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Business Echo PDF - April 24th 2007

A MAN in his late 20s was rescued from a sewer pipe on the banks of the River Wear. He is believed to have fallen into the water at Bonemill Lane, Fatfield, Washington, after visiting a pub. It happened at around 10.30pm on Monday and his friends raised

I was born, brought up and still live within a stone's throw of Ayresome Park. First of all, let's be blunt, the only reason we are not deep in the relegation mire is that there are teams worse than us at the moment. Would you give Gareth Southgate millions

QUESTION Should I remove a neutured male when my female guinea pig gives birth? Yesterday, I got two guinea pigs from a rescue centre; one female and one neutered male which had been housed together. They were two of thirty that had been rescued from

QUESTION I have two male guinea pigs, almost a year old with very different skin problems. One guinea pig has lost a significant amount of fur on it's hind legs, though black skin, it looks blotchy and abnormal. The other guinea pig has not lost very

QUESTION My rabbit has recently died and my guinea pig is now left on his own an seems a little depressed. Is it a good idea to get him a new companion? If so would I be better with another guinea rather than a rabbit? The thing is he really loved

QUESTION We have got some problems with an intact male guinea pig, who has got recurrent haematuria (lots of blood and pain!). There is no stone and no sludge in the bladder; but ultrasound reveals a picture, I would interprete as "endometritis"...

QUESTION After my first guinea pig of nearly 4 years died, I was heartbroken and decided to get two new females for I have heard that they are happier with other piggies! When I brought them home (About 3 weeks ago) I soon noticed that my short haired

AFTER failing to overcome the North-East and North-West professionals, Durham Golf Union have called up two debutants in the hope of returning to wining ways this weekend. Heworths Jason McGuire and Houghton-le-Springs David Machin will make their first

YOUR report of Sunday's Flora London Marathon, referring to women's race winner Chunxiu Zhou, from China, and Britain's Paula Radcliffe, contained a misleading headline (Echo Sport, Apr 23). "Chunxiu destroys Radcliffe" does no justice to Paula, who

MUCH has been written of the England cricket team's poor performance in the cricket World Cup, culminating in the humiliating defeat by South Africa. Yet only a day later the County Championship started back in England and on the opening day the

RE the letters from Harvey Smith (HAS, Apr 14) and Barry Wood (HAS, Apr 20) regarding no HGV overtaking on the A1(M). Mr Wood is right in saying that the law in this instance will not be enforced as we now have to do with Highways Agency patrolmen

RE your description of the BNP as "far right" (Comment, Apr 20). I always fall about laughing at the hypocrisy of this phrase. What it actually means is "a policy which the left pretends to disapprove of, but which five years down the line they

ONCE again we see a strong reason to cut the discretionary powers that the judiciary keep telling us it needs to administer justice in this country. Two toddlers are forced to fight for the enjoyment of immediate relatives, and which they filmed

ONCE again outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair denies the British people the right to cast their vote on his decision to ratify new changes to the relationship between the UK and the EU. He states: "No. If it's not a constitutional treaty, so that

IT was astonishing to read that Durham Police have been allowed to raise the police precept of County Durham council tax by 35 per cent in order to protect police jobs and pensions (Echo, April 16). The loss of jobs and pensions has been common

Sex On Trial: The Soapstar Story (C4, 10.30pm). Life lIne (BBC1, 9pm) I doubt if former EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth will be watching C4 at 10.30 this evening. She won't want to be reminded of "the lewd act of Trotters Bottom" as the documentary

HELP AT HAND THIS year is the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War. In 1982, a task force of more than 27,000 British servicemen and women travelled 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic to recapture two small islands following the Argentinean invasion.

HOME SWEET HOME Amid pleasures and palaces, Though I may roam, Be it ever so lovely, There's no place like home. A charm from the skies, Seems to hallow it's there, Which in this wide world, Is ne'er met with elsewhere. Home, Home, Sweet, Sweet, Home.

