Archive

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Lee rescues point for Pools

HARTLEPOOL United fans could be forgiven for thinking they weren't watching their team come 3.45pm on Saturday. But an hour later, they were brought back to reality. Pool dominated the first half against Shrewsbury, tearing their fourth-placed visitors

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McClaren is happy to follow Robson's lead

STEVE McCLAREN admits he has been forced to take a leaf out of Bobby Robson's book at Newcastle in a bid to rebuild Middlesbrough's fortunes. Manager McClaren inherited one of the biggest squads in the country from free-spending predecessor Bryan Robson

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Teenager locked up for gang attack on young bar worker

A TEENAGE gang set on a young bar worker for no reason, injuring his shoulder, a court heard yesterday. Dominic Finley, 19, of Thrush Road, Redcar, east Cleveland, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to barman Richard Whitely. Shaun Dryden, prosecuting

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Passengers appeal against cancellations

RAIL users are appealing to Transport Secretary Stephen Byers to intervene over an axing of train services on the MP's own doorstep. Passenger watchdog Transport 2000 is furious at the two week cancellation of trains between Middlesbrough, Hartlepool,

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Locomotive makes East Coast return

A LOCOMOTIVE involved in two rail disasters is back in use on the East Coast Main Line. The electric engine, which was part of the trains that came to grief in the Hatfield and Selby tragedies, has been refurbished and given the name City of Durham. But

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Sarah's tragic fight to the last

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl died in her mother's arms after suffering a massive asthma attack. As Sarah Smyth desperately gasped for air she told her mother: "Mummy, I can't do it any more." Sarah was diagnosed with asthma when she was seven months old. She

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Family take campaign to Greek authorities

THE family of a young holidaymaker who died in a Greek hospital plan to take their campaign for the truth to the country's authorities. Christopher Rochester, 24, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, died after a balcony fall while visiting his brother

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Blomqvist on target as Black Cats crash

ANOTHER rock-bottom away performance left Sunderland's large band of travelling supporters once again despairing at the embarrassing inadequacies of a team still trying to blow a European trumpet. But while there is plenty of noise the tune is badly off-key

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Police search for missing student

A STUDENT whose body was found in a suitcase in North Yorkshire lived in the same London house as another Korean girl who has gone missing, detectives have revealed. The remains of Hyo Jung Jin, 21, a student of French at the University of Lyon, were

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MP backs furniture firm's expansion plans

A FURNITURE manufacturer with plans to create more than 100 jobs has opened its new premises. Houghton and Washington East MP Fraser Kemp did the honours at Sheraton's of Politura, in Hetton-le-Hole. With assistance from Business Link Tyne and Wear and

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Neale victims still await surgery

NINE months after they were promised fast-track surgery the victims of Richard Neale are still waiting in vain, it was claimed last night. The disgraced surgeon was struck off after leaving large numbers of his former patients in agony after botching

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First knight at the theatre

The world's second most performed playwrite, after Shakespeare, has been chosen to open the North-East's newest venue. Viv Hardwick talks to Sir Alan Ayckbourn. A QUEST indeed. Damsels In Distress and a knight in shining armour have entered the lists

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Turner hoping to continue where in-form Pool left off

CHRIS Turner is urging his players to carry on from where they left off when they entertain Shrewsbury this afternoon. Pool's last outing in a festive programme wrecked by the big freeze saw them turn in arguably their best show of the season in beating

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Body discovered on north-east coast

THE body of a man in his early thirties was discovered at the bottom of cliffs in North Yorkshire on Sunday. Three members of the public discovered the body at around 12.30pm at Cowbar, near Staithes. The police and coastguard were alerted and Staithes

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Zoe's thankful for support

DARLINGTON'S darling Zoe Birkett has thanked all of the people who have helped her get into the last five of ITV's Pop Idol show. The 16-year-old's performance of Abba's Thank You For The Music on Saturday night's show received the highest praise of the

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Campaigners await White Paper

CAMPAIGNERS for home rule are demanding to know when a long-awaited White Paper on regional devolution will be published. Members of the North East Assembly say the region's hopes of self-governance by 2005 are "slipping" because the Government has yet

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Before the sap starts rising...

