STRICTER controls on the way medication is dispensed to drug addicts are needed, a police authority boss has warned. Councillor Ken Walker, chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, believes new laws should be introduced to ensure people who are prescribed
FOOTBALL rivalry was cast aside yesterday as fans and sporting figures with both Sunderland and Newcastle affiliations came together for the funeral of Bob Stokoe. The Tyne-Wear football divide was breached as mourners with both black and white and red
RESIDENTS are celebrating after a proposal to build housing on the site of a former hospital was thrown out by councillors. An application by Miller Homes North East to build 26 detached homes and 78 apartments on the site of the former Highfield Hospital
BACK at once to last week's Gadfly: songs with months in the title struck endless chords, curious road names proved up many a street, someone even tapped into the problem of finding a plumber. We have also been made ineluctably aware of Carter the Unstoppable
TWO people had a dramatic escape after a helicopter crash-landed at Newcastle International Airport yesterday. The Northumbria Helicopter's Robinson R22 chopper came down in the aviation field of the airport, adjacent to the main runway yesterday lunch
SMOKING: The anti-smoking ad campaign is a success. What does it mean by success? Does it mean they are getting more people to stop so as to run out of business, or are they really in their hearts genuinely trying to stop people smoking? Either way, if
DARREN AMBROSE has urged the Premiership's big spenders not to overlook the rising stars of the Nationwide League. Blackburn Rovers' capture Jon Stead will be doing his best to dent Newcastle United's chances of a Champions League spot tonight when Sir
THE region's buoyant jobs market is proving to be a happy hunting ground for a North-East recruitment agency. Northern Recruitment Group (NRG), based in Newcastle, has announced strong interim results, with pre-tax profits for the past six months up 68
Steve McClaren has demanded that Middlesbrough match embattled Manchester United's fighting spirit at Old Trafford tonight. Skipper Gareth Southgate was critical of Boro's lacklustre display in Saturday's bitterly disappointing 1-0 home defeat by Blackburn
NEW bride Valerie Joice has vowed to take her battle to the very top in an effort to bring her husband to Britain . Valerie, whose sister was killed by an Internet lover, will have to return home to the UK without the Algerian husband she met on-line.
DETECTIVES have launched an investigation into a former housemaster at one of the country's leading public schools. No details have emerged about the allegations involved but they are known to relate to events ten years ago at Ampleforth College's Junior
Martin Pipe added another possible string to his Cheltenham bow when newcomer Team Tassel won impressively at Market Rasen yesterday following the dramatic departure of odds-on favourite Trabolgan. Team Tassel produced a jumping masterclass under Tony
NEARLY 30,000 manufacturing jobs will be lost during the next three months despite companies winning new orders, according to a new report. Research for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) revealed that job losses should ease, but employment will
A WOMAN widowed in the Selby rail disaster has pledged to fight for a change in the law on sleep-deprived drivers. Margarita Needham lost her husband, Barry, when the train he was travelling in hit a Land Rover that had careered on to the East Coast Main
MONASTIC life in medieval times was not all prayers and fasting - even then there was paperwork to complete. Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, was no exception and 900 years ago its muniments room was a business nerve centre, housing key documents, contracts
A FORMER Tory councillor and charity director appeared in court yesterday accused of stealing tens of thousands of pounds. Charles Graham Smith, 54, of Woodland Road, Darlington, is charged with stealing £68,468.37 belonging to Natwest Bank between August
The North-East football community united yesterday to mourn the passing of one of the sport's most legendary figures, Bob Stokoe. Bruce Unwin reports FOOTBALL rivalry was cast aside yesterday as fans and sporting figures with both Sunderland and Newcastle
Faking It (C4) TO A large extent, the success of Faking It depends on the willingness of the person trying another job to do anything and everything necessary to change their image. Faced with someone as stubbornly single-minded as Laura-Jane Foley, her
England A put up the best fight of their tour so far but still lost by two wickets to India A, despite a century from opener Kevin Pietersen in Bangalore. Pietersen made 131 to ensure England salvaged a total of 228 all out in 46 of their allotted 50
A NORTH-EAST investment management company has changed hands as part of a £160m deal. Swiss private bank UBS has bought Laing and Cruickshank Investment Management from Credit Lyonnais. Laing and Cruickshank, which has an office in Newcastle, provides
