A PRIVATE security firm his invested in a fleet of motorised bicycles worth £3,000 in an effort to help in the fight against would-be Christmas burglars. The bikes, which can reach speeds of up to 40mph, will be used by staff from Sparta Security
A CENTRE that deals with family history and information on the Darlington area has reopened following renovation work. The Centre for Local Studies, based in Crown Street Library, deals with around 10,000 enquiries a year relating to the local
THREE Teesdale businesses have been nominated for regional 'rural Oscars'. Now in their eighth year, the Countryside Alliance Awards celebrate the skills, traditions and enterprise of rural areas. In the butcher category, F Simpson and Son,
@cllrharrington it'll be a good read if @JoannaLMorris survives the cold night... — @hethro71 09 December 2012 My phone says 7 degrees.Feels subzero in the doorway of natwest. — @JoannaLMorris 09 December 2012
A COPYWRITING company in Stockton has raised £873 for charity. Staff at Precise English, which specialises in search engine optimisation, raised the money for autism charity Daisy Chain, in Norton, Stockton by completing a sponsored 12-mile obstacle
A PENSIONER who died after he was knocked down has been named as 92-year-old William Hall. Mr Hall, 92, of Oakfield Court, Sunderland, was involved in a collision with three vehicles on Windsor Terrace, Sunderland, at 10.20am on Friday. He
FILM NIGHT: The 80s action thriller, Die Hard, is the next screening of Darlington Film Club, at The Forum, in Borough Road, Darlington, tomorrow night (Monday, December 10). The event starts at 8pm and entry is £3 with free popcorn for everyone.
TAXI drivers in a Teesside town are to receive a financial boost. Stockton Borough Council will reduce vehicle renewal fees for both Hackney and private taxi drivers by £30. It currently costs taxi drivers £365 a year to register their vehicles
A MURDER hunt has been launched after a North Yorkshire man was attacked outside a theatre. Detectives said the 28-year-old was on his own outside The Grand Theatre and Opera House, in Leeds, at 2am today (Sunday, December 9), when he was assaulted
A DEMONSTRATION in the North-East over a coffee chain's tax avoidance passed smoothly today. (Sunday, December 9) Around 25 people gathered outside Starbucks in Newcastle City Centre to stage a protest which passed without any significant incident
A CHARITY for youngsters with Down Syndrome was an inspiration to children’s workers from Belgium when they visited its North-East base. The Education Centre for Children with Down Syndrome, which is based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, and
PATIENTS are being asked for their views on plans to refurbish two medical practices in Stockton. Queens Park Medical Centre and Tennant Street Medical Practice situated on Farrer Street, Stockton have been described as over-crowded. The idea
SAME SEX MARRIAGES: Quakers from across the Tees Valley have welcomed the vote that may allow the religion to celebrate same sex marriages. At an area meeting in Middlesbrough on Saturday, December 8 church members agreed to ask local MPs to support
Durham Aged Mineworkers’ Homes Association (DAMHA) has received the Louder than Words charter mark from Action on Hearing Loss, the new name for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID). The Association, which is based in Chester-le-Street
A CHURCH organist who provided the musical backdrop for countless occasions in a North-East town has retired. Joan Johnson bowed out after three decades at the helm of the choir and church music at St Mary’s Parish Church, in Barnard Castle.
