SPENNYMOOR Liberal Democrats have issued the manifesto for their two candidates standing in Sedgefield Borough Council elections on June 7. The candidates, Martin Jones in Tudhoe, and Ben Ord, in the Spennymoor division, which includes Middlestone Moor
MIDDLESBROUGH are set to snap up Swedish superkid Niklas Nordgren, writes CLIVE HETHERINGTON. Boro look to have pipped Liverpool, Tottenham and Italians Bologna for the 16-year-old midfielder. Nordgren's father, Mats, has revealed that a deal with Boro
A PATIENT is demanding answers after a supposedly blacklisted NHS surgeon turned out to be still operating in another part of the country. The patient, who is suing South Durham Health Care NHS Trust over a knee operation that went wrong, was told that
TOURISM and farming were dealt another devastating blow last night when, after months of uncertainty, the Great Yorkshire Show fell victim to the foot-and-mouth crisis. The cancellation of the event - which attracts more than 120,000 visitors from throughout
TWO teenage arsonists who destroyed a school causing £1.5m worth of damage after "trying to keep warm" were each jailed for 18 months yesterday. James Gomersall, 19, and a 14-year-old - who cannot be named for legal reasons - had been drinking vodka and
MIDDLESBROUGH are mourning the death of coach John Pickering. Boro's former first-team coach died after a long illness. He was 56. Teessider Pickering had been with the club for a decade, working under the management of Colin Todd, Lennie Lawrence and
IN August next year, flamboyant football club owner George Reynolds will watch proudly as his team take to the pitch in the £20m stadium he is building on the outskirts of Darlington. He hopes it will herald a new era for Darlington FC, but for others
THE plight of the farming industry will have far-reaching effects on the North York Moors National Park, according to the man who has run it for 12 years. County Councillor George Sigsworth is stepping down as chairman of the park with his retirement
A LAW firm is in the North-East is highlighting a change which means domestic violence includes financial abuse. Cygnet Family Law, in Redcar, says the traditional definition of abuse has mainly been assumed to be physical, sexual or emotional abuse taking
CALLS for tougher safety measures on a village road are expected to be made at a council meeting tomorrow. Sedgefield Borough Council is to discuss plans for a large housing development in School Aycliffe. Outline planning permission for 233 houses to
AN old gas fire bought at a car boot sale caused the death of a North-East man, an inquest heard. The portable heater had been given to refuse collector Andrew Allan, 31, only four days before the tragedy. He was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning because
LYNNE Bezant, the 56-year-old who gave birth to test-tube twins this week, has been condemned as selfish, feckless and irresponsible. She's far too old to be having children, say her critics. But no one seems to have considered that, perhaps, the rest
AS one of her last duties as Mayor of Darlington, Councillor Dorothy Long presented three local charities with a total of £10,500. St Teresa's Hospice, Corporation Road Nursery School's toy library and Darlington Community Services each received a cheque
A STUDENT died just hours before she would have discovered she had passed her course with flying colours. Just 24 hours before Nikki Moan got her results for a business studies diploma, she died from a disorder which had affected her since childhood.
