Retailers reported a sales bonanza as shoppers finally ventured out on a last-minute Christmas spending spree. Malls and supermarkets said they were predicting record sales for the day after witnessing queues for car parks and crowded stores. With many
A hapless drug dealer's attempt to escape police descended into comedy after he managed to get his legs tangled in the frame of his bike. Plain clothes officers spotted addict Jamie Lee McMaster taking part in a heroin deal in Stockton, on June 11.
MARION FANCEY is researching the family history with ties to County Durham. Ms Fancey was brought up in Hexham until the age of 13, when her father retired as deputy head postmaster at Hexham Post Office and the family moved to Berkshire. She is know
THE latest soldier killed in Afghanistan has been named as a 27-year-old father from Gateshead. Corporal Steven Thomas Dunn from 216 (Parachute) Signal Squadron, attached to 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment Battlegroup, was killed on Tuesday. He
IT is funny how Echo Memories’ stories from the dim and distant past still have a revelance today. For example, Sir John Duck was born in 1634, which is so long ago that even Durham City has all but forgotten him, even though he is supposed
WHEN Middlesbrough met Nottingham Forest on October 6, 1923, Herbert Bamlett’s Teessiders were struggling at the foot of the First Division. Now, 87 years later, Tony Mowbray’s side welcome Forest to the Riverside in a very similar position
Christmas is coming – but back in wartime things were different, with men away fighting in the war, children evacuated and women in the factories. FAMILIES were torn apart by the Second World War. The men were fighting in foreign fields, women
Christmas cards and diary of ‘Darlington’s Jane Austen’ give a fascinating insight into festivities for a North Edwardian family. ENID was the Jane Austen of Darlington. She lived and loved and soul-searched in great luxury 100 years ago –
Viv Hardwick finds out that new Darlington Civic Theatre signer Faye Alvi is a woman on a mission when it comes to ensuring the deaf have a great show. ALL eyes may not be on the Darlingon Civic Theatre actors when Faye Alvi does
Using his little grey cells, David Suchet tells Celia Paul why the latest episode of Poirot shows a darker side to the iconic murder story. THE transition from debonair, classicallytrained actor to eccentric detective involves all manner of props
Monsters, sharks, a honeymoon and a soprano, this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special is certainly pulling out the stops. Sarah Morgan steps into the Tardis to catch up with Matt Smith, Steven Moffat and Katherine Jenkins. THE Doctor Who Christmas
Ten years since Location, Location, Location first began, C4 presenters Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp tell Kate Whiting why they’ve come to truly appreciate one another. KIRSTIE Allsopp and Phil Spencer have got more reason than most to celebrate
John Hurt tells Susan Griffin that he feels it is impossible not to believe in the paranormal. PREPARE for a sleepless night after watching the chilling ghost story Whistle And I’ll Come To You on Christmas Eve. Based on the atmospheric Edwardian
Stars: Jack Back, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris O’Dowd, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Catherine Tate, James Corden (Boxing Day) 87 mins. ★★ WITH Jack Black starring in this new version of Jonathan Swift’s classic story you don’t expect
97 mins, now showing The third Meet The Parents movie finds hapless male nurse Gaylord “Greg” Focker (Ben Stiller) is blissfully in love with his wife Pam (Teri Polo) and his troublesome twins, Samantha and Henry. He’s considering a
Stars: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong. (opens Boxing Day) 132 minutes. ★★★★ AS suggested by the title of the memoir on which the film is based, The Long Walk: The True Story of A Trek To Freedom
Viv Hardwick talks to Lee Mead about switching from the West End stage and Wicked to his debut tour which is heading to the North-East next year. LEE Mead admits that he’s been incredibly busy in the past 12 months and not just because he now
WHAT’S ON: The Northern Sinfonia conducted by Alan Fearon perform Howard Blake’s to the classic animated film of Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman at The Sage Gateshead at 2pm today and at 11am and 2pm tomorrow. Box office: 0191-433 4661. REVIEWS: Durham
CD REVIEWS: Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya/Sotho Blue (Intuition INT34332) This same band appeared at the Gateshead Jazz Festival in March with a horn section of three saxophones and a trombone playing over a tasteful rhythm section. During the lengthy
AS we head towards the big event and there’s only a couple of shopping days left before we only our Christmas gifts I thought I’d recommend a few releases that you may want to add to your Christmas listening. you like trio sounds The Dixie Chicks
Steve Pratt catches up with actors big and small – Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Billy Connolly and James Corden – for the release of Gilliver’s Travels. GATHER together in a room a bunch of actors known for comedy and the result is a lot of laughing
BOOKENDED by snow, this year has certainly not been short of drama, as far as the local folk scene is concerned. Almost all of the local folk clubs have remained in business, despite the down-turn in the economy, and barring a few notable sad
