IN the end it was almost an anti-climax. Until mid-afternoon on its final day the sensational series which had gripped the nation offered the tantalising prospect of the heart-stopping finale it deserved. The man who changed the drama-laden script and
THREE women are taking the reins at the North East construction industry's independent training groups. HELEN SNOWDON, 25, from Sunderland, has been appointed training co-ordinator for the North-East Roofing Training Group and VIKKI MUNRO, 38, of Gosforth
AN asylum seeker from the North-East was last night thought to have lost his battle to stay in England, despite last-minute intervention from Prime Minister Tony Blair. Kissi Kilondo is understood to have been deported to his Congo homeland, despite a
TWO men involved in a £1m black market racket selling counterfeit DVDs and CDs have been ordered to pay back £50,000 each. At a confiscation hearing, at Teesside Crown Court yesterday, Paul Canning and Mark Bailey were told they would serve an extra 12
A local firm has given a huge boost to the £30m appeal to preserve one of the country's best-loved buildings. Persimmon Homes, one of Britain's biggest housebuilders, is giving £700,000 to the York Minster Development Campaign. The money, which will be
A FURNITURE restoration company has increased its turnover by 25 per cent and is planning to expand with £15,000-worth of equipment. Since moving to Derwentside in 2003, Allandale French Polishers has seen its turnover rise from £220,000 to £275,000 in
MOTORISTS were urged not to panic last night as petrol stations saw huge sales increases ahead of tomorrow's fuel protest. Queues were seen at garages across the North-East and North Yorkshire as motorists refuelled before demonstrations took place at
A DESIGN and print company in County Durham has invested £2m in technology and doubled its workforce and turnover. During the past four years, Hillprint Media, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has increased the number of employees from 24 to 52, and
A REUNION to commemorate 25 years since the closure of a steel plant was held in Consett last night. Former employees of British Steel Corporation Consett Works met in The Demi pub in the town. They met old friends and former colleagues to recall the
A BUSINESSMAN was recovering in hospital last night after being shot in the foot by a robber who stole a vehicle containing more than £30,000 worth of professional tools. A police spokesman said the robber, who was believed to be armed with sawn-off shotgun
SPECULATION was rife last night that the bidder for van hire group Northgate is financier Guy Hands. Mr Hands' investment company, Terra Firma, has been suggested as the mystery suitor behind an £800m takeover bid for the Darlington company. Analysts
BANDS have been preparing for the annual Darlington music and beer festival. The warm-up for the 26th Rhythm and Brews festival began yesterday, with the Smoking Spitfires tuning up their instruments. The festival, at Darlington Arts Centre, is from Thursday
MORE than 400 children took part in a mass fun run yesterday. Pupils from Blackhall and St Joseph's Primary Schools, Wingate Infants and the whole of South Hetton Primary School joined in the David Lloyd Great Mile Run at Dalton Park shopping centre,
A FORMER Darlington school could reopen as a centre for youths who are no longer in mainstream education. Rise Carr Primary, in Eldon Street, closed in July. Darlington Borough Council has unveiled proposals which, if approved, would see the old school
AN MP promised yesterday to do all she could to support carers who devote their time looking after frail relatives and friends. Helen Goodman, MP for Bishop Auckland, spent almost two hours at a centre run by the Durham Dales Action for Carers group in
YOUNG people turned out in force in a determined bid to clean up their community. The youngsters, from Trimdon Station and Deaf Hill, were taking part in a litter-pick as part of Groundwork East Durham's Sorted II programme. The project was launched to
NINE students are celebrating picking up £1,500 each to help pay for their studies, thanks to a cash injection from West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust (WMNT). They are the first to benefit from the trust's bursary scheme, to be awarded out of a £150,000
