TRANSPORT chiefs are being urged to take action after an independent study put forward a series of plans to cut traffic congestion in a market town. A report backed by the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has called for multi-million
A village on the outskirts of Darlington has taken the delivery of a new pillar box. After years of complaining to the postal authorities in Darlington, Middleton St George has received a post box with a bigger slot. The old postboxes in the village would
Elliot Holmes has just returned from a job that is every schoolboy's dream. For the seven-year-old was selected by international sweet firm Haribo as an official product taster. In an adventure reminiscent of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
FREED Middlesbrough midfielder Neil Maddison yesterday gave Darlington a major boost by agreeing to join his home-town club "on principle". The 31-year-old has held talks with Quakers several times in the last fortnight since discovering his contract
THE patter of tiny feet is sounding more like a roll of thunder at a theme park experiencing its biggest baby boom for years. Zoo keepers have been rushed off their feet coping with new arrivals ranging from baby penguins to anacondas and ring-tailed
A NURSE from the region has been recognised for her commitment in a national awards ceremony. Marie Curie nurse Claire Brookes, of Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, received a Highly Commended certificate in the finals of the Marie Curie/Clinton Cards Nurse of
WHEN water cooler manufacturer Ebac needed expert help to build the most advanced system on the planet, they looked across the road for help. The Bishop Auckland business stands just opposite solenoid manufacturer Mechetronics. Jim Summerbell, Mechetronics
THEY may not be the best football team in the area, but Sadberge Primary School, near Darlington, can boast that it has the most sporting players. The school took part in the Darlington Primary Schools football championship at Longfield Comprehensive
FUEL PRICES HOW many of your readers realise that the price of diesel in this country is in fact only about £1 per gallon, or 21p per litre? Unfortunately, road users cannot buy fuel at that price because the Government imposes £2.15 per gallon in duty
A mansion could be in line for a major makeover if councillors give the go-ahead for extensive work to be carried out. Today, Teesdale District Council's development control committee will discuss plans for the work to be done at Wycliffe Hall, in Teesdale
A PATIENT group is calling for an inquiry into why North-East health bosses waited eight months to issue a national warning about a surgeon's competence. The case has echoes of the Richard Neale affair which led to the disgraced North Yorkshire surgeon
CHILDREN lit up the sky with colourful kites to mark the launch of a health scheme. Local youngsters took part in yesterday's demonstration of exotic kites, including a pair of legs and a tiger's face, at Preston Park, in Stockton. The event was organised
STUDENTS from Cleveland, US, have been visiting their counterparts in Redcar. Redcar and Cleveland College and Cleveland State Community College, Tennessee, have been involved in an exchange programme for the past five years. It started when Redcar and
A PATIENT who went into hospital for a hip operation was so impressed with the ward staff that she asked for a job when she was discharged. Now Vera Adamson, of Whickham, is permanently on ward five, at Gateshead's Bensham Hospital, as a clerk. She was
WORK has started on a scheme to build a £100,000 play area on an estate. Contractors have moved in to dismantle the old Clavering play area, in Hartlepool, and begin putting up new equipment. Designed for youngsters of all ages, the playground will include
A VOLUNTARY first aid scheme has been shortlisted for a community award. The Trimdon Village First Responder scheme provides volunteers on standby ready to administer first aid to people who have suffered heart attacks. The volunteers have been trained
JOURNALISM students have interviewed voters in a marginal North-East seat on behalf of The Northern Echo. While we do not pretend that the results are scientific, they do provide a fascinating insight into how the General Election is going down on the
COUNCILLORS tired of waiting for a derelict racing track to be cleaned up will decide this week whether to blitz the area themselves. The greyhound stadium at Spennymoor has blighted the town since a blaze in January 1998 gutted it and started its fall
