WILLIAM Hague yesterday branded Tony Blair the "new Harold Wilson" - a Prime Minister destined to be remembered as little more than a good election winner. The former Tory leader delighted a 400-strong audience at a Bournemouth fringe meeting by comparing
PEOPLE on a Darlington estate are looking forward to a new community centre thanks to lottery grant. Members of the Red Hall Community Association are celebrating the award of £123,000 from the Big Lottery Fund It will help pay for refurbishing and extending
DURHAM racing driver Chris Dent was back on track yesterday as the 19-year-old started his preparation for the Formula Renault UK winter series at Croft. Dent secured a drive with Mark Burdett Racing and plans to complete up to ten days testing with the
NISSAN Micras made in the region are now being exported to Mexico, the company has announced. Mexico is the 25th country to take delivery of Micras from the Sunderland plant. From 2005, exports of the cars to Mexico are expected to reach 5,000 a year.
FRANCE has become a popular place to purchase National Hunt stock, so with the likes of Towcester-bound Wiscalitus (3.00) successfully crossing over to these shores the trend is likely to become even more prevalent. A three-time middle-distance scorer
A ONCE-derelict and overgrown city centre site has been transformed into a £500,000 housing development. Sanctuary Court, in Skellgarths, Ripon, which is providing much-needed affordable homes, was opened yesterday, four years after work on the project
A SUMMER-LONG crackdown succeeded in driving boy racers out of the centre of Bishop Auckland, police claim. Motorists were prosecuted and given tickets for a range of offences during the four months from May to August, reducing the number of complaints
TOWN CENTRES: DESPITE being a regular visitor to Darlington, I had never been to the centre until last week. What a pleasant surprise. How much more user friendly and interesting than those of other big towns in the area. Mainly because they have kept
AS part of The Northern Echo's Lifeblood campaign, which aims to encourage people to give blood, here are the latest planned donor sessions in the region: Tomorrow Room 2, No 10, Salem Street Entrance (Behind Etam) 10 North Street, South Shield 2.30pm
YOUNGSTERS whose dancing skills lit up Darlington Civic Theatre this week could be in line for their own awards. A group of young people from the town's Red Hall estate took to the stage on Monday night to give an energetic performance at the Vibe Awards
A harvest festival will be held at Hurworth Methodist Church on Sunday. There will be a family gift service at 10.30am and a service at 6pm. Donations and tinned foods will be accepted for Darlington NightStop.
TWO footpaths on a Darlington estate could be closed to stop youths riding down them on motorbikes, a meeting heard this week. Firthmoor Community Partnership Board was told that the paths - one behind Holgate Moor Green and the other between Westminster
FLUFFY ducks have proved popular with pupils at a Darlington school. Pupils at Branksome Comprehensive School were asked to try to sell the toys to raise money for St Teresa's Hospice, in Darlington. The children have sold 200 ducks and raised £200 for
A YOUNG father punched a man who he claimed "kerb-crawled" his girlfriend and baby, a court heard yesterday. Craig Smith, 22, of Middleton Court, Darlington, pleaded guilty to common assault at South Durham Magistrates' Court. Derek Walton, prosecuting
A DRUNKEN burglar broke a shop window and dragged out a child's quad bike worth almost £900, a court heard yesterday. Rory Nelson, 19, of Jura Drive, Darlington, was given a 12-month conditional discharge after admitting the offence at South Durham Magistrates
COUNCIL bosses have insisted it will be safe to allow cycling in the new-look pedestrian heart of Darlington town centre. The £6.5m pedestrianisation scheme has been designed to encourage more traders and shoppers into the town. Under the proposals, Prospect
A WOMAN had a miraculous escape when she crawled unhurt from a car following an accident yesterday. To add to her luck the crash, at Folly Top, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, was discovered by a passing ambulance. Fortunately, the woman did not need
THREE people have been arrested after a 40-minute car chase. The pursuit began after traffic police tried to pull over a Ford Mondeo for a routine check, in Wessington Way, Sunderland, at 1am yesterday. The North East Air Support Unit helicopter tracked
A COUPLE have told of their frustration at suffering lengthy delays in moving into the home they reserved almost a year ago. Paul and Claire Knapp agreed last November to purchase a Bellway Homes property on the West Park development, in the Faverdale
A PHYSICAL activity instructor has joined a team of specialist nurses helping to fight heart disease. Nancy Dobson, is part of the Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust's community cardiac rehabilitation team, which helps improve the treatment
ALCOHOL was sold to 14-year-old girls three times in ten minutes at a large grocery store. Licensing justices were shown police video footage of pairs of girls entering Kwik Save, in Front Street, Consett, and leaving after buying bottles of alcopops.
