OWNING your own home has been nearly twice as profitable as investing in gold during the past three-and-a-half years, figures showed yesterday. Nationwide Building Society said the cost of property had increased by 68 per cent since February 2000 to an
Back in 1950, the pit, the cokeworks, the brickworks and the tar works coated the village of Billy Row in a filthy grime. More than half a century later, the village has changed - but the pupils who attended its school have not, as Bessie Robinson discovered
To some, he was the real deputy prime minister. To others, he was more important than that. Nick Morrison examines Alastair Campbell's legacy - and looks at what his departure means for Tony Blair NOT long after Tony Blair had been swept into Downing
A north-east family doctor facing 22 sex offences was refused bail for a second time when he appeared before magistrates on a video link from prison yesterday. Dr Syed Amjad Husain, 29, of Darlington, is charged with four counts of indecently assaulting
THE police chief who dealt with the Selby train disaster has been appointed to a North-East crime-busting role. Forty-six-year-old Gary Barnett is a chief superintendent with North Yorkshire Police, the force he joined in 1978 after he graduated from
PLANS for a £750,000 scheme to ease traffic congestion and improve safety on one of the main routes through Darlington have entered a critical phase. A month-long public consultation exercise comes to an end this weekend, with Darlington Borough Council
KING'S THOUGHT will be going into unknown territory once he passes the ten-furlong marker in this afternoon's most valuable race at Chester, the £40,000 Listed Showcase Handicap. The Steve Gollings-trained four-year-old must now prove he has the stamina
BUILDING experts have teamed up in the same Darlington headquarters as their fire service colleagues. Officers from Darlington Borough Council are now based at St Cuthbert's Way fire station. Stuart Muckle, the council's building control manager, said
THE family of a man who has been missing from home for more than a fortnight have released a new photograph of him. Ian Richardson, 55, of Bertha Street, Ferryhill, County Durham, has not been seen since August 11, when he left his house after wishing
A FACTORY maintenance engineer suffered a fatal fall from a fork-lift truck as he tried to repair a faulty loading bay door, an inquest was told yesterday. David Woodcock, 51, of Bank Foot Farm, West Auckland, fell head first from a pallet held by the
A play charting a century in the life of a North-East family opens next week. Family Ties chronicles 100 years of descendants in Jarrow, starting with the arrival of an Irish immigrant to work in Palmer's shipyard at the beginning of the 20th Century.
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a cyclist sustained serious injuries in an accident. The 50-year-old cyclist, from Billingham, suffered a broken leg and pelvis in a collision with a BMW car in Bishopton Avenue, Stockton. A police spokesman said
A THIRSK developer has received planning permission to build a large, detached home despite a scheme for two houses on the same site being turned down. Andy Swales lodged an appeal against the refusal of the application for two homes at the Coach Depot
TWO cyclists from Hambleton are preparing for a 500-mile charity ride. Richard Greaves and John Roberts set off on their sponsored bike ride tomorrow, pedalling from Blackpool Tower to the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, in seven days. Twenty other cyclists from
SIX County Durham schools have been praised for their creative teaching of the arts. Inspectors from Ofsted visited 43 schools across the country that had been identified as likely to exemplify good practice. Creative teaching and innovative approaches
SIX County Durham schools have been praised for their creative teaching of the arts. Inspectors from Ofsted visited 43 schools across the country that had been identified as likely to exemplify good practice. They saw a range of exciting and innovative
WALKERS will step out tomorrow for a sponsored walk through Hamsterley Forest in an effort to improve the nation's health. Not only will the exercise benefit the dozens of walkers completing one of two routes in the forest, but sponsorship from the event
LEUKAEMIA patients in the region have won an important victory in the fight to get life-saving treatment. But it has come too late for the North-East woman whose face became the symbol of the struggle. Patient Ann Tittley, 56, turned to The Northern Echo
YOUNGSTERS will have an extra week's holiday because of flooding problems at their nursery. The 57 children, who attend the nursery at West View Primary School, were due to return from the summer holidays on Tuesday. But the building will not be ready
AUCTION mart bosses were considering their options yesterday after their controversial plans to move to a greenfield site were thrown out by local councillors. To the jubilation of people living near the intended site on the edge of Northallerton, Hambleton