BACK at once to last week's Gadfly: songs with months in the title struck endless chords, curious road names proved up many a street, someone even tapped into the problem of finding a plumber. We have also been made ineluctably aware of Carter the Unstoppable
NORTH-East funnymen Vic and Bob will hit television screens at the weekend in a new comedy centred around a North Yorkshire town. The duo, who front hit TV show Shooting Stars, play brothers who go in search of a long-lost relative in Catterick and end
TOP SCORER Barry Conlon last night vowed to prove his doubters wrong and get back among the goals. Darlington's six-goal striker has not scored since netting against former club York in December. Quakers remain in the relegation zone, despite Saturday's
FORMER miners delivered a bag of coal to a government department yesterday to protest at the continued decline in the industry. Four men, wearing full pit gear, demonstrated outside the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in London, holding up placards
PEOPLE in the region are being more careful with their credit card spending than those in the South. Cardholders in the North-East and Yorkshire expect to put an average of £527 on their plastic, compared to £1,010 for shoppers in London, the South-East
PLANS to site five holiday cabins at a Teesdale tourist attraction will be recommended for approval today. The application, which drew objections from more than two-thirds of local residents, concerns Whorlton Lido, near Barnard Castle. The owners of
A COUNTY Durham authority which was criticised for its delays in delivering benefits has welcomed an inspection from the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI). Teesdale District Council took 89 days to process claims in the six months to last September. Last
A SUSPECTED serial rapist said "I'm not going to see the light of day for this, am I?" shortly after his arrest, a police officer told a court yesterday. PC Malcolm Smithers said Antoni Imiela, originally from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, made the
IRISH businessman Des Kelly last night confirmed his desire to take over cash-strapped Darlington Football Club - as supporters rallied behind Quakers' boss David Hodgson. Mr Kelly, managing director of a Dublin carpet and flooring chain, said he was
SHOW pony enthusiast Joseph Horner, whose wife is expecting their sixth child, was jailed yesterday after being found at the wheel of a 7.5-tonne horsebox following a drinking binge. District Judge Roy Anderson, sitting at Harrogate Magistrates' Court
A PENSIONER had her shopping bag snatched. The 75-year-old was at the junction of Durham Road and Bishopton Road in Stockton at 5.18pm on Monday when the incident happened. The man grabbed her bag before making off with it along Bishopton Road. He got
THE region's buoyant jobs market is proving to be a happy hunting ground for a North-East recruitment agency. Northern Recruitment Group (NRG), based in Newcastle, has announced strong interim results, with pre-tax profits for the past six months up 68
POLICE in Durham hope a late night weekend bus service can be revived. The Durham Night Bus ran from July to January, taking pub and clubgoers from the city centre to five destinations between midnight and 2.15am on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It ended
AN extra £200,000 is to be made available to fund schemes which contribute towards a more sustainable way of life within the North Yorks Moors National Park. The extra cash is an extension to the Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) grant scheme that has
A CAMPAIGN is under way to encourage more households in Hartlepool to take advantage of a kerbside recycling scheme. Hartlepool Borough Council wants to increase the number of people who use the blue boxes to recycle waste. The boxes, which are collected
IT could only happen in America... The fallout from that now infamous Superbowl performance is continuing to send shock-waves across the US. For anyone who has been asleep for the last week, Janet Jackson flashed her breast on live television during her
THERE'LL be no need for slow-motion action replays at Carlisle today as the rain-sodden ground will ensure very little happens in a hurry come the leg-buckling uphill final furlong. The testing conditions tend to favour previous winners at the Cumbrian
SIR BOBBY ROBSON has called on his Newcastle United stars to buck their ideas up away from home to ensure a Champions League place is secured well before a potential fourth place shoot-out with Liverpool. The Magpies visit Anfield on the final day of
A NORTH-EAST police force was in fresh turmoil last night following revelations that a budget deficit "black hole" had grown by more than £1m in less than a week. Cleveland Police could now be facing a deficit of £8m - up from the £6.8m figure given to
It brought the world's oldest monarchy to an end and ushered in the era of Islamic fundamentalism. On the 25th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, Nick Morrison looks at how an ayatollah changed the world. THE Shah of Iran was not a man given to moderation