Who really is going to make the music headlines next year. Andy Welch looks a little further than X Factor winner, Matt Cardle, to find out. ONLY last weekend, Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger demonstrated what a fickle business it is on X Factor
Michael Harrison is the Wallsend born and bred managing director of Qdos pantomimes which has forged highly successful partnerships with Darlington Civic Theatre and Newcastle Theatre Royal. Viv Hardwick asked him for his thoughts about the current
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (12, 107 mins, Universal Pictures, DVD £19.99/three-disc DVD Box Set £27.99/Blu-ray £24.99/Steelbook Blu-ray £27.99/three-disc Blu-ray Box Set £39.99) SCOTT Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is the 22-year-old bass guitarist with
ALL Janine wants for Christmas is revenge. She’d like love rival Stacey trussed up like a turkey (stuffing optional) and shoved in the oven for several hours on a high heat. Failing that, she’d like her behind bars. And she doesn’t mean the Queen
WHO would want to be Father Christmas? I have been supervising wish list letters to the jolly bearded man in the red suit for 19 years now and it doesn’t get any easier. For a start, there is always the must-have toy that it is almost impossible
INDIVIDUALS, schools, businesses and community groups are celebrating an early Christmas present after being nominated for the sixth Best of Darlington Awards. The 30 candidates who will compete for this year's honours have been revealed
The column looks back on an eventful year which included a meeting with the ‘Queen’, countless train journeys and a trip back to the old school on its centenary. SAVE for Garsdale railway station, 200 yards the foreign side of the North Yorkshire
POLICE today confirmed that a body found near to the River Tyne in Newcastle is that of missing student Duncan Gibbon. The body of the 21-year-old Edinburgh University physics undergraduate was spotted on an embankment near to the High Level Bridge,
Being Ronnie Corbett (BBC1, 9pm);Street Market Chefs (Five, 7.30pm); Demolition: The Unsinkable Ship (Five, 8pm). CELEBRITY pals love Ronnie Corbett, but the pint sized comic is still at a loss to explain his appeal after all these years. “People
PETER J Brown is right to point out that it is not only the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party which is open to criticism over the hike in tuition fees (HAS, Dec 14). It was Labour who introduced fees which had to be paid up front. Deferred
AFTER years of the European Union’s political correctness campaign trying to destroy Christmas, we now have to endure an attack on that mainstay of the British Christmas, that weapon of mass destruction, the humble cracker. European Directive
I AM trying to find any information on the murder of the station master at Thorpe Thewles during the four years of the First World War. Does anyone know the date so I can research it for my walking groups? James Beall, Stockton.
YET another magnificent concert at the Central Hall, Darlington, by Darlington Choral Society on December 4. The choir, together with the four soloists, Darlington Sinfonia under Richard Bloodworth as conductor, were all there ready to give us
I HAD no idea that Ramsdens, the current shirt sponsors for Middlesbrough FC, is a company of pawnbrokers until I read it in the paper (Echo, Dec 3).What a striking visual image for the hard times in which we live. Martin Birtle, Billingham.
I FEAR Tony Eaton (HAS, Nov 23) misread my piece for Armistice Day. I wanted to remind readers of the horrors of the Great War through one of its casualties who lived in a small village where I was born. Tony infers I compared battles, but I didn
WE have become a nation of softies. These days, a bit of snow causes major disruption when years ago we just got on with it. Back in the day, we used snow tyres on our cars and public transport. However these days they are unheard of and it does
NORTH Yorkshire’s Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs has been found guilty of misconduct and discreditable conduct (Echo, Dec 17). He will receive “advice”. It would be of benefit to all if we knew what his defence was to the allegations questioning
I WASN’T able to go shopping because there wasn’t enough grit to clear the paths of the snow. So I was shocked to see Newcastle United had a heap of grit beside their pitch. Being a woman, I feel the footballers would be honoured more had they
THE Government is planning to reduce our 18 Coastguard stations to three full-time manned ones (Echo, Dec 17). The RAF Air Sea Rescue Sea King helicopters may be withdrawn and the emergency service put out to tender, possibly to a foreign company
I HAVE to agree wholeheartedly with Adrian Hetherington (HAS, Dec 21). You were tactless, and very thoughtless, in showing the picture of the dead deer in the lake at Spennymoor to children at the very start of their school holidays. In fact,
REGARDING your front page picture headlined “Royal horror” (Echo, Dec 11). I notice that neither of the occupants in the back seat are wearing seatbelts. Rule 99 of the Highway Code states: “You must wear a seat belt in cars, vans and other goods
