Up to £10,000 worth of damage was caused to a swimming pool after vandals wedged an old three-piece suite under the building and set it alight.

The incident happened at Thornaby Baths on Tuesday afternoon and as the fire alarms started to go off, staff and swimmers had to be evacuated. The fire damaged metal cladding on the side of the building and insulation material underneath. The pool area and changing rooms also smelt of smoke and the pool was closed straight after the fire, but reopened yesterday.

ROBBERY CHARGES: A man charged in connection with two robberies in North Yorkshire appeared in court at Richmond yesterday. Dion Levin Levy, 24, of no fixed address, is accused of carrying out knife-point raids at shops in Bedale and Thirsk at the weekend. Two further charges relate to incidents in Somerset last month. Levy made no plea and was remanded in custody until next Thursday, when he will appear before Teesside Crown Court.

TOASTED TOASTER: Firefighters were called to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough yesterday after a toaster caught fire. The automatic fire alarm alerted the Middlesbrough brigade and two engines attended the Marton Road site just before 9am. The blaze was out by the time they arrived.

CHOC OFFER: The Northern Echo has teamed up with Thorntons to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a magnificent giant chocolate Easter egg. Simply log on to www.thisisthenortheast.co. uk before Tuesday for your chance to win.

PART-TIMERS: More women work part time than full time across Cleveland, census results have revealed. In the boroughs of Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough part-time female workers narrowly outnumber full-time women workers. North-east Lincolnshire and the Isle of Wight are the only two other boroughs in the UK with similar figures. Leaders of the GMB union say the figures prove that many new jobs created since the 1980s were part-time.

SWEET SHOPPING: A three feet tall Easter egg is to be the subject of a guess the weight competition at the Hill Street Centre, Middlesbrough. The winner will be presented with the egg, but there are also 4,000 free handmade fondant Easter bears and bunnies for everyone entering the competition.