Two robbers got away on a motorbike with a large quantity of cash after raiding a bank this morning. One member of staff had to be taken to hospital after being sprayed with what is believed to be ammonia by one of the raiders. The pair
GUY Wilks achieved his goal by finishing in a points-scoring sixth place on the Rallye Monte Carlo. Having celebrated his 29th birthday during the event, the Darlington-driver scored three points to make an encouraging start to his 2010 Intercontinental
Government education advisor Pat Glass has today been selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for North West Durham. She was chosen by Labour Party members from an all-woman shortlist following the decision by current MP Hilary
CONTRACTORS have been appointed to rebuild a secure children's home in the region once dubbed the UK's toughest, at a cost of £13.9m. The 38-bed unit will replace Aycliffe Young People's Centre, on the A167 near Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, with modern
BARRY ROBSON has failed to make a recovery from a hamstring problem in time to make his home debut for Middlesbrough. But two fellow signings from Celtic, Chris Killen and Willo Flood, do start for Boro in a crucial Championship clash with fourth-placed
Hartlepool United lined up with the same team and same formation as they did at Charlton in midweek, as they this time faced Bristol Rovers. For their trip to the Memorial Stadium, Chris Turner stuck with the same 4-5-1 set-up that gave a much-improved
There are no surprises in the Darlington line-up for today's game at Crewe Alexandra. Following Tuesday's impressive win at Rotherham United, new Irish right-back Simon Madden has to make do with a place on the bench as manager Steve Staunton
SUNDERLAND manager Steve Bruce has made four changes for this afternoon's FA Cup fourth-round game at Portsmouth. Craig Gordon returns to the starting line-up for the first time since breaking his arm in last November's defeat at White Hart Lane. Michael
A PLAN by residents to buy their village pub has reached a crucial stage, as potential investors are urged to come forward with cash pledges. The George and Dragon pub, in Hudswell, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, was closed over a year ago
CHRIS Hughton has kept changes to a minimum fielding a strong line-up in today's FA Cup 4th Round tie against WBA. But Steven Taylor's knee problem forces a change in the back-four with youngster Tamas Kadar handed a chance to stake a claim
Stuart Arnold samples a little history on a break to the Mediterranean island of Menorca. THE British are coming! Today, that cry is more likely to be heard about tourists heading for Menorca’s marvellous beaches and wonderful coastline. But 300
ADRIAN Bevington, Boro boy and FA director of communications, headed homewards on Wednesday evening to talk to the North-East branch of englandfans. Just 17 turned up; probably there was football on television. A key part of his role
IN her second Spanish sleuthing adventure, Primavera Blackstone has to take the police pressure as the prime suspect for the slaying of a powerful councillor who had recently quarrelled with her. She has to move fast if she is to find the real
THE first in a series of five novels depicting the rise and fall of the Moghul Empire gets off to a rip-roaring start with the adventures of the founder, Babur. Forced to be a warrior since the age of 12, after the death of his father, he survives
JACK Nightingale’s career as a special police negotiator ends in a double tragedy. Nightingale resigns, becomes a private investigator and his life is going nowhere until his father kills himself in particularly bloody circumstances, leaving
REACHING into the darkest recesses of the human mind is something we are all guilty of sometimes. In Captured, Neil Cross takes us on that journey as the main character sets out to right all the perceived wrongs in his life before he dies.