A LONG-AWAITED town centre regeneration project has been given fresh hope after the Prime Minister chaired a meeting looking into its progress. Newton Aycliffe residents were promised large-scale redevelopment in the town as part of a deal to build a

TWO club nights are combining for a bank holiday spectacular. Rise, which began in Bishop Auckland two months ago, and its sister night, High Society, have secured several acts on Sunday, May 6. On the bill is Nineties dance act K-Klass, Retro DJ Paul

YOUNGSTERS at a nursery are learning about life cycles by tracking the development of frogspawn. A fish tank with the eggs in a jelly-like substance has been placed in the nursery and the youngsters will monitor the frogspawn as it develops into tadpoles

MANAGERS have reassured parents a nursery will reopen after it was destroyed by a blaze which swept through a parade of shops in Redcar. Rosedene Nursery, in Greenstones Road, was among several shops and businesses gutted by the fire at the Embleton Court

A PROPOSAL for a business park on the edge of a North Yorkshire market town will go before planners next week. A planning application has been submitted for the creation of Harmby Road Business Park, in Leyburn. The site of the proposed development lies

MICHAEL DODS sets his supporters a puzzle by running both Hiccups and The Osteopath (4.15) in the same race at Southwell today. Whilst it's always dangerous to dismiss Hiccups, who boasts an impressive strike-rate of seven wins from 43 starts, The Osteopath

TRADING standards officials are warning householders to be on the alert for unscrupulous door-to-door fish salesmen. Officers in North Yorkshire have investigated five cases involving fish salesmen in the past six months in Boroughbridge, Richmond, Stokesley

A CHARITY that provides work-based day care for people with learning disabilities has raised £1,000 from three collections. Members of Chopsticks spent two days at each of the Tesco stores in Thirsk, Northallerton and Catterick. The money will be used

ALMOST £700 has been handed over to a charity that helps cancer sufferers. The Richmond and Dales branch of Soroptimist International presented the money to Northallerton Breast Cancer Support Group. The money was raised at In the Pink - a fundraising

A GROUP launched to help women suffering from stress has proved so successful that its members are now going it alone. The Time Out project was set up in January of last year as part of Neighbourhood Learning in Easington, a joint venture of County Durham

MEMBERS of a new communications unit at RAF Leeming attended the launch of a major public event to promote the service. When Spirit of Adventure was launched amid large crowds in Horse Guards Parade, London, seven members from the headquarters of 90 Signals

PEOPLE are being encouraged to don their running shoes and take part in a 10km challenge to raise money for a small village school. The Fountains Race, on May 6, has already attracted nearly 250 entrants - and, after nine years, organisers believe they

Sir Alex Ferguson has promised his injury-ravaged Manchester United side will approach tonight's Champions League semi-final against AC Milan with no fear. Ferguson is facing the prospect of tackling the six-time winners without his entire first-choice

POLICE have spoken of their shock at discovering that underage drinkers got their alcohol from their parents. Officers stopped more than 100 young people in Shildon over the past three weeks and found almost half of them were drinking alcohol. And when

TWO North-East hospital trusts have been named as the country's top performers by the private Dr Foster organisation. The South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the 1,000-bed James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and the Friarage Hospital

MOTORISTS are being warned they could face a fine if they fail to dispose of old vehicles properly. Under new laws, manufacturers are responsible for ensuring vehicles can be disposed of in an environmentally sound way, and at no cost to the owner. District

A PRIMARY school in Derwentside has become one of the first to have a project accepted for a new talent showcase. Thirteen young people, aged eight to ten, from Annfield Plain Junior School, in Stanley, worked with TalentStar to produce five short Jackanory-style

GOLFERS are being invited to take to the greens for a charity competition. Darlington Mayor's Golf Day takes place at Stressholme Golf Centre, in Darlington, on Friday, June 1. In the past, the day, organised by Darlington Borough Council, has raised

HUNDREDS of residents may be petitioned to see if they will support their local pub if it reopens. The White Horse Hotel, in Harrowgate Hill, Darlington, was due to be converted into flats, but its owner has now said he may reopen the pub. Jay Patel is

INVESTIGATIONS were last night continuing into a four-car crash that claimed the life of a six-year-old boy. He was a rear seat passenger in a Vauxhall Corsa which was in collision with three other vehicles on the A167, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire

PUBS in the Yorkshire Dales will stage art exhibitions next month. Art in the Pub will run in Wensleydale and Swaledale from May 1 as part of the Swaledale Festival. Photographs by Karen Lennox will go on display at the Farmer's Arms, in Muker, and botanical

THIEVES who stole a portable ice rink will be left in the cold if they try to use it, police said yesterday. The gang who stole equipment worth £50,000 from a factory over the weekend did not steal a vital piece of equipment needed to make the ice. Thieves

A SNEAK-IN teenage burglar was confronted in a kitchen by a stunned householder late at night. Norman Alan Minto fled into the back yard and down the street, carrying a bunch of keys taken from the kitchen table of the house in Langley Park, near Durham

The Paws a While dog creche on Chilton Industrial Estate, Chilton, is holding a charity dog show to raise funds for Stray Aid and National Pet Month. The fun day takes place on May 7, from 11am. For more information, call 01388-722999.

