A BRIDGE approaching its 200th birthday on a busy main road near Northallerton is being strengthened against the weather, juggernaut lorries and careless motorists who crash into its ancient parapets.

The estimated £160,000 being spent on Morton-on-Swale bridge may seem insignificant compared with the sum swallowed up over six months by one of its badly damaged counterparts over the same river at Richmond.

But the investment is seen as an insurance policy for the future by North Yorkshire County Council, which has given Morton-on-Swale a high priority on its countywide list of bridges needing strengthening or repair.

In some cases away from main roads, weight and width limits have had to be placed on weak bridges.

TWO Northallerton people have reached major milestones by being able to work independently of the charitable organisations which support and encourage them.

Miss Audrey Wilson, of Mencap, lives alone and Mr Clive Martin, a trainee at Northdale Horticulture, Northallerton, is supported only part-time in his home.

Miss Wilson, however, has now achieved a national vocational qualification (NVQ) in business studies administration, level 2.

She received support and encouragement for three years by working alongside Mrs Sue Lear at Mencap and now works every Friday as an administrative assistant at Hambleton and Richmondshire carers' association.

Mr Martin has now achieved two days of independent work. On Mondays he works with Mr Barry Chapman, a part-time Northdale instructor, at Broadacres housing association in Northallerton and on Fridays he works at Strikes garden centre, a position he sought in his own right.

Cash boost: Northallerton plumbing merchant, the Plumb Center, has donated £100 to the cancer unit at the town's Friarage Hospital. The money comes from the company's Top Tap scheme, set up to assist community projects across the UK and will go towards the cost of a new infusion pump, which allows patients to benefit from chemotherapy in their own homes.