FIRST Newcastle United decided to sell Andy Carroll for an incredible £35m, then they failed to replace him before the transfer window had shut. After the unwanted distraction of having to take part in the blame game following the controversial transfer
A late goal by Justin Keegan booked Shildon’s place in the last eight of the Brookes Mileson Northern League Cup when they beat Marske 2-1 at Dean Street. It was surprising that there were three goals in a windspoilt game. Shildon took the
A DRIVER who died in a rush-hour accident on a busy trans-Pennine route was tonight named by police. Julian Tinker, 41, from the Retford area of Nottinghamshire, died in the collision on the eastbound carriageway of the A66 near Bowes, County Durham
THE co-pilot of an RAF helicopter which crashed in North Yorkshire, killing three people, is being prosecuted for dangerous flying, even though he was not at the controls. Flight Lieutenant Robert Hamilton, who broke his back when the Puma helicopter
NEWCASTLE UNITED boss Alan Pardew has selected the same starting line-up that drew with Tottenham for their first match after Andy Carroll's exit.Carroll, who will sit in the directors' box at Anfield tonight when Liverpool play Stoke, has been sidelined
A jam packed January had both positives and negatives for Darlington. Positive: The team could finally return to action after virtually the whole of their December fixtures had been snowed off. Positive: Quakers had games in hand on the sides above them
Football’s governing body is in crisis. A fiasco is unfolding over the decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup hosting rights, A decision not only controversial, but which has left the footballing world looking on in disbelief. Contradictions, accusations
Politically, this summer’s World Cup in South Africa was a massive success. Taking the tournament to Africa for the first time was a bold and possibly risky move by FIFA, especially given South Africa’s troubled history. For the tournament to pass
POLICE are appealing for information about the theft of an outboard engine which was stolen from a private fishing boat in Redcar. The theft happened over the weekend between Friday, January 28 and Sunday 30. The outboard is a Honda Motor, four stroke
A HEARTBROKEN dog owner is appealing for help in finding her beloved pet who has been missing for two weeks. Bruno, a two-year-old shar pei, went missing while being walked through the fields around Witton Castle, near Witton-le-Wear, on Monday, January
DOZENS of dancers showed off their talents in front of proud parents and staff in Bishop Auckland. More than 120 youngsters from all year groups at the town’s Bishop Barrington School performed dance routines they had learnt during extra-curricular clubs
ONCE upon a time, if you bought a cheap car it felt like settling for second best. Early Skodas, Ladas and FSOs were grim, utilitarian devices designed and built for getting from A to B over poorly surfaced roads or cart tracks - and nothing else
A FORMER seamstress whose life has taken in two world wars and the birth of space flight has celebrated her 101st birthday. Lilian Evans, of Cherry Garth Care Home, in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, enjoyed a party with family and friends on her birthday on
PLANS for a new hotel and executive housing at Wynyard Hall have been approved with the narrowest of margins. Stockton Borough Councils planning committee voted 5-4 in favour of the scheme which will deliver a 50-bedroom five star hotel to the exclusive
WORK has started on the creation of three new ponds to mark World Wetlands Day. Tees Valley Wildlife Trust is creating the havens on land just off Brenda Road in Hartlepool to help promote wetland conservation. Rachel Jackson, Tees Valley Pondscape
A DECISION to allow the erection of a ten-metre weather monitoring mast for a controversial wind farm has been deferred by councillors. Stockton Borough Council's planning committee wanted further details about the need for the mast before granting permission
A NEW computer is a wonderful thing – no legacy software slowing it down, a roomy hard drive and the latest processor speeding everything along – but moving to a new machine can be a nightmare, particularly if you are making the switch to a Mac.
