Archive

  • 'Vandals wrecked my only lifeline'

    A DISABLED man was left "extremely distressed" after his electric wheelchair was stolen and then wrecked. Paraplegic John Rowbotham returned from a church service to find his wheelchair missing from the driveway of his home, in Consett, County Durham.

  • Fall and rise of Garry Gibson

    IF it is indeed true that the bigger they come the harder they fall, then Garry Gibson - 6ft 6ins and with a profile yet higher - hit the ground like a spacecraft with a perished parachute. At 34 he was chairman of Hartlepool United, a member soon afterwards

  • Mileson seeking luck of the Irish with Shamrocks

    After a season in which his Gretna team broke just about every record in Scottish football - and quite a few worldwide - Sunderland-born entrepreneur Brooks Mileson is looking across the sea to Ireland. Brian Quigley, Mileson's right-hand man in the Durham

  • Pub backs week of wildlife events

    WILDLIFE lovers in Darlington will be given the chance to support a charity while unwinding at the pub. Stuart Mann, the landlord of The Tawny Owl, in Neasham Road, has organised a number of events to mark National Wildlife Week, which begins on June

  • Pupils celebrate winning 3 trophies

    STUDENTS at a Derwentside school are celebrating after a successful football season. Youngsters from Catchgate Primary School in Catchgate, near Stanley, have won three trophies after competing with other schools in seven-a-side games across the district

  • Town is going green for an awareness day

    A NUMBER of environmentally-friendly activities are being staged in Darlington today. Urban Green Day will take place in the town's Market Place, from 10am to 4pm. The day is part of a Europe-wide event to raise awareness of climate change. A team from

  • Drinkers stay out of trouble

    POLICE in Darlington have praised Bank Holiday revellers following a quiet weekend across the town centre pubs. Officers were bracing themselves for a busy time, but said yesterday that they had been pleased with how drinkers enjoyed the extended weekend

  • Tributes paid to biker victim

    FLORAL tributes have been left for a motorcyclist killed in a hit-and-run accident with another biker. The 66-year-old man, from Riccall, near York, died in the collision on the notorious B1257 Helmsley to Stokesley road on Saturday afternoon. He was

  • Enthusiasm is school's winning formula

    AN enthusiastic group of youngsters won over the judges in a competition aimed at making schools more environmentally aware. Stephenson Way Primary School, in Newton Aycliffe, won the competition, which had been organised by local manufacturer 3M alongside

  • Three decades of songs from popular N-E guitarist

    A TOWN leisure centre is planning a night of entertainment next month. Ferryhill Leisure Centre will host a concert by top North-East guitarist and singer Dave Alexander, who will perform songs from the 1970s to now, on Saturday, June 18. The bar, which

  • Get a taste of fitness for free

    COUNCIL leisure centres will open for free next week to encourage more people to get fit and into shape. Ferryhill, Newton Aycliffe, Shildon Sunnydale and Spennymoor Leisure centres, all run by Sedgefield Borough Council, will offer free fitness classes

  • Change of Customs

    HM Revenue and Customs is moving its public Enquiry Centre. Its current base, at Tyne Bridge Tower, in Church Street, Gateshead, will close on Friday and the centre will reopen across the Tyne at its new location, Aidan House, All Saints Centre, Newcastle

  • A small piece of paradise

    A GARDEN project that is helping to pull a community together and brighten up a neighbourhood has been officially opened. The Garden of Eden, in Spennymoor, was opened by Peter Horrocks, from the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners on

  • Garden hosts Tai Chi event

    A NORTH garden attraction is to host a six-week course of Tai Chi. Esther Hingle, events development officer at The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland, said: "The classes will be an opportunity to enjoy the peaceful flowing movements of Tai Chi in the beautiful

  • Adult learners win praise for work

    PEOPLE who have gone back to college celebrated their achievements at an Adult Learners Week event. Durham's deputy director of education, Neil Charlton, presented awards to successful individuals and groups who attended classes in village halls and community

  • Quarry operators seek go-ahead to import sand

    Quarry operators given the go-ahead for a major expansion three years ago are now seeking permission to import minerals to the site. Ripon City Quarry, alongside Ripon Racecourse, was given approval for mineral extraction until February 2011. At the time

