THE occupant of a flat had to be led to safety by firefighters after a blaze at a block of flats in Hendon, Sunderland. A total of 16 firefighters were called to the block of flats in D'arcy Court around 5.50pm on Thursday. The fire was in the kitchen
POLICE closed off the A171 Middlesbrough Road at Guisborough, North Yorkshire on Thursday night after an accident. The road was closed in both directions around 9pm as a result of the incident which occurred between the A173 and the A1043 near the town
A CEREMONY in Darlington to mark the arrival of the Tall Ships to the region went off with a bang - quite literally. Around 7pm on Wednesday night two huge explosions reverberated across the town, causing windows to rattle, birds to scatter
AN ambitious festival showcasing music and green living has been cancelled because of poor advance ticket sales. The Green Phoenix Festival was to have been held from Thursday to Sunday August 19 to 22 on the National Trust's Gibside Estate, near Gateshead
Stars: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz and Peter Sarsgaard Running time: 109 mins Rating: ★★ IT begins so promisingly. Car restorer June Haver emerges from the toilet on her flight to find fellow passenger Roy Miller has killed everyone else
All that purring and barking is just to distract us from what’s really going on, as Steve Pratt discovers. ONE of the big attractions for actors to voice characters in Cats And Dogs 2: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore, was the chance to make a movie
BIG BOI has revealed that there is another OUTKAST album in the pipeline. The artist, who makes up the award-winning duo with Andre 3000, said: “I can’t give a complete date. I don’t want people to get mad. But soon as Dre finishes his album,
British actor Paul Bettany is flying high as an angel in the new DVD release Legion. He says he chose the role because he loves horror movies – and liked the director’s choice of sneakers. Steve Pratt reports. AFTER playing a killer monk
FAITHLESS have admitted they will be considering their future after their current tour. The dance music legends, who have been going for 15 years, are currently on a world tour and while keyboard diva Sister Bliss said she hoped the band would
IN a week when the venerable Guardian newspaper declared, somewhat belatedly, that “Folk is hip again”, there are two notable events happening in the region, which should provide a strong attraction for folk fans and the general public
WHAT’S ON Tomorrow the Savannah Jazz Band, Saltburn Community Centre, 01287 624622. CD REVIEWS Phronesis/Alive (Edition Records EDN1021) This stimulating new trio was one of the groups featured in Loop Collective’s Showcase at this year’s Gateshead
REVIEWS Chopin Piano Concerto No1 (Naxos 8.572335) Pianist Eldar Nebolsin and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra present a scintillating account of Chopin’s youthful work, which is dominated by the brilliant piano part the teenage performercomposer
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody and REM guitarist Peter Buck have joined forces to create another supergroup, and Andy Welch and Polly Weeks discover this is one Tired Pony which still has a kick. THERE are certain terms in music which instill
FROM time to time you come across something musically different and I can remember the uniqueness of the sound that Steve Earle gave us with Guitar Town. I have just experienced a similar feeling after taking a listen to a new outfit from Denver
AS love rat scumbags go, Lewis Archer is up there with that chap who tried to push Rita under a tram in Blackpool. He’s an escort, a man who takes out women for money, just a gigolo – as those who’ve been following activities in Coronation Street
Life takes a comedic turn for Rafe Spall – son of veteran actor Timothy – in Channel 4’s new comedy drama Pete Versus Life. Susan Griffiths catches up with him. ASIDE from the now infamous vuvuzela, the constant din of recent months has been
YESTERDAY’S monsoon did not last long enough for Durham as play resumed at 11.30 this morning at Basingstoke and less than 90 minutes later they were 40 for four. Only Gordon Muchall of the top five reached double figures and he was still there on 36
A Durham business that was hard hit by the economic downturn during early 2009, still managed to stay in profit and secured a major public contract, after investing in its workforce and targeting new markets with the help of Business Link. Reprotec
Jacques Rudolph has scored a brilliant century to keep Yorkshire’s hopes of saving their County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Headingley firmly alive. The 29 year-old South African has notched his third century of the season, passing
POLICE are investigating an assault on a woman in Bishop Auckland town centre which occurred this afternoon. The 31-year-old was attacked outside the Internacionale store, on Newgate Street, at about 2pm. She suffered facial injuries as a result of
A leading firm of chartered accountants, which has invested in staff training since its launch, has continued to demonstrate its commitment to people development throughout the downturn with the help of funding support from Business Link.