A GRIEVING soldier ruined her chances of joining the police the night she overturned her car after a function at her barracks, a court heard. Leanne Shirreffs, a lance corporal in the Royal Engineers who has seen service in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern
HOPES are high that a third Mashamshire Arts Festival will put the seal on what is expected to become an annual showpiece. Two years ago, the area held a major event, and last year a mini festival was staged. This year's festival, from October 21 to 30
SUCCESSFUL young author Kat Promfret is to give tips on how to get published, in a talk in County Durham this week. The writer, 28, who was born in Durham, has received plaudits for her debut novel, Paradise Jazz, which tells the story of two women who
ENGLAND pulled off one of the nation's greatest sporting victories last night to win back the Ashes after 18 years - and end a nail-biting summer of cricket. The series against Australia has been characterised by frayed nerves and countless twists and
PEOPLE looking for work in Newton Aycliffe will be visiting a new Jobcentre Plus office from next year. The office, announced by the Department for Work and Pensions yesterday, will be in the town's new shopping centre and is expected to open in the late
A VISIT to a country park landed a woman and three young children in a sticky situation yesterday. The four had to be pulled out of mud in Hardwick Country Park, near Sedgefield, where they were stuck up to their knees. Firefighters, police and paramedics
A YELLOW Playbus which has brought fun and facts to families for almost 20 years is being forced off the road. Lack of funding has resulted in the familiar double-decker in Hartlepool returning to the garage for good. The Families First's Playbus, equipped
OFFICIALS at a dales agricultural show have praised the quality of livestock on display. The 118th Bowes Show took place at the weekend at Home Farm, Gilmonby, in Teesdale. The show included all the traditional classes as well as a family fun run and
A FOUR-year-old girl came to the rescue when her mother fell down the stairs, knocking herself unconscious. Little Emily Halford did not cry or panic when she heard a crash and saw her mother, Catherine, lying at the foot of the stairs. Instead, she took
Kevin Pietersen emerged as a hero of his adopted nation after scoring a maiden Test century to guide England to an historic Ashes victory. Two months after polarising opinion about the value of his selection ahead of veteran Graham Thorpe for the opening
A CITY-WIDE drive is urging residents to recycle their paper, cans and glass bottles by putting them out for fortnightly collection. Stickers are being placed on 120,000 wheeled bins at the start of an advertising campaign which will follow from the end
A mother who claimed her baby was killed when they were attacked in their home by two masked men made her first appearance at crown court charged with the tot's murder today. Danielle Wails, 21, claimed four-month old Alexander perished in a blaze caused
A man who threatened to jump from a five-storey building caused chaos in a city at the weekend. The man, believed to be 23, and from Heaton, Newcastle, managed to get into a block of flats and refused to come down, staring at the 50ft drop. The drama
SOME of the region's leading business figures will reveal how they honed their skills at a breakfast seminar on September 28. Entrepreneur and former Bells Stores chief executive Steven Bell; Jamie Martin, the CBI's North-East chairman, and Neil Wem,
A CONSTRUCTION company is to start work on a £2.8m contract at a North-East school. MMP Construction (NE), a division of Newton Aycliffe's MMP Group, will develop a sixth form centre and make internal alterations to St Leonard's School, in Durham. The
A UKRAINIAN man caught trying to smuggle thousands of cigarettes into the country has been jailed. However, Vjataseslav Gerassimisuk, 27, who lives in Estonia, was released yesterday as he had already served half of his sentence. Magistrates at Newton