  • Pupils raising veg for victory lunch

    HOME-grown potatoes, onions and broad beans will be served up as part of a Dig for Victory lunch in a North Yorkshire school. Plans for a major commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War is being held by Harrogate Grammar

  • Couple's luck changes for better

    A COUPLE'S pre-wedding fortunes appear to have taken a turn for the better, thanks to the agility of groom-to-be Alan Tolley. Alan was shopping with fiancee Claire Forster in Durham city centre yesterday, buying last minute items prior to their wedding

  • Cold feet star gives a warm hand to North Yorkshire hospitality

    TV star James Nesbitt has waxed lyrical about the joys of visiting North Yorkshire. The award-winning actor was in the county to officially unveil the new 250-acre Hollicars Holiday Park, in Escrick, near York, at the weekend. The brainchild of landowner

  • Flock is now too big for church

    A THRIVING church hopes to move into new premises because its existing site is filled to capacity during services and youth activities. The Christian Life Centre regularly attracts 600 people to services and events at its main church building in Woodham

  • Chipping away at man's world

    APPRENTICE stonemason Bev Vickers is carving out a career in a male-dominated trade working on a restoration project at Durham Cathedral. Miss Vickers and colleague Gary Winter are learning their craft by working on a refurbishment of the Chapel of Nine

  • Fun in the sun as crowds flock to bank holiday festival

    ORGANISERS of a town festival have declared it an overwhelming success. Thousands of people took to the streets for the Richmond Meet carnival parade, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, yesterday. Other events over the bank holiday weekend included a civic

  • Children teach educators what to expect at music conference

    TALENTED pupils hit the right note when they performed at a music conference for educators in Teesside. Students from Myton Park in Ingleby Barwick, Zetland primary in Redcar, and St Bede's RC primary in Marske put on a lunchtime concert on Friday as

  • Justice system confidence is being restored - police chief

    PUBLIC confidence in the criminal justice system on Teesside is rising as more offenders are brought before the courts, a police chief claims. Cleveland Chief Constable Sean Price said the latest figures showed that progress was being made in the number

  • 'Assets must be sold' to pay for move

    ASSETS will have to be sold to pay for a local authority's controversial new £4.5m headquarters, council chiefs have admitted. The statement from Richmondshire District Council came as the authority announced details of a third meeting to decide how to

  • Comment from The Northern Echo: C'est adieu Europe?

    FRANCE has been the foundation in the construction of post-war Europe. It set out the original vision and has been pulling the strings ever since. Its rejection of the EU constitution, therefore, leaves a fault line at the core of the European Union.

  • Wear the wrong trousers for right reasons

    POPULAR eccentric cartoon characters Wallace and Gromit made a rare visit to the North-East in a bid to raise funds for sick children. The characters paid a visit to the Butterwick Children's Hospice, in Stockton, yesterday to promote Wrong Trousers Day

  • Keep reservoir tidy plea

    VISITORS to a beauty spot are being urged to respect it and take their litter home. Cod Beck Reservoir, near Osmotherley, welcomes thousands of people every week to take in the scenery, enjoy a walk in the country or a family picnic. But with that comes

  • Play-off loss a new low for Humphreys

    RITCHIE Humphreys has suffered more than most when it comes to play-off football. But nothing has caused as much disappointment as Sunday in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Hartlepool United were nine minutes from a place in the Coca-Cola Championship before

  • Sea change for a sinking ship

    Despite the building's chequered history it's plain sailing for the new Atlantic Bar and Gill. THE Atlantic Bar and Grill has just opened at the business end of Coniscliffe Road in Darlington. For Atlantic, read Bermuda Triangle. All sorts of resourceful

  • Armed police shoot man following knife threat

    Armed police shot a man with plastic bullets after he allegedly threatened officers with a knife in a city centre restaurant, police said today. Officers from North Yorkshire Police were called to York centre following reports of a man armed with a knife

  • Golfers tee-off for charities

    THE second annual Mayor of Redcar and Cleveland Council's Charity Golf Day tees off at Hunley Hall Golf Club, Brotton on Friday. Businesses and organisations are lining up for the 18-hole challenge in aid of Councillor Peter Spencer's charity choices,

