A CHURCH organist raised almost £3,000 for BBC Children In Need appeal after a whirlwind tour of the country. Christopher Nixon plays the church organ at Christ Church, Coatham, Redcar, east Cleveland, every Sunday. He accepted a challenge from BBC Radio
SUNDERLAND manager Peter Reid will keep the name of his new penalty-taker a secret until the next spot-kick award. But there was no shortage of volunteers to take over from ace striker Kevin Phillips in the final training session before today's FA Cup
POLICE believe they may have identified a murdered vagrant. Speaking at the scene of the crime yesterday, the police officer in charge of the investigation vowed to catch the killers. Detective superintendent Ian Sharp said it was thought the victim was
A MAJOR inquiry into the causes of the Selby train crash, which killed ten people, was condemned last night for failing to recognise the condition of railway bridges. Experts urged the rail industry to implement a series of safety measures to prevent
A GRANDMOTHER suffered an angina attack after watching a video of open heart surgery sent by a North-East hospital to reassure her about a forthcoming operation. Elizabeth Johnston, 63, of Workington, Cumbria, was taken to hospital in severe pain after
ONE of County Durham's senior detectives says he is relieved no one in the county died through drunken violence during the festive season. Before Christmas, police voiced fears of a holiday period tragedy, following a spate of deaths last year, mostly
DESPITE being paired with opposition from a higher division, Darlington's Danny Mellanby was in confident mood before today's Feethams FA Cup clash was called off. Peterborough are currently 17th in the second division and have struggled this term, and
DURHAM County Council is relaunching its £3.8m education service for young people and adults. The community education service is being renamed Education in the Community and revamped in a drive to raise standards and improve the service. An eight-point
MIDDLESBROUGH were left clear in the race to sign Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke last night. Fulham, who were named alongside Boro as the clubs rumoured to be interested in Yorke, are close to agreeing a deal to sign Norway striker John Carew
PENSIONERS invited to a council tea dance will not be the only ones told to shake a leg next week. Over-65s invited to a tea dance by Chester-le-Street District Council will have the chance to tell officers how to improve services for elderly people.
THE full programme of events for Jolablot 2002, the annual Jorvik Viking Festival in York, has been released. The event will run from February 9 to 17, with the main focus being the final weekend when the city streets will be full of Vikings, ready for
BREAKING wind, using unintentional double-entendres and falling off the chair are just some of the most embarrassing moments during job interviews. Other anecdotes from red-faced job seekers include bras and buttons bursting open, forgetting your own
A RESPECTED surgeon who was sacked and then reinstated after his affair with a patient is to return to work, it was revealed last night. Suspended gynaecologist Neil Hebblethwaite was due to face a General Medical Council misconduct hearing. But yesterday
OUT with the old, in with a New Year tradition. Gayle Methodist Chapel has held a New Year's Day Festival since at least 1845, when more than 150 sat down to the free tea which, no less customarily, follows. The chapel history also records the case of
FORMER Pop Idol hopeful Aaron Bayley is backing Darlington teenager Zoe Birkett for success in the ITV show. The Geordie, ejected from the contest last weekend, believes the 16-year-old will be in the final two, with Popstars reject Darius Danesh. Meanwhile
Alan Shearer grabbed his sixth goal in as many games as Newcastle edged nervously past first division Crystal Palace in their FA Cup third round tie at St James' Park. Shearer struck his 13th of the season with a thumping a 20-yard drive after Nolberto
WORK by leading playwriters Willy Russell, Henrik Ibsen and John Steinbeck will feature at York Theatre Royal in coming months. Of Mice And Men, adapted from Steinbeck's classic novel, will be at the theatre from February 26 to March 16. The co-production
POSTPONEMENTS over the festive period have meant Third Division clubs Hartlepool United and Darlington are faced with a fixture back-log over the coming months. Pool have rearranged matches with Scunthorpe (January 29), Bristol Rovers (February 12) and
A SCHOOL football team's dreams of success were left in tatters - by a gang of marauding mice. The side, from Bloemfontein Primary School, in Craghead, near Stanley, County Durham, had to abandon their blue and white shirts, complete with school badge
YOUNG musicians are seeking help to improve their image. Junior marching jazz band, the Shildon Jubilees, have found they are unable to parade because they do not have uniforms. The group have recruited 40 members in the six weeks since their formation
AN elderly widow died from severe head injuries after falling at her Darlington home, an inquest heard yesterday. Freda Nicholls, of Beaconsfield Street, was found lying at the bottom of her stairs by her friend, Kathleen Newcombe, on December 19, the
A COMMUNITY is mourning the loss of a man who dedicated his life to helping others. Jim Everson, 65, a councillor and former nursery caretaker, died on January 2 after a long battle against cancer. He gave up his job as a caretaker at Tudhoe Moor Nursery
