A SPORTS group aimed at fathers has been launched. The Supporting Parents Network (SPAN) is running weekly sports sessions in Stanley and Consett. The events, open to all dads in Derwentside, feature an hour of activity, followed by an hour of refreshments
IT is very hard not to sympathise with our many public servants who are becoming increasingly imaginative in the way they make their ends meet. An outsider looking in on local government may be bewildered to find a public servant trying to seek a sponsor
THE Army last night confirmed that British soldiers accused of beating an Iraqi civilian to death were based at Catterick, North Yorkshire. The Royal Military Police (RMP) special investigations branch has launched an inquiry into the allegations against
THANK God that's over. I'm A Celebrity...Get me Out Of Here! - the final proof that the world has gone stark raving mad - is off our screens and I can reclaim my rightful place in the lounge. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you have my sincere
UNSETTLED Darlington midfielder Ashley Nicholls has joined Third Division rivals Cambridge United on loan for the rest of the season. Quakers boss David Hodgson has reluctantly accepted that Nicholls' future lies away from the Reynolds Arena after the
CHILDREN learned about crossing the road safely during a series of poetry workshops at a Darlington school. Pupils at Harrowgate Hill Junior School enjoyed a visit by poet Bernard Young and a road safety officer from Darlington Borough Council. The day
THE long arm of the law is reaching out to people whose pets are messing up a North-East town's streets. All 24 of Middlesbrough's police community support officers (PCSOs) have been given powers to issue £50 penalty notices to anyone seen dropping litter
MPs yesterday made a raft of recommendations to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots of English football - but the Premier League immediately indicated their clubs would reject every key proposal. The All Party Football Group, a committee representing
YOUNG people are crossing cultural boundaries by taking part in a multi-national sports project. This week, youngsters from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Slovakia arrived in County Durham to team up with pupils from The Hermitage School and
It's right job, right time for Charlie Hardwick, the North-East actress who has decided that Yorkshire soap Emmerdale gives her 'semi-permanency'. Steve Pratt reports. HAVING a regular job hasn't made the future any more predictable for Newcastle actress
RECENTLY, I met a wonderful family who have been farming in the Dales for generations. Modest, resilient and hard-working, the Suttills told me about their life in picturesque Coverdale. As their stories unfolded, so did their contrasting fortunes down
AN entrepreneur is to showcase a new kind of professional wrestling, thanks to help from business advisors. Alan Johns, of York, was helped to draw up a business plan and secure a loan to turn his idea into reality. An Ultimate Fighting Organisation event
THE talents of the 105 men and women at a centre for adults with learning difficulties were showcased to employers yesterday. Dozens of employers from across the Tees Valley enjoyed breakfast and a tour of the Upsall Hall Rural Centre, near Nunthorpe,
PUPILS tied themselves in knots for a day to raise money for hospice patients. The Meadows Special School, in Spennymoor, was one of 20 organisations that supported a sponsored Loud Tie Day in aid of the Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland. Year seven
Liz Lamb looks at how an estimated £8m deficit in Cleveland Police's budget could have been spent. COMMUNITY police officers provide a valuable service that no force should be without. They tackle anti-social behaviour, dog-fouling, underage drinking
MORE than £4m is to be pumped into the region's flagship arts centre. Over the next two years, the Baltic Arts Centre in Gateshead will receive £3m from the National Lottery. The Arts Council will provide a further £465,000 this year, with a further £815,000
SCIENTISTS are visiting a school for National Science Week. The Hermitage School, in Chester-le-Street, will host representatives from commercial and public sector organisations on March 18. They will give interactive presentations to more than 500 students
A TRANSVESTITE rapist who targeted a 12-year-old girl on her way to school has admitted another sex attack. Alan Blackwell, who is serving a 14-year sentence, pounced on the schoolgirl in Washington, Wearside, after hiding in bushes. The attack, which
A DYING woman was so touched by the care she received at a hospice that she left thousands of pounds to the charity in her will. Kathleen Banks, 87, of Elton Road, Darlington, who died in October from skin cancer, pledged £20,000 to the town's St Teresa's