  • Father tells of pride as son killed in Iraq

    A British soldier killed in an attack on a convoy in southern Iraq was named yesterday as Lance Corporal Alan Brackenbury. L Cpl Brackenbury, 21, from Goole, East Yorkshire, died when a roadside bomb exploded near the flashpoint town of Al Amarah, in

  • Liddle tribute is planned

    Darlington supporters who have been saddened at Craig Liddle's retirement last week are to present the former captain with an award to recognise his loyalty to the club, writes Craig Stoddart. Led by website Darlo Uncovered, fans have moved quickly to

  • Businesses urged to utilise export opportunities

    BUSINESSES in the Tees Valley are being urged to join the North-East export revolution in an attempt to boost international trade and profits. Secrets and advice about how to access overseas business opportunities will be available at a UK Trade and Investment

  • Police break heroin ring in Redcar

    Heroin dealing at a seaside town has been dealt a body blow, claim police. An under cover police operation has led to 25 arrests at Redcar ; 19 people charged with conspiracy to supply heroin, supplying heroin and possession with intent to supply heroin

  • Landlord responds to feedback

    TEESSIDE'S largest social housing landlord has altered its opening times in response to feedback from residents. Coast and Country Housing will now be open later on Thursdays and all offices will close on Wednesday mornings to allow for staff development

  • Go well over the Hill at Redcar

    SMIDDY HILL'S (3.40) presence at Redcar spells big trouble for her ten opponents in the £10,000 Pertemps Employment Sprint Handicap. The Robin Bastiman-trained filly is bred for speed and she showed plenty of dash when a close-up fifth behind Wunderbra

  • Senior former officer appointed university chancellor

    One of the country's most senior former police officers has been appointed chancellor of a North-East university. John Stevens, who was made Lord Stevens of Kirkwelpington in the New Year's Honours List, was yesterday named the new Chancellor of Northumbria

  • Pilot prevents tragedy after plane crashes in farm field

    A PILOT'S skills helped to prevent a tragedy when a light aircraft got into difficulties during a routine flight from a small North-East air strip. Experienced pilot Bill Goldsmith put all his ability to the test when the engine of two-seater Europa XS914

  • Chance to obtain grants

    GRANTS available from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are helping a growing number of people from the North-East benefit from tourism. Defra's Rural Enterprise Scheme grants are delivered across the region through the Rural

  • Job Search: Vacancies

    Driver C & E, exceeds NMW, 50hpw. Aged 25+, must hold a clean HGV class 1 driving licence. Ref: DAE 44660. Care Assistant, £5ph, 5-20hpw. Previous experience an advantage. Ref: DAE 44667. Field Service Engineer, £17,000-£18,000pa, 37hpw. Knowledge

  • Job Search: Vacancies

    Head Chef, £7ph, 30-48hpw. Experience essential. Ref: DUR 42483. Homecare Worker, £5.40ph, 16-40hpw. Own transport an advantage. Ref: DUR 44839. Cleaner, £5ph, 16hpw. Previous cleaning experience essential. Ref: DUR 44764. Homecare Co-ordinator, £14,000pa

  • Viana is resigned to his fate

    HUGO Viana has accepted that he is unlikely to become a Sporting Lisbon player this summer, but Newcastle's forgotten midfielder remains hopeful of securing a move away from St James' Park. Viana spent last season on loan at Sporting and, after beginning

  • Flock too big for church

    A THRIVING church hopes to move into new premises because its existing site is filled to capacity during services and youth activities. The Christian Life Centre regularly attracts 600 people to services and events at its main church building in Woodham

  • Closure firm leaves family without beds

    A HEAVILY pregnant mother has been left £500 out of pocket after a bed store went out of business. Sarah Mounsey's two daughters, Amber, 13, and Paige, ten, have been forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor after Clarke Retail Ltd at Stockton's Teesside

  • Festival backs campaign

    A FESTIVAL organised by environmental campaigners will take on Saturday. Attractions at the Thornborough Free Festival in Masham include live music, street entertainers and talks by community leaders and archaeologists. The event is being staged by campaigners