TWO cheers for David Cameron’s staunch support for high-speed rail lines from London to the North – in the teeth of anger from his own allies along the route. The Tories of Buckinghamshire will make life very uncomfortable for the Prime Minister
THE use of entrapment in the media is not a straightforward subject, though it is our view that the end result usually justifies the means. Going undercover to expose frauds and hypocrites is good journalistic practice. That is not to say that
Paul Baguley is looking forward to getting to grips with the winner of a unique North-East “competition”. Health Editor Barry Nelson meets the plastic surgeon. TWENTY years ago, if you asked someone what they knew about plastic surgery you would
A HUGE collection of cricket memorabilia which belonged to Wilfred Rhodes has been donated to Yorkshire by his granddaughter. Among the 293 items is a photograph album with 305 images taken by the Yorkshire and England legend, many of them
SLEDGING continues to be the main talking point in the build up to the pivotal fourth Ashes Test at Melbourne this weekend, with Australia opener Shane Watson revealing his delight at silencing one of England’s main protagonists. Lancashire bowler
KEVIN PIETERSEN’S attempts to befriend Mitchell Johnson have failed – but he knows enough about the Australian’s cricketing talents to be wary of him for the remainder of the Ashes. Pietersen was one of three batsmen who made just nine first-innings
ADIL RASHID is hoping Yorkshire will benefit from the schedule in place for the England Lions’ two-month tour of the West Indies. The leg-spinning all rounder is one of four White Rose stars to have gained a place in the 17-man squad, which
VITALY PETROV has been confirmed as a Lotus Renault driver for the next two Formula One seasons. The Russian has signed a new two-year deal with the recently rebranded squad, having contested last season for the Renault team. The 26-year-old
LIVERPOOL manager Roy Hodgson does not feel threatened by predecessor Rafael Benitez’s arrival back on Merseyside, admitting it would be “surprising” if the Spaniard was considered the man for the club’s future. Hodgson has so far failed to
KEITH GILLESPIE has been released by Darlington after making just three appearances. The Northern Ireland international had signed an initial one-month deal which he hoped to extend, but manager Mark Cooper has decided to bring Gillespie’s
SUNDERLAND boss Steve Bruce takes his team to Old Trafford on Boxing Day and believes it is important his players do not lose the psychological battle in the tunnel before a ball is even kicked against the Premier League leaders. Teams are
JOEY Barton insists he would quite happily spend the rest of his career with Newcastle United, and has laughed off suggestions he could be leaving for as little as £1.5m next month. Barton is one of a number of high-profile players to have
JESSICA ENNIS is looking to start next season in the same emphatic fashion as she did this one ahead of her bid for another gold medal at the European Indoor Championships in Paris in March. The world and European champion will take on Lolo
Parkinson making steady progress BLACKPOOL youth team coach Gary Parkinson is making slow progress in his recovery from a stroke, it was reported yesterday. The 42-year-old former Middlesbrough defender suffered a severe stroke in September
SEB Hines has invited talks over extending his Middlesbrough career by claiming he would like to stay on Teesside despite reputed interest from Premier League clubs. Despite making just one Championship appearance for Boro this season after overcoming
PREMIER LEAGUE referee Howard Webb has revealed he would be in favour of goal-line technology, claiming most of his fellow officials would welcome its introduction. Webb, who this summer became the first Englishman to take charge of a World
ALAN PARDEW has claimed Andy Carroll is as important to Newcastle United as Carlos Tevez is to Sunday’s opponents Manchester City, and expressed his confidence that the striker will not be leaving Tyneside next month. Pardew knows all about
NORTH-EAST beekeepers have welcomed news that scientists may be able to halt global honey bee losses by forcing the deadly Varroa mite, which is lethal in the freezing weather, to selfdestruct. The blood-sucking Varroa is the biggest killer of
A TEENAGER is behind bars for Christmas after being shopped to police by his father. Peter Owens dialled 999 when his 16-year-old son, Leon, confessed to attacking a disabled man in the street. The tearaway later told his youth offending worker
A YOUNG woman had a baptism of ice when she completed her first marathon. Only a few hours after completing the 26-mile race across the icefields of the South Pole, she was persuaded to take part in a physically demanding 100km race. Clare
YOUNGSTERS staged an “improv” version of the traditional Nativity story at a city centre church last night. St Nicholas Church, in Durham, was filled with young angels, shepherds, inn-keepers and wise men, along with the customary Mary, Joseph
AFTER a turbulent few weeks staff at the region’s biggest marketing agency are back at their desks. About 40 of the 90 staff who lost their jobs earlier this month when Robson Brown in Newcastle went into administration have been employed by
A BUSINESS support organisation has bought the commercial division of a group working with North-East firms supplying the defence industry. County Durham-based Business and Enterprise UK (BEUK) has acquired NDI UK, the commercial arm of Northern