BLACKWELL Grange's crop of trophy-hunting golfers are looking to put their club on the national map later this month when they aim to become Junior Champion Club champions. The problem Blackwell team selector Peter Hird has had since they booked their
Vietnam's Bloody Secret (five): AMERICA expected an easy victory when it went to war in Vietnam to stop the spread of world Communism. By the time US troops left in 1973, some two million American and Vietnamese were dead or wounded. Not long after, the
PUPILS are sacrificing part of their half-term holiday to give elderly and vulnerable residents a treat. Students at Greencroft School, in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, are taking part in Bake a Difference Day, on Monday, October 25. More than 70 guests
A SUMMER crackdown succeeded in driving boy racers out of the centre of Bishop Auckland, say police. Motorists were prosecuted and given tickets for a range of offences during the period from May to August, reducing the number of complaints from people
THE future of a community centre which was forced to close is looking brighter. Brotton Community Centre, in Laburnum Road, Brotton, shut when only two committee members and no members of the public turned up to the annual meeting. More than 60 people
A BEST-SELLING children's poet will visit a Darlington book shop after the launch of his latest book, Mum the Dog's Drunk Again! Dubbed as one of the "potty poets", Gez Walsh will be at Ottakars on October 9, 1-3pm. Mr Walsh, who arrived on the poetry
SCHOOLGIRL Francie-Jo Heward has danced her way to a regional championship. The 12-year-old, from Middlesbrough, beat 69 other competitors to secure the Northumbria Tap Dancing Championship. The Acklam Grange pupil had to dance four times before the judges
I T was a sell-out performance, and the touring company Ballet Russe lived up to the audience's expectations. This Swansea-based group have been rehearsing together for five years, and come from all over Russia. Comic ballet Coppelia is set in a European
A RANGE of ideas have been unveiled for the future of a North Yorkshire market town. The group Pickering 2020 has come up with a series of visions for the town, which it has now presented to local community leaders. The team has challenged local people
A TEENAGE poultry enthusiast is to be told to remove his chickens from his allotment. At its meeting this week, Barnard Castle Town Council agreed they had no choice but to ask Thom Robinson, 17, to remove the chickens from the Brittons Fields allotment
TWO men have been charged in connection with an alleged brawl outside a shopping centre that left three men with stab wounds. The incident took place in the Greenmarket and Clayton Street, next to Eldon Square, in Newcastle city centre, on September 27
A NEWTON Aycliffe woman wrote notes to her family before taking a fatal overdose, an inquest heard yesterday. Suzanne Wrightson, 45, had been suffering from depression before she was found dead at her home in Bakewell Place, last June. Durham and Darlington
A SPECIAL birthday party was worth the three month wait for Alice Dorrington who belatedly celebrated her centenary this week. Mrs Dorrington turned 100 on May 24 but her original party plans had to be postponed after she fell and had to spend her birthday
MAGISTRATES banned a woman from owning a dog for a year after they heard how her pet bit a passer-by. Elizabeth Cusick, 46, of West Auckland Road, Darlington, pleaded guilty yesterday at South Durham Magistrates' Court to being the owner of a dog dangerously
A LOCAL brewery has given its backing to the Richmond Ale Festival. T&R Theakston, of Masham, is sponsoring live music at the town hall event, from October 15 to 17. The Campaign for Real Ale festival will feature about 20 different beers from smaller
CHILDREN celebrated International Walk to School Week by having a continental breakfast with their mayor. Around 180 children at Lockwood Primary School, Boosbeck,enjoyed fruit juice, croissants, cereals, muffins, pancakes and toast with Redcar and Cleveland
A SCHOOL is aiming to raise £50,000 in its bid to gain specialist status. Huntcliff School, in Marske Mill Lane, Saltburn, aims to become a humanities college in March, 2005. Humanities is the most recently introduced element of the specialist schools
A 41-year-old man whose courage and skill saved the life of a teenage girl was given a bravery award yesterday. Michael Farline was among six rescuers honoured at a ceremony in London. The awards, hosted by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, celebrate
