The deaths of three young recruits at the controversial Deepcut barracks were probably self-inflicted and there is no evidence that they were bullied to death, a new review has concluded. Outlining his reviews findings to MPs, Armed Forces Minister Adam
Mothering Sunday passed in filial fashion. The younger bairn sent a jolly card from Cardiff, where presently he practises the Noble Art, his brother cajoled his ailing motor car - a kick start, probably - northwards from Leeds. Mother's pride, she beamed
A FORMER science teacher is holding a photographic exhibition next month to raise money for her old school. Briony Isaacs' pictures will be on show in That Juice Place, in Skinnergate, Darlington, between 5.30pm and 9pm, on Friday, April 7. Ms Isaacs
RESIDENTS of a former pit village have moved into new homes following the completion of a £1.6m housing development. Durham Aged Mineworkers' Homes Association has built 20 two-bedroomed bungalows in Ushaw Moor, near Durham City. The Eshwood View bungalows
PUPILS have come up with the name for a multi-million pound development at a landmark site. Housebuilder Shepherd Homes is transforming the site of the former Cock o' The North pub, on the outskirts of Durham City, in a £12m development of 17 homes and
A COUNCILLOR opposed to plans to demolish more than 1,000 homes, has been removed from his council's planning committee. Labour councillor Ken Walker says Middlesbrough Council's decision to drop him from the committee is "a vindictive action''. He claimed
WE understand the sense of injustice felt by the thousands of public sector workers who went on strike yesterday. Proposed reforms of the Local Government Pension Scheme are divisive, with some public sector workers - police officers, firefighters, civil
A LOCAL authority leader has admitted failing to declare an interest regarding a document that was presented to an executive council meeting. Councillor Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside District Council, accepts he failed to announce he was also chairman
AN initiative to inspire more young people to get involved in volunteering has been launched. The Millennium Volunteer (MV) in the Community scheme will offer drop-in sessions at Trax, the Connexions Centre on Station Bridge, Harrogate. Young people will
POLICE have announced a scheme aimed at saving the lives of abducted children. In partnership with the local media, the police are rolling out the Child Rescue Alert (CRA) scheme, which was developed to save the lives of abducted children in the crucial
HANDS up anyone who remembers a film on woodpeckers by a Swedish film-maker named Heinz Seilmann and a string of TV programmes on Kenya's Serengeti national park by husband-and-wife team Armand and Michaela Dennis. A decent show of hands, I see. Thank
A MAN has been banned for life from keeping dogs after killing his pet with an Oriental weapon. Peter Dibden told police who called at his home that he had been "messing about" with a two-metre-long Chinese fighting stick when four-year-old bull mastiff-cross
THE North was hardest-hit by the biggest strike in the UK since 1926 - but a row broke out last night over how many local government workers had stayed at home. Jubilant union bosses said more than a million council staff stayed away from work in a protest
THE man responsible for one of the region's worst animal cruelty cases has been jailed for six months and banned from keeping animals for the rest of his life. Lee Howard was today sentenced to 26 weeks in custody for four charges of animal cruelty and
A SIGN Lee Cattermole's value to the Middlesbrough first team since his emergence from the Academy will be just how much he will be missed in Basel tomorrow night. The recently turned 18-year-old will not be on the flight to Switzerland at lunch time
A CONSTRUCTION company has its sights set on building part of the athletes village for the 2012 Olympic Games. Metek Building Systems, part of the MMP Group, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is in talks with a number of housing associations in the south
WITH their last two Friday night games bringing their only victories since December, Hartlepool United are in need of making it three in a row this week. Paul Stephenson has led his side to Friday night wins over Huddersfield and Chesterfield in recent
GREEN fuels company D1 Oils said last night it was aiming for profit next year as it posted an expected loss of £7.5m. Chief executive Elliott Mannis also hinted that more expansion could be on the cards at its new Middlesbrough headquarters. In its first
Well, there's a real sign that society is crumbling. Forget cash for questions, payments for peerages, loans for influence - that's just small fry. The real scandal is that you can now buy Blue Peter badges on eBay. This could be the beginning of the