The number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the start of the bloody campaign has reached another grim milestone. The Ministry of Defence confirmed last night that the 250th soldier had died in an explosion near Sangin, in central Helmand
DAVID Dimbleby attempts to tell Britain’s story through its art and objects – from the Iron Age to the Computer Age – in his new book The Seven Ages of Britain, to tie in with a primetime BBC series of the same name. The exquisitely illustrated
Playing Eva Cassidy is a huge challenge. But Sarah Jane Buckley might still be tempted to return to the soaps, she tells Viv Hardwick. SARAH Jane Buckley is appearing in her saddest role to date – sadder even than being written out of TV’s Hollyoaks
POLICE are investigating a robbery at the LLoyds TSB Bank at The Precinct, in Blaydon, Tyneside. Officers were called to a report of a disturbance at the Wesley Court bank just after 9am this morning. It is understood staff working inside
AND the award for services to arts coverage on ITV goes to… Melvyn Bragg. The South Bank Show slipped quietly away in the last week of the year with its last programme about The Royal Shakespeare Company. But that’s not quite the end of
The theme is agricultural as parishioners plough on with a tradition – and turn their swords on a bishop. IT was Plough Sunday, the time of year when farm workers traditionally returned to the straight and narrow after the Christmas merriment
I AM getting more and more angry– and scared – every day by how our so-called judges treat people who break and have no respect for the law, and the way they treat the law-abiding public, and also by the way our MPs are treating us as mugs. Just
CORUS made the fatal mistake of committing 80 per cent of its output to a single customer. When that customer cancelled the contract, the end was inevitable. Subsidising the wages costs is not the answer. Corus needs to find customers for its
I THINK most people would agree that going to war with Iraq was wrong, no matter the outcome of the Iraq Inquiry. This investigation must be costing many thousands of pounds while we, here in our area, are fighting to keep open a necessary newly-opened
THROUGH your column I would like to thank all the staff at the Scott and the Mowbray suites at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton. Not only were they very kind, but also they all did everything, from the specialist, Dr Hans van der Voet,
IN November, for the 15th year running, auditors refused to sign off the EU accounts. And, courtesy of Tony Blair’s naked, but failed attempt to grab the top job by giving away Margaret Thatcher’s hard fought rebate, our gross contributions will
ISLAM4UK promised a march through Wootton Bassett with demonstrators carrying 500 coffins to symbolise the Muslim victims of the war in Afghanistan. It then called it off, saying it had “successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan
OUR politicians still believe they can achieve their unrealistic renewable energy targets, but the Royal Academy of Engineering has now concluded that small wind turbines on the roofs of houses and offices are a waste of money. And the same applies
JIM Allan poses some pretty interesting questions about climate (HAS, Jan 14). The Royal Society and others state the following: ● The average global temperature has increased by 0.74C in 100 years. This is based on direct measurement, sea
I AGREE with columnist Peter Mullen that US President Barack Obama is all talk and no do (Echo, Jan 19). However, he is wrong to criticise President Obama for printing record amounts of new money. The UK government has done exactly the same, and
I WANT jobs returned to the UK, not a world-class company like Cadbury sold off to Kraft Foods of the US. How long will it be before the Cadbury jobs are exported abroad? I agree with our party leader Nick Clegg’s stance at Prime Minister’s Questions
AS I watch the nightly horrific scenes on TV, I realise how little I know about Haiti. How can a government crumble as quickly as buildings? What causes a country to be the poorest in the western hemisphere? So I’ve found a few pointers: Ayiti
WHEN Alastair Campbell gave his wholly unsatisfactory evidence to the Iraq inquiry earlier this month, he confirmed that Gordon Brown was at the heart of the decision-making which led to the war. It was hardly a surprising declaration from Mr
THREE teenagers were taken to hospital last night after their car clipped a kerb and crashed into a ditch. Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident which happened in Mallory Park Drive, Ripon, at 9.40pm on Friday evening. It is understood
A family crisis can quickly lead to homelessness. Lucy Richardson speaks to three men who have slept rough, but who are slowly rebuilding their lives. ASHOP doorway and two pieces of cardboard were what Robert Shaffer called home for ten years
BLAYDON have defused a potential row with neighbours Tynedale by arranging for their clash at Crow Trees to be put back a day to Sunday, February 28. The England Counties XV are playing an Ireland club XV at Stourbridge on the evening of February
ANDY Murray believes he is returning well enough to meet the giant-serving challenge of John Isner in the fourth round of the Australian Open. The fifth seed continued his charge through the early rounds with another straightsets victory as