ANGRY residents may threaten to lobby their local authority to move its bank account if they cannot get assurances their village's bank will remain open. Last month, Barclays Bank announced it would be closing its branch in Middleton-in-Teesdale for two
HOPES of a deal to save Darlington Football Club grew last night when administrators announced that at least one "workable" bid was on the table. On the eve of the deadline for bids to be made for taking over the Quakers, the legal team controlling the
HUNT supporters gave a £1,300 boost to a North-East charity yesterday. The Braes of Derwent Hunt Supporters Club, in Consett, raised the cash through its first pantomime production. The show, Aladdin, was performed at Blackfyne Community School in the
TWO men suffered minor injuries when a training school helicopter crash-landed on a grassed area near the runway of Newcastle Airport. One of the men, a qualified pilot, had hired the two-seater Robinson R22 aircraft to take a friend with him for a flight
MORE than 200 children aged from four to 16 took part in a dance festival at Teesdale Comprehensive School, Barnard Castle, yesterday, as part of the Teesdale Schools Sports Co-ordinator Programme. The festival featured children from Teesdale Comprehensive
BRIAN Robinson of the South Durham Amateur Boxing Club has reached the next round of the ABA championships. He beat Paul Malcolms at Marton Country Club, near Middlesbrough, in the last round. Club colleague Gary Fox drew England international Stuart
STUDENTS took on the role of teachers to help make learning fun for pupils at their neighbouring primary school. The 14 and 15-year-old from Northallerton College became members of staff at Mill Hill Primary School for an hour as part of the project.
The Chilton Community Partnership club for disabled children has been officially opened. County councillor George Porter performed the official opening ceremony at Chilton Community College. The organiser of the club, Chris Heal, was joined by partnership
A FATHER and his sons hope film stardom is just around the corner. Derek Smith and sons Jamie, 12, and Luke, ten, from Chester-le-Street, are in the final stages of a Disneyland Paris contest to find three people to star in the Disney film, Grim Grinning
RESIDENTS, youths and police have vowed to stamp out anti-social disorder in their village. The growing problem of youths causing nuisance in Middleton St George, near Darlington, was addressed at a community partnership meeting attended by 80 people.
NEWLY-RELEASED archive recordings have revealed the changing sounds of Northern England. A website from the British Library features regional accents recorded in the 1950s and compares them with recordings from 1998 and 1999. More than 11 hours of interviews
EMPLOYMENT advisors will be braving the winter weather dressed in Hawaiian shorts and sunglasses to help people find jobs for the summer. The staff with Chester-le-Street's Action Team for Jobs will be setting up their stall in the town's Market Square
EAST Durham council house tenants look likely to be facing rent rises of 3.6 per cent from April. The authority's executive will be recommending the increase when it sets the council's budget later this month. The rise, which is proposed to take effect
BOSSES are to receive professional advice on how to safeguard their businesses from fire-raisers. Teesside tops the UK league table for the number of arson attacks in the area, which account for 86 per cent of all fires. A total of 241 industrial buildings
MORE than 1,000 youngsters have tucked into fresh fruit and vegetables as part of a drive to change their eating habits. Year seven pupils from six comprehensive schools in Consett and Stanley took part in fruit and vegetable taster sessions and cookery
CHEESE-maker Judy Bell was celebrating yesterday after taking the top honours in a major agricultural competition. The founder of Thirsk-based Shepherd's Purse, she was regional winner of the NFU's Great British Food Award. The award is part of the annual
HUNDREDS of newborn babies are at the centre of a tuberculosis (TB) scare and are to be screened after a hospital worker was diagnosed with the illness. Nearly 400 babies will receive check-ups next week, but health chiefs say it is a precautionary measure
TWO rural industrial developments that triggered more than 600 objections have been given the go-ahead by planners. Almost 300 people tabled objections to plans by Firecrest Ltd to renew planning permission for industrial units at Market Flat Lane, Scotton
The £3bn takeover of Safeway by rival Morrisons has moved a step closer after shareholders from both supermarkets overwhelmingly approved the move. Morrisons shareholders voted 99 per cent in favour of the tie-up, which would create the UK's fourth biggest
