POLICE are appealing for the driver of a pick-up to come forward after a potato lorry tipped over. The accident happened on an unclassified road between Malton and Stamford Bridge in North Yorkshire at about 1.15pm today. The driver of the potato lorry
MOTORISTS faced severe disruption tonight after a 35-tonne lorry tipped over, spilling its load across a busy traffic route. The accident happened on the outskirts of Heighington, near Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, just after 8pm. Police closed the
DURHAM'S trophy-winning cricketers will be guests at Sunderland's Premier League match against Liverpool on Saturday. Durham Dynamos won their first silverware since getting first-class status 15 years ago, defeating Hampshire at Lord's by 125 runs last
A VICTIM of domestic abuse yesterday saved her violent partner from a lengthy prison sentence by telling a judge she forgave him and wanted him back. Jenny Lester wrote a letter to Judge Peter Armstrong to tell him how much she loved wife beater Harry
ARMED police were called to shoot a dangerous dog after it escaped and killed another animal. The Japanese Akita savaged a Bull Mastiff and then began wandering Ryhope Road in the Grangetown area of Sunderland early on Friday. The dog tried to attack
TWO teenagers have been arrested after a young man with learning difficulties was left fighting for his life following an apparently unprovoked attacked. The boys, aged 16 and 17, were taken in for questioning after Brent Martin, 23, was found unconscious
A ROOKIE soldier was left fighting for his life after a fellow squaddie on basic training launched a savage knife attack on him as he slept at his barracks. Liam Riccio spent four days in intensive care and ten days in hospital after being attacked by
CHAOS developed as three stretches of the A1(M) were closed in County Durham following separate accidents today. Three people were taken to hospital after the first accident which led to long tailbacks developing on the northbound side of road, known
A MAN has died in a tragic shooting accident in Weardale. The incident happened at remote farmland near on the A689 between Wolsingham and Frosterley. An alarm was raised before 11am this morning when a man reported to staff at nearby Newlands Hall
A MAN was rescued from the North Sea after he fell into the water from a pier at Sunderland. The incident happened at five minutes to midnight last night on the city's North Pier, in the North Dock. Fishermen raised the alarm and a lifeboat, coastguard
A FIRE broke out in Middlesbrough's town hall today. People were evacuated as the main hall in the Victorian building became heavily smokelogged. The fire, which involved two curtains, was quickly put out. A council spokesman said that a handful of
POLICE are investigating an incident in Weardale involving a man suffering gunshot wounds. The incident happened at around 11am this morning on private land surrounding Newlands Hall and West Newlands Farm on the A689 between Wolsingham and Frosterley
THREE British soldiers have been killed and two injured in an apparent friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said. The soldiers, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, were taking part in a patrol north-west
TWO wins on the trot and Hartlepool United head into a hectic early-season period in high spirits. Following victories over Scunthorpe in the Carling Cup and Doncaster at Victoria Park in League One last weekend, Pools are at Port Vale tomorrow - the
WE continue to hear reports of cruelty towards animals and it would seem that despite our best efforts in reporting the cruel acts of individuals who torture animals in their care, there does not seem to be a curb in these activities. Your headline
YOUR letter from Maureen Stephenson (HAS, Aug 17), whose late husband, Ken, was a wellrespected mace bearer for Darlington, reminded me of my dear friend, Chic Hayes, an ex-Grenadier Guard and also mace bearer for some years before Ken, who was
AFTER being employed at Thrislington Colliery and Mainsforth Colliery, in County Durham, I was transferred to Blackhall Colliery on December 11, 1968. Was there ever a better place to work than Blackhall? I doubt it. I remember many miners I worked
I WAS brought up a Catholic, but soon realised I did not believe in God any more than I believed in Father Christmas. When I was a young man, a Catholic nun discovered that I had, as she saw it, "lost my faith". She insisted that I should talk to
SO Councillor Albert Nugent, chairman of Durham County Council, thinks the seven district councils of Durham are campaigning for self-preservation (Echo, Aug 10). Well, in the challenge for unitary authority, of course they are - and what has
CONGRATULATIONS to the Gala Theatre Stage School, Durham, for yet another superb performance. Last year, their performance of Oliver was an excellent showcase for these young talented performers. This year, We Will Rock You certainly rocked me
FARMERS will be setting out their stalls this weekend to tempt people to buy home produce. Locally farmed beef, lamb, bacon, sausages, vegetables, cheese and even home baking will all be for sale at a farmers' market, at Nature's World, in Ladgate Lane
A MAN who was convicted of performing a sex act from a window in his home has narrowly avoided jail. Paul Johns, who exposed himself on three occasions at his former home in Sunnygate, Eston, last year, was spared a prison sentence because he had no previous
ELDERLY people in a town have been warned to be on their guard against a rogue trader who has fleeced hundreds of pounds from at least three people. In the past few weeks, the man has called at addresses in Stanley, offering to do gardening or block paving
A RANGE of courses is available to adults wanting to learn or improve new skills. Creative writing, improving maths and English, confidence-building, driving theory, basic computers and literacy are just a few of the subjects on offer, in Stockton. There
YOUNGSTERS have been praised for their initiative after they banded together to complete a colourful mural on a community's underpass. Teenagers in the villages of High Handenhold and West Pelton, near Chester-le-Street, raised nearly £3,000 to fund