A SUPERMARKET chain is running a series of promotions this month to raise awareness of goods made in the North-East. Asda will sell produce including organic milk from Teesside and spice cakes from Bishop Auckland, bacon and sausage from West Auckland
STOCKTON residents will soon be receiving reminder letters urging them to keep their vote. The letters, from Stockton Borough Council's electoral registration department, will be delivered after Friday in a bid to ensure residents' names are on the electoral
FREDDY SHEPHERD last night congratulated UEFA on their decision to allow Newcastle and Middlesbrough to play in Athens on the same night later this month. The Newcastle chairman was locked in discussions with European football's governing body and Middlesbrough
THE public are being asked for their views about the future of a community hospital. Ripon Community Hospital is having its old-fashioned wards modernised as part of a near-£500,000 project. The work, which has been delayed after the discovery of asbestos
A YEAR-long school arts project culminated in pupils staging an exhibition of their work in a real art gallery. Youngsters from Bishop Monkton CE Primary School had their work displayed in the village's Hield Gallery. The show included works in a number
SELF-help groups are among organisations in the region taking a share of £1.5m from the Big Lottery Fund. Grants have been awarded to projects that address disadvantage and improve the quality of life in the community. Among those benefiting are disabled
MANUFACTURERS in the region last night expressed their concerns as two companies became the latest casualties of rising steel prices. Administrators have been called in to Lionweld Ken-nedy, on Teesside, where it was revealed last night that more than
IT has everything the discerning drinker could possibly want - a back street boozer with a genuine homely atmosphere. The well-stocked bar is complemented by a one-armed bandit, a television, music system and - just to be flash - neon lighting. As well
A WREN found dead in her ship's cabin was the daughter of a shipowner who disappeared at sea with a North-East crew. Emma Douglas, 29, a Royal Navy engineering officer on HMS Cornwall is believed to have died of natural causes after complaining of feeling
STREET children in Africa will soon be playing in football shirts thanks to the generosity of local fans. More than 100 lucky youngsters in one of the world's poorest countries will be sent football shirts by avid Darlington FC supporter Scott Thornberry
MAJOR recycling scheme is being expanded to deal with empty aerosol cans. Residents in the Darlington borough can now put the cans in their green recycling boxes, which are collected fortnightly. Aerosols should be empty and placed in the green box intact
WHEN he was heckled by hunting supporters at the Labour Party conference, Tony Blair missed a golden opportunity. Instead of asking the rather lame question: "Are there any more of you out there?'', he should have said something like this: "Thank you
A DRUNKEN airline passenger picked the wrong flight to start a row. The New Zealand man caused chaos when he demanded a female passenger move places for him. When she refused, he became aggressive towards her, other passengers and crew. Unknown to him
SUNDAY'S match at Oxford can't come soon enough for Darlington striker Alun Armstrong. The Geordie is keen to carry on where he left off after opening his Quakers account with the first hat-trick of his career in Saturday's 4-0 demolition of Southend
THE draining of a lake in one North-East park is nearing completion. Specialist equipment has now been set up in South Park in Darlington to excavate, remove and transport 400 truckloads of silt to a landfill site over the next two weeks. The work is
A FOOTBALL club that cannot play home matches because of subsidence is asking league bosses to reverse some of its fixtures. Tow Law Town can only play away games until repairs are carried out at its Ironworks Road ground. Contractors drilled boreholes
A COMPANY based in the South created four jobs by choosing Darlington's Lingfield Point as the location for its latest expansion. Eton Analytical Limited, a division of Eton Environmental Services, is setting up an in-house analysis centre at Lingfield
A FOOTBALL club whose pitch collapsed into a ten-metre wide crater could learn its fate by the end of the week. Contractors drilled boreholes at the Tow Law Town ground on Monday, to investigate the cause of subsidence, which occured last week. If old
LOW cost German airline Hapag-Lloyd Express last night announced plans to run two extra flights from Newcastle Airport. The success of an initial route to Hanover, launched in June, has prompted the launch of flights to Cologne/Bonn and Munich airports