THE identity of the new owner of the former Samsung factory will be revealed today. An announcement is due to be made this morning confirming who will be taking over the factory, at Wynyard, near Stockton. Regional development agency One NorthEast is
The "terrifying health consequences" of the UK's obesity epidemic were forcefully highlighted by leading doctors yesterday as they called for urgent action to tackle the problem. Unless attitudes change, one in three adults will be obese by 2020 and more
Liz Lamb looks at how an estimated £8m deficit in Cleveland Police's budget could have been spent. COMMUNITY police officers provide a valuable service that no force should be without. They tackle anti-social behaviour, dog-fouling, underage drinking
A GROUP aimed at building communities through environmental action staged a host of activities at the weekend to highlight its projects. The event at Chester-le-Street library, staged by Groundwork West Durham, including making Valentine cards out of
A POLICE force has lined up a controversial suggestion for generating cash. A premium rate number could be introduced for making non-emergency calls to the North Yorkshire force. The idea is being floated by Chief Constable Della Cannings in a report
It was an unwanted rust bucket, spurned and vandalised by the landlubbers of the North-East. Now the John H Amos, the only surviving steam paddle tug in Britain, is said to have national significance and may merit a substantial Lottery grant. BRITAIN'S
A PIONEERING project to provide green energy could see wind farms being installed across England's largest county. Powergen is introducing Community Power to North Yorkshire. Under the scheme, small-scale wind farms containing two or three turbines would
Warnings were ignored that should have prevented £7.5 million of Lottery cash being wasted on Stockton's ill-fated Arc theatre, MPs said last night. The powerful Commons public accounts heavily criticised the Arts Council's decision to fund the project
PARENTS from two village schools threatened with closure have vowed to unite to build the best possible future for their children's education. At a public meeting, last week, about proposals to close Eldon Lane and Dene Valley Primary Schools, families
ROCK band Alfie helped an independent record store celebrate its move. The band were in the North-East for a concert at Newcastle University as part of their UK tour but played at Concepts, in North Road, Durham City, and signed autographs for fans. "
FIERY Craig Bellamy repaid the faith shown in him by Sir Bobby Robson last night by firing in the goal that should have kept Newcastle United's push for a Champions League place on track. However, another strike from young striker Jon Stead, whose goal
A TAXI driver given a warning for not taking a blind woman with her guide dog said he was 'one of the good guys.' William Jukes, of Carrville, Durham was given a final written warning by Durham City Council's licensing panel, for breaching the Disability
THE finance director of troubled Cleveland Police was being investigated last night, The Northern Echo can reveal. Steve Prevell was formally notified that he had been suspended from his job until further notice following a visit to his home by Deputy
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 group, Crook and District Parent Carers, is about to mark its first anniversary by launching a massive fundraising
THE finance director of troubled Cleveland Police was being investigated last night, The Northern Echo can reveal. Steve Prevell was formally notified that he had been suspended from his job until further notice following a visit to his home by Deputy
A COUNCIL is hiring managers from another authority to turn around the fortunes of its theatre. Durham City Council has appointed Darlington Borough Council's arts and leisure team - which runs the town's popular 900-seat Civic Theatre and thriving arts
Youngsters on Teesside are being asked to play the game and treat asylum seekers as human beings. In a bid to stem growing racism and replace it with understanding, secondary, school pupils are being introduced to a new board game. Through it, teenagers
FORMER steelworkers marked a milestone in their thriving business when they opened its £250,000 headquarters. When the British Steel works in Consett closed in 1980, it struck a near-fatal blow, from which the town is still recovering. Former steelworker
MULLIGATAWNY (2.50) has the class to serve up a tasty treat for his backers in the Tote Bookmakers Novices' Handicap Chase at Huntingdon this afternoon. A big brute of a horse, good enough to win over hurdles at the likes of Ascot, Mulligatawny has come
COUNCILLORS are calling on the Government to reconsider Durham for relocation of public sector jobs from London. Chancellor Gordon Brown has pledged to move 20,000 public sector jobs to ease pressures in the capital and boost economic growth in the North