IT comes as no surprise that breakfast broadcaster GMTV has dropped the company that provided the phone-in services exposed as fraudulent by a BBC investigation. GMTV - like the Richard and Judy Show and Blue Peter before it - has had its reputation

REPRESENTATIVES from the private and public sectors will meet to discuss ways of improving Darlington. A meeting for key figures has been organised by the town's MP Alan Milburn and Darlington Partnership. The meeting follows a successful trip to the

A PENSIONER may have to lose his sight in one eye before health chiefs will consider treating him, the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) has claimed. Leslie Howard, 76, from Acomb, near York, was diagnosed with wet age-related macular degeneration

CALL centre operator Garlands has annnouced it will create 320 jobs in the region. The expanding company is recruiting for sites in Middlesbrough, Stockton and Hartlepool. More than 200 of the jobs are to be in the "contact centre village" at Stockton

A DARLINGTON park is expected to get a 1.5-metre railing along two of its boundaries. The Haig Street and Lansdowne Street boundaries of North Park, in Longfield Road, are open and only timber bollards prevent access to cars. The borough council is seeking

AN email sent by mistake has prompted a Conservative councillor to ask who the real leader of Darlington Borough Council is. Councillor Ian Galletley, who represents College ward, asked the question after suggesting John Williams or Nick Wallis gave contradictory

RESIDENTS living next to a village housing development have made a formal complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman. They are alleging that Darlington Borough Council should have put more stringent conditions safeguarding trees which border the grounds

HUNDREDS of people have given their views on Darlington's controversial Pedestrian Heart to a town centre trader who has spoken out against the scheme. Beryl Hankin, who runs Guru Boutique, has collected several hundred comments from shoppers after taking

FORGOTTEN man Gaetano Giallanza has praised the Darlington supporters for their backing after the striker made his return from injury at the weekend. The Swiss frontman received a standing ovation as he made his comeback as a second half substitute in

A CONMAN posing as a property agent pocketed "legal fees" from home-seekers looking to rent houses and flats, a court heard. Four women handed sums of between £86 and £236 to Raymond McDonald, believing he was arranging for them to move into properties

A NORTH-EAST Cub Scout who went to the aid of a friend who got into trouble in a swimming pool has been honoured by the Queen. She presented a gallantry award to Jack Moran, ten, a member of the 10th Shiremoor Cub Scouts, Newcastle, during the annual

Confession time: Arthur Smith is a hero of mine. His stand-up comedy routines first drew my attention to him many, many years ago. Since then he has been a regular on the hugely successful Grumpy Old Men television show. He co-wrote the massive hit play

Confession time: Arthur Smith is a hero of mine. His stand-up comedy routines first drew my attention to him many, many years ago. Since then he has been a regular on the hugely successful Grumpy Old Men television show. He co-wrote the massive hit play

It is set in extensive gardens, but can Whitworth Hotel impress diners with its menu as much as with its surroundings?IT was the younger bairn's birthday, his chance of playing for the Under 23s gone forever. Between the Friday night bash, in Richmond

A VOLUNTEER expedition to Malawi and scripts for a youth drama group are among the projects benefiting from a windfall of nearly £180,000.Up to 48 groups in Redcar and Cleveland have been given a share of the money - with more funds still available this

TWO hundred primary school teachers have gone back to the classroom to learn how to pass on their gardening skills to pupils.The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is running a course on creating gardens for primary schools.It was originally planned as a

A DRAMATIC society is preparing to stage its latest production.The Hutton Rudby society is staging A Bird in the Hand, a comedy by Derek Benfield, later this week.The plot revolves around two friends from boyhood who, in their 40s, find themselves enjoying

A STRUGGLING dairy is to close with the loss of 95 jobs.Dairy Farmers of Britain (DFB) is one of the largest employers in Whitby, North Yorkshire, but the company said a detailed business study found no other option.The farmers co-operative acquired the

TAXI drivers will be watching their language after taking a course in customer care.The 45 cab drivers, from Middlesbrough's Boro Taxis, are the first in the region to gain the national qualification in how to treat people, health and safety, and taxi

It has graced the shoulders of Keira Knightley, Lily Cole, Scarlett Johansson, and Jessica Alba. Now, limited numbers of Anya Hindmarch's iconic bag are going on sale in the North-East. Owen Amos asks shoppers if the bag lives up to the hype.CUSTOMERS

