Six weeks ago my Monday nights changed when I was persuaded to join my wife and a good friend for an evening of yoga. It began with a text message whilst I was working and has led to me feeling fitter, thinner and believe it or not, younger
A FORMER inmate attempted to smuggle drugs and mobile phone identity cards into a top security prison hidden in a sweet wrapper. The consignment of heroin, cannabis and three mobile phone SIM cards were concealed within a Mars bar packet dropped by Linley
The story for tomorrow morning's Headline Game on TFM radio is about the birth of a rare pygmy hippopotamus at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire. No one has so far come up with a name for the lovable baby female hippo. Our headline is the magnificent "She's
POLICE have warned about the illegal use of off-road motorbikes after a rider and his pillion passenger suffered broken bones in a collision with a car. The pair, thought to be aged 37 and 19 respectively, were riding along Estoril Road South, in Darlington
I have to say a huge thank you to Lesley Stokoe who went to extraordinary lengths to buy a copy of my new book. I was signing copies of the fourth Dad At Large book, The View From The Doghouse, at the Head of Steam railway museum in Darlington
A YOUNG female burglar was arrested by police who found her struggling with a resident trying to flee a ground floor flat. Stacey Lonsdale was half hanging from the window of the premises in Church Chare, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, as the male
NATIONALISED bank Northern Rock is to pass last week's one per cent interest rate cut to some, but not all, of its mortgage customers. People with existing tracker mortgages with the Government-owned bank will get the full one per cent cut.
HOMELESS people and those with no fixed address will be given assistance this Yuletide with a new Christmas service. Stockton Council’s Youth Bus will be seen across the borough during December and into 2009 in a bid to support homeless young people.
AN operation to make the roads safer in Stockton led to scores of cars being found with faults. Stockton Borough Council led the one-day operation to ensure vehicles were roadworthy and correctly taxed. Named Operation Mule, it was carried out in partnership
Buried in a pile of Christmas cards on my desk today was a Christmas greeting addressed to "Mr Barron and staff" from an 80-year-old reader. He chose not to give his name but I very much doubt that any other Christmas card I receive this year will mean
CONSUMER watchdogs have urged people to take care with Christmas candles this Yuletide. Michael Welsh, Hartlepool Council’s principal Trading Standards officer, said candles, if not properly monitored, could spell danger for people this season. "Decorative
NEWCASTLE boss Joe Kinnear has been handed a second Football Association charge after being sent to the stands at the weekend. The 61-year-old was tonight charged with using abusive and insulting words towards a match official during Saturdays 2-2 Barclays
PARISH COUNCIL: Sadberge Parish Council meets on Tuesday, December 16, at 6.30pm, in Sadberge Village Hall.
A FLEET of new street sweepers will take to the roads and pavements of Darlington to keep the borough clean, safe and green. Darlington Borough Council's new vehicles will each carry a different message asking people to do their bit to minimise mess.
CONSTRUCTION students have given a lobby group a tour of their new college. Members of Darlington's branch for the National Council for Women, which lobbies nationally on a host of issues including training, have visited Darlington College. They were
MORE than 3,500 youngsters look set to benefit from a wide range of new activities thanks to a £25,000 grant. Stockton Borough Council’s Integrated Youth Support Service has secured the funding from the Youth Task Force Crime Action Plan (YCAP
A GIANT of the skies touched down in the region today. An Antonov airliner arrived at Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) near Darlington, bearing a load of three Army helicopters. The 226-long Russian behemoth arrived from Athens, Greece
MILLIONS of children will enjoy free swimming in town hall pools from next April - but not in North Yorkshire. Only one of the eight local authorities in the county - the City of York - has signed up to the government’s scheme to scrap pool
ROY Keane has revealed he plans to return to management in the future after quitting as Sunderland boss last week. The former Manchester United captain left the Stadium of Light last Thursday with the side in the bottom three following a 4-1 home defeat
AN expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow programme has been appointed as a trustee of a North-East museum. Adam Schoon will join the board of trustees at the Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle. Mr Schoon is an independent antiques and fine art
There was a certain inevitability about Abdoulaye Faye's late equaliser for Stoke against Newcastle on Saturday - not least because he used play for Newcastle. Forget the slack marking - Faye scored because he was once wore the Magpies black
A NECKLACE worn by a suffragette to signal her sympathies with the movement has surfaced at a North-East auction house. The historic significance of the pearl, amethyst and emerald necklace came to light when its owner, from Durham City, took it to
