THOUSANDS of North-East familes are facing a miserable Christmas because snow has disupted the delivery of presents. A backlog of around four million parcels has developed as private carriers struggle to overcome delays caused by the snow and
TICKETS for a show featuring south Durham youngsters and established TV stars have sold out. Several high profile actors from shows including Coronation Street, Waterloo Road and Shameless will take to the stage at the Mainsforth Institute in Ferryhill
A water healer, stainless steel sink and copper piping were taken from the kitchen of a disused community centre. The break-in took place some time between December 11 and 6pm on December 14 at the former Friend’s Mission Hall in Gibson Street, Close
CHILDREN have been bridging the gap as they set their sights on the next phase of their education. Primary age children from across the region were given a taste of life at senior school at a special event designed to ease the transition. Barnard Castle
A 15-year-old boy was punched in the side of his head by another teenager when he was walking his Jack Russell dog in Bishop Auckland last week. Police are investigating the incident at Dale View on Wednesday December 8 at around 8.45pm and would like
A TOWN will end its winter gala with a lantern parade this weekend whatever the weather. Organisers of Spennymoor Winter Gala said the parade, which will feature lanterns made by school children from around the town over the past weeks, will start at
SOLDIERS from the region have won awards for their bravery and excellence at work in national awards held in London. The military were honoured in the third annual Sun Military Awards where the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were the guests
PLANS have been unveiled for a new rail station in east Durham - in a bid to boost tourist and job prospects in the area. Durham County Council’s cabinet will be asked next week to approve further consultation and investigation into proposals for the
Sunderland 7 Bolton 4 October 29, 1932 IT may not sound like a glamour tie, but when Sunderland take on Bolton, one thing you’re almost guaranteed to see is goals – and plenty of them. Last season, the Black Cats romped to their first
THE Honda Accord is one of the world's best-selling cars. Not that you'd know it. Car crazy customers buy millions of them in North America, Japan and China. Around the world, someone somewhere is buying an Accord every ten minutes or so. Yet over here
Durham City became the red carpet of the flooring world thanks to a succession of determined weavers keeping the tradition alive. DURHAM City’s Walkergate, on the east bank of the River Wear, just downstream from Framwellgate Bridge, was the location
The tallest monument in Hurworth churchyard leans at an angle that is becoming increasingly drunken with each passing year. This is ironic, really, as it was erected in 1861 by the local Temperance Society, which was so against alcohol in the village
THE Hairy Bikers get to the heart of homemade cooking with their new Mums Know Best At Christmas series which starts on Sunday at 8pm. Dave Myers and Washington-born Simon King have been on our screens for several years, travelling around the country
We serve this as a starter in our restaurant, but it is equally good as a main course/supper dish at home and again the risotto can be made in advance and then the scallops just seared off before serving. Delicious! The Rose & Crown: renowned
FRIENDS Paula Foster and Lisa Lambert are staging a Help for Heroes evening in Bishop Auckland on Saturday - with Lisa promising to shave off her hair on the night if more than £1,000 is raised. "Hair can grow back. Arms and legs can't," said Lisa, whose
Stand-up Kevin Bridges reckons he’d have to punch himself in the face if he gave up his Scottish roots for the London latte set. Viv Hardwick reports. KEVIN Bridges isn’t quite at his peak at the moment it appears. The standup explains: “I was
Viv Hardwick finds out how Christian Steel has forged a comedy career out of adversity. CHRISTIAN Steel is unusual because he’s a Royal Shakespeare Company member who became a stand-up comedian… out of necessity because a five-year fight with a
IF you’re aged 15-18, live in the North- East and have a passion for films then the Tyneside Cinema’s awardwinning film-making opportunity for young people is looking for you. The Newcastle-based cinema is now recruiting for Northern Stars 2011,
Cher, the performer with the ability it seems to turn back time, is prone to a little stage fright she says. Steve Pratt reports. THE last word you expect to hear Cher – the famous one not the young upstart from this year’s The X Factor –
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleitner, Cillian Murphy Running time: 125 mins Rating: ★★★ TWO colleagues who are both fans of the original Tron liked this belated sequel a lot. I just couldn
Viv Hardwick talks to Susan Hallam-Wright about her dream role of playing Peter Pan and all the interest in husband David Essex. WHILE Susan Hall a m - W r i g h t laughs about debuting in her dream role of boyish Peter Pan at the tender age