CATERING students served up a taste of the ocean when they teamed up with an award-winning chef to display their talents.Mark Jones, of Ocean Restaurant, in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, helped students from Hartlepool College of Further Education prepare

A PARENT Teacher Association has raised thousands of pounds to buy a minibus for a Darlington school.Yesterday, the keys to a 17-seater minibus were handed over to Carmel RC College.The bus, which cost more than £22,000, was bought thanks to the association's

GOALKEEPING legend Bob Wilson was in the region yesterday to spread the word about a charity.After a rare cancer claimed the life of their only daughter, Anna, aged 31, in 1998, the former Arsenal keeper and his wife, Megs, decided to do something to

A BARBER'S shop run by the same family for almost 120 years is closing.Don Gowland is hanging up his comb and scissors after running his gentlemen's hairdressing salon for 50 years.The shop in Nelson Street, Consett, County Durham, was first opened by

MARGERY COWBURN must be one of Britain's youngest voters.Margery, who is celebrating her 18th birthday on election day, was one of the first people to cast her vote yesterday - ten days in advance of polling day on May 3.The A-level student from Fullwell

TWO hundred primary school teachers have gone back to the classroom to learn how to pass on their gardening skills to pupils.The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is running a course on creating gardens for primary schools.It was originally planned as a

It was only a Pink Lady, that drink from a more innocent age, but the trouble it caused may have left Alice Ashman feeling more like a scarlet woman. It was Barnard Castle Golf Club's presentation evening, 50-odd years ago, in the Kings Head. The inaugural

I SHOULD not like to suggest that the Prime Minister has been complicit in handing out public honours for cash. He has not been charged with any crime. He was interviewed at least twice by the police, but not under oath. But there are certainly questions

Martyn Moxon will experience mixed emotions when Yorkshire open their LV Championship home programme tomorrow with the visit of Durham to Headingley Carnegie. The two sides clashed on the same ground in the final match of last season and Durham head coach

A REGENERATION group has rearranged its annual meeting after queries about staff contracts were answered. The meeting of Crook Community Partnership was cancelled last month because of concerns about the lack of human resource policies in staff contracts

SINGER Bill Sheriff will entertain at the next meeting of the Belmont Community Association Over-60s Club, which meets in Belmont Community Centre, Durham City at 6.30pm on Wednesday, May 2. Admission is £2 and new members are welcome. For further details

YOUNG people in Darlington have been drawing up plans for a new youth centre. Work has begun on transforming an empty building in Nickstream Lane, Cockerton, into a drop-in centre. The ground floor of the building is to be used by Darlington Borough Council's

A MUSICIAN will hold his first solo gig in Bishop Auckland this week. Ian Jackson, from Willington, became a well-known name on the North-East music scene during the Nineties. Mr Jackson, who began playing the guitar when he was 14, has gone solo and

VILLAGE shop owners say they are going to be forced out of business over council plans to install bollards outside their premises. The businesses in Norton said they had no idea Stockton Borough Council was to install the posts in the pavement yesterday

A NEW pub named after a town's most famous son will create 40 full and part-time jobs. The Stanley Jefferson will open on Monday, May 7, following a £1.8m project to transform a former solicitors office in Bishop Auckland Market Place. The pub is named

Mahela Jayawardene is backing his experienced specialists to overcome New Zealand's boyish band of World Cup hopefuls in today's semi-final at Sabina Park. The Sri Lanka captain has great faith in a side who rely on the batters to bat and bowlers to bowl

Mahela Jayawardene is backing his experienced specialists to overcome New Zealand's boyish band of World Cup hopefuls in today's semi-final at Sabina Park. The Sri Lanka captain has great faith in a side who rely on the batters to bat and bowlers to bowl

THEATRE-GOERS will be tickled pink when a touring variety show arrives this summer. Tickle Me Pink explores the link between laughter and health by bringing the audience a "fantastic feel-good evening" - boosting the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity

A UNIVERSITY choir is to perform in its home city after a successful London tour. Durham University Chamber Choir will present a concert of sacred and secular music in Bede Chapel, in The College of St Hild and St Bede, in Durham City, on Friday, May

ACTORS have raised £1,000 for a new Teesdale hospital. Gainford Drama Club performed Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus last week, to raise the money for the Friends of the Richardson Hospital, in Barnard Castle. The group has recently finished performing

A YOUTH film project designed to highlight the benefits of a healthy lifestyle has involved more than 140 young people in Teesdale and Weardale. Durham Dales Feeling Fine on Film is a project for which schools and youth groups produced films about an

