APPRENTICES on Teesside saw their hard work rewarded yesterday. In a ceremony in Middlesbrough, Mayor Ray Mallon presented certificates to apprentices from the council's training centre. The HBS Work-Based Learning Training Centre takes 80 apprentices
AN MP has backed groups objecting to a proposed housing development in Spennymoor. English Nature, Durham Wildlife Trust and Durham County Council have voiced concerns over plans for 100 homes to the south of a housing scheme at Whitworth Park. Sedgefield
A CHRISTMAS spectacular came to a festive finale as the musical talent of two schools joined forces to present an annual performance. Northallerton College students were joined by pupils from the town's Allertonshire School. Parents, staff and governors
POLICE will be taking to the roads across North Yorkshire in force today for their fourth No Casualty Day. Their three previous events all showed a significant reduction in accidents across the county, but officers are still aiming for a perfect result
A FAMILY have had a complete makeover at a recently re-launched store after winning a newspaper competition. The Newton family, from Warwick Close, in Spennymoor, won a stylish makeover at the hands of fashion guru Jill Pollitt after winning a competition
VOLUNTEERS who have agreed to donate their blood in an attempt to trace the genetic heritage of the North-East will gather on Sunday for an experiment. People from Northern England and the Scottish Borders are converging on the Centre For Life, in Newcastle
A TRAVELLING storyteller is to make a whistlestop tour in north Durham next week. Puppeteer Emma Boor will hit the road on Durham County Council's Bookbus for a week-long tour in which she will perform 40 shows in 21 villages over five days. Ms Boor,
AFTER feeling no ill-effects from full training, Julio Arca will make an ahead of schedule return to Sunderland action tomorrow with manager Mick McCarthy warning supporters not to pile the burden of expectation too heavily on his shoulders. Having come
TREES in Darlington are the subject of a planning application. The Abbeyfield Society has applied to Darlington Borough Council for permission to prune three trees in the Stanhope Road/Grange Road conservation area. The Abbeyfield Society is a national
A REBELLIOUS former MP became an honorary freeman of his home city at a rare ceremony yesterday. Gerry Steinberg has been made an Honorary Freeman of Durham City - the first time the ceremony has been performed since anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop
A TEENAGER facing charges of making dozens of malicious 999 calls to the emergency services in North Yorkshire was back in court yesterday, accused of breaching her bail. Harrogate magistrates heard how, hours after telephoning her solicitor in the hope
THREE youths who robbed a bank customer as he withdrew money from a city centre cashpoint were jailed yesterday. Kevin Sayers, Thomas Allen and Lee Little surrounded Christopher Dunn before snatching £10 and his debit card as he stood at the Lloyds TSB
NORTH Durham MP Kevan Jones, will today sign the North-East Fuel Poverty Declaration, to show his determination to see the problem of fuel poverty addressed. He will be speaking at a National Energy Action event at the Riverside, Chester-le-Street, from
A TEENAGER who bit off part of a man's ear after attacking his son outside their home is facing years behind bars. James Fowdy stepped in when his son, Craig, was pounced on by Anthony Taggart, then aged 19, as he made his way home on December 27 last
PAY CORPS: MANY of your readers will have served in the Army during the 1940s and 1950s as National Servicemen, the Virgin Soldiers. Some of us completed our service in the Pay Corps in the UK, Germany and many other parts of the world. An RAPC Old Boys
IT'S nothing to do with the arrival of Santa, but I don't think I've been so excited since I used to listen for him coming down the chimney. I'm salivating on the edge of my seat, all aquiver at the prospect of tomorrow night's big fight. It promises
OUR front page picture of a mother lovingly cradling her new-born son is one of the most moving we have ever shown. It is a picture of happiness, heartbreak and unselfish courage. What a terrible dilemma Bernadette Mimura faced when, just one month into
LABOUR is failing badly on its pledge to boost bus travel with an 11 per cent fall in passenger numbers in the North-East, a damning report concludes today. The region has experienced the biggest slump in bus use anywhere in England since 2000, according
A NORTH-EAST man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit is calling for a public inquiry to uncover the truth behind one of Britain's worst miscarriages of justice. George McPhee and his family in Willington, County Durham, have protested
CHRISTMAS gets a maritime launch in the region this weekend - with a lantern boat parade. The event, the first of its kind, will take place in Hartlepool Marina tomorrow. It starts at 7pm, when a parade of marina boats, each aglow with festive lights,