A man accused of murdering his wife of 18 years made his first crown court appearance yesterday. Michael Luke, 45, dressed in a T-shirt and grey cardigan, was accompanied in the dock by three nursing staff from West Park mental health hospital, in Darlington
THIRSK'S summer of superb action signs off until next April with an action-packed six-race card this afternoon. The Racing UK Handicap is a typically hard-to-solve one mile event, however, since I've been banging on about Efidium (3.30) all year with
CHRISTIAN Bassila believes Sunderland were unlucky to lose to Premiership champions Chelsea on Saturday, writes WILL SCOTT. Despite the 2-0 reverse, Bassila's impressive debut was one of several positives to emerge with manager Mick McCarthy playing his
ENGLAND pulled off one of the nation's greatest sporting victories last night to win back the Ashes after 18 years - and end a nail-biting summer of cricket. The series against Australia has been characterised by frayed nerves and countless twists and
WILLIAM Hague will be urged to end his four-year exile from frontbench politics if David Davis wins the race for the Conservative leadership. Mr Davis hopes to form a "team of all the talents" by tempting the Richmond MP back to the shadow cabinet -possibly
JACKIE ARMSTRONG has joined Gordon Brown Associates' Property Shop in Low Fell, near Gateshead, as a negotiator. The 29-year-old was a riding instructor and yard supervisor until 1997. After spending time in a customer service and sales job, she joined
Reg Vardy has strengthened its communications team with the appointment of JAMES PLATER. The 25-year-old joins the motor retail group from Accent Magazines, in Gosforth, North Tyneside, where he was motoring correspondent and features writer. Before joining
MIDDLESBROUGH boss Steve McClaren is ready to adapt a new approach in an attempt to ensure Premiership form does not suffer from European exhaustion. Boro embark on their second UEFA Cup run on Thursday when Greek side FC Xanthi arrive at the Riverside
Five years ago it plunged the country into chaos and threw the Government into crisis, and now its organisers are hoping for a repeat performance. But is the time ripe for another fuel protest? Nick Morrison reports. IT began, like all the most strident
A COLOURFUL awards ceremony has recognised the region's most outstanding floral displays. Results of Northumbria in Bloom were announced at Newcastle Racecourse yesterday. Stockton was celebrating after retaining the best city category, while Darlington
A TROUBLED North-East city academy is an "odd case of failure" that must not deflect from the overall success of the privately-funded schools, Tony Blair insisted yesterday. In a defiant speech, the Prime Minister said "parent power" - which meant the
MEMBERS of boxing and sports clubs across the North are being invited to put their fitness to the test against the Royal Marines. Posters and leaflets are being distributed at boxing clubs, sports clubs, youth centres and martial arts clubs across the
Part of International Suicide Prevention Week, somewhat surprisingly listed under "Entertainment" in the Stornoway Gazette, a talk on "Suicide and rurality" was held last Wednesday evening on the oft-exposed island of Lewis. That England's footballers
A YOUNG diabetes sufferer missing from home without her medication since last week has been seen. Louise Vincent has been missing since September 1 when she left a house in Chilton, County Durham. She needs insulin regularly and police believe she may
LITTLE fighter Khian Johnson should not even have been born for another two weeks. So when he arrived 16 weeks prematurely, doctors in three hospitals had to battle to keep him alive. He weighed only 1lb 9oz and was so small he could be held in the palm
HOUSE prices rose by 1.1 per cent during July, but the annual rate of growth continued to slow, Government figures have shown. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said the monthly rise was driven by a 2.1 per cent increase in the cost of a detached
A speeding hearse snapped by a mobile police camera has sparked a mystery for one funeral firm boss. It was caught doing 40mph in a 30mph zone but the firm claims there is no way it could have been there. Funeral company boss John Duckworth is adamant