By Chris Simpson of Business Link The internet is playing an increasingly important role in the way in which products and services are purchased. For any business, the internet is an excellent way to interact with potential and existing
By Richard Asquith Any employer will know that finding skilled staff can be a challenge. One way of building a team of employees with relevant experience and skills is to embark upon an apprenticeship programme. Apprenticeships can be a very
A TEENAGER is facing a jail sentence for biting off part of his half-brother's ear during a fight after a family birthday party. Stuart Curtis, 17, attacked 20-year-old Michael Wilson on the doorstep of his home in Darlington on January 31, a court was
Journalist Helen Blakesley, who left the North-East to live in West Africa two years ago, explains what it’s like to live in Senegal’s beautiful, but infuriating capital. I LIVE in a country where a man can have four wives. Legally.
When starting up it is vital to take time to consider the finances needed to get your business off the ground, how you will raise these funds and how you will manage your finances as your new venture grows. Here Business Link’s Mark David provides
After a devastating accident left successful businesswoman Veronica Harnett unable to return to work, she decided to turn her hobby of cake making and passion for fairly traded products into a thriving business after getting the right mix of training
By David Dixon Getting a small business off the ground can seem like an uphill struggle at times, especially in the current challenging economic climate. That is why it is crucial to seek support and guidance to ensure that your idea or enterprise can
Starting a business is a big decision for anyone and having the appropriate support can be the difference between success and failure. Business & Enterprise North East (BE-NE) which delivers a wide portfolio of support services in the region, including
The family of killer Michael Ridley who ended the life of hero soldier Staff Sgt Chris Chacksfield with one-punch have apologised to his family after revealing their own personal tragedy. Michael’s parents, Michael senior and Sheila, and his aunt
Dalton and Gayles annual Summer Fayre and Produce Show takes place on Saturday 21st August from 12 noon. There will be a BBQ, (starting from 12:30), a licensed bar, and stalls including Phoenix Cards and Usborne Books. The Duck Race
Holmedale Preschool walked from Mainsgill Farm shop to Ravensworth Village Hall on their sponsored toddle, raising an amazing £400 for Barnardos.
THE highly talented youngsters of the Gala Theatre Stage School have scored another hit with their latest and biggest production yet, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Featuring many favourite songs from the film, the story is well known. I had
THIS is a massive undertaking in an unusual theatrical venue – a disused medieval church. York Shakespeare Project not only tackles one of Shakespeare’s most complex plays (two plays, if we’re being strictly accurate), but opts to stage it in
This was a great success, raising over £900 for the charities supported by the National Garden Scheme and £500, from the teas, for Kirby Hill Church. 279 people came to look round the garden. Judith Hutchinson would like to thank everyone involved
EastEnders (BBC1, 7.30pm) Mistresses (BBC1, 9pm) Police, Camera, Action! (ITV1, 9pm) AFAMILIAR face returns, if only temporarily, to East- Enders and she doesn’t get a very warm welcome. Fill the Fug’s former moll Lisa gets a slap round the chops
FAMILIES have been invited to a packed programme of free events at an east Durham beauty spot this summer. A whole host of family activities has been planned at Castle Eden Dene National Nature Reserve, near Peterlee from Wednesday August 11 to Wednesday
FIVE workmates are preparing to take part in a charity skydive. Sarah Cairns, Rahul Nadkarni, Ben Raines, Jamie Short and Rhys Faulkner Watford will sky dive from 10,000ft in aid of St Cuthbert’s Hospice, in Durham. The five all work at the city’s Radisson
VOLUNTEERS will need strong teeth, a healthy appetite and a love of sweetcorn if they choose to take up a competitive challenge this weekend. A prize of £1,000 is on offer in a contest to find Britain’s supreme corn-on-the-cob eater who can beat the
A COFFIN manufacturer has taken on 20 more staff and seen its turnover increase by £1m in the past year, following expansion. JC Atkinson and Son, based in Washington, Wearside, has established a wholesale business alongside its primary manufacturing