A TOWN'S residents are calling for a weight limit to be imposed on a main road being used as a rat run. The people of Dormanstown want a three ton weight limit imposed on The Broadway, but engineers from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council claim there
A TRIUMPHANT football team from Redcar was given a civic reception last night to celebrate its magnificent success. Players and officials from Redcar Workingmen's Club brought the Carlsberg Pub Cup to the Mayor's Parlour to show it to Redcar and Cleveland
FOUR faces from the West End will take centre stage at a charity concert this summer. Singers Paul Baker, Claire Moore, Nicky Adams and Niklas Andersson will star at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium on July 21. Their past performances include Phantom
POLICE are hunting a thug who attacked a 27-year-old woman as she walked home after a night out. The woman was attacked from behind as she walked along a footpath running from Front Street to Rose Avenue, in Whickham, Gateshead, on Monday. She was taken
A LANDLORDS' forum designed to combat anti-social behaviour has been launched on deprived estates. A partnership between private landlords and Sunderland City Health and Housing Services, the scheme will help cut vandalism, violence and hooliganism in
A VILLAGE'S 62-year wait for a bypass has moved a step nearer being ended. A big public consultation exercise for the proposed £7.6m Chilton bypass was launched yesterday. Plans for a bypass around Chilton were first proposed in 1939 and a protected route
A PENSIONER has been left terrified by two attacks in his own home in the past couple of years. Kenneth Cooper, 66, was pushed to the ground, covered with a jacket and punched by two youths who broke into his Stockton home on Tuesday night. They rifled
SIX people have appeared in court on charges of supplying drugs. The defendants, from Ferryhill and Spennymoor, County Durham, appeared before Sedgefield magistrates yesterday. All are accused of drugs offences, including supplying heroin. They were Paul
THE patter of tiny feet is sounding more like a roll of thunder at a theme park experiencing its biggest baby boom for years. Zoo keepers have been rushed off their feet coping with new arrivals ranging from baby penguins to anacondas and ring-tailed
A COUNTY Durham soldier who has completed his basic training is back to tell other youngsters about Army life. Gunner Ryan Kelsey, 18, of Horden, is spending the week at the Army Careers Information Office in Claypath, Durham City. The former pupil of
A North Yorkshire market town is to stage its first motor show. Malton's big day will be on July 22, dreamed up as an alternative to the agricultural shows that have been called off because of the continuing foot-and-mouth crisis. Malton Motor Show will
A PIECE of derelict land is to be transformed for a local community. A tract of waste ground next to Old Billingham Community Centre, Teesside, is to be turned into a community wildlife garden, thanks to a cheque for £5,000 from Barclays SiteSavers -
DURHAM County Council is reviving its guided walks programme, which was suspended after the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the county. A revised set of walks has been assembled, which will run until September. Almost 60 walks are included, but
TAXPAYERS have given their local authority a clear message for the future - they do not want a directly-elected mayor. Harrogate Borough Council must have its plan for a new constitution with the Government by the end of next month. The authority consulted
INTERNATIONAL mime artist Valerie van Loo is keeping young shoppers entertained during the half-term break. She is taking the lead in a pantomime, which is being staged at the MetroCentre, called The Mechanical MetroGnomes Meet Pinocchio. Valerie, from
England's triumphant march towards a fifth successive series triumph was brought to a shuddering halt by a flurry of boundaries by rejuvenated Pakistan at Old Trafford. Beaten by an innings at Lord's in the first Test and accused of losing focus after
A legless visitor caused mayhem in a North-East pub last night. Customer Natalie Blackburn thought she was seeing things when she spotted a snake slithering along the floor in the Pennyweight, Darlington. When other drinkers crowded round the bizarre
EVERTON have hung a £10m price tag on Francis Jeffers - and that could rule Newcastle out of an auction for the England Under-21 striker. Arsenal have emerged as firm favourites to land Jeffers, who is also being tracked by Sunderland and Tottenham. And
HAVE you ever wondered what happened to your old Army pal or found yourself searching for a long lost relative? If the answer is yes, The Northern Echo is here to help you with the launch of our new weekly column, Tracer. We all have the best intentions
HOUSE prices are forecast to rise by seven per cent this year, despite signs that the economy may be slowing. Figures from the Nationwide Building Society showed that average house prices across the country rose by 0.8 per cent during May, compared to
A RENOWNED artist will reveal the secrets of ceramics during a series of lectures. David Roberts will deliver the talks to accompany his touring exhibition of Raku ceramics called Painting with Smoke, now at the Cleveland Crafts Centre. Visitors can attend