HUNDREDS of workers at the offices of a global engineering firm were told yesterday that the business is to be sold to a US rival in a deal worth about $675m (£437m). Norwegian firm Aker Solutions said it had agreed to sell part of its process
A LEADING property developer has called on the Government to live by its own words and relocate the House of Commons to the North-East. With public spending cuts expected to bite in the new year, John Orchard, director of Marchday Group, which
GOODFELLA’S pizza and Fox’s biscuit firm Northern Foods yesterday said that West Midlands tycoon Ranjit Boparan had requested access to its books amid speculation he is planning a £300m bid. Mr Boparan – one of Tesco’s biggest chicken suppliers
THREE North Yorkshire care homes with more than 200 beds are among a group taken over by a national firm. Care home operator Avery Healthcare was yesterday appointed to run four homes in Yorkshire, previously operated by Leeds-based Orchard
THE FTSE 100 Index closed in on the 6000 mark yesterday as investors shrugged off disappointing economic data from the UK and US. London’s top tier closed 31.7 points higher at 5983.5, despite figures revealing the UK economy had not grown as
THE man leading the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has denied suggestions the organisation will be too weak to lead regeneration, and said it can draw on the power of the region’s world-class industries to punch above its weight
CONTROVERSIAL proposals for the region’s latest supermarket were approved yesterday as research showed at least 577 UK superstores were backed by planners in the past two years. Redcar and Cleveland borough councillors spent three hours listening
A MAN who drove his neighbours from their home by harassing them and wrongfully branding one of them a paedophile has been spared jail. Stephen Melvyn Devonport was in court yesterday where he admitted harassing his neighbours during a fivemonth
A MAN who organised charity boxing bouts has been jailed for three years after police found 29 bags of cocaine at a woman’s home. Edward Lewis, 45, of Netherfields Crescent, Middlesbrough, was also said to have worked voluntarily with youngsters
A DRUGS dealer was last night starting a ten-year jail sentence for the distribution of cocaine with an estimated street value of £518,000. David Cairns was on licence from an eight-year sentence for drug supply offences when he was arrested
POLICE searching for a missing 21-year-old man said last night they had found a body. Duncan Gibbon, of Swainby, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, has not been seen since Saturday night when he went to Newcastle to celebrate a friend’s
THE future of a North-East football club is likely to be secured because a winding up order against it is expected to be dismissed this morning. A legal row between Billingham Town and Hartlepool United erupted over a disputed £10,443.97 debt
THE North-East’s biggest council will have to save nearly £115m over the next four years under Government spending cuts, it has emerged. Labour-run Durham County Council’s deputy leader, Alan Napier, said the Coalition’s funding settlement was
A SUDDEN snow storm caused travel problems in parts of the region yesterday with blizzards forcing motorists in east Cleveland to abandon their vehicles. Roads in Saltburn were brought to a standstill. George Tough, 27, who has lived
WITH the big freeze expected to continue, regional health bosses are urging Christmas partygoers to wrap up warm, drink responsibly and look after themselves to avoid the risk of hypothermia. Health Service officials are warning that alcohol
THE director of a national organisation that represents most NHS trusts in England said hospitals might run out of money to treat patients. News that a North-East hospital trust has been told to find £80m in savings prompted the director of
THE deputy manager of a care home is due in court over the alleged assault of an elderly resident. In October, The Northern Echo reported that a member of staff had been suspended from Redworth House care home, in Shildon, County Durham, while
THE Archbishop of York has recorded a video message for Forces personnel who will be separated from their loved ones this Christmas. The Faces for the Forces campaign is aiming to collect a million goodwill messages. The Most Reverend Dr John
PROBLEMS caused on the country’s rail network by ice could become a thing of the past if the Government awards the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) to Hitachi, ministers have been told. The Japanese company said its bi-mode IEP trains would
THE North-East’s biggest council is cutting the amount of salt it is putting on the roads – starting on Christmas Day. In the face of dwindling stocks and further forecasts of sub-zero temperatures and snow, Durham County Council is slashing
One person had to be led to safety last night by firefighters from a smoke-filled flat. The blaze broke out in the kitchen of the flat in Wrynose Gardens, Stockton, at about 11.30pm on Wednesday. Two fire crews from Stockton attended and after the person
One person was taken to hospital after a road accident on the northbound A19 between the Norton and Wolviston interchanges. Three fire crews attended along with an emergency tender shortly before 10pm on Wednesday. One person had to be released from