FIVE priests from different denominations blessed a charity Christmas tree yesterday. Over the festive period, shoppers in Darlington paid at least £2 to write a personal message and hang it on the St Teresa's Hospice Giving to Life tree, in the Cornmill
A RECOVERY truck driver who had no licence and no insurance has been banned from driving for 12 months. Alan Simpson, 37, of Ashcroft Gardens, Bishop Auckland, was stopped during a routine police check on the A59 at West Marton, North Yorkshire, on August
REPEATED vandalism of a charity Christmas tree has left the organisers doubting whether they should provide one next year. Sedgefield Round Table provide the Christmas tree for the village green each year. But after paying for new lights to replace the
A ROMANTIC lunch for two pensioners celebrating the tenth anniversary of their extra-marital affair ended with gun threats. Kathleen Ward, 63, stormed out of the restaurant after angry words with her long-standing lover Tony Bernascone, 69, who phoned
It has taken five years to get from the drawing board to reality, but the region's newest theatre finally opens later this month. Nick Morrison meets the team in charge of making it a success. WHEN Rob Flower invited people living near the new theatre
A CITY council which admitted using 2,000 tonnes of ash from a controversial incinerator to make allotment footpaths was yesterday fined a total of £25,000. A court heard that Newcastle City Council was oblivious to the nature of the material it provided
A TEENAGE killer who battered a student to death on a pier will serve at least nine years behind bars, a judge ruled yesterday. A month after Kevin Littlewood 18, was convicted of murdering John Paul Jeffries on Skeleton Pier, near Hartlepool Marina,
TWO budding writers from the region are celebrating success in a national writing competition. Barbara Welford, of Scaling, near Saltburn, east Cleveland, won the Farmers Weekly Frater Memorial writing contest, based on a theme of Dream On, while Freda
Police say there has been a positive sighting of 36-year-old Gary Paul Smith, who has been missing from his home in Guisborough, east Cleveland, for more than a week. North Yorkshire Police are also investigating a reported sighting of Mr Smith in Scarborough
SLIMMERS are showing off their new look for an advertising campaign. The women are all founder members of the Slimfit club, which is being relaunched as Changes. To mark the new name, Mandy Drake, Lynne Simmons, June MacFarlane and Julie Woodcock have
A furry, eight foot tall, 800lb monster and a jolly green ogre are set to upstage the familiar red carpet parade of actresses in flesh-revealing designer dresses and tuxedo-wearing actors at this year's Academy Awards ceremony. These outsize creatures
HUNDREDS of motorists across the North-East have taken to the roads over the drink-drive limit this Christmas - despite a campaign warning of the effects of excessive alcohol. Of 6,815 drivers breath-tested by police in Cleveland, Durham and Northumberland
A £5.6m scheme to turn a Northern landmark into one of Europe's biggest tourist attractions will be completed by Easter. The new visitors' centre and restored cobbled garden courts at Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire, will be open from March 30. It is hoped
Letters from The Northern Echo METRIC MARTYRS W COLLINSON'S (HAS, Dec 29) half truths about Stephen Thoburn, the Metric Martyr, and the computer age, prove that spin and smokescreens have now reached the Labour rank and file. Would that be a computer,
A RECOVERY truck driver who had no licence and no insurance has been banned from driving for 12 months. Alan Simpson, 37, of Ashcroft Gardens, Bishop Auckland, was stopped during a routine police check on the A59 at West Marton, North Yorkshire, on August
ONE of the world's largest wind farms - being planned for the North-East - could be in line for Government cash after ministers declared 2002 "the year of renewables". Plans are being drawn up for a wind farm at former steel sites at Redcar and Lackenby
THREE brave police officers who leapt into the water to rescue people from drowning are to be rewarded for their courage. Northumbria force Chief Constable Crispian Strachan will present the officers with their awards at a ceremony at force headquarters
A SENIOR member of a police authority has resigned after being caught kerb crawling in a notorious Teesside red light district. John Whiteman, the deputy leader of Northumberland County Council, was found in a "state of undress" with a prostitute after
THE favourite New Year's resolution among people in the North-East is to get their finances in better shape. Thirty-two per cent of Northerners claim they are disorganised when it comes to their finances and they intend to change their ways, according
FROM the cigar smoke of the House of Lords to the sharp, clean air of Chopwell Woods on a winter's morning - it's all in a day's work for the new Forestry Commission chairman. Lord Clark, who lives in Ryton, near Gateshead, made his first public appearance
AIRPORT chiefs are urging people to book their summer holiday early to avoid disappointment. Following a reduction in the number of holidays available nationwide resulting from the terrorist attacks in the US, Newcastle Airport chiefs are warning that
