £2.50 or £1.50 for concessions. A raffle will be held to aid Langbaurgh Theatre Organ

  • Students craft a parting gift for Bishop

    THE Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull, will only have a short time to enjoy a parting gift made by school students. The pupils at Parkside Comprehensive School, in Willington, marked the bishop's retirement at the end of the month

  • News in brief: Communities get green cash

    TWO communities are to get greens spaces, thanks to a Government grant. Residents in Arthur's Hill and Lemington, in Newcastle, have secured £7,000 from the Countryside Agency's Doorstep Greens programme to help them develop plans for community green

  • Nightspot extends licence despite objections

    A NIGHTSPOT in Middlesbrough has had its late licence extended - despite police protests about town centre violence. The Royal Exchange on Albert Road was given a severe warning about trouble in and near the nightclub by members of Middlesbrough Borough

  • E-fit released in attempt to catch knifepoint robber

    POLICE yesterday released an e-fit of the man who terrorised a young Iranian family at knifepoint. The robber was one of a gang of three who held up an Iranian man, his pregnant wife and young child in Redcar on Friday night. The gang ran off with a small

  • Academics called on for expertise

    UNIVERSITIES in the North-East are being brought on board to help engineers and manufacturers maximise their business potential. An event is held in Washington tomorrow showing how academics and businessmen and women can work together better. Knowledge

  • Pupils' art to go on display

    CHILDREN from Rise Carr Primary School, Darlington, have produced a silk banner to be displayed in the school hall. Ruth Handley, a Haughton Community School teacher, helped the youngsters with the banner, which will be put on display on May 2. Work produced

  • Party honours housing scheme's oldest resident

    A PARTY has been held in honour of a sheltered housing scheme's oldest resident. Vera Blenkinsop was joined by family and friends at her 100th birthday party at the Park Place Community Centre, Darlington, on Sunday. Mrs Blenkinsop has lived in Darlington

  • Fortunes of town centre get boost

    ONE of the country's leading retailers is demonstrating its commitment to Bishop Auckland by giving its town centre store a facelift. Boots is planning to transform its Newgate Street premises with a multi-thousand pound refit over two weeks at the beginning

  • Appeal for village hall cash injection refused

    A COUNCIL has rejected an appeal to spend part of a multi-million pound windfall on saving village halls in the Darlington area. Darlington Borough Council was awarded £2.2m in arbitration after a six-year legal wrangle with Durham County Council over

  • Temporary rooms for fire school

    PUPILS at a fire-damaged school will be taught in temporary classrooms until they can move into a new £3m building. Darlington Borough Council has applied for planning permission to build two temporary classrooms and a dining room at Middleton St George

  • Vandals break into homes

    Empty houses on the Annington estate in Catterick Garrison were vandalised by intruders who forced their way into a number of properties during the weekend. Internal doors were kicked through and windows smashed inside the houses in Hambleton Road.

  • Students have a good head for business

    A SCHOOL where pupils get a top class lesson in business has produced the best young entrepreneurs in the county for the second successive year. A group of 15-year-old students from Staindrop Comprehensive School, near Barnard Castle, overcame the challenges

  • School celebrates sporting success

    PUPILS at a North-East school are celebrating after achieving sporting success. Since the start of the year, youngsters from Red House School, Norton, have walked away with a number of sporting trophies. The under-13 football team have had a 100 per cent

  • Robbery charge pair remanded

    Guy English, 18, of Margaret Terrace, Stanley, and Lee Doran, 22, of Park Avenue, Prudhoe, both County Durham, appeared before Gateshead magistrates yesterday charged with two robberies and three attempted robberies. The offences were alleged to have

  • True date for house

    OWNERS of a fortified manor house have discovered their home is older than anyone imagined. For generations, it was believed that the imposing Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, dated from 1310. But following recent archaeological surveys it has now been revealed

  • Gipsy leader's 'blaze threat'

    GIPSY leader Hughie Smith threatened to hire a gang to torch the homes of a travelling family he said was camped illegally on a caravan site he controls, a court was told yesterday. Harrogate magistrates heard claims that when National Gypsy Council leader

