Archive

  • Forget politicians - vote for Mitcham

    THERE'S still plenty of time to have a bet in the race for Number 10 Downing Street, although I'd rather have my money on Mitcham in the five-furlong Be Friendly Handicap at Haydock. Mitcham's fall from grace since winning the King's Stand Stakes at Royal

  • Survey reveals size of task facing drug fight agencies

    MORE than half of North-East children have tried drugs by the time they reach the age of 14, according to a survey. Drug workers say youngsters are more likely to get their first hit from a friend than a drug pusher at the school gates. The recent deaths

  • Two men punched off-duty officer

    TWO men attacked an off-duty police officer after he had ticked them off for their boisterous behaviour in a pub. Thomas Rodwell and David Jones were politely asked to behave themselves by the constable, who was drinking with an off-duty colleague in

  • Sven's men ready for Greek showdown

    Sven Goran Eriksson watched England crush Mexico 4-0 and roared - now for the Greeks. The England coach was ecstatic after Mohican man David Beckham led his warriors to a thrilling victory in this Pride Park friendly. Skipper Beckham helped scalp the

  • Comment from The Northern Echo - Durham's young dream

    OUR heartiest congratulations go to Paul Collingwood, the cricketer named in the England squad on his birthday. He is not the first Durham player to be called up by England, but he is the most significant. Durham's ambition, when it became a first-class

  • Where has all the cash gone?

    THE massive extent of the potential losses faced by hundreds of investors in a collapsed North-East Internet company became clear last night. eforyou.com - which is facing calls for a Government investigation - signed up agents who paid up to £2,000 each

  • Brown sets goal of jobs for all

    CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown visited the North-East yesterday and said the region could look forward to full employment within a generation. Speaking at the International Centre for Life in Newcastle, he said Britain had a historic opportunity to take millions

  • Crisis-hit tourism industry pins hopes on a Bank Holiday boost

    TOURISM chiefs are hoping the sun will still shine on the North-East this weekend - despite warnings of rain - and provide a timely boost to the tourism industry still reeling from the effects of foot-and-mouth. Efforts to reopen footpaths will see a

  • Land deal will boost park project

    THE purchase of more than 100 acres of North-East parkland will enable the full restoration of a nationally important landscape. Durham County Council is to buy Hardwick East Park, in Sedgefield, County Durham. The agreement will complement land already

  • Hunt for show prop

    SHILDON theatre and drama group Centre Stage needs an unusual prop for its production of Agatha Christie's Murder at the Vicarage at the town's Civic Hall, from June 21 to 23. The production is set in the 1940/50s and the group needs a doctor's bag from

  • Parents rally to nurture their nursery

    PARENTS have secured the future of a nursery school by transforming it into a thriving business. People in Kirk Merrington valued their nursery so much that when Spennymoor Town Council threatened to close it last October they reluctantly agreed to run

  • Centre unveils half-term plans

    A RUSSIAN student and a Belgian mime artist will be among the visitors to the MetroCentre this week. Valerie van Loo, a mime artist from Brussels, will take the lead in the Gateshead shopping centre's pantomime version of Pinnochio. She will be joined

  • Looking to the future

    AN independent advice and information service has set out its priorities for the future. The Sedgefield and District Citizen's Advice Bureau is taking part in a national review, called Agenda For Change, which aims to influence social policies and services

  • Plane dismantled in bid to find engine failure clues

    THE two-seater plane at the centre of an emergency landing scare is to be dismantled as an investigation gets under way. It is believed the Cessna 150 Aircraft, from Cleveland Flying School, which was landed in a farmer's field near Shildon, County Durham

  • Action on chemical firm leak

    A PROHIBITION notice has been served on a chemical firm following a vapour cloud leak, on Sunday The cloud, made up of 1.5 tonnes of an oily organic water mixture, drifted to an engineering works a few hundred metres from Baker Petrolite, of Tofts Farm

  • Unfriendly fire for FA

    THE Football Association has been accused of double standards by a group of fund-raising footballers after their charity game was ordered to be postponed. Fans of Hartlepool and Darlington forgot their fierce rivalry to arrange a game in aid of Jon Robert