A TOWN was alive with the sound of music when hundreds of children auditioned for a drama group’s upcoming production of the classic family musical. About 180 children aged five to 15 took part in the pre-auditions for Darlington Operatic Society
A 140-YEAR-OLD kipper smokehouse may have to close temporarily after a landslip overlooking an historic harbour shifted further. Land close to St Mary's Church, in Whitby, dropped away a week ago, bringing earth and human remains crashing down
EDUCATIONALISTS at Saltholme bird sanctuary have won a national award. The team behind the Lifelong Learning project at the RSPB centre, near Billingham, won the UK’s Best Education Project at The National Lottery Awards Show in London yesterday
A SOLDIER who helped lead a cavalry troop to storm a machine gun nest is to bring the gun home. Sergeant Tony Richardson, 30, of Skelton in East Cleveland, was a lead member of the 60-strong troop which seized the Soviet-era weapon. It will be
MORE than 200 Father Christmases got on their motorcycles for charity yesterday. (Saturday, December 8). This year’s Annual Boundary Motorcycle run attracted 207 bikers, easily the biggest number since just 28 took part in 2006. The bikers
STUDENTS from Durham University have taken an internet craze one step further by filmed themselves pouring bottles of port over their heads. 'Porting' is an answer to the ‘milking’ videos from students at rival Newcastle University which has had
FATHER Christmas took a break from his busy schedule in the run-up to Christmas to pay a visit to children at a railway museum. Staff at Darlington’s Head of Steam railway museum set up a grotto for Santa where he stopped by to collect children
MORE than 300 children born thanks to IVF were celebrated at a special party yesterday (Saturday, December 8). The event was organised at department of reproductive medicine at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital. All the children
RESEARCHERS in the North-East have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of breast cancer. The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle was one of a small number of centres around the world to test a new drug, which has been proven to delay the effects
A COUNCIL leader and an MP have vowed to set out the strongest case they can to keep more than 400 civil service jobs in a town. Darlington Borough Council leader, Bill Dixon, and the town's MP, Jenny Chapman, have joined forces to lead the fight
A POWER cut that plunged homes into the cold and dark was made worse by the "lack of a respect" shown to vulnerable householders, according to neighbours who came to their aid. Around 1,500 homes in Chilton, Windlestone and Ferryhill Station, County
ARCHBISHOP Designate Justin Wellby is joining senior clergy to ‘tweet’ his Christmas day sermon for the first time this year. The outgoing Bishop of Durham is turning to the social networking site, Twitter, so his message reaches as many people
STUDENTS staged a ‘land grab’ in Durham’s historic Market Place over the weekend. The event was part on an Oxfam campaign against unlawful land acquisitions perpetrated by corporations and governments around the world. It aims to highlight
A MAN from North Yorkshire has died after he was attacked in a city centre. West Yorkshire Police said the 28-year-old was fatally injured in an incident near the Grand Theatre in Leeds early this morning. Officers were called to the junction
A DRUG dealer became aggressive after police seized a wad of bank notes and a bag of white powder he had in his pocket from him. Police had gone to Daniel Haw's home in Bankhead Road, Northallerton, to quiz him about a theft, but became suspicious
A WOMAN has died in a three-vehicle collision in Northumberland. The 52-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision on the A69 motorway between Hexham and Haydon Bridge. At 3.59pm yesterday, Northumbria Police, alongside
A BURGLAR who re-offended within a month of being given a suspended sentence has been jailed. Drug addict Michael Jacques was said by his own barrister, Martin Towers, to have a “shocking” criminal record. Jacques, 30, of Nickstream Lane, Darlington
A MAN who grabbed his partner by the throat and used her - in the words of a judge - as a “punchbag” has been spared jail and given a last chance to participate in a domestic violence programme. Teesside Crown Court heard that Jussia Smith failed
A MAN who robbed his own mother of a purse containing £40 has been given a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. Shane Nicholson used a key to gain access to his mother Phyllis's home in Darlington and grabbed the purse from her grasp
A BRASS band and community choir will perform from the same song sheet when they team up for a concert at the weekend. Spennymoor Town Band will be supported by the Hurworth-based Sans Pareil Singers at Spennymoor Settlement’s Everyman Theatre
POLICE are appealing for witnesses and help to trace items stolen in two burglaries committed in Spennymoor. An adult’s Trek 21 mountain bike was stolen from shed in Bryan Street between 2pm on Tuesday, December 4 and 9am on Wednesday, December
THE leaders of eight councils have united to condemn the bosses of the country’s most cash-strapped NHS trust, ahead of an unprecedented wave of cuts. The Local Government North Yorkshire and York (LGNYY) committee said they were dismayed that
A CAMPAIGN to remember loved ones who lost their lives to cancer is being held at Durham Cathedral this evening. (Sunday, December 9) St Cuthbert’s Hospice’s Light up a Life campaign is one of the charity’s most loved and anticipated annual events
CHILDREN were enchanted by the nativity story with live creatures at a library yesterday. (Saturday, December 8). About 20 children, aged ten and under, saw the one-man show at Thornaby’s Westbury Street Library. The story-teller produced an
STAFF at a north Durham supermarket have taken part in a festive fundraising weekend. Annfield Plain Tesco staff completed the sponsored bike ride as part of 'Cycle to Lapland' to raise money for Cancer research UK. Employees shared stints
A POST Office in north Durham is planning to move to bigger premises, trebling the amount of hours it can trade. Catchgate Post Office is proposing to move from its current location to further along North Road to create a modern open-plan branch
THE former wife of a millionaire businessman was tied up and doused with petrol while raiders plundered her home for jewellery and cash. Sheila Quadrini was left trussed up for more than an hour after the attackers fled until she managed to dial
PUPILS at a north Durham primary school have produced a healthy eating recipe book for charity. The children from Collierley Primary School, in Dipton, have been working with staff from Derwentside Homes to produce recipes and posters around the
A CAR sharing scheme is set to replace a village bus service when it comes to an end this month. The number 20 Scarlet Band bus route between Neasham and Darlington will finish at the end of December as a result of Darlington Borough Council budget
A PHYSIOTHERAPY clinic has opened in a north Durham village. Shotley Bridge Therapy Centre, on Queens Road, provides a range of physiotherapy services, acupuncture and cognitive behavioural therapy as well as nutritional and podiatry services.