NEWCASTLE flanker Mike McCarthy has warned the Falcons to expect a tough battle against his former team-mates from Connacht on Friday. The Irish province visit Kingston Park for a European Challenge Cup quarter-final and on the two previous occasions
Mothering Sunday passed in filial fashion. The younger bairn sent a jolly card from Cardiff, where presently he practises the Noble Art, his brother cajoled his ailing motor car - a kick start, probably - northwards from Leeds. Mother's pride, she beamed
FILM studio owner Pinewood Shepperton unveiled a sharp decline in profits yesterday but said the outcome of the Chancellor's Budget looked likely to put it on the recovery trail as major film producers come back to the UK. Pinewood, whose studios were
The Governor of the Bank of England joined the criticism of European energy markets yesterday and warned that gas prices would stay volatile for at least another year. Appearing before the Treasury Committee, Mervyn King said efforts to secure gas supplies
POLICE pledged to restore order to a troubled east Durham estate when they launched a zero-tolerance operation. The crackdown on the Station Estate, in Murton, began at the weekend when extra officers were drafted in to deal with disruptive young people
DARLINGTON skipper Matt Clarke has leapt to the defence of under-fire manager David Hodgson, insisting there is no better man for the job. Clarke has played throughout Hodgson's two-and-a-half year tenure back at the club. The defender is one of only
UNRULY people are being named and shamed as part of a police campaign to stamp out anti-social behaviour. Images of persistent offenders are being posted through letterboxes on an east Cleveland estate and featured in posters as part of a police campaign
A HISTORIC archery club is appealing for help in its search to find a new venue. The Gentleman and Lady Archers of Darlington club, which is believed to have been founded in the 1600s, will lose its regular meeting place when Larchfield Sports Centre
A HOUSING association wants to demolish 22 elderly people's bungalows and replace them with modern homes. Home Housing has applied to Sedgefield Borough Council to knock down the homes in Derwent Terrace, Spennymoor, and build 20 bungalows on the site
PEOPLE are being urged to have their say about cash machine charges as part of a campaign launched this month. Wear Valley Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is asking residents to take part in an online survey about how cash machine charges affect them. Of
A DISTRICT council has won praise from the Government's top planning chiefs. Teesdale District Council has been named as having one of the best local authority planning services in the country. Last year, the council's planning service achieved the second
HOT topics of the day were discussed by some of the leading young debators from the North-East. The four regional finalists in a national competition pitted their wits across the debating chamber at Newcastle University. Issues including health matters
PEOPLE with mild mental health problems in north Durham will be able to help themselves by reading up on their condition with books from their local library. Books on Prescription is the first scheme of its kind in County Durham. It has been set up by
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a housing development in a village have been criticised by council planners. The development of 26 homes on the site of the former Durham City Transport depot, in Moor Road, Melsonby, near Richmond, would be out of place, say the
STEVEN TAYLOR will not play again for Newcastle United this season, in fear of another 'cock-up' that would sideline him for the start of the new campaign in August. The young defender is keen to avoid a repeat of the mistakes that were made in December
A POLICEMAN who waded into a freezing river to save a teenage boy from drowning was yesterday commended for his actions. PC Martyn Butler was given a bravery award from the Royal Humane Society for the daring rescue last year, when he was hailed a hero
HOSPITALS across the region charged patients and visitors more than £3m to park their cars last year, figures show. A cancer charity immediately criticised the practice as morally wrong because people making frequent trips to hospital for treatment were
A FESTIVAL has been planned to officially re-open South Park, Darlington, marking the completion of a multi-million pound restoration project. After nearly four years of work, supported by a £3.9m Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the new-look park will be