CUSTOMERS have praised staff at a North-East port for battling against bad weather to unload goods. The Port of Sunderland's cargo handling team unloaded a total of 7,100 tonnes of steel products, including coil, plates and bars in less than 15 hours
Yesterday, a report by some of the country's leading doctors called for urgent action to tackle the consequences of the UK's obesity timebomb. Health Correspondent Barry Nelson looks at how 'fat camp' has helped one teenager bring his weight down. COLIN
Footballers' Wives (ITV1) THERE was a truly shocking moment in the opening episode of the third series of the ultimate trash TV show. It looked - and I don't know how to break this news - as if someone might actually kick a ball. Two men were seen standing
THANK God that's over. I'm A Celebrity...Get me Out Of Here! - the final proof that the world has gone stark raving mad - is off our screens and I can reclaim my rightful place in the lounge. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you have my sincere
ONE of the region's best loved scenic railway lines is to get a £1m facelift. Network Rail is spending the money on the Esk Valley line, on the North York Moors, over the next few weeks as part of its programme of railway rebuilding. Track renewals will
JOSEPH-DESIRE Job deepened Sir Alex Ferguson's despair as Middlesbrough celebrated another famous Old Trafford victory. On the day Irish racing magnates John Magnier and JP McManus increased their stake in Manchester United to 28.89 per cent and edged
TOWNS are cracking down on the use of camera phones at swimming pools and sports centres amid fears over paedophiles. Middlesbrough Council has become one of the first authorities in the region to ban the increasingly popular phones, which have been promoted
Public relations company Northern Profile (NP) has been acquired by marketing services group Golley Slater. NP, which launched in Newcastle ten years ago, has been bought in a seven figure deal which creates a combined business with more than £90m in
MEDICS in search of a cure for North West Durham's dismal health record kept a date with their MP at the weekend to add their views to a national consultation. Hilary Armstrong, who is also the Government's chief whip, called the Healthier Lives summit
Comedy star Caroline Quentin tells Steve Pratt she plans to go back to being a mother-of-two after back-to-back filming of Life Begins, four Blue Murder films and a one-off comedy about a woman obsessed with The Sound of Music. MEN Behaving Badly star
A North-East town famous for it's army camp, two comics who shun mainstream humour and one of the BBC's experimental digital channels; Steve Pratt reports on Catterick, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and BBC3. COMEDY duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer have
RESIDENTS are celebrating after a bid to build housing on the site of a former hospital was rejected. An application by Miller Homes North East, to build 26 detached homes and 78 apartments on the site of the former Highfield Hospital in Chester-le-Street
THE funeral of a wartime aviator who flew with the RAF's Dambusters squadron takes place today. Flight Lieutenant Bill Garget, of Forest Hall, in North Tyneside, died aged 80. He was just a teenager of 17 and had to lie about his age to enlist in the
A SPECIALIST nurse has been taken on to help to combat the scourge of heart disease in Derwentside. Nicola Glenndinning has been appointed by Derwentside Primary Care Trust as the latest member of its coronary heart disease team. The district has one
UNEMPLOYMENT is continuing to fall to near-record lows but more jobs are being lost in manufacturing, according to the latest figures. The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefit fell last month for the eighth month in succession, down
A MULTI-million pound complex offering health and council services will be built next year. Plans for the £10.7m Peoplefirst centre were yesterday approved by Sunderland City Council's cabinet. The Bunny Hill Centre will be the largest complex built so
CHILDREN from Middlesbrough have been learning about the Chinese New Year. Lip Lee has been reading Oriental folk tales to pupils from Ayresome Primary School and Hemlington Hall Primary School. They have been learning about customs and cultures as the
TWO teenagers appeared in court yesterday charged with racially aggravated harassment. George Jeffries, 18, of Zetland Road, Stockton, and a 16-year-old girl from Hartlepool, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Hartlepool magistrates
TWO men appeared before magistrates yesterday facing charges relating to the possession and supply of almost £25,000 worth of drugs. Both men were arrested during a police search at a property in Leeholme, near Bishop Auckland, in November. Drugs with