POLICE are targeting four roads over the next few weeks in a bid to crack down on speeding and cut accidents. Research by the Durham and Darlington Road Casualty Reduction Forum showed that a third of drivers using the B1283 in Sherburn, near Durham,
A FORMER soldier was yesterday jailed by a judge for an "appalling" drink-driving offence that could have ended in tragedy. Alan Simonite was told that he could have killed himself and other motorists when he got behind the wheel after a drinking session
PASSENGERS are being asked to nominate their favourite bus driver. Go North-East is asking people who ride its buses to vote to find its driver of the year. The company said it invests time and effort in driver training, with an emphasis on customer care
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a household waste recycling centre have been shelved. North Yorkshire County Council has decided not to proceed with a proposal for a facility in Penny Pot Lane, Harrogate. The council wants to open another centre to alleviate
RECOMMENDATIONS have been made for boosting the income of the outdoor education service in North Yorkshire. The young people scrutiny committee launched a review of the service, which runs centres offering learning sessions in sports such as canoeing,
WORK will begin in the next two weeks on two trial schemes aimed at cutting traffic congestion in a spa town. Traffic lights at the junction of Arthurs Avenue, Otley Road and Cold Bath Road, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, will be altered to help motorists
PLANNING permission has been sought to keep Bishop Auckland's Asda store open 24 hours a day. In order to undertake a full assessment on the impact of 24-hour opening, evidence has been provided by the store, comparing the application with a similar store
BILL and Joan Trusler met when he was her boss at the former Shildon wagon works. But, during the 60 years of marriage that followed, he says he has never had the upper hand again. At the age of 15, Joan became a rivet heater at the town's thriving British
A WEEK-LONG environmental blitz to clean up the streets has been taking place in Ormesby, Middlesbrough, this week. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council organised the project, along with a number of other agencies, to try to improve the streets in the
GROUPS wanting to improve their community can apply for grants from a new fund. A sum of £20,000 has been made available in The Pride of Easington Community Grant scheme, which supports groups and organisations working towards a cleaner, greener, safer
PLANS for a bypass to help three communities facing mounting traffic pressures are in jeopardy due to lack of funding, according to a council leader. The three-mile road would divert traffic on the A684 from Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar, but further
A SONGWRITER from Ferryhill has something to sing about after his material was recognised in a national competition. Dean Rose, 28, entered three songs in the UK songwriting contest, which attracts about 5,000 entries every year. Two of his songs, Dreamscape
THE first two weeks of a major crackdown on crime in North Yorkshire have been declared a success. Operation Impact has already led to more than 200 arrests in the county. In Ripon and Richmond, search warrants authorised under the Misuse of Drugs Act
FIVE people were arrested after a police drugs raid in Darlington last night. Eight officers smashed their way into a flat, on Clifton Road, near Bank Top train station, at about 5.30pm. Four men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of possession
A CAMPAIGNER, who petitioned for an elected mayor for Darlington, has accused the borough's council of misleading the public on the issue. Harvey Smith believes the council's referendum literature is biased so that residents will vote against an elected
A countryside initiative could be launched to give people in Weardale more control over the food they eat. A group of residents are exploring the feasibility of starting a community supported agriculture (CSA) enterprise, in the Wolsingham area. The scheme
STARS from Darlington Football Club will be guests of honour at a children's centre fun day next week. The footballers have been invited to the McNay Street Children's Centre's stay and play afternoon on Thursday. The centre will be open from 1pm to 3pm
A FAMILY-OF-FIVE, who left the North-East to move abroad, are helping other British families to start a new life. Gary and Sophie Lancaster are building their own house and other holiday villas in the Bulgarian coastal resort of Varna. The pair left their
TWO friends were caught stealing from a shop at which one of them worked by CCTV evidence, a court heard yesterday (Aug 23). Laura Jane Chapel, 24, and Alexandra Clare Pryke(cor), 26, pleaded guilty to stealing £132 worth of groceries from Premier Stores
It's a fishmonger's alright, but not as we know it. The Whitby Catch is a fishmonger for the 21st century, trawling for new converts to the freshest fish town. WET fish shops used to be a staple of every High Street until, along with so many butchers,
Penny Lancaster recently became the third wife of 62-year-old rocker Rod Stewart. The couple married in a private ceremony in Italy and hosted a party in London attended by five of Rod's children, Kimberly, 27, Ruby, 20, Renee, 15 How would you describe
'IF you're any bigger than a 32D, don't try this," advises Kate Humble as she squeezes herself, and I really mean squeezes, through an impossibly small gap in the rocks. There's worse to come as she follows fellow BBC presenters Kate Silverton and Julia
As yet another shooting leaves an 11-year-old dead in Liverpool, former Durham firearms officer David Blackie explores why the Government needs to tackle Britain's spiralling gun crime. WE are reaping the harvest of those prophetic words of the Bob Dylan
OTTIS Gibson is the man of the season. Not just for Durham, but throughout county cricket. The only seam bowler rivalling his total of wickets in all forms of the game is Andrew Caddick, which speaks volumes for the value of experience as both are 38.
