THE arduous and dangerous tasks undertaken by emergency services at the scene of the explosion at the Glasgow factory underline the importance to retain well-resourced, well-trained and well-paid firefighters. Of all public servants, firefighters have
THE Government was yesterday urged to introduce national guidelines to prevent a repeat of the controversial Ghost Ships saga. In a top-level internal report, the Environment Agency calls on the Government to create a UK-wide policy on ship recycling.
IT'S now four months since first we raised the colours for Andrew Mynarski VC, one of the North-East's truly forgotten heroes. Mynarski was a flyer. Though time wings heavenward with equal breathlessness, he is by no means forgotten here. A Canadian,
Echo Memories charts the career of a master clockmaker whose company provided the imposing timepiece that provided the finishing ornament to South Park. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Time was ticking away on Darlington Parks Committee's promise to
GARY SPEED last night admitted he was "embarrassed'' by the booing that greeted Hugo Viana's introduction in Newcastle's bitterly disappointing draw with Wolves. The 21-year-old Portuguese midfielder has failed to live up to expectations since Sir Bobby
A WAVE of patient support groups are bringing hope to lung cancer patients. Hospitals in the region are setting up the groups In line with Government policy. Successful ones have been established in Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton and now a group
THE Football Association has charged two North-East teams with misconduct after a cup final ended in uproar. The match between fierce rivals Newton Aycliffe and Ferryhill Greyhound had to be abandoned when spectators invaded the pitch when tempers flared
This could be a big year for County Durham rally driver Guy WIlks. He has joined Suzuki and will be competing in both the British Rally Championship and the Junior World Rally Championship. Assistant Sports Editor Matt Westcott talks to him HE'S touted
GUY WILKS hopes to have put his bad luck behind him by the time the International Rally of Wales comes round later this month. The Dealer Team Suzuki driver from Darlington suffered a bizarre accident on the very first stage during the Pirelli International
FIVE youngsters have been arrested as part of a groundbreaking initiative to curb disruptive behaviour in schools. The arrests - all for violent, threatening or abusive behaviour - were made by a team consisting of three police officers, an educational
THREE Darlington sixth form students learned about sports coaching during a four-day university course. Lynsey Carveth, Tom Hughes and Justin Preston, from Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, travelled to Loughborough University after being selected for
ONE of County Durham's best known hotels has recently gained a new manager, who is aiming to make it a centre of excellence for both corporate events and leisure facilities. The four-star Redworth Hall Hotel, near Newton Aycliffe, has large conference
BISHOP Auckland's Guy Wilks is confident he will be challenging for victory on home turf when the KwikFit/Pirelli British Rally Championship comes to Gateshead. Wilks, and co-driver Phil Pugh, will compete in the Super 1600 class in their Suzuki Ignis
Jeremy Vine Meets... (BBC1) - Men kissing at nine o'clock in the morning, whatever next? Before you put pen to paper to complain to the BBC, I should point out this was only a friendly peck on the cheeks between musician and charity worker Bob Geldof
FUNDRAISING events are being planned to help pay for a scheme to renovate an orphanage in Africa this summer. Hambleton Millennium Volunteers are collecting money for their Challenge Malawi project. The next big fundraiser will be a car boot sale at the
FAMILIES protested yesterday about travellers who have moved their caravans into a cul de sac near their homes. They fear camp fires lit by the visitors will send up sparks and start a blaze in a plantation of fir trees at Stainton Grove, near Barnard
people in Hartlepool face a hefty increase in their water bills. Anglian Water, which owns the former Hartlepool Water Company, wants to put its charges up 34 per cent and Northumbrian Water, which operates sewerage services, wants a 26 per cent increase
FINANCIAL experts probing the collapse of one of George Reynolds' former companies are poised to stake a claim for a share of cash from Darlington Football Club. Deloitte and Touche, the liquidators of chipboard firm George Reynolds UK (GRUK), have indicated
STUDENTS fear their university could ban them from parking near their city centre homes. The ban is being examined by Durham University. If introduced, students in private houses in some streets in and around the city centre would not be able to use their
JUST days after becoming the Durham County Boys champion, Tom Maddison has turned his attentions to the Brabazon Trophy. The Castle Eden golfer finished three shots ahead of Blackwell Grange's Adam Bates and last year's winner Paul Oakley (Billingham)