Newcastle Falcons 20 Petrarca Padova 3 NEWCASTLE FALCONS clinched Pool Five of the Amlin Challenge Cup with a 20-3 victory over Petrarca Padova at Kingston Park last night. A first half penalty try and a late solo effort by Gcobani Bobo
ON a dreary afternoon the action at Catterick was highlighted by two cracking battles between representatives from the Howard Johnson and Brian Ellison yards. The score was one apiece with Ellison’s John Forbes obliging in the Richmond Beginners
PETIT ROBIN can lower the colours of Twist Magic in Ascot’s Victor Chandler Chase. Nicky Henderson’s sevenyear- old is one of the emerging talents in the two-mile field and enjoyed an excellent first season over fences. He was third in last
LITTLE-KNOWN Australian Rick Kulacz blazed 11 birdies in a nine-under-par 63 second round to snatch a one-shot halfway lead at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. The 24-year-old Perth native secured limited playing rights on the European Tour with
SCORING the opener and producing a man-of-the-match display in a shock away win isn’t a bad way to make your debut. That’s what Darlington’s Irish striker Tadhg Purcell achieved on Tuesday, putting Quakers ahead just 90 seconds into the second
MICKY HORSWILL: Fans love the FA Cup and are desperate for their team to do well. It is still a massive competition for everyone and the FA Cup can be a decent earner. In my opinion it is still a great competition to win. If the manager sends
HARTLEPOOL United’s first team squad will be at Victoria Park at 4pm on Monday to launch the club’s new away kit. The black and gold design was worn for the first time in the game at Leeds United on Boxing Day and again at Charlton Athletic
PETER Hartley may only be 21, but he has had enough for one lifetime of sitting around on the sidelines without a game to look forward to. Despite skippering Sunderland’s reserve side last season, the chances of a first-team spot were rare at
BENFICA are lining up a possible move for Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca. The Portuguese giants are keen to sign a left-back who can also play in left midfield, and sources in Lisbon claim Arca is one of a number of players currently under
As Steve Bruce masterminds Sunderland’s latest bid for FA Cup glory with today’s tie at Portsmouth, sports writer Andy Richardson reflects on the achievements of the last Tynesider to bring a piece of silverware to Wearside, courtesy of a new book released
BIRMINGHAM manager Alex McLeish has confirmed his interest in signing Rangers striker Kris Boyd. And he is closing in on the signature of Aston Villa midfielder Craig Gardner in a £3.5m deal. McLeish is normally reluctant to talk about potential
GARY NEVILLE and Carlos Tevez have been left in no doubt any repeat of this week’s unseemly arguments ahead of the Carling Cup decider at Old Trafford on Wednesday will not be tolerated. Neither Neville nor Tevez will face any action from the
NEWCASTLE’S attempt to sign Mike Williamson was on the verge of collapse last night after Portsmouth’s financial problems forced them to pull the plug on the defender’s proposed move. And with fears over the extent of Steven Taylor’s ligament
WOLVES boss Mick McCarthy has hit back at reports claiming he has had to stamp out a ‘‘gambling culture’’ at Molineux. McCarthy has slammed suggestions that four firstteam players and one youth team player had been ‘‘gambling too much’’ last
LEE CATTERMOLE has already experienced what it is like to embark on an FA Cup run, now the fit-again midfielder wants to taste another in the hope it might revitalise Sunderland’s season. It is a little over four years since Cattermole made his
NOLBERTO Solano has completed a move to Leicester. The Peruvian, who has made over 300 appearances in English football for Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham, has recently been on trial with the Foxes and trained with the first-team squad
A STEEL consortium, which put hundreds of Corus jobs in jeopardy when it pulled out of a major contract, tried to persuade the firm to mothball its threatened plant six months earlier. The international consortium, led by Italian firm Marcegaglia
LEADING North-East women’s club Chester-le-Street, hit by illness and injury are not expected to be able to field a team in today’s North of England Cross Country Championships at Blackburn. The Cestrians, who won the senior women’s team silver
A GOVERNMENT minister yesterday heard for herself plans for the North- East’s green industrial revolution. At Nissan’s Sunderland plant, Local Government Minister Rosie Winterton was told about plans to transform the region into a low carbon economy
A WARRANT has been issued for the arrest of a once notorious criminal following his non-appearance for sentence for his latest misdemeanour. Shaun McKerry, who as a prolific young offender earned the nickname Homing Pigeon Boy, failed to appear
PLANS to restore part of a derelict eyesore on the outskirts of a village are under threat after the developer responsible for the scheme went into receivership. Last year, Blackthorn Homes revealed plans to transform the front section of St Peter
A MAN who has travelled the world performing in juggling shows has made a film of his experiences. Luke Burrage, who grew up in Teesdale, County Durham, is a professional entertainer who works on cruise ships around the globe.