FROM the medieval to the millennium, the Duke of York was given a real history lesson during a flying visit to the region yesterday. Prince Andrew lived up to his action man image as he took a helicopter ride to one of the North's major futuristic landmarks
HER name - Joelene - was picked out in golden yellow double-chrysanthemums and sunflowers, her favourite. The wreath mirrored the dazzling May sun, just as the 23-year-old's warmth touched the hearts of so many in her eight-year battle against leukaemia
CAMPAIGNERS pressing for a lorry ban on a busy Newton Aycliffe road have claimed their first victory. The Kings Drive Residents' Association wants to see a ban on all heavy goods vehicles over seven-and-a-half tonnes using Burn Lane. Its members say a
A BASKETBALL show has won a top TV sports award for Tyne Tees Television. Slam XXL took the prize for best regional sports programme actuality award at the Royal Television Society Sports Awards ceremony, at London's Hilton Hotel. The judges praised the
Police are congratulating festival-goers for their good behaviour after only 23 people out of 500,000 were arrested at the weekend's Wow event. Now in its 15th year, the Orange Window on the World music festival, on north Tyneside, was the biggest yet
JABBING a finger to make his point, Arthur Scargill is in full flow as he exhorts and encourages his followers in their struggle against their traditional class enemies. Only the angry orange hair signals that this is an image from the glory days of the
A SCHEDULE of suggested walks has been drawn up by the North York Moors National Park Authority as a way of boosting tourism suffering because of foot-and-mouth disease. The park's authority hopes the walks will boost local tourism and help those hoteliers
SPRINGING eternal, last week's column observed that the new sign at the Hope Inn in Darlington was out of both time and joint. The 1976 original, rather ingeniously, had depicted Faith, Hope and Charity - the Gloster Gladiator seaplanes which alone offered
POLICE are hunting a thug who attacked a 27-year-old woman as she walked home after a night out. The woman was attacked from behind as she walked along a footpath running from Front Street to Rose Avenue in Whickham, Gateshead, on Monday night. She was
THE reality of war was brought home to a group of students who paid their respects to a soldier from their home town who died on the battlefield at Ypres. The group of 36 year nine students from Sunnydale School, Shildon, visited the First World War battlefields
CHURCHGOERS plan to gather to pray for the revival of tourism and farming. Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, is the National Trust's most popular pay-for entry property, attracting 300,000 people a year. But it was closed to visitors when foot-and-mouth hit
WHAT is the problem with hair? David Beckham, England football captain, millionaire, doting husband, besotted dad and loving son, has had his hair cut. Granted, it is a peculiarly unflattering style but, suddenly, critics are calling him aggressive, a
TWO wheelchair users are to take to the skies in an effort to raise money for a carers' centre. Michael Dalton and Steven Pawley will be taking the controls of an aircraft in a fundraising event for the Sedgefield Locality Carers Centre, in Newton Aycliffe
THERE can be no doubt that the foot-and-mouth crisis will leave behind a legacy of despair. The personal tragedies to hundreds of farmers across our region are well documented. But two separate reports published yesterday graphically illustrate the sheer
SUNDERLAND last night dismissed reports that Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson is in line for a shock link-up with Peter Reid at the Stadium of Light. It was claimed Robson, stepping down as Boro manager after seven years to make way for the arrival of
THE sight of William Hague wearing a Margaret Thatcher wig left me shaking my head in disbelief. Why is the Labour Party resorting to such tactics? It seems it has been attacking Mr Hague for some considerable time, suggesting he is a non-entity, a bad
A TENSE seven-hour gun siege, during which a village was swamped by 20 armed police, ended peacefully yesterday. The armed stand-off began just before 1am yesterday when police received a 999 call from a woman in Butterknowle, County Durham, claiming
FIELDS in the region's devastated countryside could remain empty for up to three years, experts warned yesterday, as figures were released showing the extent of the slaughter in the wake of foot-and-mouth disease. More than one in ten of all farm animals