THE days of Dixon of Dock Green are remembered with affection by those old enough to have lived through them. George Dixon was the embodiment of a time when the local copper was thought of as a friend of the community; a familiar, trusted face, someone
IT could hardly have been written any better. Tim Henman will play his final game as a professional tennis player next month at Wimbledon, the venue that has come to define him, representing Great Britain, the country that has taken him to its heart.
A YEAR ago, Eastbourne School in Darlington was labelled as the worst school in England when only 19 per cent of pupils achieved five A* to C grades at GCSE. In the light of that, we are happy to report that this year has shown a significant increase
SAM Allardyce has issued Newcastle centre-half Steven Taylor with a stark warning as he returns from international duty with the senior England squad - "Don't become the next Michael Ricketts". Taylor was an unused substitute as England suffered a 2-1
PUPILS from state and private schools across the North-East and North Yorkshire were celebrating record GCSE results, as nationally a row was developing over whether parents paying for children's education was of any benefit. A Teesside private school
ALTRUISM seems to be a foreign concept in the modern game of football so it was somewhat refreshing to hear Lee Cattermole putting his team and teammates ahead of his own personal interests and ambitions prior to this weekend's derby with Newcastle. Cattermole
MIDDLESBROUGH are poised to make an explosive statement of their intent by tabling a £10m bid for Argentina international Juan Roman Riquelme. With Ayegbeni Yakubu on the verge of an £11.25m move to Everton, the Teessiders are understood to have made
SUNDERLAND'S defensive overhaul should be complete by the start of next week after Champions League winner Samuel Kuffour trained at the club's Academy of Light complex yesterday. The Ghana international, who won one Champions League final with Bayern
THE sun shone at Scarborough yesterday, and once the early juice had vanished Jacques Rudolph harvested a high-class double hundred to help Yorkshire grind Warwickshire into the dust. It was the South African's first century since making three in his
Darlington have started the season in style and manager Dave Penney believes their only defeat, in the Carling Cup could prove to be a blessing in disguise. League Two victories over Wrexham and Accrington Stanley sandwich a cup defeat at Barnsley, who
A very special pooch is working with a psychologist to help North-East youngsters get over their irritational fear of dogs. Health Editor Barry Nelson finds out more. IT CAN be hard for committed dog enthusiasts to understand but many people feel distinctly
A paedophile who sexually abused and raped a schoolgirl 30 years ago was jailed for ten years yesterday. Justice finally caught up with 50-year-old Brian Croce, from Middlesbrough, when a jury convicted him at Teesside Crown Court. His victim went to
SPECIALIST food maker It's Nut Free has won a Great Taste Award. The North Yorkshire company, which was set up by Angela Russell after her daughter, Kirsty, was diagnosed with a severe nut allergy, has been given the award for its refrigerator cake.