Libyan offshore workers are undertaking an intensive health and safety training programme - and gaining a large slice of Teesside hospitality in the process. The six delegates, all employed by Italian oil producer AGIP, have been placed for 20 weeks under
THE former manager of a men's outfitters died just hours after he fell while getting dressed at his Darlington home, an inquest heard yesterday. Thomas King, who worked as an outfitter in Darlington for 53 years, was found on the floor of his bedroom
THE time limit for the public to apply to become members of a new committee being established to maintain high standards of conduct within Cleveland Police Authority has been extended. The setting up by the authority of a new standards committee is part
A DARLINGTON supermarket has teamed up with the town's uniformed wardens to tackle the problem of gangs of youths hanging around the store. Asda, on the Whinfield estate, inherited the problem from the Somerfield store which traded on the site for 23
MORE than 300 jobs could be created on Teesside if plans to build a bio-pharmaceutical facility are approved. The site at medicines producer Avecia, in Belasis Avenue, Billingham, will provide for the contract manufacturing of bio-pharmaceutical products
MANY post office owners are gloomy about the future of their industry despite reports of a renaissance, it has been claimed. Retail business agent Christie and Co, of Newcastle, said the market in post office sales is healthy. The company said there is
TRAINER Julie Craze and long-term partner Stuart Webster have a rare opportunity to grab some well-deserved limelight at Southwell this afternoon courtesy of the double act Tom and Henry Tun. With the four scheduled National Hunt fixtures falling foul
JUSTICE was brought to a halt at one of the North-East's crown court buildings as a result of the current cold spell. Frozen pipes resulted in the cancellation of proceedings at Durham Crown Court yesterday. The list for both court sittings was switched
JUBILANT police were celebrating last night after a judge jailed a gang at the centre of what detectives called the biggest heroin network in the North-East. The "family firm" of Tees-side drug dealers ran an operation earning £1,000 an hour, "pedalling
ARRIVA Trains Northern has been forced to agree an action plan with Railtrack in a bid to improve its record on trains passing red danger signals. The company, which has previously been named and shamed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has recorded
BOBBY ROBSON has told chairman Freddy Shepherd to put Newcastle United's Premiership title hopes on ice - until he provides the club with proper training facilities. As the big freeze kept its grip on the North-East yesterday, Magpies manager Robson admitted
STRIKER Shola Ameobi has signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract with Newcastle United. The 20-year-old, a product of United's youth academy who broke into the first team early last season, is now tied to the club until the end of season 2005-06. Born
A CHILDREN'S charity is appealing for help in its North-East shops. Barnardo's is asking people living in Durham, Darlington and Derwentside to make a New Year's resolution to volunteer for a few hours each week. Proceeds from the shops contribute towards
A BURST pipe has led to a community centre closing for up to eight weeks. Although water damage at the Newtown Community Centre, in Wrensfield Road, is not severe, Stockton Borough Council is to bring forward a programme of improvements planned for the
POWER company Enron is hoping to sell its share of the Teesside Power Plant in the next couple of months. The US energy giant, based in Houston, collapsed with more than £8bn worth of debts at the end of November, leaving 900 workers on Tees-side fearing
Sunderland crashed out of the FA Cup to first division West Brom, losing 2-1 at the Stadium of Light. Things looked good for the Premiership side when Kevin Phillips ended a six-game goal drought with a superb overhead kick in the 12th minute. Sunderland
THE Richard Neale scandal did much to tarnish the image of The Friarage Hospital in Northallerton and - with a legal battle continuing in a bid to force a public inquiry - it is not over yet. Mr Neale is an incompetent gynaecologist who is also a liar
JOHN Boyes was just four years old on November 24, 1944 when his mother was putting him to bed at his grandparents' house in Sedgefield, County Durham. He remembers that it was the blackout. There was an almighty flash of light, and a bang, and he was
OUT with the old, in with a New Year tradition. Gayle Methodist Chapel has held a New Year's Day Festival since at least 1845, when more than 150 sat down to the free tea which, no less customarily, follows. The chapel history also records the case of
A TAXI driver has been charged with murder following the death of a New Year partygoer. An investigation was launched after 34-year-old Colin Arnold was found fatally wounded outside a house in Stockton at 4am on New Years Day. He had been at a house
NEWCASTLE Falcons will not be able to include Tongan powerhouse Epi Taione if their Heineken European Cup tie against Leinster goes ahead at Kingston Park this evening. As the hearing has yet to be held into his dismissal against Gloucester last Saturday
A PAEDOPHILE who sexually abused three fatherless children in County Durham and fed them their pet rabbits was last night beginning a 14-year jail sentence. Police who investigated the "horrific" offences of former soldier James Mason said yesterday that