A DARLINGTON nursery is celebrating receiving a glowing report from Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) inspectors. The Just Learning Nursery opened in September 1996 and currently has 125 children in its register, aged from six weeks to eight
PARACHUTING experts from all over the country are planning to drop in at a County Durham airfield at the weekend. Peterlee Parachute Centre will this weekend host the British Collegiate Parachute Association (BCPA) event. More than 100 parachuting experts
THE first national museum to be built in the North-East was given a new name yesterday. Seven months before it opens, the £10m Shildon Railway Village has been re-christened Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon. Backers Sedgefield Borough
TRIAL traffic restrictions to combat congestion on a city centre's narrow road network are likely to become permanent. At a meeting tomorrow, Durham County Council's highways committee will be asked to approve the permanent introduction of loading restrictions
A DEAL has been struck to give Richmond's old railway station a new lease of life. Council chiefs have agreed in principle to sign over the building to Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust on a leasehold basis for 999 years. However, Richmondshire
A TEENAGE soldier-to-be is already proving a force to be reckoned with. Lee Matthews, 17, who is a cadet sergeant major with the Cleveland Army Cadet Force, has been named Cadet of the Year. Sir Paul Nicholson, the Lord Lieutenant of Durham, has appointed
AN animal hospital that was founded by a larger-than-life veterinary surgeon, who featured in the James Herriot novels, is to move to more modern premises. Darlington Borough Council yesterday granted planning permission for The Grange Veterinary Hospital
The first joint SureStart and Neighbourhood Nursery scheme in Britain to offer a one-stop support shop for parents and young children has opened in east Cleveland. Families can access a 40-place nursery with health and childcare facilities at the Dormanstown
BISHOP Auckland would have its own riverside dome if an award-winning design by teenage engineers was ever built. Ideas from young engineers at St John's RC School won them the £500 first prize in an Enterprise in Construction Challenge competition. The
TWO soldiers have taken on a mountainous task by entering a skiing contest in the French Alps. Paul Anderson, from Chester-le-Street, and Emily Sarsfield, from Durham, are both taking part in a British Army skiing competition, staged in the French ski
A TEENAGER who stabbed a 15-year-old girl five times has been warned she faces being locked up. The attacker, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pounced after coaxing the younger girl into the street. Newcastle Crown Court was told how the girl was
COUNCILLORS are calling on the Government to reconsider Durham for relocation of public sector jobs away from London. Chancellor Gordon Brown has pledged to move 20,000 public sector jobs to ease pressures in the capital and boost economic growth in the
THEATRE managers from Darlington are to be brought in to run Durham's troubled Gala Theatre. The team behind the Civic Theatre and Darlington Arts Centre, both owned by Darlington Borough Council, will manage the £14m venue for 12 months before handing
THE headmaster of one of County Durham's most environmentally friendly schools is set to bring new light to a remote corner of Africa. Jim McManners, of Cassop Primary School, set off this week on a journey to the north western tip of Kenya and plans
Viv Hardwick talks to Eric Roberts about the joys of playing comedy characters for Opera North. . . even the old gits. ERIC Roberts doesn't mind being called a curmudgeonly old git. The baritone plays grasping Doctor Bartolo in Opera North's revival of
A £1m European funding boost is putting back steam trains on an historic rural railway this summer. More than half a century after the last regular passenger service ran through picturesque Weardale, the track is re-opening in July with backing from the
THANK God that's over. I'm A Celebrity...Get me Out Of Here! - the final proof that the world has gone stark raving mad - is off our screens and I can reclaim my rightful place in the lounge. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you have my sincere
BUSHTUCKER challenges are a walk in the park compared to tying the knot in Soapland. This coming week two brides walk down the aisle, hotly pursued by skeletons tumbling out of the cupboard and threatening to trip them up. Karen McDonald has long dreamt
North East businessman, Chris Musgrave, has confirmed that he has entered into an agreement with Samsung to purchase its site at Wynyard, Billingham. A new company, Wynyard Ltd, has been formed to undertake this initiative. According to Mr Musgrave: "