A JUDGE will decide today whether police acted unlawfully when they arrested a man who lost four teeth in a late-night brawl. Andrew Taylor had proposed to his girlfriend shortly before the incident in Exchange Square, Middlesbrough, on Christmas Eve
A PROPOSED clampdown on miners' compensation claims could save the Government £2bn, it was revealed last night. Last week, The Northern Echo published details of controversial Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) plans to cut payments to about 40 per
A FORMER clothing factory that stood empty for almost four years has been brought back to life as a fairytale castle. The disused Susie Radin plant, in Crook, has been reopened as a children's activity centre called Crackerjax by sisters-in-law Claire
DURHAM have released 22-year-old former England Under 19 all-rounder Ian Pattison but retained all their other non-overseas players from last season's staff of 18. The previous year's clear-out left them looking threadbare at times, forcing them to call
THE chief inspector of schools last night outlined his vision for the future of education - providing high-quality teaching in the basics alongside an enjoyable curriculum. Speaking at the Hermitage Lecture, at Hermitage School, in Chester-le-Street,
THE Weardale Railway, appealingly restored and enthusiastically publicised, had to shut off steam early last week. It was the Mardy Monster to blame, said the Echo, and the cussed old thing seemed appropriately named. Mardy - as in mardy drawers, a phrase
A WOMAN died when the car she was travelling in hit a concrete barrier on a stretch of road undergoing safety improvements. Susannah Rose Hinnigin, 25, of Stocksmoor Close, Darlington, died when the silver Mondeo struck the concrete block, left the road
WORKERS at a factory on Teesside are preparing to strike, despite warnings from bosses that industrial action could result in work being moved elsewhere. Peace talks broke down earlier this week, with union officials accusing managers at the Yarm Road
BLACKWELL Grange's crop of trophy-hunting golfers are looking to put their club on the national map later this month when they aim to become Junior Champion Club champions. The problem Blackwell team selector Peter Hird has had since they booked their
DETAILS of a £170m development that will create up to 2,000 North-East jobs will be unveiled today. Developers are hailing the Darlington scheme -the biggest in a generation -as central to plans to bring prosperity to Tees Valley. It is hoped the thousands
NORTH-East law firm Dickinson Dees has won a contract to provide legal advice to the second largest city council in the UK. Birmingham City Council has appointed the firm to handle the council's litigation work. It is the fourth local government appointment
INSIDE a big canvass tent on a dreary wet Sunday night in a Newcastle park might not seem like the most salubrious or inspiring time or place to watch comedy. But the crowd watching Sean Lock's turn at this year's Newcastle Comedy Festival soon forgot
Sea fishing may have gone through a torrid period, with falling stocks and boats being decommissioned, but there is enough confidence in its future to train a new generation of fishermen. Nick Morrison reports. LIAM Slade has had a passion for fishing
POLICE have released an e-fit of a man wanted for questioning after a serious sexual assault. A woman in her 30s was attacked in her home in the King Edwards Drive area of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, at about 3.30pm last Monday. Police say the woman was
Stag and hen nights have always been high-spirited but now they're wrecking our towns and cities with their hangovers. DO you want to slither through pools of sick or be bopped on the head with a blow-up willy? Probably not. But if you visit many of our
STRUGGLING retailer Marks & Spencer yesterday announced the acquisition of the per una clothing brand for £125m. The business, formed as a joint venture between M&S and former Next boss George Davies, is seen as a key part of new chief executive
THE owner of car dealership group Massingberd has announced his retirement and the sale of the business. Mike Massingberd said it was time to move on after more than 40 years as head of the group, which has Volkswagen and Audi dealerships across Yorkshire
WORKERS at a factory on Teesside are preparing to strike, despite warnings from bosses that industrial action could result in work being moved elsewhere. Peace talks broke down earlier this week, with union officials accusing managers at the Yarm Road