TWO politicians toured the North-East yesterday to discuss the development of the region with local leaders and young people. Communities and Local Government Minister David Miliband and Industry Minister Alun Michael were in Newcastle for the first of
A WAR veteran was beaten up, driven to attempt suicide and bled of his life savings after he was befriended by a crazed drug addict. Ivor Applegarth, 81, was left a broken man after he allowed homeless John Robins to move into his house for six months
CHAMPION jockey elect Jamie Spencer was in unstoppable form at Redcar yesterday, partnering the first four winners on the card aboard Riotous Applause, The Terrier, Dee Day, and Typhoon Tilly. Spencer's main rival in the race for the title, Seb Sanders
THE expansion of Teesport is essential to the future of the region's chemical industry and more than 34,000 jobs, a business leader said last night. Stan Higgins, chief executive of the North-East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic), warned that the fortunes
CLOTHING retailer Primark was yesterday preparing to strengthen its high street presence by keeping more former Littlewoods sites than planned. Primark, which bought 120 Littlewoods stores in a £409m deal in July, said it expected to keep 1.15 million
Oiks out! Cricket must not become "the new football". I want cricket to be accessible to all, but I don't want it to become "accessible". I don't want to read the philistine journalistic articles asking, "Is cricket now The People's Game?". Cricket has
Two schoolboys were abducted and sexually assaulted during a trip to their local park, a court was told. The youngsters, aged six and eight, were persuaded to follow Angus Bowman, 39, who said he would show them some pictures. Newcastle Crown Court was
A BREAD factory has enlisted the help of the North-East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) to save £9,000 a year in production costs. Allied Bakeries, which supplies Kingsmill, Allinson and Sunblest bread nationwide, reviewed its production process
POLICE attempts to stop yob behaviour in a rural area were hailed as a success yesterday. Bad behaviour by young people has been reduced by two-thirds during the seven-week Operation Capone in Barnard Castle and surrounding villages. Sergeant Bill Dutton
LITTLE fighter Khian Johnson should not even have been born for another two weeks. So when he arrived 16 weeks prematurely, doctors in three hospitals had to battle to keep him alive. He weighed only 1lb 9oz and was so small he could be held in the palm
TWO men involved in a £1m black market racket selling counterfeit DVDs and CDs have been ordered to pay back £50,000 each. At a confiscation hearing, at Teesside Crown Court yesterday, Paul Canning and Mark Bailey were told they would serve an extra 12
SWIMMERS at the Rainbow Leisure Centre, in Middlesbrough, have raised £932 for children's charity NCH by taking part in the Butlins Swimathon 2005. The funds raised will help the local branch of the charity to continue to support vulnerable children,
A DARLINGTON hospice is celebrating after receiving more than £2,000, thanks to shoppers at a town supermarket. Staff at Asda, in Whinbush Way, were given an incentive by yogurt company Muller to increase sales of its products. For every percentage point
A REGISTERED childminder has received top grades following an Ofsted inspection. The service provided by Carol Day, of The Leas, Darlington, was described as outstanding by inspectors, who monitored her work during a three-hour assessment. The areas examined
PLANS to replace permit- holder parking with pay and display in three city centre streets are likely to win approval from councillors, despite opposition from some residents. Durham County Council's highways committee will tomorrow be recommended to set
A CHARITY is looking for homes for two puppies. Samantha and Sarah are seven-week-old mongrels, of medium size with short hair. The puppies were taken in by animal charity the National Animal Sanctuaries Support League (NASSL) near Darlington. Pauline
LEAFLETS are being left on the windscreens of disabled drivers' cars to inform people of the changes as part of Darlington's pedestrian heart scheme. On Sunday, various changes in the town centre will affect all traffic, including blue badge holders.