  • How the vicar can find his reactive buttons

    Two new guides for priests are nothing more than empty psychobbable, says Northern Echo columnist Peter Mullen. THE VICAR'S GUIDE: Life and Ministry in the Parish, edited by David Ison (£14.99); THE CURATE'S GUIDE: From Calling to First Parish, edited

  • Kelsey's head over heels after championship glory

    A YOUNGSTER is somersaulting her way to success after winning a regional gymnastics competition. Seven-year-old Kelsey Garbutt, of The Crossway, Darlington, was crowned North of England Regional Gymnastics Champion for children aged eight and under. The

  • Third person dies following crash

    A third person has died following a horrific crash on the outskirts of Consett, in County Durham, last week. Margaret Murray, a 53-year-old care worker from nearby Castleside, died on Sunday afternoon in Newcastle General Hospital. Her husband Michael

  • When will women's football reach its goal?

    Despite its huge popularity, women's football has failed to make an impact on the public consciousness. Scott Wilson finds out why. IT is often said that, when a major football tournament gets under way, the country grinds to a halt. The television schedules

  • Durham suffer as the umpire strikes back

    DURHAM must have done something to upset umpire Roy Palmer, whose slowly rising finger pointed them towards their first totesport League defeat of the season at The Oval yesterday. In a match reduced to 38 overs-a-side following a delayed start because

  • Councils demand a fairer tax deal

    THE region's rural authorities will today call on the Government to end injustice in the council tax system. Sparse, a coalition of more than 50 of England's most rural local councils, says country dwellers are paying more money for fewer services. The

  • Concern for girl missing from children's home

    POLICE are making a fresh appeal for information on the whereabouts of a teenage girl who has been missing for a week. Concern is mounting for the safety of 16-year-old Rachel Boocock, who was last seen by staff at a children's home in the Aycliffe area

  • Disabled sport is on to a winner

    TRIPLE Paralympic gold medallist Stephen Miller has started the countdown for the opening of the UK's first Academy for Disability Sports. When it goes live in September, the Percy Hedley Academy for Disability Sport in Killingworth, North Tyneside, will

  • Huge backing for a smoke ban at work

    THREE out of four people in the region want to see smoking banned from workplaces, according to a survey published today. And 70 per cent would support a change in the law to make smoking at work and in public places illegal. The results of the survey

  • Leeds out to hijack Miller's move

    LEEDS United are set to hold last-minute talks with Tommy Miller tomorrow in an attempt to hijack the midfielder's proposed move to Sunderland. Miller's representatives met with Black Cats boss Mick McCarthy last week to discuss a possible move to the

  • On TV

    Big Brother (C4) Sexual Intelligence (C4) 9/11 - The Plane That Hit The Tower: The True Story (five) MAXWELL the geezer hit the nail on the head with his observation the morning after arriving in the Big Brother house. I paraphrase his words as his expletive-packed

  • Get tough action increases arrests

    A POLICE force in the North-East arrested 198 people in 12 hours following the launch of a new get-tough policy. Mike Craik, the newly-appointed Chief Constable of Northumbria Police last week announced a blitz on yobs, drunks and violent criminals under

  • Hall's loss puts school 'at risk'

    THE next few months are 'make or break' time for a small village school, governors have said. The school at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliff, near Thirsk, has only 39 pupils. It is joined to the village hall, which is used by teachers and pupils during the

  • Insight into DLI life

    AN insight into how thousands of images of a North-East regiment were made available worldwide is to be given in a lecture. Archivist Gill Parkes worked on the Image of the Soldier project which produced a digital copy of the 30,000 photographs in the

  • Villagers fear land sale will create a 'concrete jungle'

    VILLAGERS fear they will be left living in a "concrete jungle" under a council land sale, to raise money for new swimming baths. Durham City Council plans to off-load plots across the district to raise money for a £5.8m 25-metre pool, next to Durham Sixth

  • Take a mini tour of nature

    A MINIBUS tour of Darlington's wetland sites is taking place on Sunday. Members of Darlington Borough Council's countryside team have organised the trip to coincide with the United Nations World Environment Day, which aims to raise awareness of the world

  • A day off work well spent

    YOUNGSTERS received a special delivery yesterday when children's favourites Postman Pat and his cat Jess dropped by. The characters proved popular with young and old shoppers when they visited The Cornmill Centre, in Darlington. As it was a Bank Holiday