A DIABETIC woman owes her life to her wonder dog who pushed the panic button when she suffered a seizure. Tyke, a crossbreed border collie, has been specially-trained as a personal assistance dog and had only been with his new owner, Rachel Price, for
A family-owned builders and plumbers merchant in the Tees Valley has bought a firm in Cumbria. Middlesbough-based J T Atkinson and Sons has acquired Littlefairs Builders Merchants and Ironmongers, in Kirkby Stephen, with funding from the Royal Bank of
TRIBUTES were paid last night to the memory of a remarkable mother who refused life-saving cancer treatment to protect her unborn baby. Tragic Bernadette Mimura - known as Milai - lived just long enough to see her son, Nathan, baptised in a schoolroom
FORMER Darlington FC chairman George Reynolds has failed to win a cut in his three-year jail term for cheating the taxman out of more than £400,000. London's Criminal Appeal Court concluded that while three years was a tough sentence, it could not be
COUNCILS in the North-East face the prospect of putting up council taxes or cutting services to plug a £4m shortfall in funding next year, it was revealed yesterday. The Association of North-East Councils, which represents the region's 25 local authorities
A NORTH-EAST man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit is calling for a public inquiry to uncover the truth behind one of Britain's worst miscarriages of justice. George McPhee and his family in Willington, County Durham, have protested
WELL-WEIGHTED Woody Valentine (2.30) warrants maximum respect in Cheltenham's £20,000 CFR Group Handicap Hurdle. Formerly a pretty decent middle-distance Flat performer when housed with Mark Johnston, the son of top American sire, Woodman, wasted no time
SHAY GIVEN will open contract talks with Newcastle United tomorrow, but has admitted extending his stay on Tyneside will be a decision made for football rather than financial reasons. As well as looking for a deal that rewards his 8 years of excellent
A chimpanzee was shot dead today after it escaped from Flamingo Land zoo in North Yorkshire. Police issued an urgent warning to the public after the adult female chimp escaped from the zoo, near Malton, shortly after 10am. The animal was later shot by
A photographer who claimed he was attacked by Paul Gascoigne said today that he would not be pressing charges against the former England footballer. Steve Farrell, 30, from Liverpool, said he had decided to drop all charges against the star following
TRESOR Kandol's Darlington career may have been saved by a letter after the striker was last night told he still has a future at the club. However, the 24-year-old will still face a hefty fine after returning to the North-East on Wednesday - six days
Businesses were threatened with an invasion of caravans on their car parks if they refused to pay a tarmac contractor's vastly inflated bills, a court was told yesterday. Contractor Joseph Kennedy offered cheap deals to customers, but after his men had
RETAILERS hoping for lower borrowing costs to kickstart a pre-Christmas spending spree were disappointed yesterday when interest rates were left at 4.5 per cent. The Bank of England's rate setting panel, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), kept rates
CURES for some of the world's deadliest diseases could soon be found thanks to a medical breakthrough by North-East scientists. Toxic shock syndrome, septicaemia and the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis could be consigned to the medical history
To the uninitiated, town twinning and town hall receptions are probably regarded as peripheral, possibly unnecessary, functions of the council. But the reality is that both play an important part in how we show respect for the past and hope for the future
ROB Andrew yesterday ridiculed the regulations which have forced him to select flanker Mike McCarthy on the wing for Newcastle Falcons' European Challenge Cup tie away to Italian club L'Aquila tomorrow. The rules allow clubs to register 36 players for
A North-East doctor will face a number of misconduct allegations when he comes before a Fitness to Practice Panel on Monday. The Manchester-based panel will inquire into allegations that Dr Nirmal Sharma, while engaged by Primecare Services in Seaham,
A RAIL passenger group said last night it was dismayed at the announcement of "inflation-busting" train fares to come into force next month. The Rail Passengers' Council said it was a disappointing early Christmas present for travellers after it was revealed
HIGH street stores face a difficult festive season as a rising number of shoppers turn to the Internet for presents. Nearly two out of every five British adults will do some Christmas shopping online, with an increase in the number of households with
New Conservative leader David Cameron last night named a unity Shadow Cabinet that included key supporters of his former rivals. Theresa Villiers, an MP for only seven months, was a surprise addition in what was otherwise a reshuffle of the existing pack
NEARLY a quarter of staff at a Tees Valley training centre could lose their jobs by Christmas. City Centre Training (Northern) Limited (CCT), in Thornaby, Stockton, said yesterday it was streamlining its operations as a result of the loss of several contracts