PAPER lanterns released skywards by revellers celebrating the Chinese New Year tomorrow could mean danger for RAF aircraft, defence chiefs have warned. Bosses at RAF Leeming, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, have called for the trend of releasing
A NEW collection point has been set up for a credit union to help people manage their finances. Durham County Credit Union has set up the new facility at All Saints Church, Carr House Drive in Newton Hall, Durham, where it will be open from 10.30am
PLANS to demolish a library and replace it with student accommodation in the shadow of a World Heritage site has been endorsed by councillors. St John’s College of Durham University hopes to begin work soon on the development off Durham’s South Bailey
A FARM shop in north Durham has won a national award. Knitsley Farm Shop, near Consett, has been voted Best Farm Retail Newcomer in the UK by a panel of judges from the Farm and Rural Markets Association. The farm shop was opened in November 2008 by
THE organisers of this summer’s Durham Blues Festival have completed the line-up for the event’s main stage. Lancashire-born soul singer Kyla Brox and her band will be part of a bill that includes headliner Walter Trout, former Dr Feelgood guitarist
AMBASSADORS for the Durham Heritage Coast were given the chance to see familiar scenes through the eyes of visitors. The Know Your Durham Coast tourism initiative, which offers local businesses and organisations free tourism business skills training
RESIDENTS fear a planned mobile phone mast will blight their neighbourhood and could threaten their health. People at Gilesgate Moor in Durham City are campaigning against Vodaphone’s bid for a 14.8 meters tall mast, to be shared with 02, on a verge
STEVE Bruce last night conceded Sunderland contributed to their own downfall as they crashed to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of a resurgent Chelsea. The Black Cats suffered their first Premier League defeat of the year as goals from Frank Lampard
IT was turn of banjo-playing improvising musician, songwriter, vocalist and humanitarian Abigail Washburn to perform for the Cluny faithful and, with five splendid players behind her, that’s exactly what she did. Formerly with the all-girl band
LONG-HAIRED, bearded and waistcoated, Band Of Horses personify the US country dream. Recently-released third album, Infinite Arms, has been their most successful, having been Grammy-nominated for best alternative album in 2010. Band Of Horses
NASHVILLE country music giant Marty Stuart and his aptly-named band The Fabulous Superlatives pressed all the right buttons to make their North-East debut one to remember. Bookended by a striking version of Stop The World And Let Me Off and
SHOTGUN killer Raoul Moat boasted 'I'll be back inside by Friday' shortly before his murder rampage, a court heard today. The former doorman, who had been released from Durham Prison just hours earlier, told a barber who was cutting his hair: "I have
Midsomer Murders (ITV1, 8pm) Who Gets The Best Jobs? (BBC2, 9pm) AFTER 13 years, Tom Barnaby is hanging up his police notebook and truncheon. Tonight is the final outing for John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby in Midsomer Murders
A NEW £125,000 floodlit pitch to benefit many sports teams is being laid in Thirsk after delays due to the weather. Hambleton District Council has worked with groups like Thirsk and Northallerton hockey teams on the project. The resurfacing of the much
THE coalition Government has made localism one of its key themes and the implications for businesses are beginning to emerge. The concept is something I’m sure many North-East companies could sign up to. Government policy over many years has been
TANFIELD Group, which sold its electric van division at the start of the year, is targeting overseas markets after signing a deal to expand its cherry-picker aerial platform business. The company, which is based in Washington, Wearside, completed
The column concerns itself with comedy this week – and the eradication of horsetail, which is a very serious business indeed. THE hope amid the encircling gloom is that today’s column might be faintly amusing – so first to Joe King, comedian. It
THE coldest December since records began resulted in an increased number of leaks across Northumbrian Water’s network, but the utility firm is pressing ahead with its major investment projects. The Durham-based business, supplier to about 4.4
A ROAD safety team which has saved 126 lives in the county in five years is to continue working despite losing Government funding. The multi-agency York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership runs the 95 Alive Partnership but its Government
A LEADING figure in the offshore industry is flying halfway around the world to support Teesside University’s plans to become the world leader in flexible training for engineers. Eric Garbutt, project director of engineering, project management