  • Silver car may be key clue in kittiwakes slaughter

    POLICE investigating the shooting of 80 rare seabirds say a car seen in the area may hold the key to the outrage. A gunman shot 80 kittiwakes and laid them out to spell the word "death" at the Marsden Grotto coastal beauty spot near South Shields, South

  • Jail attack inmate in hanging drama

    AN inmate at a North-East jail was found hanging in his cell on the day after he was believed to be involved in an attack on another prisoner, it emerged last night. The first incident was reported to an officer at Holme House Prison, Stockton, Teesside

  • Grieving sister's appeal

    A GRIEVING woman made an emotional appeal yesterday for the public to help police track down her brother's killer. Barbara Sherwood made the plea as a funeral service was held for David Williamson, who was found lying unconscious on a quiet road between

  • RSPCA seek owner of dog dumped in bin

    RSPCA officers are carrying out investigations after the body of a pedigree dog was found in a recycling bin. The grey and white shih tzu dog was discovered yesterday in a clothes recycling bin at Morton Park, Darlington. The dog, estimated to be aged

  • Classics adapted for theatre

    DRAMA students are working on two ambitious productions to be performed next month. First year students at New College Durham have devised a piece of work based on John Wyndham's classic futuristic novel, The Chrysalids. The story is set in a world where

  • Contest has extra a-peel

    NELL Gwynn, cockney orange girl and lover of Charles II, brought some extra a-peel to a book competition yesterday. Nell, alias Liz Finnigan from Durham County Council's Arts, Libraries and Museums department, was dishing out fruit to anyone who borrowed

  • Minister tackles students' questions

    STUDENT tuition fees, asylum seekers, Third World aid and young voters were all subjects tackled by International Development Minister Clare Short at a question and answer session at a Teesside school yesterday. Although the lower sixth-form students

  • Kids left in squalor as mother basked in sun

    A NORTH-EAST mother was last night starting a 15-month jail sentence for leaving her children in squalor while she enjoyed a sunshine break in Malta. The 29-year-old woman left her three children in a house with no food, clothes or heating. The youngsters

  • Driver is locked up over chase

    A GETAWAY driver did a 180-degree spin and accelerated straight at a pursuing police car, a court heard. Michael Charville, 19, forced the police patrol to swerve off the road, Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday. Michael O'Neill, prosecuting, said

  • Cash to aid bus firm ex-workers

    CASH is being made available to help hundreds of workers who are about to lose their jobs on the North Yorkshire coast. It was announced yesterday that £160,000 of Government cash will be made available to help with retraining and finding new work. Up

  • BT Yell sale expected

    DEBT-ridden telecoms firm BT is believed to be close to selling its yellow pages business, Yell, for about £2bn. A report in the Financial Times said BT was expected to sell the business to a consortium that includes two private equity firms, Hicks Muse

  • On the move at Barclays

    BARCLAYS has announced four senior management appointments as part of group chief executive Matthew Barrett's strategy to increase the pace of reform at the banking group. A spokeswoman said the new chief executives are part of Mr Barrett's plans to make

  • Club lands £300,000 Lottery grant for youth rugby centre

    WORK on a £400,000 redevelopment of one of the area's premier rugby clubs will begin in the coming weeks. Consett Rugby Club told The Northern Echo it had received official confirmation from National Lottery agents Sport England that it would be granted

  • Positive ring to Vodafone forecast

    INVESTORS returning from their long weekends will be able to enjoy a busy week of corporate results, including an update from the world's biggest mobile phone group Vodafone. Fresh from sponsoring Formula 1 powerhouse Ferrari, Vodafone reports its full-year

  • Growth beats prediction

    ECONOMIC growth during the first three months of the year was not as sluggish as first feared, official data has shown. The Office for National Statistics said first-quarter gross domestic product rose 0.4 per cent - the same rate as in the previous three

  • Hear All Sides

    Letters from The Northern Echo GREAT NORTH RUN IF you're running the Great North Run and would like to raise money for a worthwhile cause, then why not Run for Roy, and raise money for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation? If you'd like to help raise

  • Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

    MAY 1976 was the month that Jeremy Thorpe resigned the Liberal party leadership over allegations of homosexuality, that UK inflation dropped - yes dropped - to 18.9 per cent, Southampton beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final, Harold Wilson knighted

  • Summer safety plea by the lifeguards

    LIFEGUARDS are warning beach lovers to heed their advice to get the most out of a trip to the seaside. The warning came after the lifeguard team employed by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council made a rescue before it returned to summer duties. On Thursday

  • Cash to aid bus firm ex-workers

    CASH is being made available to help hundreds of workers who are about to lose their jobs on the North Yorkshire coast. It was announced yesterday that £160,000 of Government cash will be made available to help with retraining and finding new work. Up

  • Man set fire to his home after break-up with girl

    A MAN poured petrol around his house and then set it alight after he and his girlfriend had an argument, a court heard yesterday. Thomas Woods, 33, of Wales Street, Darlington, admitted a charge of arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered

  • Children trained to combat bullying

    CHILDREN at an east Cleveland school have completed training so they can help classmates who may be the victims of bullying. The youngsters from Warsett School, Brotton, have also produced posters and poetry for a competition and a display to give the

  • What's reality got to do with it?

    A heavily-pregnant woman, gun in hand, walks into a supermarket and shoots the man standing at the counter at point blank range. As he slumps bleeding to the floor, she pumps several more bullets into his dying body. This is Dawn, eight months pregnant

  • Football academy scheme rejected

    Proposals for a football academy to hone a club's future crop of talent hit a planning obstacle yesterday. The ball is back with Sunderland Association Football Club after South Tyneside Borough Council's planning committee rejected plans for buildings

  • Candidate calls in police

    A candidate has called in the police to investigate his claim that a confidential document belonging to him has been stolen. Freelance journalist John Booth, standing in Hartlepool, reported the theft of a letter which he believes was taken from a photocopying

  • 'Promotion beckons for Seasiders' - Miller

    TOMMY Miller is backing Blackpool for play-off glory this afternoon. After ending Pool's hopes of a spot in the Division Three play-off final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium this afternoon, Blackpool face Leyton Orient with a place in Division Two awaiting

  • Durham are hoping for double delight against Lancashire

    AFTER a nine-year gap without a win against Lancashire, Durham hope to beat them for the second time this season in tomorrow's Norwich Union League match at Chester-le-Street. The Benson and Hedges Cup win at Liverpool on May 1 was Durham's first victory

  • Treble joy for Bhoys

    Celtic have stormed to an historic Treble after smashing Hibernian 3-0 to win the Scottish Cup Final. King Henrik Larsson blasted two goals to take his season's tally to a sensational 53 as the Bhoys blew away Hibs at a packed Hampden Park. The Old Firm

  • Let the coach take the strain

    AS a motorist who tends to end up driving in the wrong direction, it made a refreshing change to put my faith in a coach driver's knowledge of the roads. So a short-break trip to Great Yarmouth and the Broads, with Shearings coach travel, is a perfect

  • The way it works for women

    Q I have been told that the State Pension that I have paid for myself will be £38, made up to £43.40 from my husband's contributions. Does this mean that a woman who pays contributions all her life gets the same pension as a woman who has never worked

  • Six soccer fans face retrial for rail trouble

    A RETRIAL into the case of rival football fans accused of hooliganism at two railway stations, and on a train, was announced yesterday. Four Hartlepool United fans and three Darlington supporters face charges ranging from affray to violent disorder. Their

  • Students prove they have got what it takes

    SIXTEEN students made local history when they became the first in the North-East to successfully complete an Army training course. The students, from east Durham, took part in a passing out parade yesterday after a 16-week Army Preparation Course at East

  • Artistic end to child care celebrations

    NATIONAL Child Care Week is coming to a colourful end in Darlington. A number of events have been held in the town as part of a nationwide celebration of child care. Yesterday, there was a jazz band parade around the Market Square, and the judging of

  • A game to win everyone's vote

    You don't have to be Tony Blair or William Hague to have a chance of becoming the next Prime Minister. NIGEL BURTON reports General Election. Published by: Infogrames. Format: PC CD-ROM (£14.99) INFOGRAMES is a French multi-media conglomerate. It is one

  • Court told of baby drama as woman is attacked

    A PASSER-BY stepped in to save a runaway pushchair containing a baby while a man attacked the mother in the street. The motorist saw Ian Stoddart and his partner involved in a disturbance as the ten-week-old child began rolling away in the pushchair.