THE Tall Ships Races, which come to Hartlepool this weekend, are expected to continue a bumper year for the region’s guesthouses. There has been an increase in bookings in the Tees Valley on Sunday of 40 per cent compared to last year, to 59 per
BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable should “come clean” about whether any deal to buy a mothballed Corus plant is imminent when he visits the region today, a political rival claimed. Speculation was rife on Teesside yesterday that Mr Cable’s visit
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP and BP defied wider market falls yesterday as investors cheered good news from the bluechip duo. The bank posted forecast- beating first-half profits of £1.6bn, while oil giant BP has finally plugged its catastrophic Gulf
THERE are times when your teenagers drive you to breaking point. You shout. You scream. You threaten. It’s not a pretty sight. I should know, because I’ve had a particularly sorry episode played back to me on film after my 11-yearold, who was
A powerful odour, an eerie shadow, but no sight of the macabre matelot in Middlesbrough Town Hall. OSCAR NEVIN was a drunken sailor. Whatever they may have done with him, he saved them the trouble by committing suicide in his black-stinking police
IN difficult times when “good news” stories are hard to find it was a joy to read of Marie Miracle Seignon and her eight-month-old baby, Landina (Echo, July 29). Reunited last week in London – months after Landina was believed to have died during
COLUMNIST Peter Mullen is off on his hobbyhorse yet again (Echo, Aug 3). The BBC is run by a gang of lefties giving us a “relentless barrage of political bias” (stand up John Simpson and Nick Robinson, for example). In most people’s eyes the BBC
BEHIND the scenes, in India and Thailand, there seems to be progress in selling Redcar’s mothballed Corus plant. This is good news. Today Business Secretary Vince Cable returns to Redcar, having last visited the seat during the election. He told
SCHOOLS will crumble, a futile war kills and maims and hundreds of thousands will be thrown on the dole – yet the Con-Lib Dem coalition sails merrily on. But throw in a row about an issue few people care about and neither of the parties truly wants
THE worst floods in 70 years in north-west Pakistan have left almost a million affected – among them hundreds of thousands of children. Critical water and sanitation facilities have been damaged, raising the possibility of outbreaks of disease
SKY News reporter Tim Marshall has finally revealed the astonishing truth about Gaza in a recent report. He filmed new cars being imported via the extensive network of enormous tunnels under the border with Egypt. He also revealed how new swimming
THE meting out of justice has been debated many times in HAS over the years, but has there ever been a more disturbing travesty than that highlighted by two reports in Tuesday’s edition of The Northern Echo? Your front page told of the five-year
IF whoever cut Soham murderer Ian Huntley’s throat had done a proper job there would not be a claim for compensation from him – but I think they should give him the £100,000 he is asking for. Then divide the money in half and give it to the families
Bright lights in the sky, a mysterious triangle and ‘a great black craft glowing with light’ – just some of the UFO sightings reported to the Ministry of Defence from across the region. Stuart Arnold takes a closer look at the files. THE truth is out
GRAEME SWANN will be delighted with another James Anderson “benefit” as England hope for an action-replay victory over Pakistan in the second npower Test at Edgbaston tomorrow. Swann, England’s cricketer of the year and such a rich source of
STEVE HARMISON yesterday questioned the wisdom of staging first-class cricket on club grounds after a torrential downpour rapidly turned Basingstoke’s May’s Bounty into a lake. Play was instantly abandoned with Hampshire having added 48 in 11
ARTS venues, sports centres and parks in Darlington face potential closure because of funding cuts, the council has warned. People wishing to support services and groups are advised to establish friends groups to raise funds. The warning has been
YORKSHIRE off spinner Azeem Rafiq has been handed a month-long suspension by the ECB for his infamous Twitter rant at England under-19s boss John Abrahams. Rafiq was dropped from the second Test against Sri Lanka at Scarborough last week after