POLAM Hall School, Darlington, is to accept male students for the first time in its 150-year history. The independent fee-paying school said the decision to allow boys into its sixth-form would help female pupils to ease into university life. Headteacher
BONES found in a remote medieval village have given scientists their firmest evidence yet that complex cranial surgery was carried out more than 1,000 years ago. A skull found in Wharram Percy, near Malton, North Yorkshire, showed that medical skills
OF all the individual projects presently taking shape on the Darlington landscape, it is no exaggeration to say that Central Park will be the most critical to the town's prosperity over the coming years. The scheme has been announced at a time when Darlington's
DURING his conference speech yesterday, Michael Howard spoke at length about the need for truth and accountability in British politics. In doing so, both directly and indirectly, he questioned the credibility of the Prime Minister. The inference was that
TALK of wartime rationing and marmalade pudding helped the years melt away on Monday as 13 former schoolfriends looked back on their first meeting six decades ago. Dressed in bottle green gym slips, cream square-necked and green buttoned caps, the bright
THE granddaughter of Peter Lee, the man who gave his name to an east Durham town, was guest of honour yesterday at a book launch. Win Colman travelled to the region for the launch of a book about the 50-year history of Peterlee. Memories of Peterlee contains
DETECTIVES were scouring closed-circuit television footage after a suspected sighting of missing Darlington man Melvyn Gamblin. A man contacted police after seeing someone who matched Mr Gamblin's description near Stanhope Park just after 10am last Friday
LOAN ranger Simon Johnson is confident that he will still be a Sunderland player by the end of the week. The Leeds United striker, who scored twice in last night's 4-0 reserve win over Everton, is due to return to Elland Road tomorrow after a one-month
FRANCE has become a popular place to purchase National Hunt stock, so with the likes of Towcester-bound Wiscalitus (3.00) successfully crossing over to these shores the trend is likely to become even more prevalent. A three-time middle-distance scorer
YOUNGSTERS whose dancing skills lit up Darlington Civic Theatre this week could be in line for their own awards. A group of young people from the town's Red Hall estate took to the stage on Monday night to give an energetic performance at the Vibe Awards
A 45-year-old Shildon man took his own life by swallowing an overdose of painkillers, an inquest heard yesterday. A pathologist who examined Anthony Freeman's body found levels of Tramadol reaching nearly 23,000, where the normal therapeutic level is
A TOWN council that was criticised as a closed shop is to re-advertise its vacant seat. Last month, Barnard Castle Town Council voted against co-opting retired electro-mechanical engineer Tony Cooke onto the council, despite him being the only applicant
AN infants school is to hold a regular fresh fruit and vegetable market in a bid to keep the community healthy. The mini food co-op will be launched today and will be offering affordable produce. The playground market is the idea of Easington Primary
TEENAGERS can help create a youth-friendly neighbourhood if they seize a chance to get involved in shaping the future of their town. Sedgefield police hope to enlist about a dozen youngsters, aged between 15 and 17, to form a youth council for Spennymoor
THE Weardale Railway, appealingly restored and enthusiastically publicised, had to shut off steam early last week. It was the Mardy Monster to blame, said the Echo, and the cussed old thing seemed appropriately named. Mardy - as in mardy drawers, a phrase
ANGRY residents have voiced concern about a proposed housing development on the site of an old school. They handed over a 153-name petition to the Mayor of Middlesbrough, Ray Mallon, objecting to proposals to build 109 new houses on the former Coulby
A ONCE-derelict and overgrown city centre site has been transformed into a £500,000 housing development. Sanctuary Court, in Skellgarths, Ripon, which is providing much-needed affordable homes, was opened yesterday, four years after work on the project
A COMMUNITY celebration will start on Friday with up to 100 puppets taking part in a grand parade. The Houghton Feast, one of the oldest traditions in the North-East, will start with the parade at 7pm, followed by a light spectacular at 7.15pm at Houghton
FIRE chiefs are hoping that the public will help to ensure that hoax calls and trouble- makers are clamped down on in the lead-up to bonfire night. The public has been asked to report irresponsible people, whose anti-social behaviour endangers lives.