THE last man to lead Newcastle United out at Wembley was a Dutchman, and goalkeeper Tim Krul is aiming to emulate the figure who remains an icon in his homeland. Ruud Gullit’s star was still in the ascendancy with the Newcastle faithful when
THEY have a reputation for being one of the most stable football clubs in the country, yet the last three months have seen Middlesbrough’s world turned upside down. A managerial dismissal, a new boss suffering eight defeats in his first 12 matches
HUNDREDS of mourners gathered for the funeral of a devoted family man whose violent death stunned a North-East community. At the end of last month, the body of 56-year-old Jimmy Scaife was found on an isolated path near his home in Sunnydale
AN infuriated Steve Bruce last night accused Rafael Benitez of unsettling Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones in the Liverpool manager’s attempts to win an ongoing power struggle at Anfield. Before heading to Portsmouth for this afternoon’s FA Cup
ONE of the world’s leading ballet companies end their North-East tour this weekend. The Russian State Ballet and Orchestra of Siberia perform The Nutcracker today and tomorrow at Darlington Civic Theatre. Earlier this week, the company performed
A NIGHTCLUB has closed a month after being at the centre of a murder investigation following the death of a teenage soldier. The owners of Escapade, in Darlington, have decided to close after a drop off in trade – but have not ruled out re-opening
A THEATRE company faces closure unless more people get behind it, according to its managers. Despite spending tens of thousands of pounds on vital improvements to Sunderland’s Royalty Theatre, the company is finding it increasingly hard to
THREE North-East hospital trusts are among the ten worst in the country for discharging patients in a malnourished state, according to a controversial report. Figures released by the Conservatives showed that the number of patients leaving English
A TEENAGER has beaten off tough competition to see his rug design go into production. Stephen Hall, 15, who attends Ian Ramsey CE School, in Stockton, was one of dozens of pupils who took up the challenge to design a rug for The Funky Rug
FRIGHTENED drinkers barricaded themselves into a pub after a man began battering the walls with a metal dumbbell bar and making threats, a court heard. Drunken Matthew Aaron Brown was later shot with a Taser gun by police who believed he was
A PAIR of huge hands held in a loving clasp have been created by a North-East sculptor for the Gretna Green wedding venue. The piece by Ray Lonsdale, called The Big Dance, was commissioned by the owner of the Old Blacksmith’s Shop as a centrepiece
TWO fathers have died nearly two months after a head-on road accident. The crash happened on the A690 near Brandon, County Durham, on Wednesday, November 18. Kenneth Horsman, from Chester-le-Street, suffered chest and internal injuries and never
WHY did Clare Nicholls, her brother, Simon, and her lover, Steven Martin, beat to death her boyfriend and the father of her youngest child? Why did victim Andrew Gardner stay in the house until he died, and not seek help to stop the torture at
A MAN responsible for the welfare of vulnerable North-East children has been struck off as a social worker for sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl. Convicted paedophile Dwight McGuire worked in Darlington for four years, although his offence
THE winner of The Northern Echo’s Giant Christmas Champagne Crossword has been revealed. Lyn Walton, from Westgate, County Durham, said: “I can’t get over it. It is the best news I have had all year.” Mrs Walton, 63, was a district nursing sister
FRAUDSTERS with links to organised crime may have conned thousands of people before a sophisticated cardskimming device was discovered at a cash machine. Police seized the device from a machine outside a supermarket this week, but fear it could
A BOGUS lawyer who fleeced thousands of pounds out of vulnerable immigrants hoping to stay in the UK has been jailed for 15 months. Teesside Crown Court was told that Cephas Matanhire was a charlatan, while a probation report described him
