A GROUP dedicated to reducing crime and creating a safer environment has been guaranteed £30,000 during the next three years. The cash for the Hambleton Community Safety Partnership has been confirmed by the Broadacres Housing Association, Northallerton
MEN in blue trounced their plain-clothed colleagues in a five-a-side police football tournament that has helped raise about £4,000 for charity. Seven teams from uniform and CID at Stockton police station, met at the Pavillion, in Thornaby, on Monday night
Sir Harry Secombe, comedy genius of radio's The Goon Show, died yesterday at the age of 79. The comic, who also presented ITV's religious music show Highway, had a run of ill health over the past few years. His daughter, Jenny Secombe, said he died at
HOPES were growing last night that an end to the foot-and-mouth crisis is in sight after the Government's chief scientific advisor said the outbreak was finally "flattening out". Professor David King's said improved culling times had fuelled hopes that
A LUMP of rock moved aimlessly round a village rectory garden for more than a decade has turned out to be an ancient relic. Only a chance sighting by a visiting archaeologist confirmed that the object nestling in the vicar's rockery was in fact a forgotten
Middlesbrough are ready to revive their interest in Juninho if he is forced out of Brazilian football in the summer. The little midfielder has already rejected one approach from Boro, made just before last month's transfer deadline, because he is happy
When a Newmarket trainer of the calibre of Geoff Wragg sends only one runner on the long trek to Musselburgh it's time to take the hint. Wragg, who got off the mark for the new Flat season at the third attempt with The Whistling Teal at Pontefract on
A YOUTH club started by a village police officer has been awarded £4,264 in National Lottery cash. The Manor Park youth club, at Lanchester, will buy gym equipment and a sound system with the windfall. Youngsters worked with PC Mel Armstrong to set up
POLICE have warned pensioners not to let strangers into their homes, after an elderly woman was burgled yesterday. The 86-year-old woman, who lives in Howden-le-Wear, allowed a woman who claimed to be selling household cleaning items into her home. When
HORRIFIED firefighters discovered a dozen lambs which had been dumped at a public tip and set on fire last night. The grisly find was made by officers responding to an emergency call to Brown House tip at Hill End, near Frosterley, in Weardale, County
HUNDREDS of North-East workers are on a knife-edge after shipbuilder Cammell Laird called in the receivers. The company, which employs some 800 workers on the Tyne, Tees and Wear, said a series of events had caused "significant damage" to its trading
A MAN launched a kung-fu style attack on a woman without any reason, a court heard yesterday. Edith Ann Smith, 58, was walking home alone with a takeaway meal when she was assaulted, Teesside Crown Court was told. Terry McGann, 26, ran across Springfield
A pharmaceutical firm is refusing to tighten security at its North-East plant, despite a break-in by animal rights activists at the weekend. Bosses at GlaxoSmithKline, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, said yesterday that security at the site would remain
HE is five feet of pure charm with a look that says butter would not melt in his mouth. Old women cannot resist the schoolboy's winsome smile and polite request to have his errant football returned. Many pensioners have ungrudgingly gone looking under
EVEN though the ewe had been earmarked for slaughter, the sight of her struggling to give birth was too much to ignore. And for soldiers drafted in to help deal with the foot-and-mouth outbreak, the farmer's dedication to livestock made a lasting impression
PUBLIC-SPIRITED witnesses twice tipped off police about burglar John George Kinsella's crimes, a court was told yesterday. Kinsella and an accomplice were breaking into a caf in Middlesbrough after smashing a hole in security shutters when a man phoned
HIGH-FLYING Hartlepool United have been handed a £1m boost. Pool, fourth in Division Three with just five games to play, will receive a grant of £1.12m from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund. Club officials remained tight-lipped last night and refused
Darlington manager Gary Bennett is today hoping to persuade Carlisle boss Ian Atkins to let him have keeper Peter Keen on loan for the remainder of the season. Keen's month's loan runs out today and Bennett wants to keep the former Newcastle keeper for
POLICE are investigating the possibility of a cat-napper at large in a County Durham village. After mentioning to neighbours that one of her cats had gone missing, internationally-acclaimed glass artist Maralyn O'Keefe heard that other cats in the area
A NEW school has backed down over plans to introduce a controversial timetable. Freebrough Community College is an amalgamation of the three secondary schools in east Cleveland - De Brus at Skelton, Warsett at Brotton and Rosecroft at Loftus - and is