  • Months of doubt over as steel plant is sold

    Administrators handling the affairs of a North-East steelworks last night revealed that a buyer had been found for the 140-year-old plant. The sale of Weardale Steel to Anglo-Swedish secures skilled jobs in Weardale, County Durham, ending seven months

  • Company digs deep for air ambulance

    MEMBERS of the Institute of Quarrying have given a £1,500 cheque to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. The money was raised when the Yorkshire branch held its annual dinner dance at Harrogate's Majestic Hotel in March. The vice-chairman of the Yorkshire branch

  • News in brief: Communities get green cash

    TWO communities are to get greens spaces, thanks to a Government grant. Residents in Arthur's Hill and Lemington, in Newcastle, have secured £7,000 from the Countryside Agency's Doorstep Greens programme to help them develop plans for community green

  • News in brief: Teenager dies from injuries

    A TEENAGER has died in hospital several days after being in collision with a car while crossing a road. Byron James Atkinson, 16, from Pindar Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, suffered serious injuries in the accident on Thursday. He was crossing Eastway

  • Team on top form

    A FOOTBALL team from North Yorkshire have been celebrating winning the county's inter-school equivalent of the FA Cup. The under 14s from Leyburn's Wensleydale School made it through the final of the competition to play Tadcaster Grammar and finished

  • Model ships go on display at exhibition

    MODELS of ships of yesteryear will on display in an exhibition at a popular open air museum this weekend. Forty model boats, representing shipbuilding history from the early-1900s to the 1940s, will be on view in the Roland Cookson Room at Beamish Museum

  • Hedgerow trimming warning by police

    A POLICE wildlife expert has warned green-fingered members of the public that they are breaking the law if they cut back hedgerows at this time of the year. Sergeant Eddie Bell, wildlife liaison officer for Derwentside police division, said he had already

  • United chorus for steel boss to resign

    THOUSANDS of angry steelworkers lay siege to Corus plants across Europe yesterday in the face of a renewed threat to their jobs. Delighted union leaders said the European day of protest was one of the biggest industrial demonstrations in recent years.

  • 15/04/03

    It was nice to get back to winning ways with a good performance against Leyton Orient. We played some good football and scored four but we could easily have had more. It was a good team performance but I have to give special praise to the front men, Kevin

  • There are plenty more fish in the sea

    WITH the possible exception of Betty's Cafes, the Magpie in Whitby may be the most universally extolled eating place this side of Offa's Dyke. Critics tumble over one another to spruce their superlatives and to spangle it with stars; the rest of the world

  • Draw should help Bigalothegigalo confirm promise

    John Quinn looks to have a promising type in Bigalothegigalo and the three-year-old can win the williamhill.co.uk Handicap over seven furlongs on day one of the Craven meeting at Newmarket. This strapping sort got off the mark at the second time of asking

  • Tribute paid to marine

    AN estimated 3,000 people paid their last repects to Royal Marine Philip Guy who was among the first casualties of the Iraqi war. The funeral of Capt Guy, who was killed when a helicopter flying him back to base crashed in the Kuwaiti desert, was conducted

  • Police chiefs to step up war on drugs

    THE war on the sale of hard drugs in the North-East is to be intensified, police chiefs pledged yesterday. As statistics showed an overall rise in crime in County Durham and Cleveland, bosses from both forces said they would step up efforts to drive out

  • Injured marine looking forward to return to duty

    A Royal Marine who cheated death when a grenade exploded in front of him says he can't wait to return to duty. Commando Dominic Conway, 28, said he was lucky to be alive after being blasted with shrapnel when Iraqi soldiers threw a grenade into a house

  • Moor fires threat to hen harriers

    THE future of one of England's most beautiful birds of prey is under threat from landowners burning nesting sites, wildlife campaigners warned last night. Seven hen harrier breeding females raised 22 chicks last year but the breed could become extinct

  • Herriot characters brought to life at museum

    IN real-life they were among James Herriot's most engaging customers; endearing and infuriating in almost equal measures. The well-to-do Mrs Pumphrey and her pet dog Tricky-Woo were among the public's favourite characters in the books and television shows

