IT was without disrespect to the Rev Alan Glasby's thoughtful sermon that, in church on Christmas morning, the mind meandered mischievously elsewhere. What was the carol we'd just joined in? "And io, io, io, by priest and people sungen." Do priest and
FANS favourite Julio Arca last night insisted he is happy to stay at Sunderland despite speculation linking him with a move away from the club. Portsmouth are the latest in a long line of clubs interested in taking the silky skilled Argentine away from
POLICE are appealing for information after four dogs were stolen from an allotment. The allotments off Carr Street, in Spennymoor, County Durham, were broken into between 11.45pm on Sunday and 8.15am on Monday. The thieves made off with four dogs that
Shameless (Channel 4) In Search of Mozart (Five) Sheila wasn't pleased that lodger Karen was turning her house into a brothel by entertaining men for money. "It's just a normal family home," said Sheila, interrupting one such sex session. It would have
A man found himself before the courts today for harassing his own mother. Julian Neil Wild, of Dawson House, Billingham, is said to have gone to his mother's home in Dalton Piercey, near Hartlepool, on December 8 last year - despite a restraining order
A teenage mum-to-be has been warned she will be locked up if she gets into any more trouble. April Crookston, 17, was today prosecuted for failing to carry out community penalties given to her by a court for attacking a girl on a bus. Judge Les Spittle
NEWBURY offers up some potentially valuable Cheltenham Festival clues with Celtic Son, Hors La Loi 111, plus Cornish Sett clashing in the Pheasant Inn Novices' Chase. All three are undoubtedly high-class individuals being aimed for the very top of the
THERE are hopes Stewart Downing and Kevin Kyle can save Middlesbrough and Sunderland's respective campaigns and last night the pair successfully emerged through returns from injury heartache unscathed. And now, having taken the next step towards full
A police traffic chief has expressed his concern that a small proportion of motorists continue to flout drink-drive regulations. Inspector Paul Goundry, head of the Durham force's road policing unit, was speaking after yesterday's release of Christmas
A WOMAN who led police on a car chase through Darlington in the early hours of the morning narrowly avoided a prison sentence yesterday. Magistrates heard how Lindsay Anne Raine, 23, committed a number of driving offences after refusing to stop for police
TRIBUTES have been made to a businessman who died following a short illness last week. Herbert Bowen passed away surrounded by his close family after suffering heart failure at Bishop Auckland Hospital. He was 71. Last night his family spoke of a colourful
A TEENAGER was mugged in a busy Bishop Auckland street. The 17-year-old was threatened with a knife and forced to hand over his PSP player (mini portable PlayStation) as he walked down Cockton Hill Road, at about 4.30pm on Monday. The victim first saw
MORE than 100 people have given their views on open spaces in Darlington. A recent consultation by Darlington Borough Council asked people what they thought of its open spaces. Every piece of open and green space has been assessed and given a star rating
A GOVERNMENT watchdog hs decided not to take action against three councillors involved in a controversial vote. A residents' group had asked the national Standards Board whether Middlesbrough's deputy mayor, Councillor Bob Brady and colleagues Councillor
TWO rare relics from the Second World War home front have gone on show at a museum. A 1940s enthusiast has loaned two gas mask handbags to the World of James Herriot centre, in Thirsk, for its exhibition Pockets to Pouches. They were used because they
A COOKERY teacher is seeking support to bring her community culinary crusade to the boil. Lorna Prasad takes her "Hands-on Cookery Workshop" to schools, village halls and community centres in the Durham area. But she is seeking funding to develop a permanent
A COUNTYWIDE anti-crime blitz is already having an impact. Violent crime and public disorder in particular have fallen since Operation Delivery Plus was launched just over two months' ago. Through an alcohol misuse enforcement campaign which is running
England fans fear they may be left at the mercy of touts if Cricket Australia press ahead with plans to restrict ticket availability for next winter's Ashes series. England's unexpected 2-1 series success last summer has prompted unprecedented interest
PLANS to extend a supermarket could create 100 jobs - but there are fears of traffic chaos. Councillors for the Ingleby Barwick ward are in talks with residents to get their views on the proposed Tesco development. Stockton Borough Council has received
PEOPLE can learn about digital photography, card making and forensic science at evening classes starting soon in Ushaw Moor. Durham County Council's education in the community will run 11 courses at the Durham Community Business College - formerly Deerness
A CONSERVATION group is holding two weekend events for bird-lovers and people interested in the area's trees. On Saturday, January 21, between 10am and 2pm, the Durham Wildlife Trust will be planting trees at the Hylton Dene Local Nature Reserve, at Hylton