LOVE is in the air... Actually no. It's really lust that's all around at the moment, and indiscriminate lust at that. True, there are plenty of hearts and flowers on display - but they're fighting a losing battle against the forces of tat. Instead, shop
MILLIONAIRE businessman Sir Tom Cowie, whose wife is patron of the Macmillan County Durham appeal, has donated £50,000 to the cancer charity. The donation means the appeal - supported by The Northern Echo - is now very close to its £600,000 target. Sir
POLICE have promised to crack down on vandals who are breaking windows at a Darlington school on an almost daily basis. North Road Primary School has had 37 windows smashed in five weeks - almost three times the number it had broken in the whole of last
A COMMUNITY is raising funds to support a vicar and his family carrying out missionary work in Africa. The Reverend Rodger Petch left the UK and set up home in Nigeria in September, followed shortly afterwards by his Nigerian wife Sarah and their children
With passions running high over the renaming of Teesside International Airport, Mike Amos explains in a Gadfly Special why he believes the outstanding story of a Second World War hero should not be overlooked ANDREW Mynarski was a true hero, make no mistake
To a large extent, the success of Faking It depends on the willingness of the person trying another job to do anything and everything necessary to change their image. Faced with someone as stubbornly single-minded as Laura-Jane Foley, her mentors - the
A MAN accused of murdering a teenage prostitute had battered his wife to death 17 years earlier, a court heard yesterday. George Leighers killed his wife, Rita, in 1986 and fled to Whitby, in North Yorkshire. Convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of
SUCCESS for 20-1 shot Why The Long Face in the Northern Echo Novices Hurdle at Sedgefield yesterday proved to be a real family affair for Nick and Henry Oliver. Henry was the man in the saddle for his brother Nick, owner of Why The Long Face, who despite
A WOMAN crashed her BMW into a police car after officers come to her house to break up a domestic dispute, a Darlington court heard yesterday. Carol Jenkinson, 44, collided with the vehicle after leaving her former family home on Stanhope Road North,
RUGBY World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson will be presented with the Freedom of Newcastle at a ceremony later this month. Wilkinson, who was awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours list, will receive the honorary title from the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor
A SUPPORT network for families of children with special needs and disabilities hopes to extend its services by securing a base in Wear Valley. The Crook and District Parent Carers group is about to mark its first anniversary by launching a massive fund-raising
A MAN accused of setting fire to the homes of four pensioners denied all the charges yesterday. Neil Oates, 21, is alleged to have put burning wheelie bins against the front doors of bungalows leaving elderly residents trapped inside. Three women aged
A SEVEN-year-old girl will see again - despite having nail glue mistakenly poured into her eye. Karen Skidmore's right eye lid was glued shut after her mother, Michelle, accidentally treated her daughter's conjunctivitis with drops of Body Collection
IN Whitby last Thursday a young American visitor danced on a table-top graveslab in St Mary's churchyard while a friend videoed her. Before the church authorities splutter, let me say that the graveslab, at the top of the 199 steps, an honoured position
WORKERS at a North-East factory have voted to go on strike for the first time in the plant's history. About 200 members of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) at Schott Industrial Glass, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, are to take part in
CONFUSION over the powers to be handed to elected regional assemblies means October's referendums will be "like Blind Date, without Cilla Black", the Tories will claim today. The Conservatives will use a Commons debate to launch a fierce attack on the
HEALTH professionals in search of a cure for the North West Durham constituency's dismal health record have met their MP to add their views to a national consultation. Hilary Armstrong, who is also the Government's Chief Whip, called the Healthier Lives
A FERRYHILL woman has been promoted to Leading Aircraftwoman after graduating from RAF Halton. Alison Ward, 23, from Morpeth Close, will be posted to RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, after her graduation from Supply Training Squadron. LAC Ward, who attended
YOUNG David Parker chalked up another victory and pocketed a pool title. David, 15, who represented Consett YMCA at the Boys County Snooker and Pool Championships, won the final of the under-16 category against Layton Cook of Lambton Street Boys, in Sunderland
COUNCILLOR Ken Walker, the chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, is "optimistic" that his request for an independent inspection "into the heart of how Cleveland Police Service is governed" will be granted by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
