CRUEL thugs killed a rabbit by strapping fireworks to its body and letting them off, police have revealed. Northumbria Police are urging anyone who knows anything about the incident to contact them urgently. A force spokesman said it is thought the
A LORRY driver was subjected to a terrifying ordeal after his vehicle was hijacked by masked men. A man has been arrested and electrical equipment worth thousands of pounds recovered following the incident at Londonderry lorry park, near Bedale. Police
A NURSERY assistant was stabbed to death at a block of flats had lived there until a few months ago, police have revealed. Samantha Anderson, 29, who had recently been living with her mother in the Cramlington area of Northumberland, was found dead in
POLICE are hunting a bungling armed raider who tried to rob a post office on Halloween dressed in a bright yellow fluorescent jacket and wearing a pumpkin mask. The man left empty-handed after staff threatened to activate a panic alarm, police said.
A £1.6m square that has transformed the centre of Hartlepool's Headland was officially opened yesterday. Margaret Fay, chairwoman of regional development agency One NorthEast, unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the opening of Town Square. The
STUDENTS have uncovered long-forgotten stories of farming families who emigrated to Canada. Sixth formers at Malton School, North Yorkshire, have made a film about the fate of five families who left the North York Moors between 1830 and 1884. The project
Heston Blumenthal: In Search Of Perfection (BBC2) WHEN chef Heston Blumenthal announces he's making two favourite school dinner dishes, he's not talking Jamie Oliver recipes. Bangers and mash with onion gravy, followed by treacle tart and ice cream were
LOW energy light bulbs could save Richmond Town Council £1,000 over the next few years. Research by town clerk Dr Peter Clarke showed that, during the lifetime of the bulbs, they would pay for themselves several times over. Four lights in the town hall
PEOPLE are being given the chance to help shape the future of a town's historic conservation area. Two public consultation sessions will be held next week as part of a review by Hartlepool Borough Council of The Headland conservation area. The Headland
THE public is being invited to attend a meeting which aims to help more people claim benefits they are entitled to. Officials will demonstrate how Easington District Council calculates its benefit payments. Benefits manager Charlie Thompson will also
UNDERAGE drinkers could literally be pouring their cash down the drain, police have warned. Youngsters in Richmondshire who flout the law face an £80 on-the-spot fine and the humiliation of being made to tip their booze down the nearest drain. Those
A NEIGHBOURHOOD'S drive to ensure its youngsters eat nutritionally has been adopted by health chiefs. The roles of school nurse assistants, along with a community health worker, were piloted by West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust to support its health
DURHAM'S MP says she is going to press the city council to correct a shortage of affordable housing that was highlighted in a planning inspector's report on a controversial riverside development. Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods said the Liberal Democrat-controlled
A CHURCH hall looks likely to be converted into apartments. Members of Derwentside District Council's development control committee are being recommended to approve the proposal for St Aiden's Church Hall, in Blackhill, Consett, when they meet tomorrow
A CHARITY has opened premises which will allow it to expand its range of services to older people. Age Concern has unveiled its resource centre, in Betjeman Close, Stanley, which was opened by Derwentside District Council chairman Councillor John Fothergill
RESIDENTS of a Yorkshire Dales village are to get a new village hall after a 50-year wait. For half a century, residents of Wensley, near Leyburn, have held village gatherings in cow-byres, marquees and people's homes. But this will change next year when
VULNERABLE residents are being helped to feel safer in their homes by a Neighbourhood Watch campaign against unwanted callers. Six streets in the Brooklands area of Woodhouse Close have been chosen as the first No Cold Caller zone in the Wear Valley
THE two new men in charge of Wear Valley's 5,000 council homes attended their first board meeting last night. Peter Chaffer took up his £75,000-a-year post as chief executive of Dale and Valley Homes on Monday, joining director of resources David Sanders
HE'S not much to look at - a 3ft puppet, in the shape of a foot with two eyes. But Strider is known internationally. He has been adopted as the walk-to-school symbol across the UK, and in 40 other countries, in the first International Walk to School month
SCHOOLS should reconsider their discipline policies if the town's "absolutely horrific" pupil exclusion rate is to be lowered, education officials suggested last night. Shocking figures revealed that Darlington had suspended 643 pupils from its secondary
THE next Barnard Castle farmers' market is promising to go with a banger as stallholder team up to hold a sausage-themed day. Sausage Day will be on Saturday in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the British Sausage Appreciation Society's British
THE chairman and vice-chairman of a parish council could be back at their posts tonight after missing two meetings through suspension. The Adjudication Panel for England has upheld appeals from Stanhope parish councillors John Shuttleworth and Richard
A PUB has reopened after a £110,000 facelift that took a year. Punch Taverns spent the money at The Slaters Arms, in Bondgate, Darlington. The work has helped to make the pub more contemporary while keeping its older features, which are part of its grade
TWO disused office buildings could be demolished to make way for a housing development. Plans have been submitted to demolish Hopetown House, in Brinkburn Road, Darlington, and build 124 homes. They include two and three-storey houses and a mixture of
MAGISTRATES have told a nuisance criminal to either grow up or face prison. Sheridan Starling, 19, of Melland Street, Darlington, pleaded guilty yesterday to seven charges his solicitor said were childish and easily avoidable. Hari Jandoo, prosecuting
OK - they didn't knife their victim, or knock him to the ground and jump on his head. We must be grateful for small mercies. But here is what a group of the feral youths who now run amok on Britain's streets did to a charity volunteer. The man was collecting
CLIMATE CHANGE I NOTED the glee with which the Government has identified a new opportunity to tax the overburdened UK population using the environment as its excuse. I will only believe there is a solvable problem with the environment when I see politicians
THE end of a Tesco development could pave the way for a museum, a casino or a riverside park. Yesterday's Northern Echo exclusively revealed Darlington Borough Council was ready to reject proposals by Tesco to transform a quarter of the town centre.