  • Gardens open to help charity

    KEEN gardeners will be welcoming visitors this weekend as part of the British Red Cross open gardens event. Tomorrow, 28 Sunnyside Terrace, in Trimdon Grange, will be open. The garden contains a wide selection of interesting plants, but is noted for its

  • Land deal will boost park project

    THE purchase of more than 100 acres of North-East parkland will enable the full restoration of a nationally important landscape. Durham County Council is to buy Hardwick East Park, in Sedgefield, County Durham. The agreement will complement land already

  • City guide leads to national title

    A STUDENT has secured the chance to work with a leading design agency after winning a national award. Calum Armstrong, a third year student at Northumbria University, has won the Interactive Media Design Category in the RSA Student Design Awards. The

  • Referendum to decide on new council system

    A REFERENDUM will be held to decide if Sedgefield Borough Council should have an elected mayor. Earlier this year, the council consulted with local people, businesses and other groups. They were asked if they would prefer the council to be run by a leader

  • A game to win everyone's vote

    General Election. Published by: Infogrames. Format: PC CD-ROM (£14.99) INFOGRAMES is a French multi-media conglomerate. It is one of the world's biggest software companies with a string of studios across the globe, including several closer to home in

  • Improved golf club aims for wider appeal

    A GOLF clubhouse has undergone a major refurbishment to transform it into a family pub and restaurant. The new-look clubhouse at Stressholme Golf Club, Snipe Lane, Darlington, has reopened after a £200,000 facelift. It is been transformed from a clubhouse

  • Joint venture opens doors to high-tech life in the ezone

    A JOINT business venture between engineering company Express Group and Gateshead Borough Council has been opened by one of the region's own business success stories. Team Valley-based ezone, was opened by David Irwin, Chief Executive of the Small Business

  • Keeper to sign new deal

    NEWCASTLE United keeper Steve Harper is poised to sign a new four-year contract. Harper, No 2 to Republic of Ireland international Shay Given, has ended doubts about his future by verbally agreeing fresh terms. "It's a big decision,'' admitted Harper,

  • Youngsters get a very snappy line in school pets

    ONCE upon a time, in a gentler classroom era, tadpoles and tortoises were about the most exciting school pets a youngster could expect to see. But things change, and now that we are firmly in the 21st Century even the youngest of school children expect

  • Collingwood call-up the perfect birthday present

    DURHAM'S Paul Collingwood was yesterday named in the England one-day squad and described it as the "best birthday present I've ever had." The all-rounder from Shotley Bridge is 25 today but had not decided last night how he will celebrate as news of his

  • Former skipper backs Robbo to revive career

    FORMER Middlesbrough skipper Nigel Pearson insists Bryan Robson can rebuild his shattered managerial career. Pearson, a double promotion-winning captain under Robson, last night revealed his "sadness'' over the demise of his old boss, who is making way

  • Repeat performance from red-hot Vaughan

    Those Yorkshire fans unfortunate enough to miss Michael Vaughan's epic Benson and Hedges Cup innings this week were treated to a repeat performance at Headingley yesterday when he plundered a dazzling 133 on the first day of the Cricinfo Championship

  • Weekend is all go for airport

    NEWCASTLE Airport is expecting a busy Bank Holiday weekend with more than 50,000 passengers coming through its doors. About 16,000 people are expected to depart from Newcastle on holidays to Mediterranean destinations and European cities such as Paris

  • Money fails to talk as costs are shooting up

    Prize-money seems to have hit an all-time low. Whilst owners pay good money for horses and the costs of training are high, the returns unfortunately are very low. Looking at entries this week, I saw races with prize money of £2000. From this the winning