THESE south coast skasters return with a new album, and About Time too. Thirteen new tunes that make you feel happy. The fabulous ska pop tones of Doing Alright and Bloody Beautiful are just as cheerful as the Monty Python team, while the soothing
The UK ska stars release a live album that was recorded at their show at the 02 Arena in London last summer which includes the 2004 hit single Kiss On The Lips among a host of fabulous traditional ska and reggae tunes. Also included are delightful
WHAT’S ON: The Northern Sinfonia conducted by Mark Elder at The Sage Gateshead at 7.30pm tomorrow. Cellist Steven Isserlis performs Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Box office: 0191-384-4600. REVIEWS: Giya Kancheli, Themes from the Songbook (ECM New Series
TEN-year-old singer Willow looks to be following in her father’s (Will Smith) footsteps with this light-hearted pop number which is No 2 in the UK charts. Polly Weeks
SHAWN Randolph Houser, best known to country fans as Randy Houser, is still looking for that elusive number one record. In 2008 he charted the title track from his debut album, entitled Anything Goes, and followed on with his first Top Ten single
THERE’S a very busy week ahead for folk fans in the region, with a timely Christmas feel to most of the events, starting tonight when we bring our Winter Almanac show to Bishop Auckland Town Hall, featuring The Bad Pennies and myself, along with
Voice of The Kinks, Ray Davies, talks about re-visiting his hits with the help of newer artists. Andy Welch reports. RAY Davies is notoriously abrupt, and sometimes even difficult, so it’s no surprise when The Kinks frontman says he doesn’t mind
WHAT’S ON: Tomorrow Zoe Gilby’s Quintet at Darlington Arts Centre, 01325 486555. CD REVIEWS: Jason Robinson/The Two Faces of Janus (Cuneiform Records RUNE 311) Although he’s appeared on over 30 recordings I think this is the first time I’ve
The A-Team (12, 114 mins, Twentieth Century Fox, DVD 19.99/Blu-ray 24.99) COLONEL John Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson, pictured), Lieutenant Templeton Face Peck (Bradley Cooper), Captain Howlin Mad Murdoch (Sharlto Copley) and Sergeant Bosco BA Baracus
The Wallsend wit, Gavin Webster, is one of the best stand-up comedians on the circuit and he caps a fine year, which saw him contribute to BBC1’s Walk on the Wild Side, by headlining two gigs for Comedy Central Live. What’s your response to the
RESIDENTS of Coronation Street (ITV1) gather for a carol concert in honour of the recent victims of the tram crash. But something – someone, actually – introduces a bum note into the proceedings. Who’s that stepping out of a taxi? Good grief,
THE return of snow and ice this morning caught some of the region's rush hour drivers by surprise. Durham County Police said they had been busy this morning dealing with minor road accidents, especially in the Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor, Consett
A Christmas treat and a surprise discovery: John Wesley’s sweeping dismissal of the Zurbarans. CHRISTMAS is coming, time for the Coffee and Carols service – a festive treat, an annual indulgence – at Newbiggin-in-Teesdale Methodist chapel. Firstly
ABSENCE certainly does make the heart grow fonder, so it was with a soaring sense of excitement that I looked forward to bringing my “baby girl” home for Christmas. Having left to follow her dream at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance,
MY random notes made during Berwick Kaler’s 32th Theatre Royal pantomime give an indication of what to expect – stairlift, Mrs Nutt, spaceship, meerkat, sumo wrestler, Patricia the cow, Glee club, brain-washing machine, Lady Gaga, Laurel and Hardy
A BY-PRODUCT of having children is that you get to relive all those magical moments which, as an adult, you presume are now just distant memories. From building sandcastles in summer to sledging in winter, no one questions your carefree abandon
The Royal Variety Performance 2010 (BBC1);Dirk Gently (BBC4, 9pm); The House That Made Me (C4, 9pm). THE Royals must have been glad to take their seats at the London Palladium for the show after the little problem they encountered en route. I mean
UP to 35,000 additional jobs could be created if the threshold at which small firms start to pay VAT was increased. A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research shows that increasing the VAT threshold to £90,000, from the current
192.COM strongly objects to a story which implied that Facebook, Google Street View, 192.com and Four Square aid burglaries (Echo, Dec 13). This was based on a release from Legal and General which attempted to make paranoiainducing correlation
R E Dove (HAS, Dec 13) seems confused over what constitutes a syllable. The sounds y – e – s which he calls syllables are in fact phonemes. Phonemes may be used in combination to form syllables, which are similar to beats in music. He is mistaken
YESTERDAY I accompanied my wife to Darlington Memorial Hospital. She needed a plaster cast put on her arm after slipping on ice at Teesside Park, breaking her wrist in two places. After excellent treatment at the hospital, we decided to walk
HEAR All Sides, December 14, was a sorry mix of mostly right wing and reactionary nonsense. Take Des Moore, a correspondent who knows nothing of what is happening on the left or in the universities. Moore blames the Socialist Workers Party for