  • Row flares up over school bus parking

    TEMPERS flared when protesters lobbied a meeting in an attempt to persuade councillors to block a bid for new bus bays at Richmond School. At the moment, coach drivers delivering and collecting children have to squeeze into a limited number of spaces,

  • Proctor tips Boro youngsters for stardom

    MARK PROCTOR last night predicted most of Middlesbrough's trophy hunting young guns will become household names in the professional game. Boro's youth team take on Manchester United in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final at the Riverside tonight

  • Job Search: Vacancies

    Agent, Stanley. £60 to £10ph, min 15hrs pw. Must be 18-plus with good communication skills, and be able to handle cash and keep simple records. Should have use of car and mobile phone. Ref: STG 15950. Trainee commercial administrator, Burnopfield. 1-5pm

  • Job Search: Vacancies

    Photographers, Stockton. £65pw plus £3 commission, 15hrs pw, Mon-Fri. Required to attend pre-booked appointments taking family portraits. Experience essential. Ref: STL 36897. Breakfast cook/house person, Stockton. £4.50ph, 20-36hrs pw, between 6.45am

  • It's chocks away for clean-up of exhibits at air museum

    IT'S that time of year when thoughts turn to spring-cleaning and at one leading tourist attraction the chore has begun. The Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York, is preparing for another busy year by giving its many aircraft and displays a spruce

  • Britons finding food facts difficult to digest

    NEW research has shown that most Britons have little or no idea where their food comes from. It reveals that almost 90 per cent of people do not know that beer is made from barley and that some 20 per cent do not know yoghurt is made from milk. More than

  • Airport hotel may expand

    A budget hotel at the region's second biggest airport is hoping to double in size, under new plans. An application has been submitted to Darlington Borough Council for a 36-bedroom extension to the Stanwick House Hotel, at Teesside Airport. The hotel,

  • Proud memories for Bishops

    With the sort of cricket tea which wouldn't just have fed the five thousand but sustained the entire NYSD League summer programme from that which was left over, Bishop Auckland CC continued its 150th anniversary celebrations on Saturday with a players

  • Speaking about the unspeakable

    At the centre of some of the most controversial political campaigns in recent times is a Christian orgnisation based in the North-East. But, as Nick Morrison discovers, its director has a surprising revelation. IT wasn't the most promising prelude to

  • 'Puma' may have been a feral cat

    AN expert on big cat sightings has played down the possibility that the Durham puma may have moved to the Yorkshire Dales. Three friends walking near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, spotted a large animal slinking across the crest of a rocky outcrop in Wensleydale

  • Now punters can be on a winner when bad weather strikes

    SPREAD betting firm Cantor Index has unveiled a way for punters to gamble on Britons' favourite topic of conversation - the weather. The bookmaker is offering private investors and companies the chance to bet on the number of hours of sunshine and inches

  • Grandparents care for Rhys as parents fight

    Doting grandparents Gillian and John Exley have been left holding the baby while his soldier parents are in the Gulf. Samantha Cawley and husband, Jonathan, are both with 7 Transport Regiment of the Royal Logistics Corps, in Kuwait, near the Iraqi border

  • Tributes for 'accomplished professional'

    When Captain Philip Guy died, the Royal Marines lost an experienced and dedicated member of the team. Yesterday, his commanding officer, Colonel Bill Dunham, confirmed the Fleet Protection Group would feel his loss, although he acknowledged the grief

  • GPS 'unaware' of effective new drug for heart patients

    TENS of thousands of North-East heart patients could benefit from a lifesaving new drug. But surveys show that only four out of ten GPs are aware of a cholesterol-lowering drug which claims to be more effective than any other on the market. Crestor is

  • Accused solicitor suspended

    A SOLICITOR facing criminal proceedings for allegedly trying to defraud a client has been suspended by the Law Society. David Gatherer, the sole lawyer at Carpenters in Durham, is forbidden from practising pending an investigation into allegations of