A SUPERMARKET at the centre of a controversial planning wrangle could face further criticism over plans to reduce the size of a public car park. Safeway has applied for permission to build two trolley storage areas at its Barnard Castle store, one on
A SENIOR Darlington police officer is leaving to take up a new post in the South. Superintendent Phil Aspey, 42, who has headed Darlington division for two years, will become a leading member of the Superintendents' Association of England and Wales. He
SOUTH Cleveland Hospital is to be renamed the James Cook University Hospital, in honour of one of the region's most famous sons. The name change will mark a £139m revamp of the site in Marton Road, Middlesbrough, into an ultra-modern super-hospital. It
A SCHEME to get sick employees back to work has won Stockton Borough Council national recognition. The council is one of four authorities in the UK to win a risk management award from the Association of Local Authority Risk Management. Deputy leader of
SOLICITOR Karen Turville has left the law behind to enter the world of children's toys. She has established the first Formative Fun franchise business in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. It caters for children from birth to 16, supporting the national school
COMPETITION watchdogs have set out a string of measures they think may be necessary to allow Lloyds TSB's takeover of Abbey National to go ahead. The possible remedies emerged in a briefing issued by the Competition Commission to inform both banks of
A TOWN park is to have a £1.4m facelift thanks to a National Lottery grant. Derwentside District Council has received £977,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in order to restore the Victorian Consett Park. The remainder of the costs will be met by taxpayers
PENSIONERS can find out about their benefits entitlement at a series of roadshows this week. Age Concern estimates that up to 40,000 people in the North-East could be missing out because they do not realise they are eligible for extra payments. Emma Howitt
A CHURCH undergoing a big revamp has revealed record fundraising receipts. St James the Great Church, in Albert Hill, Darlington, is celebrating its 125th anniversary in August and is in the midst of the biggest restoration programme in its history. Last
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a nursery could win approval despite concern over a lack of car parking spaces. An application for a children's day nursery at The Square, Sedgefield, was recently considered by the borough council's development control committee
DISCUSSIONS with housing developers for a multi-million pound revamp of the run-down Firthmoor estate are being held by Darlington Borough Council. The talks coincide with bulldozers moving in to demolish the last handful of houses scheduled for destruction
A NEW scheme is being put forward to reduce the number of childhood injuries in the home. Safety equipment is to be provided to families with young children in the Ferryhill and Chilton Sure Start programme, provided the project wins approval. The proposal
FIREFIGHTERS have come to the rescue of a group of youngsters. Plans by the Linx youth project at Hemlington, near Middlesbrough, for an abseil looked doomed, when fears of foot-and-mouth put their chosen venue, Stainsacre Hall, near Whitby, out of bounds
A COUNCILLOR has teamed up with a Russian charity to provide help for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster. Darlington borough councillor Gerald Lee, who represents the Heighington ward, is helping to promote the Leleka charity's clean air
OFFICIALS in Redcar and Cleveland are hoping that the area will not become the next victim of the epidemic. Fears have been heightened in the Teesside borough that the disease is creeping closer, following an outbreak at Ashes Farm, Ruswarp, near Whitby
A £1M scheme is being launched to help disadvantaged young families in Darlington. The town's final programme for Sure Start has been approved by the Government. Sure Start aims to improve the health and wellbeing of children under four, and their families
AN Olympic rower and the head of the University of Durham's Stockton campus are both to receive honorary doctorates. Three times gold medalist Matthew Pinsent and John Hayward OBE, will both become Honorary Doctors of Civil Law at the University of Durham
RARE animals given a second chance of life at a rescue centre became the latest victims of the slaughtermen, yesterday. Kate Wilson had to help destroy the animals when Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) officials arrived. Ms Wilson runs
A MAN "too weak to resist" pressure to smuggle heroin into a prison was jailed for 12 months, yesterday. Robert Tobin, 35, of Topcliffe Street, Hartlepool, admitted trying to take the drug into HM Frankland Prison, Durham, at Teesside Crown Court, yesterday
Farmers facing the slaughter of their livestock are also having to cope with the loss of treasured companions - their sheepdogs. A national sheepdog charity, in North Yorkshire, has reported a steep rise in the number of dogs they have been asked to rehome
A THIEF died after jumping into a river to escape a police plane he thought was giving chase. An inquest at County Hall in Durham heard how 21-year-old John Fisher, of Moorlands, in Gilesgate, went missing in the early hours of Monday, February 12, after