A HOSPICE'S new chief executive believes her greatest challenge will be raising the extra funds needed to support the rapidly increasing demand for the charity's services. Just days into her role as chief executive of Hartlepool and District Hospice,

Blackett Hart and Pratt (BHP) is strengthening its construction law expertise. Construction lawyer Andrea Gardner has joined the firm as a partner and will head the specialist construction division within the firm's commercial property team. The Newcastle

Dickinson Dees has unveiled ambitious plans to double the size of one of its departments within three years. The volume business branch of the firm has grown rapidly since 2000, when it employed only six people, to its present level of 220 employees.

Q. What kind of businesses will the smoking ban affect? A irtually all enclosed public places and workplaces must become smoke-free environments. Q. What are my responsibilities as a manager of premises that come under the new rules? A. You need to implement

A NEW organisation created to help increase the region's wood fuel industry aims to work with at least 300 North-East companies over the next two years. North East Woodheat (Newheat) has been set the target by sponsor regional development agency One NorthEast

TBI Solicitors is becoming one of the quickest growing law firms in the region following the success of its Tees Valley office. The firm's business law office in Stockton has doubled its workload over the past two years, and the number of specialist lawyers

Kitchen company Magnet has invested millions of pounds in its North-East base to make it central to the firm's future plans. Business Correspondent Deborah Johnson visited the sit to look at the company's plans for growth. WHEN Magnet opened its first

PART of Newheat's strategy is to support a regional network of suppliers and specialist boiler installation companies. One of the few installers in the North-East is Wood Energy Limited, which has its headquarters in Devon and also has an office near

ONE business that has already embraced wood fuel is Swinton Park Hotel, near Masham, in the Yorkshire Dales. The hotel experienced a sharp rise in the cost of oil for its heating in 2004-5. The increase coincided with an approach by forester Norman Hutchinson

GM may have found a way to prevent Toyota overtaking it as the world's biggest car manufacturer. But, as Motoring Editor Nigel Burton reports, the solution may turn out to be just another problem. "A QUARTER of a trillion dollars." Fritz Henderson, GM's

THE sharp drop in the stock market at the end of February, known as the Shanghai Shock, was arrested by mid-March. The FTSE 100 had lost 400 points to close just above the 6,000 level. Since then, an almost relentless recovery saw the next four weeks

NORTH-EAST accountant Armstrong Watson has become only the second firm of its kind in the UK to join a global legal and accountancy network. It has been selected to join MSI, and becomes one of 250 members in 100 countries worldwide. Armstrong Watson

KEEPING your software legal is harder than you may imagine It is a sobering fact that proper management and licensing of software remains a largely difficult area for small to medium-sized businesses When it comes to installing the right software which

ANYONE at the head of an organisation will tell you that very occasionally it can be an isolated position. You are left to carry the can for decisions, and while I am a great believer in making the tough decisions and carrying responsibility for those

THE biggest IT event in the North will be held in Sunderland this year, after the city secured £3.5m when it won the Government's Digital Challenge competition. The IT Works conference, which attracts regional and international experts, will be held

COMMUNICATIONS firm Executel will fly the flag for the region at the final of this year's Comms Business Awards. Gateshead-based Executel -which supplies IP telephony -has beaten off competition from thousands of companies across the UK to be shortlisted

I have recently returned from a visit to Kuala Lumpur and, although the city recently lost the accolade of having the world's tallest building, losing out in this respect to another Far East city,Taipei, it is nevertheless an impressive, rapidly-developing

NEW business Excalibur Fabrications has finished work on a significant contract at Sunderland's Roker Pier Lighthouse. The firm, which was set up seven months ago, installed a new staircase within the 101 year-old structure, making access to the lantern

FOUR new deals for engineering company The Tanfield Group to supply its latest zero-emission vehicles to major companies could be worth at least £40m, the firm announced yesterday. Tyne and Wear-based Tanfield said the initial order contracts for the

SOFTWARE company Datawright has helped one of the UK's leading fabrication specialists streamline its management system. Datawright, based in Washington, Wearside, updated the software used by Henderson Process Systems. After an assessment of Henderson's

BARCLAYS and Dutch group ABN Amro said yesterday they had agreed to merge in a deal set to create the world's fifth largest banking group. The tie-up will see Barclays shareholders own a 52 per cent stake in the new business, which will be called Barclays