PUPILS in a cake-baking marathon have raised money for the Disasters Emergency Committee Niger Appeal. The youngsters, from Yarm Preparatory School, near Stockton, baked hundreds of cakes at the weekend for the biggest cake sale the school ever had. At
SEDGEFIELD Mayor Maxine Robinson and consort Councillor John Robinson are appealing to residents to support the annual charity appeal. This year, the selected charities are Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Butterwick Hospice, as well as a number of village
POLICE attempts to stop yob behaviour in a rural area were hailed as a success yesterday. Bad behaviour by young people has been reduced by two-thirds during the seven-week Operation Capone in Barnard Castle and surrounding villages. Sergeant Bill Dutton
A HEALTH club manager had a hair-raising experience and collected more than £1,000 for a children's charity. Tom Carter, who runs Bannatyne's Health Club in Ingleby Barwick, volunteered to lose his locks at the Family Fun Day on Sunday. The £1,300 raised
THE North-East is continuing to recycle more rubbish, although it is still lagging behind other regions. The Government said yesterday that provisional figures showed that about 16 per cent of household waste was recycled in the region in 2004/2005 -
THIS year's Battle of Britain commemoration in Middlesbrough takes place on Sunday. Participants in the parade meet at 11.15am, at the South African War Memorial, in Albert Park, before setting off ten minutes later led by the Pipe and Drums Band of the
A COMMUNITY is calling for action to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety around a North Yorkshire school. A petition with 424 signatures of residents and parents has been handed to North Yorkshire County Council requesting changes to the road
A NEW guide to walking around a North Yorkshire town has been launched. The guide to Stokesley has been published by the Hambleton Strollers. The pack contains six walk cards with directions and maps, and a complete town map showing footpaths. The guide
SUPERMARKETS and trading standards officers have joined forces to promote healthy eating. Exhibitions giving nutritional advice to shoppers are being set up in stores across North Yorkshire. The county council displays will explain information given on
Organisers of a revamped horticultural show hailed the event a resounding success. Peter Thompson, chairman of the organising committee for the Durham show, said: "The event was a success, with more entries and more entrants that last year. We had 760
Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society next meets at the Dorman Museum, in Middlesbrough, on Thursday, from 2.30pm. Jim Rees, of the National Railway Museum, will give a talk, at Beamish Open Air Museum, on the building of The Steam Elephant.
THE company promoting the region's defence and aerospace industries is taking more than 50 members to a defence exhibition in London today. Northern Defence Industries (NDI) , which is a not-for-profit company, is taking a quarter of its members to the
POLICE and fire investigators are investigating the cause of a blaze that destroyed an empty nursing home yesterday afternoon. The Mount Pleasant Grange home in Tudhoe Moor, near Spennymoor, was closed three years ago under a Durham County Council modernisation
AN arts festival will return to a North Yorkshire market town later this month after a year's break. Organisers of Northallerton's Zest Fest chose to have a year off as the week-long celebration of local art was going to clash with a visit by the Royal
FOOTBALL coaches will be taking over in Teesside classrooms to give teachers time to plan lessons. A Government scheme sets out that teachers are given half a day a week away from classes for planning, preparation and assessments. Schools were left with
AN extensive programme of remodelling and refurbishment of Darlington council flats is under way as part of the town's housing business plan. The borough council's community and public protection group recognised that the flats, built in the 1960s and
FIGURES of eight and pirouettes will be the order of the day for the next four weeks when a retail park opens its synthetic ice rink. Dalton Park, at Murton, in east Durham, has installed a 4,326sq foot ice pad. The move follows a recent survey by the
ASHES fever gripped the region yesterday as huge swathes of the population did their best to follow the historic events at the Oval. Work was disrupted throughout the North-East and North Yorkshire as those unlucky to be on duty tried to follow England's
For Susan Parry, a background in science - including cutting-edge forensics - was ideal training for writing a crime novel. She talks to Sarah Foster about her passion for sleuthing, in real life and in fiction. AS a little girl, Susan Parry loved reading
A pro-hunting demonstrator was punched at least twice by a police officer despite being already restrained by other officers, a court heard. Pc Neil Latteman threw two, possibly three, ''unprovoked and unnecessary punches'' at Mark Faulkner, after he
