THIS week, 15 years ago, almost a quarter of a million pounds was to be spent on improving four underused railway stations.
Durham County Council planed to upgrade facilities and improve the appearance of Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe, Heighington and Seaham stations.
At a cabinet meeting members approved the £247,000 scheme and pledged to use cash from its local transport plan to carry out the work over the following two years.
Councillors heard that the stations all had outdated waiting facilities, poor accessibility for disabled users and lack of security.
About £94,000 would be spent at Newton Aycliffe, £82,000 at Seaham, £47,000 at Bishop Auckland and £24,000 at Heighington.
In addition, £50,000 would be used to install closed circuit television systems at Bishop Auckland and Newton Aycliffe, which would be operated and monitored by Sedgefield Borough Council.
Meanwhile, a one-time "first lady'' was among five former council workers taking legal action against their ex-employer in an equal pay wrangle.
Edna Fearon, who was Mayoress of Durham City in 1989 when her late husband, Jim, a Labour councillor, was Mayor, was seeking back payment of £1.77 hourly bonuses given to male manual workers - but not to women.
Mrs Fearon was a cleaner for the council, which at the time was Labour-run, but was controlled by the Liberal Democrats in 2006 when she decided to take the legal stand.
She and former colleagues, cleaner/catering assistants Ann Nyland, Christine Kirkup Maureen Hopper and cleaner Sylvia Homes, were claiming losses totalling more than £25,000 dating back to April 1998.
In 1997, the GMB union won a landmark victory when the council agreed to pay a £400,000 out-of-court settlement to a sex discrimination case brought by 28 female care wardens who complained they were being paid less than men for doing the same work.
Meanwhile, weather forecasters predicted that wintry conditions would improve after heavy snow fell over parts of Britain.
The east of England was expected to be hit by more snow overnight, with Newcastle one of the worst-affected areas. But forecasters said most of the snow would turn to sleet and rain within 24 hours.
The weather brought chaos to parts of Britain, with Scotland badly affected.
About 3,000 clubbers were forced to take shelter after blizzard conditions left them trapped in Glasgow city centre, and the heavy snowfall meant there were no taxis available to take revellers home when they left clubs.
Shawbury, in Shropshire, was one of the worst-affected areas south of the border, and Glasgow and Edinburgh airports were temporarily closed, causing incoming flights to be diverted.
Conservation charity the Woodland Trust said tadpoles that survived or missed the freeze would face the droughts predicted for later in 2006, which would further devastate the population.
The warning came as diminished numbers of frog spawn sightings had been reported compared with the 2005 Springwatch Survey, which was run by the BBC in association with the Woodland Trust and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
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