  • Call for action to stop the vandals

    ACTION will be taken to tackle youths taking drugs and lighting fires in a children's play area. David Wharton, whose home backs onto the site, in the North Road area of Darlington, has raised the problem with the police, Darlington Borough Council, and

  • Landlord responds to feedback

    TEESSIDE'S largest social housing landlord has altered its opening times in response to feedback from residents. Coast and Country Housing will now be open later on Thursdays and all offices will close on Wednesday mornings to allow for staff development

  • Call for ex-pupils to buy a brick

    FORMER pupils are being urged to buy a brick to help re-build a Teesside school. Old boys and girls from St Clare's RC Primary School in Acklam are being asked to pay at least £1 to sponsor a brick, in return for having their name included on a commemorative

  • Flat out to meet bottle orders

    THEY'RE working flat out to meet demand at a bottle company. The Flat Bottle Company Limited hit on the idea of turning bottles into keepsakes simply by flattening them. The firm, which employs three people in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, has notably flattened

  • Crew aims to crosh Atlantic in record time

    A four-man British rowing crew has taken to the ocean in their courageous bid to cross the North Atlantic in record time. North-East men George Rock and Nigel Morris, from Ingleby Barwick in Stockton, are joined on the odyssey back to England by Rob Munslow

  • School benefits from firm's winning ways

    YOUNGSTERS at a village primary school have been showered with gifts by a local company. St William's RC Primary School, in Trimdon Village, welcomed Gary Trotter, Robson Lawson, Lorraine Sweeney and Geoff Graham from local plastics firm Filmco last week

  • Score a winner in the Sixes

    AN annual football tournament will take place at Teesdale Sports Centre, in Barnard Castle, on the second weekend in July. Teesdale Leisure Services is inviting teams to join the ninth Teesdale Soccer Sixes Festival, which is held initially on a league

  • Natural beauty is restored

    AN old Quaker burial ground has had some of its former glory restored thanks to the care and attention of keen gardeners. The ancient cemetery behind the Friends Meeting House, on Norton Green, Stockton, now has a wildflower and herb sanctuary, where

  • Wage too low to save rural post office, say residents

    POST Office chiefs have launched an urgent appeal to find someone to run a rural branch set to close today. However, residents have hit out saying the appeal would be more successful if a "reasonable" wage was offered for the position. Gunnerside Post

  • School plan debated

    FAMILIES have raised health concerns if an electricity sub-station near their homes is extended. King James' School, in Knaresborough, wants to enlarge the sub-station, in King James Road, following the completion of a major extensions, including a new

  • Villagers get funding boost

    THOUSANDS of pounds has been given to aid village schemes near Scarborough. Latest schemes to get approval from Scarborough Borough Council's central rural committee include £1,500 towards a play area at Snainton, £500 for a feasibility study at Barrowcliffe

  • Checking early health in babies

    BABIES are being given the best possible start to life thanks to a new clinic in Darlington. The clinic, at Haughton Youth Centre, has been organised by Darlington Primary Care Trust. Staff will carry out a series of development checks, immunisations

  • School to host eight-night music festival

    A SCHOOL in the North-East is hosting its first performing arts festival. The Exhilarate Festival at Venerable Bede School, in Sunderland, starts on June 25, featuring trombone ensemble Spiritual to the Bone and the Swingle Singers. There is a concert

  • Councillors to visit quarry before vote

    COUNCILLORS are expected to view for themselves a quarry where permission is being sought for a controversial expansion. Hanson Quarry Products (Europe) Ltd, the operators of Pateley Bridge Quarry, at Greenhow, in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural

  • Change of Customs

    HM Revenue and Customs is moving its public Enquiry Centre. Its current base, at Tyne Bridge Tower, in Church Street, Gateshead, will close on Friday and the centre will reopen across the Tyne at its new location, Aidan House, All Saints Centre, Newcastle

  • Police give youth a say using 'Millionaire' technology

    YOUNG people are to be given the chance to have their say on crime and anti-social behaviour in a technical consultation exercise run by police. Pupils at primary schools across Hartlepool will be asked to answer a range of questions with the use of interactive