FIFTY schools in County Durham have achieved Investor in People (IIP) status. The latest to receive recognition are St Francis C of E Primary School, Newton Aycliffe, and Eden Hall Infant School, Peterlee. Keith Mitchell, director of education at Durham
THE growing problem of flytipping is about to face a crackdown. Officials at Easington District Council are concerned that residents are dumping disused household appliances and garden waste on roadsides, paths and fields instead of taking the rubbish
MARIE Curie Cancer Care praised County Durham people for strongly supporting its 2001 Daffodil Campaign. This entailed street collections and the sale of yellow silk daffodils. The biggest total raised, £1,680, was in Durham City. People in Darlington
NOMINATIONS are now open for an awards ceremony to celebrate adult learning. The new Learning and Skills Council County Durham is urging learners to enter and get their achievements recognised. Adult Learners' Week will run from May 12 to 18, and award
THE death of a baby at the hands of its mother has prompted an investigation by social services. Child-care experts said seven-month-old Corey Raine was safe to stay with his severely depressed teenage mother Sarah Allison, despite him suffering a number
A CAMPAIGN is under way to get Durham recognised as the youth capital of Europe. James Gilman, originally from Durham, has set up a youth initiative called Europa-Youth, which aims to develop youth projects across Europe. Mr Gilman is now working with
THE funeral takes place today of former miner John Bruce. The 86-year-old, of Lake View, Wingate, who died on April 8, was a familiar figure in the mining community and village where he had lived all his life. His son, Gordon, said: "He was a remarkable
THE good thing about Bridget Jones is that she is 32. The fictional heroine of Helen Fielding's brilliantly successful column/novel/film might act like a particularly irritating 15-year-old and make you long to slap her silly self-indulgent face, but
A CYCLIST was taken to hospital with minor injuries after a collision with a taxi. The 18-year-old man, who has not been named by police, was riding along Station Road, Hartlepool, near to the Blacksmith's Arms pub, when the crash happened at 11.05pm,
A PROLONGED search for a missing pensioner has ended with the discovery of a body. Remains found at a plant hire yard in Todd Point Road, Redcar, have been identified as those of 82-year-old George Winter, who had not been seen since Sunday, January 21
A MAN was found hanged days before he was due to return to work after recovering from injury, an inquest heard yesterday. Denis Dickson, 57, was forced to leave his employment as a lorry driver after he shattered both his heels in a fall from a ladder
A DEPRIVED part of the region could be in line for extra cash as part of a new regeneration scheme. The Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has identified 83 eligible areas across the country, which could become a Neighbourhood Management
A GROUP of teenagers suffered slight injuries yesterday, when their coach collided with a car on a busy tourist route. The youngsters, believed to be a dance group from Shildon, County Durham, were hurt in a collision with a Renault Laguna on the A171
A PROPOSAL to site a mobile telephone mast on farmland at Spennymoor has been granted planning permission. The 25m mast will be on land at Black Plantation, Whitworth, to plug a hole in mobile phone coverage for the Spennymoor area. The tower, which might
MORE new houses are to be built in Newton Aycliffe. The latest building phase on the Cobblers Hall site, called Balmoral Gardens, will comprise 86 three and four-bedroom houses, with landscaping and two toddlers' play areas. Great Aycliffe Town Council
POLICE have warned that they will take a tough line with motorcyclists whose dangerous actions are putting lives at risk. Officers from North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire are planning a crackdown on anti-social riders, spoiling life for residents
WE do not pretend to belittle the plight of British agriculture and the tourist industry caused by the foot-and-mouth crisis. Businesses will collapse and human misery will prevail as a direct result of it. But there is a danger of exaggerating its potential
Sunderland are closing in on QPR's beanpole striker Peter Crouch as the replacement for Niall Quinn - and still haven't given up hope of landing Arsenal's Ray Parlour. Manager Peter Reid sent coach Adrian Heath and scout Tony Book to watch 6ft 6in Crouch
SIR Harry Secombe was a natural clown and one of Britain's best-loved entertainers. He had a genius for slapstick and buffoonery and was a founder of one of Britain's most revered comedy shows, The Goon Show. Whether he was Neddy Seagoon, Sir Cumference
Newcastle manager Bobby Robson has been given the go-ahead to move in for Barcelona skipper Josep Guardiola. Robson has trailed the 31-year-old midfielder for several months and is ready to swoop after being told he wants to leave the Nou Camp this summer