BUSINESS tycoon Sir Richard Branson yesterday said he was confident ntl would return with a higher offer for Virgin Mobile after independent directors rejected an £817m approach. Sir Richard said he would be very surprised if a deal was not done and indicated
The Royal Bank of Scotland is on course for annual profits of more than £8bn. The NatWest owner said that while market conditions in the UK had changed this year, it benefited from the international spread of its operations. The group said in a statement
CURES for some of the world's deadliest diseases could soon be found thanks to a medical breakthrough by North-East scientists. Toxic shock syndrome, septicaemia and the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis could be consigned to the medical history
THE number of people working at Swan Hunter's Tyneside shipyard will more than halve in the New Year when work on two Royal Navy ships is completed. Swan expects work on the Largs and the Lyme Bay to be finished by spring, with the first ship leaving
ABOUT 25 taxi drivers staged a protest in Darlington town centre yesterday to prove a point to the council. Cabbies say Darlington Borough Council's new Pedestrian Heart scheme, which bans cars from some streets, is harming their trade. They are angry
RESIDENTS are calling for an end to a long-running row which has split a dale's parish council. Members of the public sitting in on a stormy session of Stanhope Parish Council this week complained that the meeting had been a shambles. Stanhope resident
RAIL WORKERS and passengers will join forces at Newcastle Central Station today in a highly visible protest against cuts to Northern Rail services. The protest comes days before the axing of Northern Rail's Sunderland-Newcastle shuttle service. A review
A RAIL passenger group said last night it was dismayed at the announcement of "inflation-busting" train fares to come into force next month. The Rail Passengers' Council said it was a disappointing early Christmas present for travellers after it was revealed
THE old-fashioned entertainment that once went hand-in-glove with a trip to the seaside is being preserved - by the teenagers of today. Members of the Senior Youth Theatre at Richmond's Georgian Theatre Royal have been investigating the work of the Pierrots
A COUPLE celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary yesterday with friends. Jack and Elsie Suddes married on December 8, 1945, while Mr Suddes was on a month's leave from the armed forces. The couple got engaged in 1941 - and then, shortly after, Mr
A SCHOOL is hosting fortnightly drop-in sessions so the community can get in touch with their local police officer. Every other Wednesday, PC Rob Curtain, beat officer in the West End of Darlington, will be based at Hummersknott School and Language College
A SCHOOL honoured its star students at a presentation night. Wolsingham School and Community College headteacher Andrea Crawshaw praised pupils, teachers and parents for their contribution to a successful year in and out of the classroom. Ms Crawshaw
AN EXHIBITION of war memories opened in Teesside yesterday. The exhibition, Memories: Not Forgotten Memories of the Years 1939-1945, opened at Redcar's Central Library, in Coatham Road. It has been created with more than £7,000 from the Heritage Lottery's
EASINGTON Primary Care Trust has become one of the first PCTs in the region to receive top NHS recognition for its efforts in encouraging staff to achieve a healthy work and life balance. An independent NHS validation team has awarded the organisation
A TEESSIDE school is celebrating after being named in a list of outstanding schools by Government inspectors. Redcar's Coatham CoE Primary is the only primary school in Redcar and Cleveland to be included in the hall of fame - and one of only three primary
One of County Durham's largest employers has been celebrating its centenary. PVC manufacturer Hydro Polymers has held a series of celebratory events during 2005 to commemorate its parent company's 100-year history. And this month it held a party for all
ARTS organisations across North Yorkshire were celebrating yesterday after securing almost £70,000 in extra funding. Projects ranging from a major music festival to public sculptures will share in the windfall from Arts Council England. The aim of the
VILLAGE shop owner David Carr was yesterday named North-East Rural Retailer of the Year. The shop was said to be the hub of the community in Longframlington, near Morpeth, Northumberland. Mr Carr, who supports local producers, stocks more than 11,000
WARNING! If you get a letter from Angela Almera, then chuck it in the bin as fast as you can. It could save you a fortune - not to mention peace of mind. Angela Almera - who looks as if she's just popped in to clean the church or do meals on wheels -
An investigation into the cost- effectiveness of Government Internet information has revealed that its site on UK World Heritage locations has received only a handful of hits. The www.ukworldheritage. org.uk site, which includes links to Durham Cathedral