BUTCHER Dicksons has extended its contract with Asda to supply its produce to every supermarket in the North-East. The company from South Shields, South Tyneside, will now see its pies stocked in all of the 22 Asda branches throughout the region, in

CALL centre operator Garlands is to create 320 jobs in the region as the company continues to expand, it was announced yesterday. Garlands is recruiting for its sites in Stockton, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool after a series of successes for the firm,

VIRGIN Atlantic yesterday called on the European Union to take its ''open skies'' transatlantic agreement with the US a step further and allow European airlines to fly within America and invest in US airlines. Sir Richard Branson's airline is calling

SHARES in Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) surged yesterday after a report claimed rival firms Diageo and SABMiller had been considering a £9bn takeover. The group, which makes Newcastle Brown Ale on Tyneside, saw its share price lift more than five per cent

A PIONEERING North-East pharmaceutical company hopes to get important new drugs into the marketplace over the next three years - propelling its revenue into the hundreds of millions. e-Therapeutics Limited has secured a seven-figure investment

QUANTITY surveyor Baker Mallett has acquired rival North-East firm R H Duns. The acquisition, for an undisclosed fee, was described as a strategic move by Baker Mallett as it strives to further raise its profile in the region and expand on Tyneside.

It is the first time a business leader from the region has been elected chairman of the FSB. Business Editor Kate Bowman talks to John Wright about the economy, red tape and lobbying the Government. Twice married, John Wright scuba dives, rides a mountain

VOLUNTEERS from the RNLI's rapid response unit took the plunge yesterday as part of their training to deal with flooding emergencies.The 22-strong team has volunteered to travel anywhere in the world to assist in flood relief.Following an exercise simulating

THE County Durham Primary Care Trust (PCT) has been recognised for its commitment to equal job opportunities for disabled people The trust has received the Jobcentre Plus Two Tick, Positive About Disabled People award. It demonstrates the trust's commitment

A FORMER guide who started the first Beaver Scout colony in the Bishop Auckland district has been given one of the movement's highest honours.Pat Brake, from West Auckland, was awarded the Silver Acorn on St George's Day yesterday, recognising her dedication

AN artist who draws inspiration from his job as a psychiatric nurse has opened an exhibition.Charlie Parker, 38, from Durham, is exhibiting at Greenfield Community and Arts Centre, in Newton Aycliffe.The paintings are a mixture of portraits - including

A MASS of red and white balloons were released yesterday to mark St George's Day and raise funds for a school.Alderman Leach School, in Darlington, was approached by a neighbouring pub, The White Heifer That Travelled, to help with the balloon launch.The

A SCHOOLBOY described as "delightful" was found hanged at his family's home. Blair Robinson, 14, was found by his younger brother at the house in Seaton Lane, Hartlepool, on Saturday afternoon. Pupils at Owton Manor College of Technology, where Blair

ROY Keane last night claimed that Manchester United's winning mentality had seeped into his Sunderland squad and spurred them towards promotion to the Premiership. The Black Cats boss, who spent 12 successful seasons at Old Trafford as a player, returned

NEWCASTLE might have ended Chelsea's nine-game winning run on Sunday, but midfielder Nicky Butt admits that any pride in his side's performance is tempered by the scale of their under-achievement this season. As well as holding Jose Mourinho's side to

EMANUEL Pogatetz has contributed to the escalating controversy over Premiership penalty decisions by claiming that Middlesbrough had "no chance" of being awarded a last-minute spot-kick in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. Boro looked like condemning

THE number of low-paid workers suing the NHS for back pay has snowballed to at least 30,000 over the past 12 months, it was claimed last night.The NHS is the latest in a line of cash-strapped public bodies facing billion-pound legal claims in an equal

He created democracy in Russia and broke the stranglehold of Communism. But his time as leader was marred by inconsistency and a battle with alcohol. Lindsay Jennings looks at the life of Boris Yeltsin. AS school reports go, it could have definitely

A NOTORIOUS criminal brought a North-East street to a standstill yesterday, in a six-hour siege involving armed police.Officers were called to a house in Cresswell Road, in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, at about 11.30am to arrest a 32-year-old man in

FORMER football club boss George Reynolds was thrown back behind bars only days before his freedom became official, it was revealed last night.With a fortnight to go on a home detention curfew (HDC), the tagged entrepreneur was re-arrested after returning

Running a competition like Northumbria in Bloom is a mammoth operation. Sharon Griffiths meets the women who make sure everything goes without a hitch. FLOWERS are only a part of it. The Northumbria in Bloom competition makes people and places blossom