THE independent directors of troubled personal injury specialist Claims Direct have "reluctantly" advised shareholders to accept founder Tony Sullman's £19.4m hostile bid for the group. Mr Sullman and former chief executive Colin Poole launched their
VANDALS targeting a world-renowned folk festival are being invited to work with organisers - rather than against them. The challenge was thrown down by Joe Maloney, director of the Billingham International Folklore Festival, after arsonists attacked the
LIKE the Windmill Theatre - which never closed - this column strives quite hard to put on a weekly show, and under sometimes difficult circumstances. Wearing another hat, for example, we were due at 10.15am last Sunday to leave with Wolviston Cricket
THE father of a brilliant young doctor who vanished without trace almost four years ago, has died without discovering his son's fate. Professor David Choyce, 82, died peacefully at home in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, after a long battle with cancer. A leading
DOOR and window lock supplier Grorud Industries has won a major contract to supply Everest Commercial Windows. The Consett company, part of the Assa Abloy Group, will be supplying Everest with more than 200 reversible hinges every week from its County
REVIEWS: Traditionally, summer is something of a fallow period for video games enthusiasts. Publishers prefer to save their AAA-titles for Christmas assuming, not without good reason, that gamers would prefer to spend hot summer days burning burgers on
THE grief-stricken family of a father-of-two who died the victim of a drunken game are appealing for his killer's sentence to be extended. Alfred Welch, 21, of Harris Street, Darlington, was jailed for three years last month after admitting the manslaughter
A FARMER has condemned thieves who he says have risked spreading foot-and-mouth in the country's main hotspot by stealing disinfectant equipment. Jonathan Fairburn said the thieves had put his farm, in the bio-security fortress area, in North Yorkshire
IF Great Britain and Ireland are to retain this afternoon's Shergar Cup, Johhny Murtagh seems certain to play a crucial role in keeping the silverware on home territory. The Ascot showpiece features six ten-runner races matching the top jockeys from Great
TRIBUTES have been paid to the three men killed in a blast at a North-East power station. Andrew Sherwood, 36, and Darren Higgins, 28, died instantly in the explosion at the Enron power station, Wilton, Teesside, on Wednesday. Lawrence Paul Surtees, 40
POLICE used Rat on a Rat tip-offs to raid eight houses for drugs in County Durham yesterday. Officers in Chester-le-Street arrested five men, aged between 18 and 38, on drugs charges after early morning raids in nearby Chester West, Pelton, Grange Villa
DARLINGTON Football Club chairman George Reynolds will today mark the first official milestone for his multi-million pound football stadium. Mr Reynolds will open the stadium's visitors' centre at 10am this morning. And the multi-millionaire boss has
Letters from The Northern Echo SCARBOROUGH HAVING twice visited the resort recently, I must say that Scarborough is not the same place I visited years earlier. Everything seems much dearer. Two ladies in our party were charged 65p each for a cup of tea
THE first of the spring flowering bulbs arrive in garden centres and shops this week. Amongst the most popular are the prepared hyacinths for early planting. For most spring flowering subjects such an early start is not critical. It is only if you are
Darlington couldn't beat a team who played with a numerical disadvantage for the majority of the league opener at Southend. Anyone not at the game who saw Quakers' friendly defeat to Barrow seven days earlier will not have been surprised at Saturday's
ONE of the region's top attractions is demanding action from the European Union to end the practice of shark-finning. The Scarborough Sea Life Centre and Marine Sanctuary has joined forces with the conservation charity, the Shark Trust, in making its
A MAN who cultivated cannabis plants to ease his wife's arthritis escaped punishment at Teesside Crown Court yesterday. But the judge warned him that if he is ever caught doing it again, he will almost certainly be sent to prison. Malcolm Jennison, 52
Walks writer Mark Reid has had to turn to the urban landscape as the foot-and-mouth crisis retains its stranglehold on the countryside. He has published a new book on town trails in North Yorkshire in an effort to continue to develop and write about sustainable
THIS week the British Horseracing Board announced a record number of fixtures for 2002, but only one Sunday less, leaving 19. Saturday night racing has always been popular, but with so much Sunday racing, Saturday nights are lost. There are 192 continuous
MANUFACTURING firm Deepdale Solutions has opened its doors to new opportunities thanks to training with the North-East Chamber of Commerce. The Thirsk company manufactures and installs aluminium curtain walling, doors and windows for the construction
A 12-YEAR-OLD North-East girl has won the title of Britain's Brainiest Kid. Laura Hibbert, who lives in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, defeated 23 other junior brainboxes to win the televised contest. The schoolgirl beat of hundreds of entries from
THE pioneering plastic surgery unit at Shotley Bridge Hospital was set up during the Second World War to treat the horrific injuries suffered by servicemen. After more than 50 years, the unit begins a fresh chapter the new University Hospital of North
CLEVELAND Police Authority last night pledged to help Ray Mallon in the costly battle to clear his name - after the suspended detective decided to quit. Detective Superintendent Mallon said he was stepping down because he could not afford to defend himself
A PHARMACEUTICAL industry service company is planning new headquarters in Barnard Castle. Honeyman Associates plans to build its new HQ on the town's Harmire Enterprise Park, and is in negotiations with regional development agency One NorthEast over the
THE Coal Authority is looking to reduce the money it spends preventing mine water pollution in the North-East. It is discussing proposals with Durham County Council and the Environment Agency that would cut the annual £1m bill - without harming the environment
NORTHERN Ireland Secretary John Reid yesterday gave the Province a chance to salvage the fragile peace process. His decision to suspend the Assembly was the only alternative to wholesale abandonment of the Good Friday Agreement. It is to be hoped that
NEVER has there been such a high level of expectancy on the stands of Victoria Park for a Division Three opener than was seen for Mansfield Town's visit. Before kick-off Hartlepool United fans truly believed that this could be their year for promotion
FARMERS are being lumbered with extra costs over harvest time to comply with foot-and-mouth restrictions - even though they have twice been given the all-clear. Movement restrictions have been in place on hundreds of holdings in County Durham since the