A MAN survived his bid to commit suicide at the hands of an armed police officer because the bullet was off target and missed his body. David Bates deliberately ignored repeated warnings to drop his handgun which resulted in the Northumbria Police armed
THE run-up to Christmas is going to be a busy one for members of Leyburn Band. They will be out in the town’s market place on December 12 and 19 playing Christmas carols. On December 14 they will be performing at the 6pm carol service
THOUSANDS of pounds raised during a two-day feast of shopping were handed to charity yesterday. Organisers of the Durham Shopping Extravaganza presented the Hartlepool and District Hospice, the Parkinson’s Disease Society and Sunderland AFC Foundation
ORGANISERS of a Santa Stroll for which more than 100 people dressed as Father Christmas are hoping it will become an annual event. Parents in Santa costumes walked around the historic centre of Durham City during the event, taking in Durham Castle and
Ace combat six is the latest in a series of Ace combat games. The Ace combat games are games that allow you to experience being a fighter pilot. This being the first Ace combat game I have played has given me a good impression. In this particular game
When I was younger I never made a deal of what I wore, it grew on me as I got older , I think teenage kids are more obsessive about what they wear than any other age groups specially in this generation. I personally like fashion because its shows what
A LEADING North-East academic has urged people to take more responsibility for their own health if they want to enjoy access to free NHS healthcare. Professor Martyn Evans, from Durham University’s School of Medicine and Health, argues that patients
In the last year, there has been a new chain restaurant opened in Teesside Park called Pizza Express. They have chains already opened in Darlington, Middlesbrough and other towns and cities round the U.K. and I went to the new restaurant to see
NewBlood started in 2007. At the moment it is a monthly event, but it used to be fortnightly. It is basically a gig where many un-known bands from around the UK try out to see if they are liked. There is usually 3 bands every gig. The age range
FORMER England and Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson was granted the freedom of his home city of Durham today. The honorary award, which grants the footballing legend the right to graze his sheep in the city, was made in recognition of his services
BOXING and sporting fans are rushing to get their hands on tickets for a dinner featuring undefeated world champion Joe Calzaghe. Tickets for the sportsman's dinner in February have been on sale for little more than a week, but have already attracted
YOU know when a car company figures it’s at a distinct disadvantage to its rivals when they load their vehicles with more gifts than you’ll find under Brooklyn Beckham’s Christmas tree. Take the Dodge Journey. When your target audience is drivers
UNTIL recently, you couldn’t buy a compact, up-market cabriolet then, almost simultaneously, BMW and Audi unveiled premium rag-tops. With prices of the bigger 3-Series and A4 soft-tops starting at more than £26,000 (more than £30,000 in the
RESIDENTS have been shown how to cope if winter weather means a power cut over the festive season in North Yorkshire. Shoppers in Northallerton have been shown how to arm themselves against the threat of a winter power cut by CE Electric UK. The electricity
POLICE have warned about the illegal use of off-road motorbikes after a rider and his pillion passenger suffered broken bones in a collision with a car. The pair, thought to be aged 37 and 19 respectively, were riding along Estoril Road South, in
Hartlepool United 0 Yeovil Town 0 AS Hartlepool United supporters turned their official club calendars to the final month of 2008, they were greeted with an unfamiliar face: Jan Budtz is Mr December. Six days on and the goalkeeper made
Public transport around Cockfield isn’t to bad these days. In years gone bye, it was a different story. The busses were quite infrequent, and there wasn’t to many taxies about. In the days before the pubs were open ‘All Hours’, a popular day out
POLICE who found hundreds of pounds worth of cocaine during a raid were told by its owner: "It's all for me - I've had a good day at the bookies." Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday that Mark Weston claimed he had "treated himself" on the morning of
A PLAN to extend a gliding club has angered locals near Thirsk who fear it will mean extra flights causing a noise problem. The Yorkshire Gliding Club, on Sutton Bank, wants approval to clear trees to create a storage area at its site. It aims to store
SHEEP shelters and hay barns are to come under the spotlight - in the first-ever survey of its kind in the Yorkshire Dales. Traditional farm buildings will be mapped, measured and photographed in an ambitious survey by the National Park Authority and
FC Twente coach Steve McClaren has denied reports linking him to the vacant managerial position at Premier League side Sunderland. Reports suggested that McClaren could be set for a return to England after Sunderland manager Roy Keane resigned on Thursday
