Yesterday's Budget may have lacked attention-grabbing proposals, but, as Political Editor Chris Lloyd reports, it is laying the ground for the next General Election. FROM this side of the pond, the way the Americans choose their presidents looks like
Police are appealing for help in tracing a man who gained entry to a sheltered housing complex. On Saturday, the man thought to be in his 20s, gained entry to Ted Fletcher Court off Salters Lane South in Darlington. He walked into an unlocked flat and
GORDON Brown attempted to pave the way for a third Labour term yesterday with a Budget promising billions more for public services - but left a question mark over thousands of North-East civil service jobs. Mr Brown pledged an extra £8.5bn for education
He's already become a British sporting hero, World Cup winner and freeman of his adopted home city of Newcastle. Now Jonny Wilkinson is set to become a video game character. The 24-year-old World Cup winning fly-half will star in a new game set to hit
MORE than 103,000 pupils in the region will receive free fruit at school from today as part of a Government drive to increase healthy eating. A total of 92,000 children aged between four and six in County Durham, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Tyneside, Wearside
A couple have combined their love of mustard with a talent for making sausages. Andrew and Debbie Keeble, of Manor Born, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, have created a Colman's English mustard sausage. The pair set up the sausage business after diversifying
DURHAM residents hope to thwart controversial plans to use common land at The Sands as a temporary car park. A public inquiry will be held next week into Durham City Council's proposals to use part of the site for parking while the Walkergate car park
A FRIENDSHIP network has been set up for people suffering from a debilitating illness. The network aims to help people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, living on the east side of North Yorkshire who cannot attend support
THE crunch negotiations over a deal to save Darlington Football Club from extinction will take place today. Administrator Wilson Field is holding talks with owners-in-waiting the Sterling Consortium, the finance group that holds a mortgage on the Reynolds
PUPILS have turned detective to solve a mystery to rival anything in a Harry Potter book. Nine and ten-year-olds from Hartburn Primary School, at Hartburn, near Stockton, have worked out a fictional crime that needs forensic tests to be solved. The crime
A MAN has been cleared of attempted murder after a judge ordered a jury to find him not guilty. Lee Hannan, 27, of Lane Place, Middlesbrough, was accused of stabbing Stewart Delve repeatedly in the head and then beating him with a wooden bed leg after
MORE North-East victims of a foot fetishist have come forward to admit they were duped by the bogus radio presenter. The Northern Echo reported last week how police were warning women to be on their guard against a trickster who is fascinated with feet
VANDALS have ransacked a bird hide only months after it opened on a nature reserve. Volunteers are today staging a clear-up at the wheelchair-accessible vantage point overlooking Joe's Pond, on Durham Wildlife Trust's Rainton Meadows site. The trust raised
HOLLYWOOD actors Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are as much of a double act as Starsky and Hutch, the detective partners they play in the big screen version of the 70s TV cop show. They've worked together before on projects including The Cable Guy (the Jim
ROADSWEEPER Gus is armed and dangerous in EastEnders (BBC1). "Make my day, punk," he tells weasly Ian Beale, brandishing a loaded broom and threatening to sweep him off his feet. Only joking, Gus wouldn't hurt a fly - unless it was dead and lying on the
THE vote by the Bank of England's rate-setting committee earlier this month to keep interest rates on hold was unanimous, it emerged yesterday. Despite fears about high consumer demand and the rising house prices, all nine members of the bank's monetary
Seven people were arrested this morning following a series of breakfast-time raids in the Ferryhill area of County Durham. More than 50 officers were involved in the operation, codenamed Palmar, which targetted eight properties. The five men and two women
GORDON Brown attempted to pave the way for a third Labour term yesterday with a Budget promising billions more for public services - but left a question mark over thousands of North-East civil service jobs. Mr Brown pledged an extra £8.5bn for education
A prime time reality TV show where celebrities train to take on a team of football legends will be filmed in the North-East. The Match will see an 18-strong celebrity football squad trained by a leading international coach, before taking on a team of
IT'S an age-old problem facing people looking for work - how to get a job without experience, but how to get experience without a job? After studying at university and doing numerous voluntary and short-term jobs, farmer's son Chris Bell thinks he has
BEST-PRICED 16-1 shot Truckers Tavern (3.15) has to be worth an each-way punt in his attempt to lower the colours of odds-on favourite Best Mate in this afternoon's Blue Riband of chasing, the £350,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Best Mate is the obvious form
NEW arrangements for patients seeking urgent out-of-hours medical attention will be implemented across north Durham by autumn. Most family doctors are handing responsibility for night-time and weekend call-outs to their local primary care trust (PCT).