ANDREW GALE last night described his most difficult day as Yorkshire’s captain as a brilliant David Hussey double ton put Nottinghamshire in complete charge of this LV County Championship match at Headingley. To coin a good old Australian phrase
THERE'S a new push from the Middlesbrough Supporters South and James Nugent, recently elected to the committee, is keen to publicise the branch's relaunch. WELCOME to the new MSS - viva la Southern Revolution. Back in 1975, a handful of Southern-based
A CHANCE meeting has resulted in a teenage cancer patient receiving potentially lifesaving treatment worth £22,000. The family of Christopher Wilson, 18, from Harrogate, were trying to raise that amount so he could have a new form of radiosurgical
A VOLUNTEER train driver has bought his own steam locomotive. The locomotive, one of the last to be built for British Rail, has begun operating once again 45 years after it was condemned. British Railways 9F locomotive 92214 will run on the North
SCHEMES to deliver more than 500 badly-needed affordable homes across the region hang in the balance – and will learn their fate within weeks. The 11 projects – worth a total of £19.61m – were all put on ice when the Government said it had found
A PRISON inmate suffering from cancer died after a series of failures and neglect, an inquest has ruled. James Yarnell was wrongly given deadly doses of two chemotherapy drugs as treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The 32-year-old armed robber,
JORDAN HENDERSON has received a maiden call-up into the England Under-21 squad for next Tuesday’s friendly with Uzbekistan. The Sunderland midfielder is one of four new caps named in Stuart Pearce’s squad for the game at Ashton Gate.
ROCHDALE are hoping increased interest in highlyrated defender Craig Dawson will force Middlesbrough in to matching their £1m valuation. Boro have been on the trail of the 20-year-old all summer but have refused to increase their £400,000 offer
Newton Aycliffe 1 Darlington 2 DARLINGTON needed a lastminute goal from Paul Grainger which gave them a narrow win at Newton Aycliffe in front of a bumper crowd last night. Quakers featured senior players Tommy Wright, Chris Senior and Chris
SIMON Mignolet has admitted he will be taking a step into the unknown if he starts Sunderland’s opening game of the season against Birmingham, but the untried 22-yearold insists he is ready to rise to the challenge. Black Cats boss Steve Bruce
IT was the letter dozens of families in County Durham had been dreading: telling them exactly when their elderly relatives must move from their care homes. Durham County Council’s letters arrived yesterday morning on the doormats of many families
A FAMILY have spoken of their heartbreak after it was confirmed the body of a woman found in a river is that of Leanne Chambers, who vanished more than five months ago. Her mother, Val Chambers, spoke after DNA results proved what police and
A FRAUDSTER who stole thousands of pounds from his stepfather’s building society account only days after being spared prison was yesterday locked up for six months. In February, magistrates gave habitual criminal John Weatherill, 45, a community
THE police officer shot by fugitive gunman Raoul Moat has revealed how a vision of his children saved his life. PC David Rathband said he knew he was bleeding to death after he was shot in the face as he sat unarmed in his patrol car last month
A SMALL crowd cheered as the first Tall Ship arrived in a North-East town yesterday. The Spanish Bermudan sloop Hansa sailed into Hartlepool Marina shortly after 9am to the sound of sirens and applause from about 20 spectators. The 60ft Class
A DISQUALIFIED driver who put the lives of his children at risk while drunk at the wheel has been allowed to walk free in the hope he will become a better father. Dean Todd was nearly twice over the limit when he flagged down a police patrol
NEWCASTLE remain hopeful of signing Hatem Ben Arfa despite failing in an initial attempt to land the French midfielder on loan earlier this week. But the Magpies are set to miss out on another of their leading transfer targets after Bolton boss Owen
ONE lucky ticketholder was more than £11m richer today after winning the mid-week Lotto jackpot, Camelot said. Wednesday's winning numbers were 43, 38, 14, 17, 22, 24 and the bonus number was 21. Set of balls three and draw machine Lancelot were used