SPEED kills is the axiom used to justify the use of more and more speed cameras to silently monitor our roads. Although the actual number of cameras isn't known (it's a statistic the Government doesn't publish) the latest estimate puts the number of fixed
A WOMAN drowned when she suffered an epileptic fit as she took a shower, an inquest heard yesterday. Linda Nichols was left with epilepsy following surgery to remove a brain tumour when she was a teenager. And Teesside Coroner's Court heard how the 51
MICHAEL DODS has raised his game to a new level within the training ranks this term, racking up his best tally of 45 winners, a bumper haul that could easily be increased by his Nottingham raider, Royal Flynn (4.15). Royal Flynn's two triumphs from his
A ROYAL Marines doctor is following in the frozen footsteps of Scott of the Antarctic by skiing to the South Pole. Lieutenant Commander Andy Brown left the UK for Chile yesterday as part of the Royal Navy Polar Quest expedition team preparing for the
A PERFORMER in one of Britain's leading Gothic heavy metal bands said goodbye to a fellow band member at what turned out to be his final gig before he killed himself, an inquest was told yesterday. Simon Jones of Moriati and the Sith was found hanged
A CARAVAN at a popular North-East holiday spot was allegedly turned into a factory making pirate DVDs and CDs, a jury was told yesterday. Police went to the caravan park at Crimdon Dene, near Peterlee, County Durham, where they found five machines for
ROY Keane last night confirmed he has ended his four-year feud with Mick McCarthy, but a clearly angry Sunderland boss was in no mood to discuss his exchanges with the Wolves manager after watching his side go down to their first home defeat under his
A "MATURE'' mother-of-three has proved she is one in 4,000 when it comes to taking photographs.That's how many contestants Pam Ainsley beat to win the UK Events category in the 2006 British Professional Photography Awards.The one-time keen amateur, who
A FARMER who took diversification to new heights has died after a long illness.John Edward Morgan, 68, became a well known among pilots nationwide after he and wife, Beryl, built an airfield on land at West House Farm, near Bishop Middleham, County Durham
Tranmere 0 Darlington 1 DAVE Penney entered the national spotlight thanks to his exploits in cup football last season - and he wasted no time in making his mark in his new job as Darlington recorded a second giant-killing act of the season.Quakers' new
CALLS have been made for urgent action after a notorious road junction claimed the life of another accident victim.The fatal accident was one of two serious accidents in 12 hours at the A68's junction with Burtree Lane, near Darlington, which has now
DAVE Garside, Michael Hunter's manager, is counting down the days until his prize asset gets a shot at a world title.Hunter, British, European and Commonwealth super-bantamweight champion, is up against Canada's Steve Molitor for the vacant International
Hartlepool United 1 Doncaster Rovers 3 HARTLEPOOL United now have to concentrate on painting the town blue and white with a promotion party after they crashed out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the second stage last night.Pools went down to a 3-1
EMANUEL POGATETZ last night called for Middlesbrough to show they have the fire to overcome the Premiership's inferior relations, with a trip to another of the top-flight's new-boys on this weekend's agenda. Pogatetz has been part of a Boro side that
POLICE chiefs were last night on a collision course with MPs over the introduction of more speed cameras. County Durham and North Yorkshire are the only areas of England refusing to set up so-called "safety partnerships", allowing them to set up fixed
SIX birds have been put down after a man tried to smuggle them through customs hidden in a carrier bag. Customs officials at Newcastle International Airport stopped the passenger on the flight from Algeria on Friday and found six goldfinches. The Middlesbrough
THE trial of a couple accused of killing their 22-month-old son with methadone has been halted after new evidence was produced by the defence. Gemma Fennelly and Mark Bate were accused of killing their son, Mitchell, on September 16 last year. They both
HOW green was your granny? Probably a lot greener than you... The trouble is that we have too much money. However concerned we may or may not pretend to be about climate change, or using up the world's resources, conserving energy or recycling don't come
WEST riding, last week's holiday included a steam-hauled hurl on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. It's a fascinating and a prosperous old line, five and a half miles through Ingrow West, Haworth - Bronte country - and onto Oxenhope, with yet more
WE'RE only part way through our interview at Hartlepool Marina when the sky darkens and spots of rain fall on my notebook, the blue ink beginning to blur. "Are you all right going up ladders?" says Norman Brown, as he heads towards his half-built yacht
Sunderland 1 Cardiff City 2 SUNDERLAND were haunted last night by two Magpies - a two-goal former Newcastle United striker who condemned Roy Keane to his first home defeat as manager and a stranded bird that flew around the Stadium of Light like a prophet