A ROYAL charity has played Cupid to a North-East couple. Love blossomed for Michael Ramsay, 29 and Ruth Hindmarsh, 27, after they met through the Prince's Trust. The charity helps young people start new businesses. It has backed Mr Ramsay to create Ramsay
A WORKMAN died after he fell three metres from a trailer and was struck on the head by an 80kg steel pole, an inquest heard yesterday. David Robert Applegarth, of Lawson Street, Darlington, died on Tuesday, April 15, after an accident at Finley Structures
What a difference a win makes. Just ask Darlington manager Mick Tait ahead of this afternoon's Third Division trip to Rochdale. On Bank Holiday Monday Quakers ended a disastrous start to the season - which had left them rooted to the bottom of the Division
POLICE took 36 hours to respond to a call made by the Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham when his home was attacked by stone-throwing yobs, it was claimed last night. Lieutenant Colonel Fred Phillips, 76, had just returned from a day out with his wife
League president Ken Gardner is looking forward to an interesting finale to the season as sides battle it out for title honours or simply to survive. "It is extremely tight at the top and bottom of both the Premier Division and Division One and a number
HARTLEPOOL United go head to head with another former manager today aiming for a repeat of the last time they faced one of last season's bosses. Pool go to Luton to face Mike Newell's side, meeting the manger who took them to promotion last season, for
Leukaemia sufferer Ann Tittley would not accept what the doctors told her when they said she could not have a new 'miracle' drug. Her decision to take a stand drew attention to the scandal of drug rationing and helped others like her. Health Correspondent
KILLER Albert Dryden is making a parole bid, 12 years after he gunned down a council officer in a planning row. Planning officer Harry Collinson was shot at point-blank range when council officers moved in to demolish Dryden's illegally built bungalow
All Bar One owner Mitchells and Butlers yesterday revealed it was no longer in the race to buy brewer Scottish & Newcastle's pubs estate. It is not clear whether the group, formed following the demerger of leisure conglomerate Six Continents earlier
The race to find a successful Saturday morning children's TV show is on - but network bosses are finding it hard to replace Geordie duo Ant and Dec. Take a few cartoons, a couple of pop acts, some special guests plugging a TV series, a smattering of audience
PRIVATE schools in the region are celebrating another successful year for GCSE results. Data from the Independent Schools Council Information Service (ISCis), shows the top-performing North-East school was the Royal Grammar School, in Newcastle, which
ALTHOUGH Darlington Rugby Club dates back to 1863, the town has no tradition as a rugby hotbed, yet it will have two clubs in National Division Three North this season. Both Darlington and Mowden Park were in Durham and Northumberland Division One nine
THERE'S just something in the air that makes you feel that summer is over. The sun may be out and the sky blue and cloudless, but there is a lightness to the rays. They are starting to enter the atmosphere at a lower angle now, and beginning to make the
POLICE: WE are so short of police officers in Darlington that there are not enough officers to man their own patch. It was suggested by an officer that I write to the Ombudsman with a complaint about my incident. We live in Darlington's West End. There
The race to find a successful Saturday morning children's TV show is on - but network bosses are finding it hard to replace Geordie duo Ant and Dec. Take a few cartoons, a couple of pop acts, some special guests plugging a TV series, a smattering of audience
DURHAM are keeping a close eye on Shoaib Akhtar's attempts to ensure Pakistan do not become the first country to lose a Test match to Bangladesh. If he succeeds they are expecting him back in time to play in the championship match at Northampton, starting
Customers in the North-East face a possible 37 per cent rise in their bills for water supplies and sewerage. Northumbrian Water has announced it is asking the regulator Ofwat to approve an inflation-busting increase that it says will take the average
FACTORY stalwart Sid Harrison retired at the age of 79 yesterday, then said he would have liked to carry on. If it was not for health problems, unstoppable Sid said he would have continued working on the factory floor at the C A Hields engineering firm
IN the alternative world of athletics women shotputters don't really look like men, male sprinters resist acting like hysterical children and Britain's gold medal tally isn't running on empty. Sadly the reverse is true and we have more gold medallists
DURHAM go into today's EGU Northern Counties clash with fifth-placed Cheshire at Wilmslow desperate to avoid picking up the dreaded wooden spoon for a third successive year. The loss of US-based trio Barnard Castle's Robert Dinwiddie, Simon Robinson,