  • Anguish of Steve Cram at brother's shock death

    Former Olympian athlete Steve Cram told last night of his shock at the sudden death of his younger brother, who is believed to have collapsed and died while out jogging. Kevin Cram, 39, was found dead by the side of a road in Cardiff by a passing motorist

  • Drinker launched 'dreadful' attacks on three women

    THREE women were attacked in a "dreadful outbreak of violence" after a night out, a court heard yesterday. Allan Miller, 20, of Anthony Street, Easington, admitted two charges of actual bodily harm and one of common assault, at Teesside Crown Court. Shaun

  • Men locked up for supply of £16,000 drugs

    THREE men were jailed yesterday after admitting supplying more than £16,000 of drugs including cocaine and Ecstasy to undercover police officers. Stuart Bandeira of Blakestone Street, Stockton, Stephen Hepperle of Beaconsfield Street, Darlington, and

  • Maff mix-up puts doctor in exclusion zone

    DOCTOR Neville Bartlett would like it to be known that his home in a quiet residential street is free of foot-and-mouth - whatever the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (Maff) says. Officials labelled his house in Mowbray Road, Northallerton,

  • Dioxins fear over carcass pyres

    FEARS that the foot-and-mouth crisis could pose perils for human health deepened last night, as a government watchdog warned that cancer-causing chemicals from animal pyres may have ended up in dairy products. The Food Standard Agency's (FSA) warning

  • Relatives mourn cliff fall man

    A BIRDWATCHER has died after plunging 100ft over cliffs while looking through his binoculars. Jimmy Howe, 37, survived the plunge, after a ledge halfway down the cliff broke his fall. But his condition deteriorated and he died in hospital on Thursday

  • Doctor jailed for £4m fraud

    A doctor thought to have carried out the largest one-man fraud on the National Health Service, was jailed for four years yesterday. Dimitri Padelis, 45, may have pocketed up to £4m by "systematically" swindling hard-pressed health trusts - including hospitals

  • Popular tea room bids to win cuppa

    A NORTH-EAST business is hoping to be declared the maker of the best cuppa in the UK. Expert tasters will be converging on Bettys Tea Rooms, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, which are among 24 finalists in the Guild of Tea Shops contest to find the

  • Jaguar's new baby ready to roll from Halewood

    BOSSES at Jaguar Cars have officially opened the new factory where the X-Type "Baby Jag" is to be built. The plant, in Halewood, Liverpool, used to produce Ford Escorts, but has been transformed by investment of £300m, including £43m from the Government

  • Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

    MAY 1976 was the month that Jeremy Thorpe resigned the Liberal party leadership over allegations of homosexuality, that UK inflation dropped - yes dropped - to 18.9 per cent, Southampton beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final, Harold Wilson knighted

  • A stitch in time for gathering support

    AN election hopeful canvassing for votes on a doorstep in North Yorkshire ran into some ferocious opposition when his policies went down badly with a pet dog. Bloodied and shaken, Liberal Democrat candidate Greg Stone proved his dogged determination as

  • Man found guilty of rape

    A MAN has been found guilty of brutally raping a young mother while his grandmother slept in the next room. Robert McQuire, 22, of Marx Crescent, South Stanley, downed a "concoction" of drinks before he attacked the woman on July 21 last year. Newcastle

  • Village hostel rumour denied

    RUMOURS of a possible bail hostel in north Durham have been scotched by the Probation Service. Protestors have fought plans for a 25-bed hostel in Chester-le-Street for the past eight months - rumours of a development in nearby Perkinsville have been

  • GPs given chance to shape health services

    FAMILY doctors from Murton and Wheatley Hill are being given the opportunity to shape local health services. Dr Stephen Muscat, who has worked as a GP in Murton since 1989, and Dr Kanubhai Patel, who has run surgeries in Wheatley Hill and Thornley for

  • How to escape election madness

    THE prospect of wall-to-wall politics in the impending election run-up could boost one of the fastest-growing sectors of the travel industry. This involves a retreat where visitors can shut themselves away entirely from Blair, Hague, Kennedy, the speeches