Grandfather Peter Frost has finally found a new home -- and swapped the harshness of a folded-down seat of an old car for the comfort of a warm bed. His long ordeal, living in the decrepit old Ford Escort at a remote spot on the North York Moors, has
Pat Green: Wave On Wave Republic/Universal (B0000562-02) IF you've been a follower of country music for some time, then you'll certainly be interested in a new release on April 5. Texas has produced Billie Jo Spears, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jerry
EURO: There is a saying that if you ask ten economists to work out the solution to a problem you will get ten different answers. This should not surprise you when the Treasury model of the economy has over 2,000 elements to it. Our economists pick those
DURHAM have signed former West Indies Test paceman Reon King as a temporary replacement for Shoaib Akhtar, who is taking a week's break after the Pakistan v India series ends on April 17. The world's fastest bowler will miss the first two County Championship
Inside Hitler's Bunker (five) , The Great Escape: Revealed (five) - The only thing missing from Inside Hitler's Bunker were Location Location Location's TV estate agents Kirstie and Phil to give us a guided tour. This res became even more des in the spring
A WOMAN died after she caught fire while lighting her gas cooker. Experts believe Dorothea Klaczek accidentally set fire to her clothes as she lent over a burning gas ring. Care worker Nichola Heward broke down in tears yesterday as she told an inquest
When Kevin Costner went back to westernshe called in old hand Robert Duvall as the perfect co-star. Steve Pratt reports. KEVIN Costner was talking to the movie insurance people when he saw a news bulletin flash up on a TV screen in the office. Running
A guided tour of Adolf's Berlin bunker Inside Hitler's Bunker (five) The Great Escape: Revealed (five) THE only thing missing from Inside Hitler's Bunker were Location Location Location's TV estate agents Kirstie and Phil to give us a guided tour. This
Bookish types and casual readers are coming together to mark the tenth anniversary of a hugely successful charity bookshop. A SECOND hand success story, a bit of a do in Darlington next Tuesday evening marks the tenth anniversary of the Lions' Club bookshop
A CASH incentive scheme to reward households that recycle waste has been scrapped. Teesdale District Council's social and environmental policy committee yesterday voted to abolish the £10 reward scheme after it heard it could have severe financial implications
AS we got out of the car at the end of our journey, I saw there was a cow looking over the garden fence. Great, I thought. A real taste of country life for our little city boy; something he'll never see in London. Our grandson had come to stay with us
A NORTH-East university has announced plans to boost its chemistry department, which it says could benefit the regional economy. Applications for chemistry places at the University of Newcastle have risen by more than 14 per cent over the past three years
THE battle for PD Teesport is escalating after a rival operator announced it would consider a bid. The owner of Tees and Hartlepool ports could soon be on the market after its Japanese parent company hired NM Rothschild to advise on the potential sale
BEST-PRICED 16-1 shot Truckers Tavern (3.15) has to be worth an each-way punt in his attempt to lower the colours of odds-on favourite Best Mate in this afternoon's Blue Riband of chasing, the £350,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Best Mate is the obvious form
Jasper Carrtott is well placed to offer advice to those taking part in J2O's Last Laugh nationwide comedy search. He tells Wil Marlow about his own rise to fame in the 1970s and the difficulties of working in the comedy industry now. Viv Hardwick reports
AN event to encourage people to start their own business is taking place at a shopping centre on Saturday. The Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, in Hartlepool, is hosting a roadshow organised by a group of agencies and support networks. It will provide
WORLD-BEATING digital expertise, devised in the North-East, was showcased on the global stage yesterday at Europe's largest technology event. A 12-strong delegation from the region took part in CeBIT, in Germany. Arjuna Technologies, of Newcastle, was
THERE were very few leaks about Gordon Brown's eighth Budget. There was no sense of anticipation built up by the Treasury spin machine. By lunchtime yesterday we knew why. There was precious little in the Budget to leak, precious little to spin. In itself