CAST your mind back exactly four years, to the wettest day in North-East football history. And amid the current carnage of Newcastle United's Champions League exit, consider this: where would the club be now had they won that derby with Sunderland? Ruud
Perrott Phillips crosses four frontiers and drops anchor in the centre of three capital cities on a riverboat cruise along the Danube. The American tourist was aghast. It was 8am and the German passengers aboard the MV Mozart were clinking glasses of
EIGHTY jobs are to be axed by one of North Yorkshire's biggest employers, it was announced yesterday. The 800-strong workforce at Portakabin, in York, is to be cut from 800 to 720 by the end of next month. Staff were told that the jobs were to go at a
ANN Tittley was a special woman. She became the face of the campaign to provide life-saving treatment to victims of leukaemia in England. Ann, from Newton Aycliffe, in County Durham, wrote to Tony Blair, highlighting the fact that a remarkably successful
A SUPER-SCHOOL is yet to decide whether to find places for a number of suspended pupils. With just over a week to go to the opening of the King's Academy, in Middlesbrough, no decision has been made about the fate of 17 children excluded from Brackenhoe
HARTLEPOOL United go head to head with another former manager today aiming for a repeat of the last time they faced one of last season's bosses. Pool go to Luton to face Mike Newell's side, meeting the manger who took them to promotion last season, for
THERE have been many "fall guys" since Britain went to war with Iraq. Before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Dr David Kelly himself was told by Andrew Mackinlay MP: "I reckon you are chaff, you have been thrown up to divert our probing. Have you ever felt
A MYSTERY guest footballer attended a Darlington school to present prizes to pupils at a summer workshop. The identity of the Darlington Football Club player was kept a closely guarded secret until yesterday when Ian Clarke, above, arrived at Hummersknott
COUNCIL bosses in Darlington are taking action to prevent the reckless use of fireworks. The authority's trading standards department is writing to businesses, encouraging them to delay selling fireworks until October 22 - two weeks before bonfire night
SEVERAL Darlington schools will be going into the new term next week with new headteachers. Four out of the town's seven secondary schools and four primary schools have all had changes at the top within the past few months. At Longfield Comprehensive,
THE police chief who dealt with the Selby train disaster has been appointed to a North-East crime-busting role. Forty-six-year-old Gary Barnett is a chief superintendent with North Yorkshire Police, the force he joined in 1978 after he graduated from
Contractors laying a pipeline near Northallerton have agreed to make sure a road is open for traffic so visitors can get to a vintage machinery show later this month. The move will allow exhibitors and visitors access to event, run by the North Yorkshire
AN MP is calling on the Government to close a loophole threatening to undermine the character of a suburb in her constituency. Stockton South MP Dari Taylor is backing residents who have written to her, concerned at a rash of plans for blocks of apartments
A ROTARY club received a visit from its national president because of its impressive programme of activities. Brian Stoyell, the president of all 1,800 clubs in Britain and Ireland, visited the Rotary Club of Guisborough and Great Ayton on Thursday. "
WORK has started to build a £941,000 centre for families in north Durham. The Sure Start building, in Clifford Road, Stanley, will offer facilities for pre-school children and their parents. The group has been operating from temporary facilities in Joicey
EXPERTS with a head for heights are to check wear and tear on a North-East landmark, by abseiling down it. Steeplejacks from Stone Technical Services will scale the 152ft Column of Liberty in Gibside, Rowlands Gill, Gateshead, then abseil down it, as
Jesus Christ Superstar, Dionysis Theatre Company, Gala Theatre, Durham Youth theatre group Dionysis set itself a tall task following its successful maiden summer show, Oliver!, last year, with an ambitious production at the Gala Theatre. A cast and chorus
A TEENAGER was ordered to be electronically tagged yesterday to keep him out of pubs. The ankle tag will check Daniel Gollogly, 18, stays at home during a six month curfew, from 7pm at weekends and 9pm in the week. Teesside Crown Court heard Gollogly
AN 18th Century watercolour was brought to life at the launch of a city's latest walking trail. A couple in Georgian costume strolled along New Walk, a tree-lined avenue by the River Ouse, in York, created in the 1730s. Now, the Friends of New Walk, with
IN the alternative world of athletics women shotputters don't really look like men, male sprinters resist acting like hysterical children and Britain's gold medal tally isn't running on empty. Sadly the reverse is true and we have more gold medallists
TODDLERS have shown off their artistic view of life on the ocean waves. The youngsters enjoyed activities in the educational resource area for children at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle. The children viewed the Cullercoats Exhibition in the gallery