  • Job Search: Vacancies

    Sales negotiator, Darlington, 20hrs pw plus, computer skills and good telephone manner an advantage. Ref: DAE 34151. Care worker, Darlington, £5ph, 20-25hrs pw over 7 days, own transport essential and two years experience in similar role. REf: DAE 34118

  • A home with Lynne, Pearl... and their 67 hedgehogs

    Lynne Appleby and her 80-year-old mother, Pearl, have devoted their lives - and their home - to hedgehogs. Chris Webber talks to them about their failed campaign to prevent the cull of 5,000 hedgehogs on the Scottish Uist islands. NOTHING prepares you

  • Boro bid is short

    MIDDLESBROUGH are understood to have opened the bidding at £3m for Geremi - and been told by Real Madrid to double the money. Real have confirmed that Boro have lodged an offer for the Cameroon international, who has been a huge success during his season-long

  • Firearms hand-in

    Northumbria Police have had 133 firearms and 817 rounds of ammunition surrendered in their area in the first two weeks of a national firearms amnesty, it was revealed last night. Among the firearms handed in were a walking cane containing a .410 shotgun

  • Inquiry into ICI shares slump

    Paints group ICI is being quizzed by the City watchdog after its share price slumped following an horrendous trading report. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is demanding to know the events leading up to last month's announcement which led shares

  • Job Search: Vacancies

    Optical assistant, Northallerton. £8,500 to £13,000pa, 9am to 5.30pm, 5 days, inc weekends. Must have one year's experience. Full training provided. Ref: NOE 18828. Class 2 driver, Thirsk. £350pw, 50hrs pw, 5 days out of 7 to suit deliveries, inc nights

  • DJ challenge heats up

    BUDDING DJs are being urged to put their talents to the test and mix and scratch on the competitive stage. Heats are already under way for the 2003 DJ Competition organised by the Continuing Education Unit of North Yorkshire County Council. Three contests

  • Council focus on landfill contamination

    THOUSANDS of potentially contaminated landfill sites have been identified during a town survey. Darlington Borough Council has carried out the survey to meet national requirements, but now must prioritise the sites which need a more detailed inspection

  • Traffic plan to ease congestion

    A MAJOR traffic management strategy is being drawn up for Northallerton with improvements for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians over the next five years. Hundreds of thousands of pounds will be spent on developments in and around Northallerton, addressing

  • Day when a mum's world was shattered

    A YEAR ago the nightmare that haunts every parent came horrifyingly true for a young North-East mother. Michelle Aldworth's world was shattered when her bubbly, bright little daughter who loved dancing and dressing up, died following one of those senseless

  • Man quizzed over triple stabbings

    A JAMAICAN man was last night being questioned by North-East police following his arrest in London for a triple stabbing. The 22-year-old suspect was arrested in Peckham, London, by police on Sunday in connection with a knife attack on two Afro-Caribbean

  • Hotel signatures from the Beatles set to fetch £3,500

    NOTEPAPER from a North hotel signed by all four Beatles is expected to fetch thousands of pounds at an auction this month. The hotel notepaper autographed by the Fab Four is expected to raise £3,500 when it goes under the hammer at Christie's in London

  • Gallery recreates life as an actor through the ages

    THE curtain has risen on an exhibition which turns the spotlight on the magic of the theatre. CentreStage, in Hartlepool Art Gallery, explores the development of the theatre from its earliest days to Victorian times, using costumes, props, memorabilia

  • Passion and true love among the bedpans

    Casualty (BBC1) Never mind the sick, bleeding and "nice juicy headwound" requiring treatment, Duffy has other things on her mind. Lover Ryan has run off with everything, forcing her to move back in with nice dependable Charlie, and the three of them are

  • Doctors issue stay calm following Sars investigation

    Senir public health doctors have issued a "don't panic" warning after it was revealed that suspected cases of the Sars virus are being investigated in the region. Dr Vivien Hollyoak, a specialist from Health Protection Agency North-East, said no probable

  • Comment from The Northern Echo: Time to find a smoking gun

    In the haste of the military campaign, it is easy to overlook the reason why the United States and Britain went to war against Iraq. The Coalition Forces justified their action on the basis of a United Nations resolution concerning the inspection of Saddam