A FAMILY-RUN hotel group has taken its total investment over the past year to £20m with the purchase of an 18th Century site in the region. The York-based de Bretton Hospitality Group paid an undisclosed, multi-million pound sum for the city's 14-bedroomed
A MOUNTAIN rescue team has joined forces with the reigning Miss England to launch an appeal for funds to buy a vehicle that will help to save lives. Members of Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue, based at Snainton, North Yorkshire, need £15,000
SKILLED Polish migrants will be given a better chance of working in well-paid jobs across the North-East with the launch of a business next month. Tom Cosh believes that recognising the talent among the thousands of qualified Polish migrants willing to
THE region's livestock industry took another step towards normality yesterday when the European Union lifted its export ban on British meat. The announcement came on the same day that Darlington auction mart became one of the first in the country to re-open
A pledge to stop people in the North-East dying earlier than people in most of England is in trouble, the Government admitted yesterday. A target to cut the life expectancy gap by ten per cent by the end of the decade will be missed on current trends,
After a North-East school recorded some of the worst GCSE results in the country last year, pupils and staff thought it had been renamed "Troubled Eastbourne School". But one year on, it is celebrating a huge step in the right direction. Owen Amos reports
HOSPITAL bosses deliberately reduced demand for day surgery at an under-threat community hospital in order to justify its closure, according to leaked reports. Councillor Owen Temple, a member of the minority Liberal Democrat group on Derwentside District
A 16-YEAR-old student banned from her school prom for refusing to attend extra revision classes has notched up five A*s and five As. At the time of the dispute, the Hurworth Comprehensive School pupil was taken ill and lost a stone in weight and her local
THE parents of Kyle McManus who died suddenly four months ago made an emotional trip to his school to collect his GCSE results yesterday. Kyle, 15, one of the Manor College of Technology's star pupils, died in April. The Hartlepool school asked the exam
A LEADING executive and high-tech specialist is leaving a senior position in the US for one of the region's cutting edge companies. Ian Radley is relocating from Albany, New York's capital, to lead operations for Durham Scientific Crystals, based in Netpark
A PLAGUE of rats unleashed by the UK's summer floods and downpours saw pest control company Rentokil Initial experience its busiest month of business for a decade. The group said its UK pest control division faced a surge in demand last month following
A COUNCIL allowed employees to work with dangerous asbestos materials for nearly five years without telling them, a court was told yesterday. Staff at a North-East sports centre were exposed to the substance, which can cause lung cancer, until January
Andrew Caddick claimed five wickets for 49 runs to bowl Somerset to a 31-run NatWest Pro40 League Division Two win over Friends Provident Trophy winners Durham at Taunton. The visitors looked well placed at 185 for two - chasing 290 - when Caddick returned
MANUFACTURING company Expamet has been acquired by Exmet Group, which wants to expand the North-East base and bring jobs to the region. Expamet, which has traded in Hartlepool since 1890 and employs more than 130 people, is looking to expand after Exmet
ONLINE accommodation provider Bedsearcher has launched a review service for its award-winning booking site. The Darlington firm has designed a system that allows guests to review their experiences, and gives hotel owners the right of reply, in a move
PHILLIP MAKIN'S mastery of pace judgement will be put to the test aboard Trance (4.10) at Thirsk this afternoon. Getting the fractions right over the two mile trip for the Racing UK Handicap is no easy task, especially around today's circuit which features
ELAINE and Gerry Spoors were looking forward to beginning a new chapter in their lives when tragedy struck.Out of the blue, Mrs Spoors, one of a County Durham community's best known and respected residents, suffered a brain aneurysm and died six days
A SLEEPY mother failed to send her six-year-old daughter to school for months because she couldn't get out of bed in the morning.Chantelle Kay's daughter had 73 unauthorised absences in six months, a court heard.Kay, 27, appeared before Teesside Magistrates
A MAN has been charged with the manslaughter of a North-East soldier following a fireball road smash.Army sergeant Andrew Stephen Jowers from Middlesbrough was a front seat passenger in a pick-up into which half asleep Ruben Gallardo Aguilera smashed
It is the highlight of the year for many fashion-conscious women, but did the latest ladies' day at the Ebor meeting at York Racecourse prove that the females of the region know their stuff in terms of style? Women's Editor Sarah Foster reports.IT is
POLICE investigating a fire that badly damaged a nightclub early this morning have ruled out arson after initially saying it may be suspicious. Thirty firefighters, using six appliances and an aerial ladder platform, tackled the blaze, at Decades, a
ECHO reporter Jim Entwistle spends ten hours with the Great North Air Ambulance Service and sees first-hand the vital role it plays. The alarm sounds. Paramedic Paul Scott dashes across the office and snatches at the telephone. The room falls silent.The
A NORTH-EAST chief constable yesterday introduced "the Dixons of Dock Green for the 21st Century" as he unveiled plans to put hundreds of officers onto neighbourhood beats. Cleveland Police are to flood local communities with officers in the hope of driving
A PARAGLIDER was lucky to survive after crashing into a 365ft cliff.The Humber Coastguard launched a rescue operation involving its Redcar and Skinningrove teams, the RAF, paramedics, police and fire crews.A woman, who was at the cliff with her husband