LONDON’S FTSE 100 Index joined world markets in rallying yesterday as developments in China and improved economic data overshadowed fears over Egypt. The FTSE closed 1.6 per cent higher, up 94.9 points at 5957.8, while America’s Dow Jones Industrial
SCHOOLS from the North- East will take part in a business challenge aimed at encouraging students to consider a career in finance. The ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) northern heat of the Business, Accounting and
A EXPERIENCED executive is being sought to drive the latest growth plans of a firm that began life selling practical clothing for climbers from a North-East shop. The high-profile position is for Berghaus, which, from its humble beginnings in
A RECENT American report that is reflected across the developed world on financial situations stated that policymakers lacked full understanding of the financial system that they oversaw. It is clear from the report that the information used
IF there is one thing worse than the Government’s economic policies, it’s the groups of self-absorbed demonstrators opposing those policies. What makes students and lecturers think anyone wants them, at least in their current excessive numbers
I AM writing on behalf of Spennymoor Stage and Song who, in April, will be performing When the Lights Go On Again, a musical show telling the story of a family during the Second World War. The show is set locally so we are looking for any Second
ON Saturday, January 22, your Weekend supplement contained an Echo Travel article on holidays in the North-East. This included a Joe Cornish photograph said to be of Lindisfarne Castle. This was, in fact, a shot of Dunstanburgh Castle viewed from
WAS pleased to read Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Barker’s comments at a meeting of Darlington Borough Council (Echo, Jan 29) about Conservative plans to dispose of woodland areas. The Lib Dems may not be flavour of the month these days, but
THE saga over assistant referee Sian Massey has exposed hypocrisy in a few places you wouldn’t perhaps expect. Football pundit Andy Gray is a dinosaur, but was Sky Sports taking a stand against sexism in sacking him? Er... No. Of the
LAST Wednesday night, MPs voted, by 313 votes to 26, against an amendment that would have required the Government to get the approval of a referendum before it could waive the UK’s right to opt out of more than 90 EU crime and policing laws in
THE news that the mothballed Redcar steel plant is expected to be reopened (Echo, Jan 26) is a huge boost for the whole of Teesside. Congratulations to all the people who have fought so hard to retain this vital industry. Now we can build on this
MARGARET METCALFE is looking for information regarding one of her ancestor's role as a policeman. He was Zacharia John Connell, born in 1826, in Shilbottle, the son of Irishman John Connell. According to the 1851 census, he was a police sergeant living
SAVE Our Forests. Save Our Libraries. One campaign relates to our enjoyment of the great outdoors, the other to the benefits of reading, chiefly in our own homes. Within that wide span of unrest are many other community protests – against wind
GIVEN that we are generally in favour of greater transparency and increasing public access to information, the idea of holding the police to account via a Government crime mapping website has its attractions. In the internet age, it is right that
The story of the Busby Babes and the Munich air crash is being told in a BBC drama filmed almost entirely in the North-East. Steve Pratt visits the set in Durham City. HEAD swathed in bandages, Bobby Charlton is lying in a hospital bed. A man sits
STORM BRIG is a nice prospect for the Alistair Whillans team and should maintain his unbeaten record over obstacles in the North Sea Logistics Novices’ Hurdle at Newcastle today. In fact he has only been beaten once in four starts, with that
TOM PALMER has not ruled out staying in France beyond the end of his current contract with Stade Francais, even though it could mean the end of his England career. The Rugby Football Union plan to stop selecting overseas- based players after this
ENGLAND were left with four of the bowlers from their World Cup squad on the sidelines yesterday after Ajmal Shahzad was ruled out of the ongoing one-day international series against Australia due to a hamstring injury. Shahzad underwent a scan
THE separation might have been finalised, but the argument over the grounds for divorce rumbles on. Andy Carroll's £35m move to Liverpool increasingly looks like the act of betrayal that will rip Newcastle United's cosy marriage of convenience
A MEMORIAL service is to be held for a former Dean of Ripon in Ripon Cathedral where he used to preach. The Very Reverend John Methuen, 62, died last year after many years of service to the Church of England. The service is on Sunday, February 6 at
A MOTORIST has died in a rush-hour accident on a busy trans-pennine route this morning. The accident took place on the eastbound carriageway of the A66 near Bowes, County Durham at about 6.45am and involved a lorry and six other vehicles.