TOXIC substances have been found below a site earmarked for a controversial new school development in a former industrial town. Mercury, asbestos and carbon monoxide have been identified as posing a potential risk to human health at the Belle Vue
YORKSHIRE has bucked the national trend for falling visitor numbers, the Great Britain Travel Survey has revealed. Gary Verity, boss of tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire, said despite poor weather the region saw a 16.3 per cent rise in visitors in
CLEVELAND Police could come under increasing pressure from private companies to provide more of its services as the force looks at ways of slashing its budget. Security, technology and out-sourcing firms are set to test the resolve of the country's
A POLICE van responding to an emergency call was in collision with a car yesterday (Saturday, December 8). A 58-year-old woman who was driving a blue Peugeot 207 involved in the incident in Middlesbrough was taken to James Cook University Hospital
ANGER has been expressed after a Christmas party for underage youngsters was cancelled over fears it could spiral out of control like a similar event earlier this year. Party organiser, Paul Hamilton, who also owns Darlington Boxing and Martial
A LIFELINE has been offered to cash-strapped homeowners in Darlington who face the heartbreaking prospect of repossession. Members of Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet have agreed to take part in the mortgage rescue scheme, Time2Buy. The
A FIRM which supplies gowns for special occasions is celebrating after receiving orders for a mystery client at Buckingham Palace. Verb Dresses, which last week opened a store in Bedale, North Yorkshire and has another in Eldon Gardens, Newcastle
A DEDICATED group of young volunteers who wanted to bridge the generation gap spent their Saturday hosting a special lunch for elderly residents. The team 16 to 17-year-olds from schools across Darlington have joined the Government’s National Citizen
YOUNG people and their parents now have more time to have their say in a survey about how they travel to school or college. The deadline for the survey, which will help Darlington Borough Council to provide the best travel choices for the journey
A FIRE brigade’s top officer has been defended by a colleague after driving his car into floodwater. Motorists have recently been urged by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to steer clear of water, but its chief fire officer Nigel Hutchinson
SHOPPERS felt they had entered a time warp when they called for their groceries at Asda Spennymoor on Friday. (December 7) Staff at the store celebrated its 25th anniversary by going back to the 1980s and wearing some of their greatest fashion
BRIAN Metcalfe hit bullseye when he joined a pub darts team near his RAF base because it was there he caught the attention of his future bride. Mr Metcalfe, originally from Leeds, was serving in the RAF at Middleton St George, near Darlington,
Celtic Nation are considering a protest to the FA over the referee of their stormy 6-3 ENL defeat at Durham City on Saturday using what they claim was “foul language.” The Carlisle side had two players red carded and two more sent out of the technical
Whitley Bay manager Ian Chandler says that they want to return to Wembley again after they trounced Causeway United 6-0 in the third round of the FA Carlsberg Vase on Saturday. Three of the players who played a major part in Whitley’s three successive
WORK to repair a landmark bridge at a North Yorkshire resort has been "severely hampered" because of recent weather conditions. A £250,000 upgrade to the 103-year-old swing bridge in Whitby began in September and is now due to be completed next
SEX offenders have been warned their online activities will be monitored by police officers with the introduction of a remote computer search system. The Triage system will send North Yorkshire Police's eight public protection officers an alert
THE Bishop of Durham is among several senior bishops who are set to tweet their Christmas Day sermons for the first time this year in a Christmas Tweet campaign. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams (lambethpalace), the Archbishop of
Dozens of fans of James Arthur packed into his favourite local pub tonight. Reporter Chris Webber spoke to them as they nervously waited for the results. JAMES Arthur's local pub where he would often play to under ten people was jumping last night
JAMES Arthur is celebrating after being crowned this year's X Factor winner. The 24-year-old former pub singer from Saltburn, east Cleveland, beat off tough competition from soul singer Jahmene Douglas in tonight's final. Liverpool's Christopher
JAMES Arthur is celebrating after being crowned this year's X Factor winner. The 24-year-old former pub singer from Saltburn, east Cleveland, beat off tough competition from soul singer Jahmene Douglas in tonight's final to secure a million pound
SO we made it to the final of this year's X Factor and I have to say I surprisingly enjoyed it. I don't know why it takes four hours over two nights to decide which of three men are going to be crowned winner – but I guess that's what comes of