Blackball (15, Icon Home Entertainment, also available to buy DVD £15.99/VHS £12.99): Stars: Paul Kaye, Johnny Vegas, Alice Evans, James Cromwell, Vince Vaughn, Imelda Staunton, Mark Dymond, Mark Little. IN the sleepy seaside town of Torquay, lawn bowls
PLANS have been unveiled to create a new treatment centre in north Durham for people with mental health problems - but two existing units will close. An overhaul of adult mental health services will see an in-patient unit built, for Durham, Chester-le-Street
NORTH-East National Lottery winners Anita and Ken Wynne are using some of their fortune to help save a troubled football club. The generous couple, who won £3.6m three years ago, are sponsoring Darlington Football Club's home match against Yeovil on Saturday
CONSERVATIVES say they are horrified at a proposed 8.4 per cent council tax increase in Darlington. The proposed hike in tax, agreed at a cabinet meeting last week, would see the bill for Band A properties increase from £614.82 to £666.46 and on a Band
A JURY has been told a double-killer's chilling diary entry could have been the start of him compiling a defence for his crime. After stabbing to death a prostitute mental health patient George Leighers wrote: "Killed again - should have taken my medication
A BLUE comedian is helping to keep a cancer treatment centre in the black. Globe-trotting Roy "Chubby" Brown yesterday dropped in at the Holistic Cancer Care Centre, Middlesbrough, with a £5,000 donation. And not to be upstaged by father, it was revealed
SIR BOBBY ROBSON last night revealed that Craig Bellamy has suffered another injury set-back and is out of Wales' friendly with Scotland next week. There is concern about Bellamy, who marked his return to the starting line-up with a goal in last night's
QUAKERS' captain Neil Maddison took time out from training on Monday to present two awards to his former school. The midfielder visited Dodmire Junior School in Darlington where he presented staff and pupils with Healthy School and Heartwise awards. The
TWO men suffered minor injuries when a training school helicopter crash-landed on a grassed area near the runway of Newcastle Airport. One of the men, a qualified pilot, had hired the two-seater Robinson R22 aircraft to take a friend with him for a flight
FOOTBALL fans are being urged to recreate the Wembley scenes of 1973 to help send Sunderland on their way to FA Cup glory. Supporters hope the wave of emotion which has followed the death of Bob Stokoe, the man who masterminded the unlikely Wembley triumph
MULLIGATAWNY (2.50) has the class to serve up a tasty treat for his backers in the Tote Bookmakers Novices' Handicap Chase at Huntingdon this afternoon. A big brute of a horse, good enough to win over hurdles at the likes of Ascot, Mulligatawny has come
A FORMER Pop Idol contestant has said he is looking forward to bringing his new band to the area later this month. Aaron Bayley, who appeared in the final ten of the TV show two years ago, is playing at Hambleton Forum, in Northallerton, on February 28
POST: IT TOOK me ages to find a suitable birthday card for my brother and to make sure it would arrive in good time after hearing the forecast of snow, I posted it on January 26 for his birthday on January 29. My partner also put a card in, and I weighed
HOPES of a deal to save Darlington Football Club grew last night when administrators announced that at least one workable bid was on the table. On the eve of the deadline for bids to be made for taking over the Quakers, the legal team controlling the
Footballers' Wives (ITV1): THERE was a truly shocking moment in the opening episode of the third series of the ultimate trash TV show. It looked - and I don't know how to break this news - as if someone might actually kick a ball. Two men were seen standing
PLANS for eco-friendly homes rest in the hands of one woman. Planning inspector Shelagh Bussey will rule on whether or not to allow the energy efficient estate, called Hall Gardens, to be built in Newton Aycliffe. Her decision will be based on three days
AN auction house is to put eight paintings by renowned North-East artist John Wilson Carmichael under the hammer. International fine art auctioneers Bonhams will be holding a sale of marine paintings next Tuesday at their premises in New Bond Street,
CHRIS Turner brought Mark Tinkler back to the North-East, but the in-form Hartlepool United midfielder won't mind piling on more home misery for his former boss this weekend. Pool go to Hillsborough on Saturday for a third meeting of the season with Turner's
Singing Elvis Presley songs has allowed Billy J McGregor from Bedlington to give up work as a gas fitter and launch a full-time career. Billy talks to Viv Hardwick about what it means to become the voice of a rock 'n' roll legend. PEOPLE really were cooking
POLICE in Durham hope to revive an early hours bus service for weekend drinkers. 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