SHIPBUILDING is a risky business. Yards have a hand-to-mouth existence, surviving, often by the skin of their teeth, from one contract to another. The North-East knows this all too well. Six years ago Swan Hunter, the region's most famous shipbuilding
A COUNCILLOR is pressing for improvements to help wheelchair users. Councillor Gerald Lee, who represents Heighington near Darlington, is concerned about the number of raised kerbs and obstacles faced by the disabled and elderly in the village. He has
DERWENTSIDE engineering firm Ronco Engineering is celebrating becoming the first precision engineering company to be awarded certified supplier status from Caterpillar in Peterlee. Ronco Engineering was awarded the certification after completing an intensive
A JOURNALIST is to contest the Durham County Council seat made vacant by the death of Councillor Tony Moore. John Smith, of Mafeking Place, Shildon, will stand as an independent candidate for the Shildon North East ward. The area encompasses half of Shildon
FOOT-AND-MOUTH SURELY I cannot be the only person to be concerned at the report (Echo, Apr 7) that animals will be burned in two huge pits near Tow Law and that this will continue "as long as the crisis continues". While those of us who live in the Crook-Tow
THE last chapter in the 54-year history of one of the region's most famous clubs has brought a £27,600 windfall for good causes in the area. The winding up of the Wilton Castle Club, which was formerly the social centre for ICI on Teesside, led to a £38
A BIKER who died after another rider did a U-turn in front of him on the Isle of Man TT course had no chance of avoiding a collision, a court heard yesterday. Kevin Lynn, a 44-year-old father-of- two from Hartlepool, was killed instantly in the crash
A PROJECT linking Europe's great cultural treasures has been pioneered and launched in the North-East. Newcastle, which is jointly bidding with Gateshead to become European capital of Culture 2008, has unveiled a CD Rom containing more than a thousand
A POLICE authority chairman last night urged critics of a beleaguered force to give credit for a record drop in burglaries. Domestic break-ins at Middlesbrough are below 3,000 for the first time since local records began. They fell to 2,912 in the 12
Middlesbrough Borough Council's welfare rights unit has worked to claim £1.2m in benefits for disadvantaged residents during the past year. Unit manager Steve Nelson said the money may have gone unclaimed due to a combination of the complexity of the
RESIDENTS in Newton Aycliffe are being urged to turn waste paper into cash to support the work of a hospice. A waste paper skip has been placed in the town's Southerne Club car park - and the more paper that is dumped, the more cash will be raised for
CONSULTATION to discover how people would like to see their council run has been described as a shambles. Liberal Democrat councillor Garry Huntington says the exercise has been a waste of taxpayers' money. Sedgefield Borough Council distributed a leaflet
AN informal play area used by children in Eston, could be turned into housing, despite objections from residents. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said the land is surplus to requirements and is considering plans for up to 55 homes on the site, between
THE Easter Bunny will be making an appearance in the grounds of a medieval manor house this weekend. Crook Hall, which overlooks the River Wear in Durham, will open for the first time this year on Good Friday. Owners Keith and Maggie Bell opened the 13th
BOOKING has opened for a North-East theatre and arts centre's summer season. From May to September, there will be a variety of entertainment at Darlington Civic Theatre and Arts Centre. The musical What a Feeling, which is on at the theatre from May 15
A PILOT scheme to protect pensioners from bogus callers has been declared a success. A group of elderly people in Hartlepool were chosen to take part in the scheme which tested crime-fighting equipment. The residents had door announcers fitted inside
A rapid-response breakdown service has been launched on a stretch of the A1. The service, offered by the Highways Agency, is intended to reduce the impact of broken-down vehicles on the A1 Gateshead western bypass. It is regarded as the busiest section
A COLLEGE is putting computers up for adoption in a novel scheme to help unemployed and disabled people. The Northallerton College project will see computers, which come with a printer and Internet connection, installed in homes throughout the area by
A WOMAN who tried to smuggle 30 prescription painkillers into prison hidden in her mouth, was herself sent to jail yesterday for three months. Nicola Lloyd, 23, of Sedgemoor Road, Bankfields, Eston, Teesside, admitted possessing a Class C drug with intent
A MAN handcuffed and bound his former girlfriend before kidnapping her, a court heard yesterday. Desmond Swallow, 39, forced his way into Memtaz Begum's Middlebrough home where he lay in wait. Teesside Crown Court heard how he grabbed her by the hair
MORE than 400 pupils, teachers and parents attended the launch of a learning scheme. Out of School Hours Learning, often called study support, aims to improve young people's motivation, and help them become more effective learners. The City of Sunderland's