It's mean, it's menacing and it can carry enough ordnance to take out a small army on its own. Steve Parsley got up close to the British Army's latest weapon. EVEN hunched on the tarmac, the lines of the Apache attack helicopter give it the look of something
STAFF and parents have launched a fit club to shed pounds and raise school funds. Eight women have signed up to the sponsored weight loss in aid of Consett Infants School including the headteacher Lyn Blacklock and two school staff. The event was the
Starsky And Hutch were the coolest cops of the 1970s. Now they're back with Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Steve Pratt gathers the evidence on the latest TV take off. IT'S no shock to the original Starsky, Paul Michael
EVEN hunched on the tarmac, the lines of the Apache attack helicopter give it the look of something poised to strike. On an airfield in North Yorkshire, the hands of a gunslinger, short stubby wings bristle with missiles which seem to be pointing directly
FOOTBALLERS are a superstitious bunch and, after Millwall beat Tranmere to book their FA Cup semi-final spot on Tuesday, Sunderland will have the weight of history on their side at Old Trafford next month. The Lions have never won the FA Cup, but the
FRIENDS of a teenager who has cancer organised a coffee morning to raise money for the hospital treating him. Michael Chapman, 15, a pupil at Hurworth School Computing and Maths College, found out he had Hodgkin's disease before Christmas. Michael, who
FIGURES showing a huge fall in unemployment and a record number of people in work were undermined last night when a leading train company announced 1,300 job cuts. Canadian engineering company Bombardier said three factories in the UK will close and jobs
ALLOTMENT holders in Ferryhill are angry about a big increase in rent for their plots. Ferryhill Town Council has increased the annual rent at the Broom allotment site from £12 to £28.20. Most of the other sites in the town have a rent of £10, although
GURKHAS plan to cycle thousands of miles to the Himalayas - to help Nepalese War veterans return to this country. But the signallers, from 246 Gurkha Signal Squadron, will not actually travel anywhere - and will instead complete their marathon on exercise
A TEENAGER has become the first driver to have his car seized in a Durham Police crackdown on boy racers. Police saw the 19-year-old, from Esh Winning, performing handbrake turns in the Arnison Centre car park at Pity Me, on Tuesday night. He had been
A BUSINESS centre has been put forward for a design award before it has even opened. The £1.63m building, in the Consett Business Park, will open tomorrow. It is hoped the park will encourage more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the electronics
SUNDERLAND winger Matt Piper last night revealed that Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy have provided the inspiration for his successful battle against injury. Piper delivered the cross for Darren Byfield's crucial equaliser against Stoke on Tuesday night
Open Range (12A) US, 145 mins Stars: Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Michael Gambon. TIME, and box office receipts, will tell whether modern cinema audiences have an appetite for a old-fashioned western like this. It certainly won't achieve
THE devastated mother of a young submariner, who died in a car accident the day before he was due to join his first ship, has spoken of her grief. Craig Samuels was killed when his Toyota MR2 left the A67 and hit trees near Piercebridge, about eight miles
PLANS to refurbish a community hall have been given a boost by The North Eastern and Cumbrian Co-operative Society. The company is supporting plans by the Mainsforth and District Community Association to restore the hall in Ferryhill Station. John Sims
A health boss has claimed most people will not notice the difference when an out-of-hours doctor system is introduced later this year. Under Government guidelines, GPs across Hambleton and Richmondshire have been given the option of withdrawing emergency
CRAIG LIDDLE is under no illusions of how big a task Darlington face in this weekend's trip to Third Division leaders Doncaster Rovers. Quakers are now just six points clear of the relegation zone, with nine games to go, after second-bottom Macclesfield