Basketball in association with Game Time National Senior Middlesbrough Lions 82-66 York Vikings National Junior U15 Middlesbrough Lions 28-101 Sheffield Sharks Teesside Basketball LeagueDivision One Ormesby Tigers 107-50 Redcar Mariners
GREEN-thinking schoolchildren have been given an insight to one of the town's environmentally-friendly workplaces. The Student Loans Company opened the doors of its new £8.5m offices to pupils from Heathfield Primary School. A group
CHART-toppers McFly are heading north to appear in a major outdoor concert. The hugely popular band will be playing in a tree-lined auditorium in North Yorkshire on June 26 next year. And tickets for the concert, in Dalby Forest near
HUNDREDS of model railway fans made tracks for an annual exhibition at the weekend. Darlington Model Railway Club held a two-day exhibition featuring layouts from the region and across Europe at Darlington College. Event organisers said about 1,000
THE Football Association was today considering referee Mike Riley's report into his dismissal of Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear on Saturday. The FA have received Riley's version of events during an eventful conclusion to the Magpies 2-2 draw with Stoke,
TRANSPORT group Go- Ahead is the first public transport company to receive the Carbon Trust Standard after taking action on climate change to achieve a relative reduction of carbon emissions of 11 per cent. Carbon Trust’s Standard is the UK’s
A PAPER-THIN lighting breakthrough could be first used in public buildings in the North-East. The solid state lighting unveiled in County Durham could see a thin plastic sheet emit as much light as a conventional bulb when an electric current
BUSINESS leaders in the region last night welcomed news that HSBC is to make £1bn of extra funding available to support small businesses through the recession. The move was also warmly welcomed by Government ministers, who have been calling for
ONE of the largest North- East-based insurance brokers, which has interests in the marine sector, has been bought. Durham-based Arnott Commercial Insurance Services Ltd and Arnott Marine Ltd have been bought by brokers Giles Insurance. Arnott
A MAN cleared of a sex assault after proving he was sleepwalking has spoken out for the first time in a bid to block a change in the law. Mark Phillips was left devastated after he was jailed for three-and-a-half years in 2006 for groping a woman as
ON December 3, there was a loud knock at my front door. Thinking ‘who on earth would bang on the front in such a manner?’, I scrambled like a jet to open it. Standing at my doorstep was a uniformed, 40-something male from Southern Electric, who
IN his preview for the North- East Economic Forum which I chaired (Echo, Dec 5), Chris Lloyd correctly quoted me as saying the family farm I used to visit at Lynesack near Bishop Auckland, in County Durham, was the muckiest farm I had seen. Understandably
HUNDREDS of press releases are sent to The Northern Echo every day – by email, fax and post. Some are very good and end up in the paper. Most are rubbish and end up in the bin. But they all have to be checked by busy news editors. I know God loves
In the festive period incidents of drunken disorder are on the increase. Reporters Will Roberts and Jim Entwistle take to the streets to find out how police deal with alcoholrelated offences and what it is really like to spend a night behind bars
MAY I respond to the young lad from York who did not care for my opinions about Royalty (HAS, Dec 1)? Goodness, how far back do I go? I would go further back than Henry VIII, but this monster is not a bad place to start. The misguided Charles
THE Government seems to be surprised by banks’ reluctance to lend, despite its recent largess towards them. I am not. We are in a recession. That means banks do not see a huge number of viable lending opportunities. Of course, the Government
BELIEF in whether carbon emissions create any effect on global temperature is subject to our trust in those who are providing the arguments. As it’s Christmas, let me sympathise with my critics (HAS, Dec 4). Like myself, they have only 200 words
MICHAEL MARTIN, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has not covered himself in glory over the Damian Green affair. In particular, the way the blame for allowing the police to enter the Commons has been shovelled onto the Speaker’s junior official
Geraldine McEwan is stepping down as Miss Marple, but makes one last appearance. The veteran actress tells Ben Falk about her love of the super sleuth, and why she felt it was time to hand over the baton. IF you think that the real-life Geraldine
FORMER Sunderland boss Peter Reid has admitted he's ready to make a shock return to The Stadium of Light. Reid who currently coaches the Thailand national team has expressed his interest in the vacant managerial position. The former
JOE Kinnear has confirmed that Argentinian Lucas Mareque is one of his top transfer targets for January. The Newcastle manager has drawn up his January transfer targets and has made a new left-back a priority to provide competition for Jose Enrique
A POLICE officer allegedly caught advertising herself on an escort website appeared in court today charged with misconduct in a public office. Victoria Thorne, 28, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, was in the dock alongside four others at Newcastle Magistrates