A CHAMPION fundraiser is preparing to take his place in this year's London Marathon. Steve Wilson, from Barnard Castle, helped raise hundreds of pounds for the Heart Research Fund by competing in last year's Leeds Marathon. The charity has returned the
A SPORTSWEAR retailer is facing 58 charges of selling counterfeit goods. TY McGurk Sports Limited, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, is alleged to have sold jeans and sweatshirts bearing a false Timberland logo. They are said to have been offered for sale
A PEACEFUL protest threatened to get out of hand yesterday as villagers vented their fury over a mass burial pit. Police had to remove a group of teenagers who had tied themselves to a wagon in a bid to stop work on the site, at Tow Law, County Durham
THREE youngsters have displayed real community spirit by conducting a traffic survey in their village. Caroline Galloway, 12, Emily Dobson, 11, and Carrie Howarth, 11, volunteered to survey traffic in Redworth, near Darlington, after a public meeting
HE is five feet of pure charm with a look that says butter would not melt in his mouth. Old women cannot resist the schoolboy's winsome smile and polite request to have his errant football returned. Many pensioners have ungrudgingly gone looking under
STUNNING crystals found by lead miners in the North Pennines will be the centrepiece of a sparkling display in Weardale in the next few months. The Friends of Killhope have been given £10,286 by cement company Blue Circle to buy a mineral collection for
CYCLISTS in a North-East town were riding in style yesterday when they picked up their prizes from a Christmas draw. Nearly 300 people entered a prize draw when they took part in a bike safety session at Facchini's Cycles in Hartlepool, organised by Cleveland
SEVEN football fans have denied taking part in racial chanting at a match in Darlington last month. The Leyton Orient supporters, five of them youths, travelled from London to appear in Darlington Magistrates' Court yesterday. They are accused of directing
METRIC Martyr Steve Thoburn was back at work yesterday, still considering whether to appeal against his conviction for selling his fruit and veg in pounds and ounces only. But if his wife, Leigh, has her way he will settle for accepting a six-month discharge
CIVIL service call centre staff are staging a two-day strike over proposals to downgrade their jobs. The Land Registry telephone service centre at Boldon House, Durham City, is one of eight across the country closed, because of the Public and Commercial
YOUNGSTERS at a Bishop Auckland primary school got a taste of magic when the Easter bunnies visited bearing gifts. Children from Cockton Hill Primary School, Bishop Auckland, were presented with mini Easter eggs by their new furry friends. Headteacher
WHEN rookie PC Karen Bowman joined Durham Constabulary she created her own piece of force history. Because when she started work at Chester-le-Street, she completed what is believed to be the first mother and son combination serving at the same time in
PUPILS at Darlington's Haughton Community School are to take part in a national campaign against litter. Year seven and eight pupils have signed up to the Just Bin It campaign to cleaning up the streets. On their return from the Easter holidays, they
A DARLINGTON school has been praised by inspectors from the Government's Office for Standards in Education. Teaching at Carmel RC Technology College is described in the inspectors' report as very good in some instances. Pupils make good progress and achieve
YOUNGSTERS in Guisborough have a new venue for Easter events because of foot-and-mouth closures. Countryside wardens, from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, organised a feast of Easter fun for children in the market town, yesterday Ben Robinson, nine
WILDLIFE is to be helped through a project to develop a wetland area. West Boldon Environmental Education Centre has teamed up with Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to improve some of the most important wetlands in the North-East. The site, off
A programme of wildlife events will start at Castle Eden Dene National Nature Reserve, near Peterlee, County Durham, on Easter Monday. English Nature warden Shaun Gooch will lead a walk among the primroses and wood anemones. The event will start at 10.30am
WHETHER or not the ruthless foot-and-mouth massacre succeeds in containing the disease, there's another aspect that should trouble us. The news management of the cull has been a brain-washing exercise worthy of Dr Goebbels, Hitler's master of propaganda
LAST back end some of our neighbours' homes were devastated by the floods. Just as finally they're drying out, humping away the sandbags and looking forward to what may masquerade as summer, the families round about have received another worrying letter
ASPIRING dancers are being given a chance to shine this week. Professional coaches are running dance workshops, teaching new skills to secondary school pupils in Middlesbrough. The course has been organised by the Tees Dance initiative, a professional