SUNDERLAND stalwart Kevin Ball expects the club's fanatical home support to prove decisive in the Black Cats' play-off double header with Crystal Palace. By finishing third in the final First Division table, Mick McCarthy's side have ensured that the
THE mother of a teenager stabbed to death at his 18th birthday party said she hopes her son's killer will be haunted for the rest of his life. Mary Best's son Paul bled to death after David Mitchell, 19, plunged a kitchen knife into his back on February
Monsieur Bond gave local trainer Bryan Smart a day to remember when recording a famous victory in the Duke Of York Hearthstead Homes Stakes at York yesterday. Smart, who trains just a few miles up the A19 at Hambleton House, near Thirsk, was saddling
IT'S now four months since first we raised the colours for Andrew Mynarski VC, one of the North-East's truly forgotten heroes. Mynarski was a flyer. Though time wings heavenward with equal breathlessness, he is by no means forgotten here. A Canadian,
YOUNGSTERS who persist in anti-social behaviour in Stockton are being warned enough is enough. Stockton Borough Council's community warden service has been tackling anti-social behaviour in known hotspots. The council's enforcement unit, assisted by wardens
A LATE-NIGHT robbery attempt has been foiled by a plucky young woman. The 19-year-old victim was walking home through the Woodhouse Close Estate, in Bishop Auckland, shortly after midnight on Sunday, when she was grabbed from behind in Ruddick Avenue.
SOMERSET will be quaking in their boots at the prospect of facing Shoaib Akhtar when Durham begin their championship match at Taunton today. When they last met the world's fastest bowler at Riverside in August last year he had them reeling at eight for
SUNDAY drivers beware - the North Tyne Valley is no place for the faint-hearted this weekend. The country's top rally drivers, and some from further afield, will be in the North-East for the opening round of the Kwik Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship
SERVICES for disabled children on Teesside could be set for a boost if a plan to combine the resources of two local authorities gets approval. An integrated service covering the south Tees area would provide a lifeline to families with disabled children
Echo Memories charts the career of a master clockmaker whose company provided the imposing timepiece that provided the finishing ornament to South Park. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Time was ticking away on Darlington Parks Committee's promise to
AS an illustration of the law of inverse proportion - the impact of a measure falling far short of the effort put into it - few better examples are likely to arise than the Right To Roam. Over the last half century, only the issue of hunting has been
A HARTLEPOOL supermarket is hoping to win an award. Asda, in Marina Way, is on the shortlist for Best Supermarket in the North. If successful, the store will represent the region in the final of the SuperMeat Awards for the Best Supermarket in the UK.
The full-time mother is a relatively new concept and not an entirely helpful one. So when was this Golden Age of full-time mothering then? First of all Gwyneth Paltrow has caused a storm by criticising working mothers. And now a new trend has been spotted
INTEREST is mounting in a seafront housing development planned on the site of a disused police station. North-East development company Wilcomm Bespoke Living has bought the Grade II-listed former police office in Seaham, County Durham. The deal also included
WORK on a £300,000 scheme to provide more pedestrian crossings in Darlington was completed yesterday. The last crossing in the scheme was installed in Neasham Road as part of a project by Darlington Borough Council. The £18,000 scheme was one of several
A FAMILY is appealing for answers to a wartime mystery. Ice cream seller Antonio Nardone died when the ocean liner taking him to an internment camp in Canada was torpedoed. He was one of 613 Italian civilians and German prisoners of war, crew and guards
DAVID Higgins took advantage of pre-race favourite Jonny Milner's roll to capture his first victory in the Kwik Fit Pirelli British Rally. The double US champion brought his Hyundai Accent home two minutes before his nearest rival after ten gruelling
A HUSBAND and wife team who started their own business are spreading the message that it is possible to strike a balance between work and leisure. Andrew and Jane Pearce, of Prydale Partners, have an office view that many business people would envy, looking
THREE Canadian entrepreneurs who chose the North-East as a base for their computer games business have secured a £30,000 grant. Onisoft, of Teesside, has won Proof of Concept funding from NStar - the unofficial sixth centre of excellence given the task
AN Asian policeman who alleged he was subjected to racial abuse by a fellow officer has lost a claim of racial discrimination, it was announced yesterday. An employment tribunal ruled Pc Jeffrey Sidhu's four complaints against Northumbria Police were