  • Businesses urged to utilise export opportunities

    BUSINESSES in the Tees Valley are being urged to join the North-East export revolution in an attempt to boost international trade and profits. Secrets and advice about how to access overseas business opportunities will be available at a UK Trade and Investment

  • Teenage attack victim's trauma

    A TEENAGE girl who was beaten up in her own home is too frightened to return to school, her mother said yesterday. The Northern Echo reported how Joanne Bartlett, 13, needed hospital treatment for bruising and swelling to her head after the assault in

  • 31/05/2005

    FOOTBALL REFEREES: I SEE that Christopher Wardell has a low opinion of football referees (HAS, May 20). How has he arrived at this opinion when he says his soccer efforts met with modest success? In 1947 I was captain of the Scottish Schools' football

  • 'Grandad's death was not an accident'

    Two independent inquiries concluded that Carole Johnson's grandfather died after accidentally setting fire to his hospital bed, but she still refuses to believe the official line. She talks to Stuart Arnold. SITTING on the leather sofa in Carole Johnson's

  • Bursary will help nurse to study

    A BURSARY named in memory of a campaigning health worker will help a nurse continue her studies. Anita Savage-Grainge, a community outreach mental health nurse based in Northallerton, has been awarded the Jean Harrison Memorial Bursary. The £1,000 bursary

  • More spice than on the island

    Big Brother (C4); Sexual Intelligence (C4); 9/11 - The Plane That Hit The Tower: The True Story (five): MAXWELL the geezer hit the nail on the head with his observation the morning after arriving in the Big Brother house. I paraphrase his words as his

  • Beckham stays my trusted lieutenant, says Erikkson

    Sven-Goran Eriksson has insisted David Beckham will skipper England at the 2006 World Cup even though he admitted several other of his players were capable of wearing the captain's armband. Eriksson believes he has potential ready-made successors in Steven

  • Fans soak up the music and sunshine at free festival

    TENS of thousands of music fans soaked up the sun and the sounds of an array of artists at a major free festival yesterday. Both banks of the Tyne, on Newcastle's Quayside and the Gateshead Quays, were pulsating to the sounds of big-name acts from across

  • Go well over the Hill at Redcar

    SMIDDY HILL'S (3.40) presence at Redcar spells big trouble for her ten opponents in the £10,000 Pertemps Employment Sprint Handicap. The Robin Bastiman-trained filly is bred for speed and she showed plenty of dash when a close-up fifth behind Wunderbra

  • Priory herb garden revamp

    MONKS living hundreds of years ago used herbs to drive away evil and protect them from the plague. Now visitors to Mount Grace Priory, near Osmotherley, can see for themselves the kind of herbs the monks planted and what they would have been used for.

  • Europe: Where now?

    What does France's decisive 'Non' to the European constitution mean to Britain and the future of the EU? Here are two contrasting opinions from the North-East Joe Keenan, Regional director of Britain in Europe. SO, the French have voted "Non" to the new

  • Life in the slow lane as travellers head for annual horse fair

    MOTORISTS are being urged to be patient with travellers using the region's roads to reach one of the country's biggest horse fairs. Thousands of travellers - many using traditional horse-drawn Romany caravans - have started to pass through the North-East

  • Students win award for glass creations

    STUDENTS at a North-East school have been invited to a ceremony in London to collect an arts award. Young people at Greenfield School Community and Arts College, in Newton Aycliffe, near Darlington, are among seven winners of a Roots and Wings award for

  • Offices may be built on rugby ground

    THE home of North rugby club could be redeveloped for offices, high-tech laboratories or studios, according to a new report. Scarborough Rugby Club, North Yorkshire, is seeking to move from its headquarters of 80 years in Scalby Road, Newby, to create

  • Tucker's luck is in with double

    NORTH-EAST athletes won ten gold medals at the North of England Junior Championships at Cudworth, with Blaydon's Leanne Tucker scoring a magnificent double in the field events, writes Frank Johnson. The 19-year-old Tynesider, star performer in this month's

  • Lakes ospreys hatch first chick

    AT least one chick has hatched in the nest of a pair of rare ospreys at Bassenthwaite Lake, in Cumbria. The female osprey is known to have laid three eggs - but because they were laid several days apart, and will hatch at different times, it will be some