WHILE the weather is cold and fruit trees and bushes are resting, they should be pruned. It will not be long before dormant buds show signs of growth. In the case of stone fruits, like cherries and plums, it is essential to complete pruning before there

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Happy Haslam builds on successful year

HOUSEBUILDER Haslam Homes plans to invest a further £4m in the region, following one of its most successful years to date. The housebuilder, which opened a regional base in the Team Valley in Gateshead in 1995, will invest £4m in new housing developments

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Hard man, soft centre

Ten in the morning in a posh London hotel suite and the actor usually defined as "the hard man of British film" is tucking into a bacon sandwich and talking fondly of acting with his daughter in his latest film Last Orders. He is neatly turned out in

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Zoe's school pals to taste TV fame

EXCITED pupils from a North-East school will have an extra-special reason to watch Pop Idol's Zoe Birkett on TV tonight. Youngsters at Darlington's Carmel RC Technology College will be glued to their sets in the hope of catching a glimpse of themselves

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Dabizas warns Leeds to cut out the rough stuff

NEWCASTLE defender Nikos Dabizas has warned leaders Leeds that their rough house tactics could cost them the Premiership title. Greek strongman Dabizas is speaking from first-hand experience after being the victim of a horror tackle by Leeds striker Mark

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Magpies go top

SVEN-GORAN Eriksson left St. James' Park with more questions than answers about his England hopefuls. Under the scrutiny of the inscrutable Swede, Leeds' quartet of Lee Bowyer, Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Smith and Danny Mills did themselves few favours in

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Cottagers fightback sinks Boro

WHEN Steve McClaren promised to bring entertainment back to Middlesbrough matches nobody would quite have guessed that it would be at his own team's expense. Indeed, after a match which saw Boro comfortably beaten by a Fulham team brimming with ideas,

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Woman killed as car crashes into cow

A WOMAN was killed after a cow escaped from its field and was hit by two cars on the A66. Three other people were injured as the animal crushed the first vehicle and then fell into the path of the second, leaving a trail of devastation on the A66 near

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Hear All Sides

Letters from The Northern Echo METRIC MARTYRS THERE is still a lot of confusion and misinformation in the public domain with regard to the prosecution of the Metric Martyrs. Steven Thoburn was prosecuted for weighing a pound of bananas on a set of scales

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Look out for festive shopping report

NEWS flow from the high street reaches its peak next week with Christmas trading statements from some of the sector's biggest names. Coupled with an update from troubled telecom stock Marconi, the week promises to be one of the busiest in the City for

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Airports recovery goes on

THE UK's major airports continued their recovery last month as people chose to fly away for Christmas and New Year. Despite the impact of the September 11 atrocities, airports operator BAA said 8.2 million passengers passed through its seven airports

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Turgeonev set to follow the Dream

TURGEONEV bids to follow in Function Dream's footsteps by bringing the £60,000 Victor Chandler Chase back north for the second year in succession. Twelve months ago Mary Reveley's Function Dream gloriously galloped her southern counterparts into submission

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Income support triggers help

QOur combined weekly state pensions are £130.25 and I have a monthly works pension of £43.64. We have £6,000 saved and my wife gets full Attendance Allowance. What help can we get? AIncome Support of just £0.27 a week but this gives you a maximum rebate

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Why did the naked woman chase the chicken?

WHILST it may be an improbable beginning, even for the At Your Service column, readers are invited to name the offence for which medieval French women were required to run naked through the streets whilst chasing a chicken. That sentence complete, we

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Quakers boss Taylor happy to have selection headache

TOMMY Taylor last night welcomed the return of five players ahead of a hectic spell of fixtures. Taylor takes his Darlington side to Kidderminster this afternoon, boosted by the return of Brian Atkinson, Mark Ford, Simon Betts, Richard Hodgson and Phil

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£2m pot to create safer streets

A £2M scheme to tackle road safety blackspots across the region has been given the go-ahead. Transport Minister Sally Keeble announced the winners of the £30m Home Zones Challenge yesterday - with five North-East projects set to benefit. Darlington, Middlesbrough

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Man fights for life

A MAN is fighting for his life after suffering serious head injuries when his car was hit by a stolen car. The un-named 33-year-old man, from Seaham, County Durham, is on a life support machine at Newcastle General Hospital where his condition is critical

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Inquiry to probe issues of epidemic

THE devastating effects of foot-and-mouth will be dissected when an independent inquiry gets under way in the county where the epidemic started. From Monday, more than 70 people, including farmers, vets, tourism bosses, parish councillors and auction

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UK sigh of relief as Ford axe falls

FORD workers in the UK are expected to escape the axe, after the US motor giant announced plans to shed 35,000 jobs worldwide. The car manufacturer is closing five production plants in the US and shedding the jobs as part of a "painful" restructuring

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Ducros sinks Quakers

Darlington's defeat on Saturday typified just how ironic football can be. Two months ago, a depleted Darlington side, hit by injury and suspension, put themselves on the road to a potential clash with Newcastle with a satisfactory 1-0 win at Aggborough