NEW figures released yesterday showed industrial production weakening. Recent conflicting reports have led to confusion about the health of the manufacturing sector. While companies showed a growing confidence, official data from the Office for National
SHILDON'S Barry Johnson had only intended it to be a run out, but instead he came away victoriousfrom the North Humberside Forest Rally at the weekend. Johnson, who competed in his Subaru Impreza World Rally Car formerly owned by Petter Solberg, finished
DETECTIVES say they have had a good response to appeals in their hunt for two rapists who attacked a 25-year-old North-East woman. But they still need to trace a taxi driver who was unable to give the victim and her friend a lift home because they did
AFTER crashing out of the Pirelli International Rally on home turf at the weekend, Guy Wilks knows the pressure is on. Wilks, 23, is one of the rising stars of rallying and hoped to be at the head of the field during the opening round of the British Rally
THE reopening of an 11-mile stretch of railway at a cost of £40m would be economically viable, according to experts. JMP Consultants published its report into plans to reopen the line between Harrogate and Ripon, in North Yorkshire, yesterday. It estimates
A MOTHER last night spoke of her horror after discovering her son had been robbed as he lay unconscious after being attacked by a gang of five youths. Matthew Clark, 16, was making his way home along a cyclepath, in the Oxbridge area of Stockton, with
FINANCIAL experts probing the collapse of one of George Reynolds' former companies are poised to stake a claim for a share of cash from Darlington Football Club. Deloitte and Touche, the liquidators of chipboard firm George Reynolds UK (GRUK), have indicated
DARLINGTON striker Danny Mellanby has been forced to retire due to a persistent back injury. Three years after joining from Bishop Auckland, the 24-year-old has reluctantly admitted defeat in his bid to return to first-team action. Mellanby has made just
SHILDON driver Barry Johnson was forced to retire from the Astra Stages Rally in Wales at the weekend and, as a consequence, the KUMHO National Rally Championship. The Subaru Impreza WRC driver smashed into a tree on the second stage of the event in Llangollen
AN African asylum seeker accused of infecting four people with HIV through sex launched a tirade against women - including his mother - after being told he had the virus, a court was told. Musician Feston Konzani made the outburst during a meeting in
RESCUE workers battled throughout the night in a desperate bid to save victims entombed in rubble after a factory explosion which killed at least four people. Contact was established with five people trapped in the wreckage of the plastics factory in
FORMULA Three action comes to Croft this weekend for the first of three headline events over the coming months. With a superb line-up of supporting races as well as the UK's premier single seater championship, the Bank Holiday weekend event promises to
Jeremy Vine Meets... (BBC1) MEN kissing at nine o'clock in the morning, whatever next? Before you put pen to paper to complain to the BBC, I should point out this was only a friendly peck on the cheeks between musician and charity worker Bob Geldof and
INTEREST is mounting in a seafront housing development planned on the site of a disused police station. North-East development company Wilcomm Bespoke Living has bought the Grade II-listed former police office in Seaham, County Durham. The deal also included
More than 1,600 people have visited the Anne Frank exhibition in Sunderland. It was opened at Crowtree Leisure Centre on April 28 by Auschwitz survivor Arek Hersh. The exhibition, which gives a unique insight into the life of a young girl during the Nazi
SICK leave cost North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service £68,000 in one month last year, according to a report. But fire authority bosses said a tough new policy has brought the figures down below their target level. Assistant chief fire officer and director
CIRCUS bosses have been told their show is no longer welcome after literally flying in the face of a town's regulations. The Moscow State Circus has been given the order of the boot by angry officials at Harrogate Borough Council after a row over a helicopter
SIR BOBBY ROBSON is ready to gamble on the fitness of Kieron Dyer in a last-ditch bid to rekindle Newcastle's flickering Champions League flame. It was feared the England midfielder would be out for the rest of the season after tearing a hamstring in
The full-time mother is a relatively new concept and not an entirely helpful one. So when was this Golden Age of full-time mothering then? First of all Gwyneth Paltrow has caused a storm by criticising working mothers. And now a new trend has been spotted
VILLAGERS are being asked for their views on how they can save a playground. West Auckland Parish Council hopes to take over the running of the playground in New Street, next to Oakley Cross School, which is one of 30 Wear Valley District Council cannot