A HEROIN addict burglar, who became a model prisoner, was given a helping hand by a judge yesterday. Gareth Matthews,24, had been jailed regularly for burglaries and was serving a four-year sentence when he appeared before Mr Justice Andrew Smith. Matthews
CHARITY workers are delighted with the response they received when they spent an appeal day at a supermarket. Members of the New Life Baptist Church, in Northallerton, who co-ordinate the New Life for Romania appeal, were at Tesco, in Thirsk, on Saturday
A TEENAGE driver suffered multiple injuries when his car ploughed through a stone wall yesterday. Emergency crews were called to Cowen Terrace, Rowlands Gill, on the A694 Consett to Gateshead road, at 4.10am. They found the man trapped inside his Ford
A RANGE of ideas have been unveiled for the future of a North Yorkshire market town. The group Pickering 2020 has come up with a series of visions for the town, which it has now presented to local community leaders. The team has challenged local people
LIBRARY and community office workers at Colburn, North Yorkshire, have trained in each other's jobs following refurbishment of their premises. The community office moved to the library and information centre on the Broadway in August following the building's
A FORMER clothing factory that stood empty for almost four years has been brought back to life as a fairytale castle. The disused Susie Radin plant, in Crook, has been reopened as a children's activity centre called Crackerjax by sisters-in-law Claire
TRADERS and landlords are being urged to make sure that the Christmas spirit in Durham is brightly lit. There are fears that the city centre's festive lights display could be incomplete this year because new suspension bolts need to be installed on buildings
A programme of improvements and repairs to council homes is about to move into its second phase. Since April, more than 1,000 external refurbishments have taken place on council homes in the York area. Now the local authority is to consult the occupiers
A PIZZA and kebab takeaway has been closed because of poor standards of hygiene. Guisborough magistrates confirmed a decision taken by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's food team to close the Village Takeaway, in Sycamore Drive, Brotton. An emergency
HUNDREDS of farmers are getting lifesaving lessons at a two-day safety event at Sedgefield Racecourse. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the North-East is promoting the event, held yesterday and today, in a bid to cut the toll of death and injuries
CAMPAIGNERS fighting to stop a mobile phone mast being erected near three North Yorkshire schools face a race against time Harrogate-based Campaign Against Masts Put Up near Schools (Campus) has been told £20,000 will be needed to hire a barrister and
A SHORTAGE of flu vaccine in the region has prompted calls for action after fears vulnerable pensioners could be affected. Age Concern is calling on the Government to step in after doctors' surgeries across the North-East and North Yorkshire reported
TWO of the region's soldiers have returned to the UK from a tour of Afghanistan after being decorated by the US. The pair, from the Green Howards, were honoured by the US Army for their work with the Afghan National Army Training Team. Colour Sergeant
HUGO Viana will make a personal plea to Newcastle boss Graeme Souness after being denied an emotional return to St James' Park. Viana's current employers, Newcastle, will meet the team he joined on loan in the summer, Sporting Lisbon, after yesterday's
HER letter told of hay time in the dales and sending dinners to the men in the fields. But her son, Herbert, would never read it. For that day in August 1917 he became another of the 168 servicemen from Wensleydale who were killed during the First World
PUPILS and teachers cheered charity walker Steve Dayman as he continued his 770-mile trek. Steve Dayman, chief executive of the Bristol-based cancer research charity Spencer Dayman Meningitis UK, set off from Staindrop yesterday on day 18 of his fundraising
DURHAM racing driver Chris Dent was back on track yesterday as the 19-year-old started his preparation for the Formula Renault UK winter series at Croft. Dent secured a drive with Mark Burdett Racing and plans to complete up to ten days testing with the
THE Great North Air Ambulance received a big boost yesterday when the charity was presented with £2,500. Pam Royle, patron of the Great North Air Ambulance Woman of Substance Appeal, received the helicopter- shaped cheque from Yarm Preparatory School,