A TEENAGER has been hailed as a hero after he went to the aid of a pensioner who severed an artery in his arm. Matthew Sweeney was in Redcar Cemetery putting flowers on his wife's grave last Wednesday when he slipped on dog dirt and fell over a glass
A FORMER police officer who beat his wife and threatened her family was yesterday warned he faces prison if he offends again. Roger Nelson, 33, resigned from the Durham force last year after being arrested at Scotch Corner while heading back to the North-East
CONSIGNIA, formerly the Post Office, is considering contracting out deliveries and sorting services to the German IT firm Siemens. The move is one of a range of options aimed at improving productivity being considered in a review of Royal Mail operations
POLICE have condemned a "sickening" attack on a teenager with learning difficulties by stick-wielding thugs. The 15-year-old boy has been left emotionally scarred by the unprovoked beating as he walked home through a playing field. Two teenager boys lunged
JAIL sentences are the only solution to stamping out drunken violence, a judge said yesterday. Judge John Walford, jailing two men for affray in Middlesbrough, said that the public was sick of drunken young men indulging in casual violence. The court
A ROAD bridge is open to traffic again as work nears completion on part of the extension of the Metro rail system. Hylton Road Bridge, in Millfield, Sunderland, has been replaced as part of the 12-mile expansion of the network to Wearside. Work began
HORDES of music fans will descend on one of the region's most unusual concert venues this weekend. Work to create a huge stage in the 9,000-acre Dalby Forest, near Pickering, North Yorkshire, is almost complete - and the beauty spot will play host to
Student Holly Davis has designs on the world of fashion. The 22-year-old, who did work experience with international designer Zandra Rhodes, is to exhibit her work at a London design show. Holly, from Acomb, York, takes her inspiration from the geometric
HEALTH and beauty retailer Boots showed how the impact of increasing high street competition had hit its sales in its last financial year. Boots, which has seen grocery giants such as Tesco and Asda take more of its market share, announced profits before
FIRE chiefs say they are no nearer catching a young hoaxer despite an appeal on television's Crimewatch programme. The hoaxer is said to have dialled 999 on several occasions, claiming his sister is trapped inside a burning house in Stooperdale Avenue
THERE was a special welcome home this week for residents of 17th Century almshouses. The Grade I listed Georgian Sir William Turner's Hospital, at Kirkleatham, near Redcar, has been undergoing a £1m refurbishment programme. The hospital provides sheltered
FROM Dr Jim Hall's window he can see the walls of the new heart unit rising brick by brick and the cardiologist is longing for the day when the North-East's largest heart hospital can expand into its new accommodation. Once the extension is fully open
NO laughing matter when the ambulance lads are called, of course, but paramedic Ged Wild hopes to reset a few funny bones in a fund-raising bid for Children in Need. Ged, based at Richmond, believes a sense of humour is an ambulance worker's most vital
THE sight of William Hague wearing a Margaret Thatcher wig left me shaking my head in disbelief. Why is the Labour Party resorting to such tactics? It seems it has been attacking Mr Hague for some considerable time, suggesting he is a non-entity, a bad
A BOROUGH is hoping to finally put the lid on its grubby image. Super-sized litter bins have been installed around Stockton, Billingham and Thornaby. It is part of a five-year programme to clean up the area and in response to a damning Audit Commission
GENERAL ELECTION WILLIAM Hague made a big mistake when he invited Lady Thatcher to take part in his election campaign. Surely, the electors should never be reminded of the disastrous years of her premiership. Her policies created homelessness, bankruptcies
A FUN-FILLED charity book launch has raised money for a children's hospice. An Evening with Dad at Large, hosted by the Hall Garth Golf and Country Club, at Coatham Mundeville, near Darlington, was a sell-out last night. Peter Barron, editor of The Northern
A PROTESTOR chained himself to the entrance gates of a mass foot-and-mouth burial site yesterday morning. Father-of-two Gavin Thomas, 22, succeeded in disrupting operations at the Inkerman site, in Tow Law, County Durham, for two hours. Mr Thomas, who
WHEN Sandra Maxwell and Anne Chown couldn't find the sun suits they wanted to buy for their children, they started selling their own. Easy peasy. Well, not exactly. "It started as a flippant suggestion," says Anne. "Then after a while, we thought: Why
THIS is the face of a teenage sex attacker who police are hunting after a woman was indecently assaulted in a Darlington park. The 21-year-old woman was walking through South Park, in Darlington, on Tuesday last week, when the youth, thought to be aged
A FORMER North-East councillor is leading a campaign to release a convicted Palestinian terrorist being held in a Durham prison. Thea Khamis, whose father was forced to leave Palestine in 1948, wants the release of Jawad Botmeh from Frankland Prison as