ANGRY Danny Mills is desperate to prove a point to Peter Reid after the Leeds manager told him he wasn't good enough for Elland Road. England right-back Mills makes his Middlesbrough debut today after agreeing a one-season loan deal. Mills' career has
A PENSIONER has been barred from a social club where he is secretary after been accused of assault. Derek Bates, who was cautioned by Cleveland Police following an incident in the committee room at the Low Grange Social Club, Billingham, is on official
FOR the first time in almost 150 years, a Russian has handled drums that were captured during the Crimean War. The drums of the Russian Borodino Regiment were captured by soldiers of The Green Howards after the Battle of the Alma in 1854. Two of the seven
ANGRY Danny Mills is desperate to prove a point to Peter Reid after the Leeds manager told him he wasn't good enough for Elland Road. England right-back Mills makes his Middlesbrough debut today after agreeing a one-season loan deal. Mills' career has
FACTORY stalwart Sid Harrison retired at the age of 79 yesterday, then said he would have liked to carry on. If it was not for health problems, unstoppable Sid said he would have continued working on the factory floor at the C A Hields engineering firm
EIGHTY jobs are to be axed by one of North Yorkshire's biggest employers, it was announced yesterday. The 800-strong workforce at Portakabin, in York, is to be cut from 800 to 720 by the end of next month. Staff were told that the jobs were to go at a
Results covering activities ranging from bingo to car hire should ensure investors' cards are marked on the state of the economy next week. A cocktail of negative trading factors is likely to have iaffected drinks company Diageo's annual results on Thursday
It is all to play for in The Readers Durham County League with Evenwood holding a slender one-point lead ahead of their crucial game at Crook Town this afternoon. "The race for the championship will go right to the wire, of this I am certain, but our
LEUKAEMIA patients in the region have won an important victory in the fight to get life-saving treatment. But it has come too late for the North-East woman whose face became the symbol of the struggle. Patient Ann Tittley, 56, turned to The Northern Echo
PLANS for a radical overhaul of local government in the North-East have sparked a scramble, as councils vie to protect their interests. The Government is proposing a regional assembly for the North-East. If this is approved, the two-tier system, where
What a difference a win makes. Just ask Darlington manager Mick Tait ahead of this afternoon's Third Division trip to Rochdale. On Bank Holiday Monday Quakers ended a disastrous start to the season - which had left them rooted to the bottom of the Division
THE boat has come in for shipyard workers who started a National Lottery syndicate and landed the jackpot - with the first ticket they bought. The five men only started working together on Monday morning, and wasted no time in setting up a syndicate.
DEPUTY Prime Minister John Prescott MP was yesterday on a fact-finding mission visiting Tyneside's shipbuilding and offshore facilities. Mr Prescott met young people in Wallsend who are learning new skills in the industry in a bid to keep the North-East
SUNDERLAND manager Mick McCarthy has warned former skipper Michael Gray that he faces a fight to win back his first-team place. Gray is set to return to the squad for today's clash with Bradford City at Valley Parade after being ommitted from the party
A report focusing on how economic problems affect the health of a County Durham community has been described as a call for action. The report, called Miserable Measures, was commissioned jointly by the County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority
SUNDERLAND manager Mick McCarthy has warned former skipper Michael Gray that he faces a fight to win back his first-team place. Gray is set to return to the squad for today's clash with Bradford City at Valley Parade after being ommitted from the party
Protestors gathered outside a court in London yesterday as a former senior Iranian diplomat living in the North-East appeared in extradition proceedings. Hade Soleimanpour, 47, of Kepier Court, Durham City, formerly Iran's ambassador to Argentina, is
Saturday night, Sunday morning - the two sides of West Wilton village feast are revealed to both revolve around two special characters who roughly share the same name... SATURDAY NIGHT, 8.30 THE Wensleydale village of West Witton is quiet before the dusk
DURHAM are keeping a close eye on Shoaib Akhtar's attempts to ensure Pakistan do not become the first country to lose a Test match to Bangladesh. If he succeeds they are expecting him back in time to play in the championship match at Northampton, starting
HEALTH experts have hailed a ground-breaking emergency medical response system a potential life-saver. The system allows ambulance crews to transmit vital medical information on the way to the hospital and health bosses hope it will save lives. Ambulances
