A NEW district governor has been appointed for the 69 Rotary clubs in the North-East.

Syd Howarth, of Newton Aycliffe, will lead the region's 2,200 members in Rotary's centenary year.

The editor of the Newton Aycliffe weekly community newspaper Newton News, Mr Howarth joined Rotary in 1982.

Born in Nottingham, he first came to the North-East to complete National Service at RAF Boulmer.

He moved to Newton Aycliffe after founding the town's first printing business in 1963, followed two years later by its own newspaper.

Mr Howarth said: "The main aim in my year of office is to promote Rotary and increase membership in an effort to bring the fun and fellowship of Rotary to more people."

His charities for the centenary year are ChildLine and Aquafilter, which provides clean water for countries where children die each year from water-borne disease.