FIRST TransPennine Express has followed GNER in introducing a range of low price, advance fares. The rail operator, whose trains link the likes of Manchester and Leeds with Darlington, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, said savings of up to 40 per cent on
Matt Clarke will be sparing a thought for Joey Hutchinson when he leads Darlington out against Peterborough United this weekend. Clarke was recently reinstated as Quakers captain after Hutchinson suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury at Carlisle United
PLANS to extend a shopping centre to include new shops and a cinema went on display to the public for the first time yesterday. They are featured in an exhibition at the Newgate Centre in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. The proposals, by Oakgate Group
TEENAGER'S PLIGHT: As a resident of Darlington I find it has nothing to offer me as a normal teenager. I am being made redundant from my job and there doesn't seem to be any organisation that I can contact in order to get help to further my career. It
MARKS & Spencer announced yesterday that it enjoyed its best Christmas for three years as food sales surged and it avoided discounts on its clothing ranges. The retailer beat expectations with sales growth of 2.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to New Year's
FOR all the sentimentality surrounding Feethams as the former home of Darlington Football Club, the site has to be demolished. It has been shamefully allowed to become a hazardous eyesore, a blot on the town's landscape, and a target of vandals and arsonists
MOTOR dealer Sir Peter Vardy is expected to be among applicants seeking to sponsor one of three planned academy schools in his home city. The door was opened to potential academy sponsors in Sunderland by the city council and the Department for Education
JOB losses and factory closures were last night blamed for a crisis of confidence in the housing market that has seen falls of up to 13.5 per cent in parts of the region. According to data compiled by Britain's biggest building society, the Nationwide
A DRIVER was blinded by the sun when he knocked a cyclist off his bike into the path of oncoming traffic, a court heard yesterday. David Sayers was killed after he was run over by two cars on the A689 between Hartlepool and Wolviston, Teesside, in January
A FARMER has solved a staffing crisis by bringing in robots to milk his cows. Robert Moore spent £500 advertising for workers to milk his herd of 120 pedigree Guernseys, but had no takers. Then Mr Moore, who farms at High Jervaulx, near Masham, North
VAN hire group Northgate is planning to make more acquisitions in Europe and the UK despite experiencing the toughest six months in its history. The Darlington company said it was planning solid, organic growth in the UK market with more acquisitions
AN asylum-seeker from Vietnam is accused of being involved in the factory farming of cannabis plants at a house in a North-East village. Quang Xuan Vu, 25, is charged with conspiracy to produce a controlled class C drug. It follows the recovery of propagating
EVER heard of an outfit called Qinetiq? Me neither. What about the Defence and Evaluation Research Agency? Same again. Well, until 2001 Qinetiq WAS the Defence and Evaluation and Research Agency. For how long it had operated under that title I'm not sure
PLANS for a massive leisure development, to include a £50m golf course that would be the biggest in the UK, will be unveiled next week. The project would transform Rockcliffe Hall estate, in Hurworth Place, near Darlington, bringing an 18-hole championship
It is the only planet in our solar system as yet unvisited by spacecraft, but scientists believe it holds crucial information on the origin of our planet and of life itself. Nick Morrison reports on NASA's mission to Pluto. IT is almost 30 years since
It may be 30 years since the Sexual Discrimination Act, but just how many options are there for mothers in the workplace. Congratulations to fashion designer Phoebe Philo. Maybe she'll make motherhood respectable. The 31-year-old British designer has
CORUS yesterday announced the start of a seven-year partnership with logistics company TDG to improve the steel group's transport services. It is intended that hauliers working for Corus will be contracted and managed by TDG in what is believed to be
Memories of Feethams will extend beyond its demolition, Darlington Football Club and its supporters pledged last night. Deborah Johnson looks back at the stadium's 140-year heritage and examines the prospects for the future of the site. THE impending
A groundbreaking housing scheme is giving local people the chance to buy a home at a knock-down price. Ten homes in Colburn are being sold for between £72,000 and £95,000 - more than £100,000 below the average house price in Richmondshire. The homes have
It may be 30 years since the Sexual Discrimination Act, but just how many options are there for mothers in the workplace. Congratulations to fashion designer Phoebe Philo. Maybe she'll make motherhood respectable. The 31-year-old British designer has
LABOUR MPs, including former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, are backing moves to head off the Government's controversial NHS reforms. Labour loyalists are being urged to fight proposals that would see local primary care trusts replaced by regionwide "