IT'S now four months since first we raised the colours for Andrew Mynarski VC, one of the North-East's truly forgotten heroes. Mynarski was a flyer. Though time wings heavenward with equal breathlessness, he is by no means forgotten here. A Canadian,
ANIMAL rights protestors yesterday re-enacted the shooting of pigeons at a North-East bus depot. If follows an incident last week at the Go North East bus depot in Chester Road, Stanley, County Durham. Sick of being plagued by pigeons, bus workers brought
A THREE-DAY exhibition based on the transport heritage of a town is about to begin. The exhibition at Bedale Museum contains photographs, pictures, documents and artefacts dating from 1650 to the 1950s. There is even a picture of pioneering pilot Amy
ADVICE is available for older people who are unaware of the support available to them. The Harrogate district has a higher than average percentage of residents aged 60 and over, and population projections indicate the trend will continue. The fastest
CLEVELAND POLICE: I understand entirely that the recent media coverage of the so-called financial 'black hole' and the subsequent Audit Commission report is bound to have created an impression for the public that for years the Cleveland Police Force and
A FORMER centre of traditional heavy industry is in line for an "intelligence" award for adopting new technology. Sunderland is among seven short-listed finalists nominated for the title of The World's Most Intelligent City. It ranks the former shipbuilding
A DRAMA group has been given a cash boost to help with one of its future productions. Customers and staff at Margot's Hair Salon, in Church Street, Shildon, held raffles and other events to raise money for Centre Stage. Salon manager Thelma Cook and her
A SOLDIER who fought in the Gulf War has been crushed to death by a vehicle in his barracks. Lance Bombardier Robert Wilson, 29, was carrying out maintenance when he was trapped between a lorry-mounted rocket-launcher and a digger. It is believed he was
DESPITE an indifferent start to the new season, Cleveland rider Russell Hodgson remains confident of challenging for the Virgin Yamaha R6 Cup. The 23-year-old, known as Rusty and from Skutterskelfe, near Hutton Rudby, came a creditable eighth in the championship's
THE British National Party will field a record number of candidates in next month's local and European elections as it bids to win its first ever seat in the North-East. A total of 57 candidates from the far-right party are set to contest local council
A RALLYING cry has gone out to make the North-East the best region in the country for artists to live and work. About 300 artists from across the North-East heard how the Arts Council plans to get more national and international artists relocating to
A VITAL strategy to promote tourism across the region is facing a five-month delay, it was revealed yesterday. Regional development agency One NorthEast wrote to small businesses in January saying it would have a strategy in place by last month. But agency
Four years ago, Neil Herron was a market trader who also rented out a few properties for extra cash. Yesterday, he launched his campaign for election to the European Parliament. He tells Nick Morrison why his journey isn't so strange after all. It's curious
A LORRY driver and his passenger had a lucky escape yesterday when their cargo of fire surrounds burst into flames. Neil Wake, who had been driving oblivious to the flames in his vehicle, jumped free with his colleague, Stephen Young, after they were
DANNY Mills last night urged Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren to bring Leeds United teammates Alan Smith and Mark Viduka to the Riverside Stadium this summer. Szilard Nemeth and Juninho currently top Boro's goalscoring charts despite having scored just
ACCOUNTANCY software group Sage said a rise in customers had helped it increase profits by 17 per cent. The Newcastle company added 146,000 clients during the six months to March 31 and increased software sales to its customer base. The performance came
GREGGS saw sales continue to grow at the start of the year despite increased competition in the sandwich market. The bakery group, which has 1,240 shops, said it had made a satisfactory start to the year, with results ahead of the same period last year
AN MP has condemned Aldi for pulling out of a plan to develop a shopping precinct at Eston, near Middlesbrough. Vera Baird, MP for Redcar, said residents were livid at the company's decision not to go ahead with a proposed shopping scheme on the site
AFTER the explosion and the chaos and the screams and the panic, all that was left was silence. It lasted all afternoon and into the night. Scores of rescuers worked tirelessly amid the rubble of the Stockline Plastics factory, in Maryhill, Glasgow, but
NORTHUMBRIAN Water has borrowed against future earnings from Kielder Water to settle its short-term debts. The utilities group raised £212.1m backed by payments it will receive from the Environment Agency (EA) over the next 30 years. The EA pays Northumbrian