  • 15/04/03

    WAR AGAINST IRAQ: MANY people would like to believe that now Iraq has at last overthrown Saddam Hussein and his evil dictatorship, the country will be free and democratic. All the Iraqis and Kurdish refugees who fled that regime to live in this country

  • Blair denies Syria next attack target

    TONY BLAIR insisted last night that there were no plans by Britain or the US to invade Syria following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime. But his attempts to quell speculation that Damascus was next on the list for Coalition Forces came as

  • Family wait nearly over for life-saver baby

    THE parents of a designer baby are facing an agonising wait to see if the unborn child can save their son's life. Michelle and Jayson Whit-aker's son, Charlie, needs a life-saving stem cell transplant before his fifth birthday, a few months away. Their

  • Contest offers free football courses

    SUNDERLAND Football Club is offering five youngsters free places on one of its popular football courses. The club runs courses for children aged from four to 14 during the Easter holidays. The courses are designed to provide fun and exercise, and teach

  • Church given £107,000 for roof repairs

    A CHURCH which embarked on the biggest restoration project in its history nearly two years ago has received a £107,000 boost. Members of St James the Great Church, in the Albert Hill area of Darlington, announced last night that it had been successful

  • Home aids reduce falls

    HEALTH chiefs say their efforts to reduce the number of pensioners who fall in their homes is paying off. The Easington Primary Care Trust is giving bags to the over-65s that contain nightlights and anti-slip mats for bathrooms. In six months, the trust

  • Finance advice offer

    FINANCIAL advice for people thinking of entering higher education is to be given at a series of forums. Durham County Council has organised four events at schools in County Durham next month, to give potential students the chance to receive financial

  • News in brief: Artists' food for thought

    YOUNG artists are being urged to take part in a competition. The Talpore Beefeater at Stockton is looking for a youngster to represent the restaurant in a national painting and colouring competition. Children are being asked to paint a picture depicting

  • Community safety TV network is launched

    A TELEVISION service relaying crime prevention and community safety messages to the public was launched yesterday. CSPtv, Easington Community Safety Partnership's television information network, went live to screens in public buildings across east Durham

  • Police in hunt for robbers

    POLICE investigating a robbery in a village near Bishop Auckland last week have issued an e-fit image of one of the suspects. Two men stole a mobile telephone and cash from a man behind Mary Terrace, in Coronation, at 7pm on Wednesday. Detectives said

  • Accused solicitor suspended

    A SOLICITOR facing criminal proceedings for allegedly trying to defraud a client has been suspended by the Law Society. David Gatherer, the sole lawyer at Carpenters in Durham, is forbidden from practising pending an investigation into allegations of

  • Professional athletics tips for children

    PROFESSIONAL athletics coaches will be available to help Darlington youngsters improve their skills this Easter. A three-day course, open to ten to 14-year-olds, takes place at the Eastbourne Sports Complex from next Tuesday to Thursday. Youngsters can

  • Professional athletics tips for children

    PROFESSIONAL athletics coaches will be available to help Darlington youngsters improve their skills this Easter. A three-day course, open to ten to 14-year-olds, takes place at the Eastbourne Sports Complex from next Tuesday to Thursday. Youngsters can

  • Competition offers free football courses

    SUNDERLAND Football Club is offering five youngsters free places on one of its popular football courses. The club runs courses for children aged from four to 14 during the Easter holidays. The courses are designed to provide fun and exercise, and teach

  • Danielle's story is a cut above

    Danielle Cable: Eyewitness (ITV1) FOR most, I suspect, the incident that became known as the M25 road rage murder will ring a few bells without any of us being able to go into detail about the case. The basic facts will be recalled - a young man was stabbed

  • Firearms hand-in

    Northumbria Police have had 133 firearms and 817 rounds of ammunition surrendered in their area in the first two weeks of a national firearms amnesty, it was revealed last night. Among the firearms handed in were a walking cane containing a .410 shotgun