HOW strange that fairy tales sometimes seem as if they are coming true. The famous tale by Hans Christian Andersen of The Emperor’s New Clothes tells the story of a vain and stupid regent who thought himself a cut above everyone else. Such was
PURCHASERS of early Model T Fords could have any colour as long as it was black. Durham County Council’s licensing committee, in choosing white for taxis, seem to gone for the wrong colour. Shouldn’t it be “any colour as long as it is green
MY admiration for David Cameron as a canny political leader has grown after last week’s incendiary vote to hike university fees to £9,000 a year. After all, who else could get away with such a brutal mugging of generations of future students and
As the Christmas party season gets into full swing, the region’s emergency services are preparing to deal with Yuletide’s darker side. Health Editor Barry Nelson reports. EARLIER this month, on a street corner in snow and sub-zero temperatures
MPs were allowed to claim millions of pounds in expenses last year without providing proof of entitlement, it was disclosed yesterday. On another hugely embarrassing day for the House of Commons, the Auditor General refused to sign off its
TRIBUTES have been paid to a popular goalkeeper from the North-East who has died aged 24. Dale Roberts, originally from Horden, County Durham, was due to play for Rushden and Diamonds in their FA Trophy first round match against Eastwood Town
THERE is no doubt that there is waste to be cut from the management structure of the National Health Service, just as there are savings to be found in the tiers of local government. Our concerns lie with the pace and scale of the changes being
STAR novice Time For Rupert will be given an entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Festival in March. The six-year-old looks like going right to the top over the larger obstacles judged by his first two successes at Cheltenham, where he again
ADIL Rashid is one of four Yorkshire players to have been named in the England Lions squad for the twomonth tour of the West Indies next month. The 22 year-old leg spinning all-rounder joins Andrew Gale, Adam Lyth and Jonny Bairstow in the
FOUR weeks hard labour in Australia as a key member of England’s Performance Squad has helped Ben Stokes go back to the future. The Durham sensation has set his sights on becoming England’s premier allrounder on the next Ashes tour in four
RICKY Ponting knows he may be playing for his future as Australia’s Test captain over the next five days in Perth. The stakes could be no higher for the hosts, 1-0 down and one more defeat away from seeing England retain the Ashes with two
GROUP Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar believes the iconic name of Team Lotus should be allowed to rest in peace. Bahar’s comment is certain to stir the emotions of Tony Fernandes, the Malaysian entrepreneur who has rebranded his marque Team
DARLINGTON’S burgeoning youth team contains several players who could make the step up to the senior ranks at the end of the season, says manager Mark Cooper, who has commended the side’s FA Youth Cup exploits. The under-18s side faced Arsenal
SUNDERLAND striker Darren Bent has backed Alan Pardew to be a success at rivals Newcastle and believes he is the right man for the job despite being an unfavourable choice among the fans. Pardew was appointed Magpies boss and given a five-anda
Liverpool 0 Utrecht 0 LIVERPOOL may have given children free tickets for the Europa League tie against Utrecht at Anfield last night but even they will have felt short-changed by the disappointing goalless draw against Utrecht at Anfield. On
BRITON Jemma Lowe took silver in the 200m butterfly at the World Short Course Championships, in Dubai, yesterday. The 20-year-old, from Hartlepool, finished 0.35secs behind winner Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain, who took gold in a championship
WITH just three losses in their last 14 games, four wins from five and a place in the third round of the FA Cup in the bag, it’s little wonder confidence is high at Victoria Park. Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Yeovil earned Hartlepool United a trip
THE Scottish Football Association have confirmed that the Association of British Bookmakers are investigating irregular betting activity regarding the red card shown to Motherwell midfielder Steve Jennings in Tuesday’s Clydesdale Bank Premier
ANTON Ferdinand believes this season’s Premier League is the closest ever and hopes Sunderland can capitalise on that by finishing as high up the table as possible. The season has been full of unexpected results and the Black Cats have been
SUNDERLAND’S Tony Jeffries enjoyed a second round stoppage over Irishman Tommy Tolan in Belfast last night. Jeffries, 25, suffered a blip last time out when he ground out a disappointing draw with the unfancied Michael Banbula. That bout led
JASON Steele has admitted Middlesbrough’s tradition of bringing youth players through played a big part in his decision to sign a new long-term deal with the club. Despite rumoured interest from Premier League sides Aston Villa and Arsenal,