FORMER Australian Test spinner Ashley Mallett spent a third day at the Riverside yesterday, doing some coaching. But what Durham desperately need at the moment is a fast-bowling guru. With Simon Brown and Neil Killeen ruled out, it was back to the dreadful
YOUNGSTERS have been designing the shape of the public transport of the future. Bus operator Go North East teamed up with RTC, one of the UK's leading technology transfer companies, to stage the Student Public Transport Innovation Competition. Students
ADULT learners have been rewarded for their commitment and achievements at a ceremony at Darlington College of Technology. Many of the winners were based at the college's community centres, including those at Skerne Park, Firthmoor and Larchfield Street
SAFETY work at a notorious accident blackspot appears to have paid dividends. Since the measures were completed at Golden Hill, on the A64, near Malton, earlier this year, the stretch has been virtually incident free. The work involved removing a crawler
EIGHTY-ONE miners and two rescue workers who lost their lives in the worst pit disaster since the war were honoured by an emotional North-East community last night. Against a backdrop of the North Sea, Easington Colliery's young and old stood side by
A ROAD repair scheme in an east Cleveland town is to get a makeover because of complaints from local people. Rosecroft Lane, in Loftus, links the town's secondary school to the town centre and has been closed since flooding caused a landslip last November
DOZENS of young people from Darlington took to the stage for a talent show last night. Various acts were staged as part of the Young Stars of Tomorrow talent show, held at Darlington College of Technology. Organised by Darlington Borough Council's community
THE stage is set for a fun-packed night to celebrate the role of fathers and raise funds for a children's hospice. An Evening With Dad At Large is a sell-out tonight at the Hall Garth Golf and Country Club Hotel, at Coatham Mundeville, near Darlington
A MULTI-MILLION blueprint for tackling deprivation problems in Redcar and Cleveland has been drawn up. The Redcar and Cleveland Partnership, made up of more than 30 public, private and voluntary organisations, will work on three areas during a three-year
POLICE are attempting to block a pub's plans for extended opening amid claims that a bouncer armed himself with a baseball bat. Cleveland Police have lodged an objection to an application by the Empire, in Corporation Road, Middlesbrough, for the renewal
GO-AHEAD group subsidiary Govia is looking to complete a deal to buy Connex South Central by the end of July. Govia, 65 per cent owned by Gateshead-based Go-Ahead, has exchanged contracts with Connex Transport Limited. Once completed, the deal will mean
MERCHANT Retail, owner of the Perfume Shop and Joplings chains, has unveiled ambitious expansion plans. The group, which operates 74 stores in the UK, plans to expand into mainland Europe within the next 12 months. The announcement came as the group revealed
CONCERN is growing for a women who has been missing for several days. Julie Sams, 54, is a long-term resident of the Goodall Mental Unit in Bishop Auckland. She has not been seen since she walked out of the unit on Sunday afternoon. Police say they are
PLANS to build houses on the site of a brewery are to be discussed this week. Executives from London-based Persimmon Homes are to talk to Easington District Council officials about proposals to build a housing estate on the Castle Eden Brewery site, near
POLICE yesterday issued a desperate appeal for help in their efforts to track down a sex beast who attacked a six-year-old girl. The girl was in the play area of the Scalby Manor caravan park, near Scarborough, when a man enticed her into a wood and indecently
ON the day that newspapers reported the brave bearding of Tony Blair by Sharron Storer, the partner of a cancer patient, who told the Prime Minister some uncomfortable truths about the hospital he was visiting, another story indicating the run-down state
A LIFEGUARD swam 80 metres to stop a rubber dinghy containing two young boys being swept out to sea. The dramatic rescue has prompted fresh warnings about the dangers of people using inflatables along the region's coastline. Young lifeguard Andy Catterson
GROCERY chain Sainsbury's has taken the first steps towards reviving its fortunes after seeing an improvement in sales. Britain's second largest grocery chain saw sales in its supermarket operation grow by 4.7 per cent in the year to March 31. Profits