  • Warning over Chancellor's start-up plans

    GORDON Brown's incentive scheme to encourage local authorities to promote business start-ups could backfire if safeguards are not put in place. The Chancellor's announcement means that, from April 2005, instead of rateable income from new businesses going

  • Women can take steps to join first aid course

    ANYONE interested in learning about first aid can now do so with two courses being run by Stockton Borough Council's adult education. The Championing Women's Learning Project is running a course on emergency first aid. The project is also running a course

  • Kwik-Fit chief to address new forum

    SIR Tom Farmer, founder and chairman of Kwik-Fit, will be principal guest speaker at the launch of a forum designed to boost the region's entrepreneurial spirit. Sir Tom is expected to share his passion for business with the newly-established Entrepreneurs

  • Appeal for village hall cash injection refused

    A COUNCIL has rejected an appeal to spend part of a multi-million pound windfall on saving village halls in the Darlington area. Darlington Borough Council was awarded £2.2m in arbitration after a six-year legal wrangle with Durham County Council over

  • Embroiderer stitches a double success

    AN embroidery fan has become the first in the country to win two national awards in a year. Patricia Battye from Darlington, came second in the recent President's Cup Competition of the national Embroiderer's Guild. The theme of the competition, which

  • 17 arrests during drugs raid in town

    SEVENTEEN people were helping police with their inquiries yesterday after a drugs raid on an address in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Men and women and aged between 17 and 40, were arrested in the late-night swoop on a property in the town's Mayfield Grove

  • Drunken welder hit skateboarders

    WELDER James Beadle launched a late night attack on a pair of skateboarders and then said he could remember nothing as he had drunk 15 pints of beer, a court heard yesterday. Magistrates were told by Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, how Beadle, 20, was

  • Healthy eating pays off for pupils

    FOUR pupils have been rewarded after winning competitions being run in their schools to promote healthy eating. They each received £25 and were entered into a draw to find an overall winner, with the main prize being a mountain bike donated by Coca Cola

  • MP second in Commons questioning

    TORY MP Anne McIntosh is one of the most questioning members of the House of Commons, new figures reveal. Only her party leader Iain Duncan Smith asked more oral parliamentary questions in the chamber in the 2002 to 2003 session. In a list of MPs who

  • News in brief: Communities get green cash

    TWO communities are to get greens spaces, thanks to a Government grant. Residents in Arthur's Hill and Lemington, in Newcastle, have secured £7,000 from the Countryside Agency's Doorstep Greens programme to help them develop plans for community green

  • Appointment made to guide development

    AN appointment has been made to help steer a project to redevelop a derelict strip of land along the River Tees. Roland Todd has been appointed as Stockton Borough Council's labour market co-ordinator to work on the North Bank Development, in Stockton

  • News in brief: Artists' food for thought

    YOUNG artists are being urged to take part in a competition. The Talpore Beefeater at Stockton is looking for a youngster to represent the restaurant in a national painting and colouring competition. Children are being asked to paint a picture depicting

  • Help us to find you, urges paramedic

    A DALES paramedic is urging the public to help the ambulance service help them by ensuring house names and numbers are clearly displayed. Peter Shaw is distributing posters across the area asking homeowners if their number is up - and pointing out it

  • News in brief: Thieves leave trail of damage

    THIEVES left a trail of destruction in their wake when they attempted to steal cars from a village near Thirsk. They attempted to steal a total of 16 cars in Borrowby, either by breaking into the vehicles or the garages they were kept in. Several of the

  • Arrest of man linked to paedophile comes to light

    POLICE have revealed that a man referred to during a court case that ended in the jailing of a paedophile scoutmaster had already been arrested on suspicion of making indecent images of children. Former Teesside scoutmaster Paul Woodruff was last week

  • IT health checks help firms develop

    THE United Nations is using information technology "health checks" designed in the North-East to help businesses in developing countries. Six UN advisors from Morocco and Ethiopia spent a fortnight at Durham Business School learning how to use the Biz-KIT

  • New science laboratories for school thanks to cash boost

    SCIENCE lessons are to be given a facelift thanks to a £500,000 investment at a North Yorkshire school. Youngsters will be able to use the modern science laboratories at Bedale High School for the first time when they return after the Easter holidays.