DOZENS of charities and voluntary groups across the North-East are facing closure, according to a report published today. Research by Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East (Vonne), reveals that at the same time demand for their services
FALLS among blue-chip banks pulled the FTSE 100 Index into negative territory yesterday after warnings of a possible ratings downgrade for debt-laden Spain. Barclays led the sector lower – down four per cent – on fears about its exposure to
PREMIER League footballers and some of the world’s most luxurious hotels are among the clients that have helped a North-East designer fireplace manufacturer hit record sales and nearly double its workforce. Newton Aycliffe’s CVO Fire is experiencing
A FORMER international gymnast is among more than two dozen newly-qualified firefighters to complete their training and head out to fire stations around the region. Becky Gordon, a 23-year-old from Hartlepool, represented Great Britain at gymnastics
HOPES that jobs can be saved at the region’s biggest advertising agency have been raised after the business was bought by a London-based plc. Some of the 90 staff who lost their jobs earlier this month when Robson Brown went into administration
A NORTH-EAST pharmaceutical company is expected to double its production capability with the acquisition of three European manufacturing sites. Newcastle-based Aesica will make its first expansion outside the UK when it completes deals with
WELDERS at a North-East shipyard will be working round the clock to fulfil a major order for an offshore oil field in Africa. A&P Tyne’s ship repair facility in Hebburn, South Tyneside, has secured a contract to build two subsea structures for
FEARS that the Government is about to backtrack on its plan to set up the Green Investment Bank (GIB) has prompted industry leaders to warn the move could be a major setback for the region’s low carbon economy. The North East Chamber of Commerce
A RURAL cheese maker has moved a step closer to realising its dream of securing protected food status, which would help to safeguard jobs and an 800-year-old legacy. The historic Wensleydale Creamery, in Hawes, North Yorkshire, has completed
A TEN-YEAR-OLD girl was left with a discarded syringe sticking in her cheek after falling over in a park. Abigail Whittall was playing with friends in the Piper Hill playground, near her home in Colburn, near Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire
PATIENTS, visitors and staff can visit to a hospital chapel to appreciate a Peace Light brought all the way from Bethlehem. Organised by Scouts from the fourth South Bank Group, the journey of the Peace Light started in Bethlehem, in the cave
FOREIGN visitors to the North-East spent more than £200m last year, a survey has revealed. In all, 429,000 people from abroad visited the North-East for a holiday in 2009, spending £203m, according to Visit Britain, the official body which
HEALTH trusts across the region were handed a funding boost yesterday after days of harsh cuts to councils, schools, police forces and transport projects. But the extra cash for primary care trusts (PCTs) – a rise of at least two per cent –
NEARLY £2m has been spent on an ambitious ecoproject which has been shelved, it was revealed yesterday. A Freedom of Information request has shown that £1,922,246 was pumped into plans for Eastgate Renewable Energy Village, at Stanhope, County
AN artistic primary school pupil has had his talents rewarded after winning a competition aimed at removing the stigma from mental health. Cameron Farr, of Alderman Leach Primary School, in Darlington, was chosen as the winner of the 14-andunder
NEW figures showing the North-East has the highest unemployment rate in the UK have prompted fresh calls for the Government to hand the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) to Hitachi. According to data released yesterday, there were 124,000 unemployed
AN ill wind has blown through Britain’s highest pub, taking with it an “irreplaceable” piece of television history. Staff at the Tan Hill Inn, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, are appealing for the safe return of the Everest feather and a framed
CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a £1.4bn waste incinerator were approved by councillors yesterday under the watchful eyes of police. Extra security measures were in place for the meeting of North Yorkshire County Council, after threatening letters
ABOUT 60 North-East boxing fans were involved in a brawl which broke out after an organised fight at the weekend. Police have condemned the violent scenes at Ferryhill Workingmen’s Club at about 3pm on Saturday, after the match. One man was
A MAN was last night arrested on suspicion of murder after the unexplained death of a baby from a North-East village. The 31-year-old was questioned by detectives under caution after the 13-month-old boy died in hospital on Saturday evening.
Shildon manager Gary Forrest said that his team was "unbelievable" in the first half against neighbours Bishop Auckland last night. Shildon were rampant in the first 45 minutes and tore Bishops apart, going into the interval 6-1 up, finally winning 7