ADAM Boyd's future could yet be at Hartlepool United, after Neale Cooper put the onus on his enigmatic striker to prove his worth, writes Nick Loughlin. The home-grown forward looked to be leaving Victoria Park, after becoming a source of frustration
Croatia is the next hot spot when it comes to tracking down affordable holiday homes, according to A Place In The Sun presenter Amanda Lamb. Presumably, it will be the next port of callfor C4 cameras which have helped to encourage Brits to invest in plenty
PARENTS and an MEP have vowed to continue their fight to stop a mobile phone mast being built near a primary school. Darlington Borough Council rejected an application to install the 11.5m Orange mast in Coniscliffe Road, Darlington, in November, because
TWO schools and a leisure centre could receive about £800,000 to improve facilities for pupils and the community. The New Opportunities Fund (NOF) is assessing two applications submitted by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. The first is seeking about
I WISH I hadn't read that the reason it took Andrew Motion three months to write a poem to commemorate England's rugby World Cup victory was he couldn't find anything to rhyme with Wilkinson. Ever since, whether I'm on the school run, in the supermarket
VANDALS have ransacked a bird hide only months after it opened on a nature reserve. Volunteers are today staging a clear-up at the wheelchair-accessible vantage point overlooking Joe's Pond, on Durham Wildlife Trust's Rainton Meadows site. The trust raised
COUNCIL tenants who feared their homes could be demolished in a local authority clean-up programme will meet housing officials this week. People living on the Woodhouse Close Estate, in Bishop Auckland, launched a battle to save their homes after an announcement
TWO neighbours are counting the cost of a High Court battle today after a venomous dispute over a farm road left them facing a £100,000 legal bill. A series of accusations of assault, a leaking septic tank, roaming cattle and dogs, a blocked right of
A SECOND hand success story, a bit of a do in Darlington next Tuesday evening marks the tenth anniversary of the Lions' Club bookshop in Blackwellgate. They reckon to have raised £70,000 for charity. "It must be one of the most profitable long term Lions
CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown received a cautious welcome from an underwhelmed business community reacting to yesterday's Budget. Industry leaders in the region approved of measures to slash public sector spending, which has long been considered extravagant
A North-East village was sealed off yesterday as police thwarted a plot by dealers to invade County Durham with crack cocaine. Officers formed a blockade around the tiny community of Grange Villa, near Chester-le-Street, at dawn. At 6.30am, teams forced
A couple have combined their love of mustard with a talent for making sausages. Andrew and Debbie Keeble, of Manor Born, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, have created a Colman's English mustard sausage. The pair set up the sausage business after diversifying
A YOUNG family of asylum seekers who were terrorised by neighbours on Teesside have been rehoused on the orders of the Home Office. The refugee woman and her three children were forced to live in only one room of their three-bedroom house in Stockton
BRIAN Kerr's Newcastle career looks to be at an end after he moved on loan to First Division Coventry City. The Scottish midfielder will stay at Highfield Road until the end of the season and, with his current United contract due to expire in May, it
THREE wards of a North-East hospital have been closed because of a stomach bug outbreak. Last night, 46 people had been affected by the viral form of gastro-enteritis at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough. Health bosses said visitors were
AN AUDIOLOGY service at The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough has won an award for a scheme to cut patient waiting times. The hearing aid drop-off repair service was the idea of chief audiologist Peter Craggy. It won the innovative service
People living on a Darlington estate were urged to join the recycling revolution today - by the town's MP Alan Milburn. The former Health Secretary joined borough council workers in taking to the streets of Red Hall, in a bid to encourage more people
A WOMAN yesterday described her frantic battle to save the life of a 15-year-old boy as he burned alive in a skip. Denise Blacklock told Newcastle Crown Court she could hear the screams of Michael Temperley as she desperately kicked at a bolt on the skip's