  • Emotion high as first letter arrives home

    With many historic events in Iraq, last week was full of ups and downs for Catterick Army wife Hayley Kimsey, whose husband, Russ, is serving with the Queen's Dragoon Guards. In the second extract from her diary, she recalls her emotions SATURDAY, APRIL

  • Security cameras help park thrive

    CLOSED-circuit television cameras have helped stop vandals at a skate-park. When the facility, behind Ripon Leisure Centre, off Dallamires Lane, was built, there were problems with vandalism by youngsters who were not using the park. But now Harrogate

  • We'll be back - Given

    NEWCASTLE goalkeeper Shay Given is convinced that the 6-2 massacre by Manchester United will galvanise the Magpies to greater heights next season. Saturday's St. James' Park debacle put paid to any realistic hope of Sir Bobby Robson's side challenging

  • News in brief: Internet pet placement plan

    Pet lovers can log on to find out about pets around the region who are in need of a home. North Shore Animal League International is hosting its eighth Pet Adoptathon on May 3 and 4, when the public can log on to find out about animals at various shelters

  • News in brief: Internet pet placement plan

    Pet lovers can log on to find out about pets around the region who are in need of a home. North Shore Animal League International is hosting its eighth Pet Adoptathon on May 3 and 4, when the public can log on to find out about animals at various shelters

  • 'I will always remember Phil with a smile'

    This is a summary of the eulogy delivered by Captain Daniel Hughes, Royal Marines Commandos. "The difficulty, of course, is not what I should tell you, but what I should leave out. "Some of you will know Phil as a friend, others as a member of the family

  • Mining a rich seam of our history

    Q WHERE was the first place in the North-East to mine coal? - Jeff Wilkinson, South Moor, Stanley A THE date of the first incidence of coal mining is lost in time but the Romans may have mined coal in the region. The first coal to be used by North-East

  • Auction mart stages horse sale

    AN auction mart celebrated the start of a new era yesterday as it held its first horse auction for 15 years. Darlington Auction Mart, which is under new management after a tough year brought it to its knees, attracted about 1,000 people to the sale. New

  • Recycling effort surges ahead

    A COUNCIL is poised to introduce a new waste collection strategy. In a bid to meet its government-set recycling targets, Hambleton District Council will make sure that nearly all residents have two wheelie bins to separate their waste at home. One bin

  • 'Citizen's arrest' of MP by protestor

    Three people were arrested after a Government minister ran the gauntlet of anti-war protestors as he made his way into a meeting. Newcastle East MP Nick Brown, the Minister for Work and Pensions, was jostled as he approached the Old Assembly Rooms, in

  • Worker crushed to death

    A workman was killed today when he was crushed by a falling metal pipe at a factory, police said. A steel pipe weighing around a quarter of a tonne rolled on top of 39-year-old David Applegarth, of Darlington, County Durham. A Health and Safety Executive

  • Months of doubt over as steel plant is sold

    Administrators handling the affairs of a North-East steelworks last night revealed that a buyer had been found for the 140-year-old plant. The sale of Weardale Steel to Anglo-Swedish secures skilled jobs in Weardale, County Durham, ending seven months

  • Farewell to a hero

    Captain Philip Guy died in the deserts of the Gulf serving his country. Yesterday, in the North Yorkshire sunshine, thousands of people stood in silence to honour his ultimate sacrifice. As the hearse bearing his body slid through the streets of Skipton

  • Campaigners lose their fight to save hostel from closure

    AN 18-month campaign to save a Dales youth hostel from the axe is over after management confirmed it will definitely close at the end of the year. The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) facilities at Aysgarth, near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, were among ten

  • Killer Bell's secrecy plea brings new heartache

    CHILD killer Mary Bell's High Court bid for life-long anonymity brought more heartache to relatives of her victims yesterday. The High Court in London heard how Bell - who was 11 when she killed two small boys in Newcastle - and her 18-year-old daughter