PATIENTS have helped to fund a new liver disease research unit in the North-East. The support group LIVErNORTH, which has a network of members throughout the Northern region who have suffered the disease, raised £25,000 to pay for a new laboratory and
A REUNION to commemorate 25 years since the closure of a steel plant was held in Consett last night. Former employees of British Steel Corporation Consett Works met in The Demi pub in the town. They met old friends and former colleagues to recall the
FLOORING company Storey Carpets has won a national retail award for the fourth consecutive year. The Sunderland-based company was named Retailer of the Year at the National Flooring Show, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, beating competition from national
A £10m retail development in an unemployment blackspot could create up to 200 jobs. Architects Browne Smith Baker (BSB), which has offices in Newcastle, Darlington, Leeds and Hull, has designed the shopping centre in Seaham, County Durham. Byron Place
IN terms of the weather, it has been an average summer. From a sporting perspective, it has been truly glorious. Nothing can lift the mood of a nation quite like sporting success. And, at a time when England's football team is in the doldrums, the country's
MOTORISTS were urged not to panic last night as petrol stations saw huge sales increases ahead of tomorrow's fuel protest. Queues were seen at garages across the North-East and North Yorkshire as motorists refuelled before demonstrations took place at
A BUSINESSMAN was recovering in hospital last night after being shot in the foot by a robber who stole a vehicle containing more than £30,000 worth of professional tools. A police spokesman said the robber, who was believed to be armed with sawn-off shotgun
THREE business development managers have been appointed by the University of Teesside. The appointments follow the university's successful bid for a £3m grant from the Higher Education Innovation Fund last year to support its enterprise strategy. The
A DRUNKEN woman was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and burns after she was rescued from her blazing flat. The woman, believed to be in her 40s, escaped from the second-floor flat after a neighbour was alerted by a smoke alarm. Firefighters
THE North-East has become one of the first areas in the country to benefit from a free, out-of-hours hospice-at-home care service. Six months after the successful completion of a pilot scheme, the Butterwick Hospice Care group has been given the go-ahead
MYSTERY still surrounds the death of North-East man who was found dead in a ditch in Holland. Shaun Cutler, the son-in-law of Gordon White, of Hartburn Lane, Stockton, Tees-side, made the grim discovery a fortnight after he had last been seen alive when
FUEL PRICES:THE vehicle fuel issue is back with us again - the cost of vehicle fuel now at new high levels. A litre of fuel has now passed the £1 mark and the average is about 98p (an amazing £4.46 per gallon). Taxation on diesel and petrol is 75 per
Kevin Pietersen toasted the best day of his life after his maiden Test hundred sealed England's first Ashes success for 18 years. South African-born Pietersen struck 158 to defy Australia at the Oval on another day of fraught nerves as time ran out on
WITH two wins on the road this season and none at Victoria Park, Hartlepool United midfielder Mark Tinkler is desperate to end the run. Pool meet Swansea at Victoria Park on Saturday. This season, Pool have lost twice and drawn twice in front of their
ASHINGTON'S Kenneth Ferrie and Hartlepool's Graeme Storm have had their fears realised after they were overlooked for the Seve Trophy wild card selection by captain Colin Montgomerie. The North-East pair had been hoping to claim a place in Monty's team
A 29-YEAR-OLD man was arrested yesterday after an alleged assault at a town centre taxi rank in the early hours. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident, which took place at 1.15am in Bishop Auckland market place, County Durham. A 23-year-old
A CONSTRUCTION company is to start work on a £2.8m contract at a North-East school. MMP Construction (NE), a division of Newton Aycliffe's MMP Group, will develop a sixth form centre and make internal alterations to St Leonard's School, in Durham. The
ACCOUNTANCY firm Harlands has recruited PETER KERR as a business development consultant. He joins the team from Ridge Media, where he was a business development director. Harlands, which has offices in Durham and Newcastle, is extending its team to provide
NOLBERTO SOLANO has reassured Newcastle United he has no intention of going back on his decision to retire from international football. During the 30-year-old's first stint on Tyneside he was at loggerheads with former boss Sir Bobby Robson regularly
WELCOME, welcome. Come inside the weird and wonderful mind (and wardrobe) of a fashion obsessive and style aficionado. The lovely people at The Northern Echo have offered me my own monthly column (very Carrie-esq) to share my style secrets. I should start