TWO thugs who launched a late-night attack after a row broke out in the street have been jailed. Peter Elliott, former vice-chairman of the Medomsley Residents' Association, near Consett, County Durham, was beaten to the ground and knocked unconscious
DATA on Britain's spending habits put a nail in the coffin of any remaining hopes of an interest rate cut next week. While some economists say rates could still fall lower, perhaps in February or March, a number say rates have reached their lowest point
PLANS for a new Darlington primary school will be considered next week. Darlington Borough Council's planning committee will consider the application to build a new school on the Firthmoor estate. The £2.1m development, near Hopemoor Place, would accommodate
DURHAM County Council is relaunching its £3.8m education service for young people and adults. The community education service is being renamed Education in the Community and revamped in a drive to raise standards and improve the service. An eight-point
SECURITY cameras covering Darlington town centre are on target to cut car park crime for the seventh year running. Figures for last year show that, to the end of October, there were only 23 incidents, compared with 26 in the same period of 2000. A total
ON the face of it, Ashley Robinson was a respectable man devoted to his family. But, York Crown Court was told, few knew that the 35-year-old father was gripped by heroin addiction and, in order to feed his desperate need for the drug, made train trips
A MAJOR drive to combat the growing menace of brittle-bone disease is being launched. Last year, about 400 elderly people suffered hip fractures in South Durham because of osteoporosis. One in three women and one in 12 men over 60 will suffer a broken
After a quiet couple of weeks, City announcements are set to pick up, with a number of high street store firms due to give updates on the key Christmas trading period. Analysts say anecdotal evidence suggests most of the UK retailers have traded strongly
AN armed robber was jailed for nine years yesterday after holding up supermarket staff and ordering terrified customers to lie on the floor as he threatened to blow their heads off. Robert Vogan, 41, of Grosvenor Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, also
A PENSIONER, killed by a trucker's dangerous driving, was taking Viagra and had a prostitute in his car at the time of the crash, a court was told yesterday. The disclosure came towards the end of the trial of lorry driver Anthony Jackson. The 41-year-old
REPUBLIC of Ireland international Kevin Kilbane believes that Sunderland are good enough to put an FA Cup run together - and he is hoping to be part of it in today's home third round tie against his old club, West Brom. Kilbane is in the unusual position
THIS pair of beautiful swans sat majestically over their empire before they were disturbed by the excitable actions of a stray dog. The swans were displaying their regal behaviour at the frozen Coatham Lake at Redcar, Teesside, yesterday afternoon when
A TEENAGE boy was attacked by a passenger who saw red when a snowball hit the car in which he was travelling. The man, in his 30s, wrestled the 13-year-old boy to the ground before punching him in the face. Youngster Glen Crosier had been taking part
Q I have just started reading your column, where I have learned about minimum income guarantee. Could it apply to me? Since my husband died 18 months ago, I have been struggling to live on a retirement pension of £65 a week, out of which I pay council
A NEW school with facilities for community learning is to help breathe new life into a run-down area. Sunderland City Council has approved plans for Valley Road Primary School, at Hendon. The new building will replace the area's existing junior and infant
THE curtain falls on another act in the life of one of the region's playhouses this evening. The Georgian Theatre Royal, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, closes with a sell-out performance of Auld Lang Syne, by Martin Reynolds and his troupe of artistes
PATIENTS in the North-East are to benefit from two new x-ray units worth more than half-a-million pounds. North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust will have two new fluoroscopy x-ray units by the end of the month, at a cost of £580,000. One will be based in
A NORTH Durham school has hit back at criticisms levelled against it because its bank account contained more than £250,000. Park View Community Secondary School, in Chester-le-Street, has been criticised by teaching unions after it was revealed to have
A COUNCIL is issuing an open invitation to those involved in the public entertainment trade to discuss the problem of drugs. In the latest edition of its bi-annual report on the world of pubs and clubs, Sunderland City Council invites local licensees
A show farm containing several rare animals is to reopen after the foot-and-mouth crisis. Once-common beasts such as saddleback pigs and Durham shorthorn cattle have been in isolation at Home Farm, Beamish Museum, County Durham, since the outbreak last
THE recent cold weather has got birdwatchers twitching with excitement at a North-East nature reserve. The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust site, at Washington, Tyne and Wear, has produced some surprises during the past few weeks. A treat arrived two days ago