Talented youngsters from a Bishop Auckland dance school took part in the opening celebrations of the new home of North-East dance. Students from Richardson's Dance Studio performed a sequence at Dance City, in Newcastle, on Saturday as part of a week-long
A civic society is backing plans by a choir school to create an assembly hall and sports hall, along with a housing development. But the expansion plans, at Ripon Cathedral Choir School, have brought protests from neighbours. The school, in Whitcliffe
DURHAM'S MP says there is no need for an "excessive'' rise in the city council's share of the council tax, thanks to increased funding from the Government. Labour's Roberta Blackman-Woods says the extra five per cent the Liberal Dem- ocrat-controlled
INTERMEDIA Web Development, the region's longest-established Internet firm, is exceeding its expansion plans due to a surge in work. In the past two months, the Darlington-based company has secured more than £30,000 worth of work and begun to unveil its
OLDER people tried salsa dancing during an event organised by young people following the success of television's Strictly Come Dancing. A group of young people known as the Millennium Volunteers set up the session at Bullion Hall, Chester-le-Street. The
A COMMUNITY in north Durham is to get a new year facelift. Durham County Council is to carry out the first phase of a £150,000 environmental improvement scheme in South Moor, Stanley. The £50,000 first phase, which starts on Monday, will include new paving
A POLICE chief claims a hardcore of drink-drivers are putting lives at risk. Over the Christmas and New Year period, 127 over-the- limit motorists were arrested on Teesside, several following road collisions. Shocked by the high number of arrests, Inspector
SCORES of subsidised bus services across Tyne and Wear could be axed or reduced because of the introduction of pensioners' free travel. The area's transport operator Nexus, which also runs the Metro rail system, announced yesterday that it would have
Three teenagers were seriously injured after a smash involving four vehicles in Northumberland. It happened on the A1068 at Red Row, Morpeth, at the junction with the B1330 at 4.05pm on Tuesday. The collision occurred when a VW Bora travelling south on
UGO EHIOGU'S proposed move to West Bromwich Albion hung in the balance last night after Middlesbrough tried to pull the plug on the deal at the 11th hour. The Boro centre-back was in the black country yesterday putting the final touches to the free transfer
Detectives investigating a sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl have arrested a man. The teenage victim was grabbed around the waist in the Canal Basin car park, in Ripon, North Yorkshire, on New Year's Day. She managed to break free and run home. A 35
DEMAND for bomb and bullet-resistant glass in the Middle East has led to the rapid growth of a North-East company. Glassmaker Romag has seen turnover rise 14 per cent and profits increase by 20 per cent. Chief executive of the County Durham company, Lyn
LEAFLETS providing information on health services in County Durham was announced as the runner-up in a national awards ceremony. They were produced by the County Durham NHS Communications Service on behalf of the Durham and Chester-le-Street, Derwent-
BANG AND BLAME'S love affair with Sedgefield gathered yet more momentum at the track yesterday when the ten-year-old gelding notched a third track success. Mick Easterby's ten-year-old was sent straight into the lead by his regular jockey, amateur Michael
MARTIN Scott feels it's time for his Hartlepool United side to get ugly. Pool, after winning just twice in their last 12 games, are, as Scott admits, heading for a fight to try and stay in League One. And the manager, under pressure at Victoria Park after
THE former home of Darlington Football Club is to be demolished, it was announced last night, sparking fresh controversy about its future use. Bulldozers are expected to roll on to the Feethams site before Easter, bringing an end to its 140-year heritage
THOMAS GRAVESEN has opened the door for a return to the Premiership - with Newcastle United eyeing a move before the closure of the transfer window. Magpies boss Graeme Souness recently revealed his admiration for a player of that standing and is preparing
THE chairwoman of a North-East police authority has written to Home Secretary Charles Clarke calling for talks to press the case for a single regionwide force. However, Councillor Anne Wright, chairwoman of Durham Police Authority, admitted there remained
AN official from the United Nations has launched a search to find the grown-up child he left behind in the North-East three decades ago. Thirty years ago, 20-year-old Joe Uttro left the North-East for Africa. A few years later, he moved to the US. He
A REMAND prisoner who had seriously harmed himself was taken off a suicide watch a day before he was found hanged in his cell, it was revealed at an inquest yesterday. A jury hearing evidence into the death of Steven Barrass, 23, was told the meeting
THE former home of Darlington Football Club is to be demolished, it was announced last night, sparking fresh controversy about its future use. Bulldozers are expected to roll onto the Feethams site before Easter, bringing an end to its 140-year heritage