A CONTROVERSIAL council newspaper has been axed in favour of a trial scheme that will see the authority work with local newspapers. North Yorkshire County Council has published 11 editions of the NY Times each year since 2006, at a cost of more
CAMPAIGNERS are refusing to admit defeat in their battle to save a leisure centre, despite it being ‘stripped’ of equipment. Users of Durham Police-run Aykley Heads leisure centre, in Durham City, want to manage the crumbling 30-year-old facility themselves
DESIGN and build contractor Surgo Construction Limited of Newcastle have been appointed by Redcar & Cleveland Council to deliver the multi million pound creative ‘Hub’ on Redcar seafront. The Hub will be built at the site of the derelict Palace Theatre
A GRANDMOTHER could face losing her home for a second time after being caught fiddling her benefits. Carol Blackburn pocketed more than £20,000 she was not entitled to during a seven-year swindle. Yesterday, the 61-year-old was given an exceptional
A SENIOR police officer embroiled in a series of controversies has announced his sudden retirement. North Yorkshire Police Authority confirmed last night it had agreed to a request from Adam Briggs, the force’s deputy chief constable, to retire
EXPERTS from all over the world are gathering in the region to mark the opening of the first sleep research centre of its kind in the UK. It means that people in the North-East with sleep problems should be among the first to benefit from new
A GRANDMOTHER who died in hospital days after being given an overdose of prescription drugs may have died anyway, an inquest heard. Emily Welsh died in the University Hospital of North Durham, Durham City, in August 2008, five days after being
DAVID MILIBAND will open a new international chapter for Sunderland FC, chairman Niall Quinn said last night as he appointed the former Foreign Secretary to the club’s board of directors. Mr Quinn said the idea of approaching the South Shields
A PARROT with a split beak and strange eating habits has been found wandering the streets. The bedraggled bird was handed in to vets in Darlington, where he bemused them by eating his food upside- down. The African Grey, named Popeye by staff
WHEN Hartlepool United thumped Oldham on New Year's Day, their season was full of hope and promise. But, as convincingly as they won 4-1, they were routinely beaten at Boundary Park last night. That January 1 win was Pool's last victory, some seven
WORKERS at the centre of a bitter employment dispute between two Christian charities have been left in financial ruin, The Northern Echo can reveal. Some have been taken to court and face losing their homes as creditors demand payment.
WEB users in the region were left frustrated yesterday when the Government’s crime mapping website crashed because of high demand. Up to five million visits an hour brought the site to a standstill. The site has been launched to give people the
MORE police officers and police community support officers will disappear from our streets, it was claimed last night – as the full scale of the cuts facing the region’s police forces was revealed. The warning from police leaders came after figures
A GRANDMOTHER froze in fear before being struck by a rampaging bull that had escaped from a slaughterhouse. The 63-year-old, who had been walking to church in Hartburn, Stockton, was left with a fractured hip after the animal charged her. Shocked
Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley said that his side’s performance against Jarrow Roofing on Tuesday night was 100 per cent better than their losing display at Stokesley last Saturday. Ainsley blasted several players after the defeat last
Shildon could include striker Glen Robson in their starting line up when they play Marske United in the Brooks Mileson League Cup at Dean Street tonight. The former Durham and Blyth striker has been out on loan at Stokesley for the last two months, and
AN Islamic extremist who got a job as a British Airways computer expert conspired with a radical preacher to blow up a US-bound plane, a court heard yesterday. In email exchanges with radical cleric Anwar al- Awlaki, Bangladeshi Rajib Karim
DARLINGTON'S hopes of reaching the play-offs sustained a severe blow last night when they were suffered their heaviest reverse of the campaign at title-chasing Luton Town. The result ended Quakers' six-match unbeaten run in emphatic fashion and leaves