A PERVERT who drove a teenage girl to a reservoir before sexually assaulting her won a cut in his jail term. Michael Robert Sharpe, of Elwick Road, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court in April to indecent assault. The prosecution dropped
WORK has finally started on a £500m flagship redevelopment scheme for the North-East. After years of false starts, plans and wrangles, work has started on the Middlehaven site, opening up Middlesbrough's old dockland, site for re-development. The work
TWO of the region's soldiers have returned to the UK from a tour of Afghanistan after being decorated by the US. The pair, from the Green Howards, were honoured by the US Army for their work with the Afghan National Army Training Team. Colour Sergeant
Author Elizabeth Gill may be known for her historical North-East sagas, but she is as far removed from Catherine Cookson as you can get, as Women's Editor Lindsay Jennings discovers IT'S the not the kind of look I imagine for an author of 14 historical
DEPUTY Prime Minister John Prescott yesterday declared the referendum campaign over a directly-elected assembly for the North-East to be a straight-forward Labour versus Tory fight. During a tour of the region to mark the start of the Labour Yes campaign
Online bank Egg has received an approach for its savings and online brokerage in France from ING Direct France - days after Banque Accord expressed interest in buying the consumer credit operation. Egg had previously said it would close its operations
MORE than 5,000 children have sampled history lessons with extra blood and gore at the region's most gruesome tourist attraction this year. Now York Dungeon is mailing more than 3,500 primary and secondary schools with an incentive to add a bit of drama
OWNERS and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises can attend a free event this month that could help them take their businesses to the next level. Specialist North-East fund management company NEL and business support organisation Darlington Business
DETAILS of a £170m development that will create up to 2,000 North-East jobs will be unveiled today. Developers are hailing the Darlington scheme -the biggest in a generation -as central to plans to bring prosperity to Tees Valley. It is hoped the thousands
TEENAGERS can help create a youth-friendly neighbourhood if they seize a chance to get involved in shaping the future of their town. Sedgefield police hope to enlist about a dozen youngsters, aged 15 to 17, to form a youth council for Spennymoor. The
ACCLAIMED novelist Kate Atkinson will return to her old haunts tonight to launch her latest book. Originally from York, Ms Atkinson will be at York St John College, from 5pm, for the launch of Case Histories, her first novel in four years. She will be
GAIZKA Mendieta will be on a revenge mission next month after Middlesbrough were paired with his former club Lazio in the group stage of the UEFA Cup. The Boro midfielder flopped after making a £28m move to Rome from Spanish side Valencia in 2001. The
"COME and join us," urged the Tory leader yesterday. "Come and join us in Howard's half-baked half-way house." This is a house that is neither in nor out of Europe. It is a house that neither raises nor cuts taxes. It is a house that limits public spending
Stag and hen nights have always been high-spirited but now they're wrecking our towns and cities with their hangovers. DO you want to slither through pools of sick or be bopped on the head with a blow-up willy? Probably not. But if you visit many of our
THE Weardale Railway, appealingly restored and enthusiastically publicised, had to shut off steam early last week. It was the Mardy Monster to blame, said the Echo, and the cussed old thing seemed appropriately named. Mardy - as in mardy drawers, a phrase
DETAILS of a £170m development that will create up to 2,000 North-East jobs will be unveiled today. Developers are hailing the Darlington scheme -the biggest in a generation -as central to plans to bring prosperity to Tees Valley. It is hoped the thousands
Vietnam's Bloody Secret (five) AMERICA expected an easy victory when it went to war in Vietnam to stop the spread of world Communism. By the time US troops left in 1973, some two million American and Vietnamese were dead or wounded. Not long after, the
Photographic equipment manufacturer Kodak announced it is cutting 600 jobs in the UK and closing a factory in Nottingham due to the rising popularity of digital cameras. The group plans to close its film finishing plant at Annesley, with the loss of 350
DARLINGTON'S Guy Wilks has been crowned the 2004 British Super 1600 Champion and British Junior Champion despite not competing in last weekend's Trackrod Rally, writes Matt Westcott. Wilks' only challenger for the British titles, Jonnie Wigmore (Ford