THE LATE onset of spring has come as a relief to owners of a medieval manor house and garden. Crook Hall, on the banks of the River Wear, half a mile from Durham city centre, will open for the season over the Easter weekend, from Friday, April 14. Set
THE head of one of the region's largest councils confirmed he will spark a leadership contest in an attempt to face down rebels in the ruling Labour group. Earlier, Durham County Council leader Ken Manton had made no comment over a leaked internal e-mail
Don't Mess With Miss Beckles (BBC2) Adopt-a-Grandad (C4) 'AM I in EastEnders? I've lost the plot. All I need is for Grant Mitchell to walk through that door and go, 'who do I need to sort out?'," said Yolande Beckles, reaching the end of her tether. Despite
PEOPLE who visited a hospital in the region are being warned to watch for symptoms of a highly infectious disease. Visitors to the University Hospital of North Durham between Monday, March 13, and Friday, March 17, may have been exposed to measles. The
A PETITION bearing the signatures of Northern Echo readers calling for a public inquiry into suspicious Army deaths is to be handed to the Prime Minister. Deepcut and Beyond, a delegation of friends and family of dead soldiers, will hand thousands of
BOTTLE SHOCK : I am so incensed and annoyed at an incident which occurred involving my son that I felt I had to make some comment about it. I wonder if the female drinker who thought it was fun to throw an empty vodka bottle at my son's car as he was
What is the world coming to when Blue Peter Badges can be bought instead of being earned the stiky plastic way? Well, there's a real sign that society is crumbling. Forget cash for questions, payments for peerages, loans for influence - that's just small
Mothering Sunday passed in filial fashion. The younger bairn sent a jolly card from Cardiff, where presently he practises the Noble Art, his brother cajoled his ailing motor car - a kick start, probably - northwards from Leeds. Mother's pride, she beamed
BOLD TIGER (2.50) heads to Yarmouth with every prospect of making his presence felt in the seven furlong Racecourse Video Services Handicap. Having spent last season with Linda Stubbs at Malton, Bold Tiger has now moved a few miles west to the David Nicholls
London mayor Ken Livingstone has ruled out any possibility of a football club taking over the Olympic Stadium once the 2012 Games are finished. The stadium has been earmarked to become a permanent athletics venue but with its capacity reduced from 80,000
A charity is campaigning to hold the country's first open air funeral pyre in the North-East. A Hindu doctor, whose son died last year, tells Lindsay Jennings why he wished he could have cremated him by pyre ON the surface it is a traditional British
PEOPLE are being urged to swap chips for fresh fruit and veg with an innovative project designed to transform their whole lifestyle. The Healthy Living Centre, in Port Clarence, Stockton, is encouraging local people to opt for a more nutritional diet
What is the world coming to when Blue Peter Badges can be bought instead of being earned the stiky plastic way? Well, there's a real sign that society is crumbling. Forget cash for questions, payments for peerages, loans for influence - that's just small
A FIGHTER jet from North Yorkshire guided a civilian aircraft to safety when the plane lost all its management systems over a major city, the RAF said today. The aircraft, containing a pilot and two passengers, lost all its management systems apart from
HOSPITALS across the region charged patients and visitors more than £3m to park their cars last year, figures show. A cancer charity immediately criticised the practice as morally wrong because people making frequent trips to hospital for treatment were
POLICE continued their hunt for the body of murdered teenager Jenny Nicholl yesterday. A team of officers carried out fingertip searches of woodland where Jenny's CD player and teddy bear were found last week. Heavy lifting equipment was brought in to
A NEW flood forecasting centre will warn residents and businesses in the region of impending danger. The control room will be opened tomorrow by the Environment Agency after several years of severe flooding that cost the region millions of pounds. Based
A MAN cleared of killing his wife has died less than a week after the case came to court. Roy Mackenzie, 78, was accused of the manslaughter of his wife, Audrey, 72, at their home in Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, North Yorkshire. Mrs Mackenzie was found
DEFEAT on Merseyside this weekend could mean the prospect of Football League status next season becomes reality for Sunderland and Dean Whitehead holds enormous sympathy for the club's fans. With seven games remaining, and relegation a formality whatever