ANTONY Sweeney wasn’t afraid to admit that his side was lacking in a bit of quality on Saturday. Hartlepool United played out a goalless draw with Yeovil and, with James Brown sidelined for the season with knee ligament damage and Joel Porter
WITHOUT Michael Owen’s goals this season, Newcastle would be bottom of the Premier League. And with the striker claiming that the ‘turmoil’ at St James’ Park has prevented him signing a new deal with the club, Joe Kinnear continues to face the
WITH “more than 30 serious applications” to sift through ahead of a board meeting on Wednesday, Niall Quinn has told Ricky Sbragia he is almost certain to be in charge of Sunderland for next weekend’s crucial home game with West Brom. Having
DWIGHT Yorke has expressed his “shock, surprise and sadness” at Roy Keane’s unexpected departure from Sunderland, but the veteran midfielder feels that in Ricky Sbragia and Neil Bailey, the club has been left in capable hands. Yorke’s capture
MIDDLESBROUGH are considering launching an appeal to the Football Association against the red card shown to defender David Wheater in his side’s defeat at the KC Stadium. He was dismissed by referee Steve Tanner six minutes from time for hauling
IT was a crisp December evening, and Roy had nothing to do. He had spent the afternoon in the fields, walking Triggs alone, and as the clock ticked to 5.30pm, he thought about flicking on the television to watch the football. He could have been
TWO brothers attacked a man outside a nightclub after trouble on the dance floor, a court heard. Daniel Howard, 27, needed metal plates put into his face after suffering a fractured cheekbone in the beating. His attackers, Daniel Barnett, 23,
A ROBBER who held a Stanley knife to the throat of a man who was walking with a nineyear- old girl has been locked up. Neil Sorby was jailed for six years and eight months for two street attacks in the space of a month in Hartlepool. His accomplice
TWO years after receiving controversial stem cell injections in Holland, a North-East multiple sclerosis sufferer says he is still feeling the benefits. Kevin Cooper, 50, of Crook, County Durham, was able to walk more easily and felt more energetic
THOUSANDS of people enjoyed a city’s annual Christmas festival. Live music, street entertainment and seasonal shopping was on offer as the Durham Christmas Festival took over much of the city centre for the weekend. There were performances by Bearpark
A £2.75M scheme that breathed new life into a former train station was one of four projects in the region to earn recognition in a national rail awards ceremony. The revitalised former station, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, beat competition from
FOR many children, the magic of Christmas is all about Santa Claus, reindeer and presents under the tree. However, for one little boy, the festive season is more about giving instead. Seven-year-old George Mordue, from Darlington, has for the
A MAN has been charged with murder following the stabbing of a woman. Shirley Elliott was discovered with multiple stab wounds outside her home in Hazel Grove, in the Leam Lane area of Gateshead, on Thursday night. The 43-year-old died after
A JUDGE has weighed into the knife crime debate, saying that the public are right to be concerned about young men who arm themselves while drinking. Sentencing a teenager to eight months behind bars, Judge Christopher Prince said: “The public
HANDS off our accident and emergency services. That was the message from more than 800 protestors who filled Bishop Auckland’s Market Square on Saturday. Banner-waving protestors cheered as speaker after speaker denounced proposals to strip Bishop
A BID to save small shops by keeping cigarettes on open display has been launched by some of the region’s MPs, to the fury of health campaigners. Six Labour MPs in the North-East have urged Gordon Brown to abandon plans to ban prominent displays
LYCEANA is one to note as she makes her handicap debut for Michael Jarvis at Lingfield today. The Newmarket handler sends this three-year-old for the Alex Lawrence Memorial Handicap following her maiden win over a mile at Great Leighs last month
Overmach Parma 14 Newcastle Falcons 20 NEWCASTLE Falcons director of rugby Steve Bates praised his side’s battling qualities after they overcame atrocious conditions to grind out a crucial European Challenge Cup win in Parma. Falcons outscored
ENGLAND will resume their tour of India – and take a fullstrength squad, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed last night. The players were briefed on the latest security update in Abu Dhabi yesterday before confirming they would return
DARLINGTON have hit back at departed coach Kevin Robinson’s claims that they have gone behind his back to recall Craig Lee. The club say they were considering Lee as one of their options to step in during the six-week ban Robinson had been handed
HUNDREDS of North-East savers face an uncertain Christmas after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) froze a credit union's activities. People hoping to make withdrawals from South West Durham Credit Union (SWDCU) are instead receiving letters setting
PUPILS showed off their model behaviour when they took to the catwalk to raise money to help battle teenage cancer. More than 40 students from Polam Hall School, in Darlington, modelled a range of casual and formal outfits from high street