  • Neale inquiry to start soon

    THE long-awaited inquiry into the Richard Neale scandal will get under way next month. An exact date has not been given, but officials say the independent inquiry into how the NHS handled complaints against the disgraced Northallerton surgeon is due to

  • Flooding defence costs to increase

    THE estimated costs of flood defences for a tourist hotspot have soared and some schemes could now be delayed for up to seven years, officials have said. Only 12 months ago, the Environment Agency's long-term plan for York envisaged a start on projects

  • Will aims to top the pie charts as posters launched

    MOVE over Alan Shearer and Robson Green - there's a new pin-up in town and there's more than enough of him to go around. Hundreds of billboard posters are going up across the region to promote Will Gordon's bid to become Britain's first Pie Idol. He said

  • Knifeman attacks pair after dispute

    TWO men have undergone surgery after being attacked by a knifeman outside a nightclub early yesterday. Police said the pair, who suffered severe wounds, were lucky that the cuts were not deeper. The attack happened outside Club Etc, in Bede Way, Peterlee

  • Comment: Backing the fight for steel

    WITH a heritage spanning generations, it is easy to understand why North-East steelworkers feel so passionately about their industry. It is also easy to understand why Corus employees feel so desperate about the perilous state in which the company finds

  • Pupils help support gulf troops with gifts

    Primary school pupils are backing British forces in the Middle East by sending them much-needed comforts. Children at Cheveley Park Primary School, in Belmont, near Durham, eagerly responded to an appeal to help troops. They have filled shoeboxes with

  • Relief for workers as Enron sold

    More than 550 workers at Enron Teesside Operations Limited (ETOL) will transfer to a new company, ending months of uncertainty for the workers on Teesside. ETOL's assets have been bought by SembCorp Utilities, from Singapore, in a £83m deal. ETOL owns

  • Phew . . . get ready for Easter egg-melting weather

    EASTER bank holiday is shaping up to be a scorcher - only days after some parts of the country had snow. As the holiday weekend approaches, Britain is in for plenty of sunshine with temperatures likely to soar to summer highs. In the North-East, weathermen

  • Suddenly it all starts to fit together

    RAPID product development company Fitstogether is a stage further in its progress plans with the relocation of Amsys to headquarters in Team Valley. The transfer of Amsys's rapid prototyping operation from Sunderland Enterprise Park is part of an integration

  • Sunderland's gravy train is derailed

    SUNDERLAND'S relegated flops have been warned by the cash-strapped club: We'll stop rewarding you for failure. Outgoing chief executive Hugh Roberts told the players that have taken Sunderland into the Nationwide League that they will no longer be offered

  • Blue Peter goes on display

    RAILWAY enthusiasts can now view one of the country's most famous steam locomotives in Darlington. Following its haul from the North York Moors last week, Blue Peter is on display at Darlington Railway Centre and Museum. The locomotive will be based at

  • Toddler crash victim facing more surgery

    LITTLE Kirsty Sawyer, whose sister was killed by a hit-and-run driver, is facing more surgery. Kirsty was left fighting for her life and her sister, Rebecca, six, died when their family car was hit by a stolen vehicle driven by Ian Carr, in Ashington,

  • Pipeline prize

    BSR Pipeline Services, located on the Corus site in Hartlepool, has been selected to receive a bronze award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). BSR is a limited company run independently but is part of the Corus group. It internally

  • Fell rescue team gets a generous donation

    THE family of a missing Manfield woman, whose body was found in January, has given a £1,000 thank-you to the team that helped to search for her. The Swaledale Fell Rescue team was among those who searched for Evelyn Graham after she vanished soon after

  • Robbery charge pair remanded

    Guy English, 18, of Margaret Terrace, Stanley, and Lee Doran, 22, of Park Avenue, Prudhoe, both County Durham, appeared before Gateshead magistrates yesterday charged with two robberies and three attempted robberies. The offences were alleged to have

  • Chic on the cheap

    Updating your wardrobe for spring and summer need not be an expensive business. Women's Editor Christen Pears goes to one of the regions discount retail outlets in search of bargains. AS the weather hots up, it's time to think about putting away those