  • Job Search: Vacancies

    Nurse Advisor, £19,000-£25,000pa, 40hpw. Exciting opportunity for nurses who wish to work flexible hours and be part of a professional team, full training will be provided. Ref: RID 18877. Recruitment & Development Officer, £10,900pa, 22pw. Own transport

  • Phoenix on course for promotion

    Yorkshire Phoenix maintained their strong push for promotion in the totesport League by gaining a comfortable victory by 60 runs over Scottish Saltires at Headingley yesterday to record their fourth win from five matches. Although Saltires were well beaten

  • Babies infected by MRSA superbug

    TWO babies have caught the MRSA superbug in hospital, it emerged last night. Health chiefs at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, said one baby is being treated in a side ward and remains healthy. The second is now well and has left

  • Huge backing for a smoke ban at work

    THREE out of four people in the region want to see smoking banned from workplaces, according to a survey published today. And 70 per cent would support a change in the law to make smoking at work and in public places illegal. The results of the survey

  • Eating Owt: Sea change for a sinking ship

    Despite the building's chequered history it's plain sailing for the new Atlantic Bar and Gill. THE Atlantic Bar and Grill has just opened at the business end of Coniscliffe Road in Darlington. For Atlantic, read Bermuda Triangle. All sorts of resourceful

  • Lorry to display photo of missing mother-of-two

    THE photograph of a missing mother-of-two is to be displayed on the side of a lorry in a desperate bid for fresh information about her whereabouts. The picture of Karen Coverdale, from Stockton, Teesside, will be draped across a 40ft Ford lorry in a new

  • Carnival time . . . with touch of glamour

    HOUSEWIFE Teresa Watson and 14 young friends won a North-East carnival parade title and £200 in prize money for their scene from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory yesterday. They were cheered on as they took part in a procession through Barnard Castle

  • Hero's family touched by fund

    THE niece of Second World War hero Andrew Mynarski has heaped praise on The Northern Echo's Forgotten Hero appeal - days before a statue of her uncle is unveiled in the North-East. Andrea Zajac said her late mother Carole - the sister of Pilot Officer

  • Balde set for a Celtic departure

    FORMER Middlesbro transfer target Bobo Balde revealed he is looking to leave Celtic this summer writes Scott Wilson. The Guinea international was on the verge of a move to the Riverside in January after holding a series of talks with Boro officials and

  • Is being an Englishman a lost cause?

    If you want to prove to yourself that the age of the weird and wonderful isn't over, just listen to Radio Four. I keep trying to do this, but eight times a day I get close to chucking the wireless into the street. The other night they were grumbling that

  • Rutter gearing up for battle with Reynolds

    CHAMPIONSHIP leader Michael Rutter has welcomed the increased competition he will get with the return of title holder John Reynolds to the Bennetts British Superbike fray. Reynolds returned to the track on Tuesday after taking a month off due to his broken

  • Human writes

    A YOUNG author is donating all paid royalties from her first children's novel to the human rights organisation Amnesty International. Melanie Hunter, age 22, has lived in County Durham since she was born. She has been writing since she was 14. An Amnesty

  • Show has new chief cattle steward

    THE Great Yorkshire Show has a new chief cattle steward. Tim Abbey, who farms at Long Marston, near York, has been appointed to the position after being a cattle steward for 30 years. Mr Abbey said: "It's a major responsibility, not least because the

  • Council to provide house for couple using tent as a home

    A COUPLE who camped out on a riverbank for three weeks after being evicted from their home are to move into a council bungalow. Former soldier Kevin Howe, 45, and wife Susan, 39, were evicted from a Home Housing property in Barnard Castle, County Durham

  • Durham Diary

    GAVIN Hamilton was back on his old stamping ground at Headingley yesterday, making 60 and knowing that the bowling nightmare which drove him away has also brought him back. The difference is that he no longer loses sleep over it, having decided to abandon

  • Wilks targets a set up in class

    GUY Wilks has stated his intention to mix it with the big boys of the World Rally Championship, sooner rather than later. Wilks, 24 and from Darlington, is one of the hottest properties in the Junior World Rally Championship. The Suzuki driver is tipped