A TEESSIDE woman who spent the last years of her life helping disabled and disadvantaged people has been honoured with an award. Claire Forsdyke, who died aged 28 following a heart-lung transplant, was awarded the first Special Recognition Award by the
A GOVERNMENT agency has offered to step in to help sort out a disagreement between neighbouring councils over an aborted road plan. A council leader last night claimed Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon had lost all credibility over his overtures for a meeting
A MEETING has been called to try to set up more youth facilities in a County Durham village. There are more than 100 teenagers in Heighington, near Newton Aycliffe, but little for them to do in the evenings. This means they often end up hanging around
SANTA Claus will drop into Sedgefield this weekend. He will appear on Sedgefield Village Green on Sunday during the Farmers' Christmas Market. He has been invited by Sedgefield Town Council and will be there between 9.30am and 1.30pm. On Friday, December
CUSTOMERS at a town pub have raised hundreds of pounds for a national charity. The Surtees Arms, in Ferryhill Station, held a fundraising night last month during a national four-week campaign to raise awareness of the condition. The event, which included
STAFF and pupils at an east Cleveland college have received praise from Ofsted inspectors. Prior Pursglove College, Church Walk, Guisborough, was inspected under the Government's new-style college inspection in October. Under guidelines, inspectors are
A DISTRICT council has scooped a series of awards after taking action to create smoke-free zone throughout its premises - and even its vehicles. The decision by Chester-le-Street District Council to clamp down on the habit means most council-owned premises
A RECORD total was raised by residents and businesses of a North Yorkshire town during this year's Poppy Appeal. In Richmond, £10,286 was collected, £2,418 more than last year. Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal organiser David Johnson attributed the success
A BANK official who drove to get something to eat after a drinking session with friends told magistrates at Harrogate yesterday that he had known he was over the limit. Grant Fraser Macallister, a fraud prevention officer with the Royal Bank of Scotland
A TEAM of business-minded youngsters have come third in a national competition. More than 11,000 pupils from 266 secondary schools took part in the Make Your Mark Challenge. They had to respond to a live online brief, designed to test their entrepreneurial
POLICE divers last night failed to find a suspected stolen car that plunged into the River Tees on Wednesday - despite spending several hours trawling the murky river bed. Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of the red Mazda 323, which is believed to have
MUCH as he would love the opportunity to get one over on his manager, George Boateng has admitted that England are the team Holland would most like to avoid in this evening's World Cup draw. Boateng, who recently ended a three-year international exile
A North-East scientist has made a breakthrough which has the potential to save thousands of lives. Health Editor Barry Nelson talks to Dr Gary Black. IT is one of the most feared diseases which can "eat" flesh from a human arm or leg. Necrotizing fasciitis
A CONSTRUCTION company has agreed a deal worth millions of pounds to rebuild homes lost in the Boxing Day tsunami in Asia. The contract, won by Worldwide Environmental Technologies Holdings, of County Durham, is to supply low-cost, earthquake-resistant
NEARLY a quarter of staff at a Tees Valley training centre could lose their jobs by Christmas. City Centre Training (Northern) Limited (CCT), in Thornaby, Stockton, said yesterday it was streamlining its operations as a result of the loss of several contracts
A FORMER pizza delivery man has been cleared of the attempted abduction of a 14-year-old girl. A tearful Christopher Howe was told by Judge George Moorhouse at Teesside Crown Court that he was free to go after the jury returned its unanimous not guilty
KING KONG: Publisher: Ubisoft. Formats: PS2, XBox, GameCube, X-Box 360, Game Boy Advance. Price: £39.99. Family friendly? 12+. THE year's biggest movie crashes into cinemas later this month but if you can't wait for Peter Jackson's re-make of King Kong
THE huge regret the McPhee family share is the 18 years of their lives they spent apart - time they know they can never get back. While father George served a life sentence for a murder he knew he didn't commit, his young sons were growing up miles away
VOLUNTEERS who have agreed to donate their blood in an attempt to trace the genetic heritage of the North-East will gather on Sunday for an experiment. People from Northern England and the Scottish Borders are converging on the Centre For Life, in Newcastle
WARNING! If you get a letter from Angela Almera, then chuck it in the bin as fast as you can. It could save you a fortune - not to mention peace of mind. Angela Almera - who looks as if she's just popped in to clean the church or do meals on wheels -
MUCH as he would love the opportunity to get one over on his manager, George Boateng has admitted that England are the team Holland would most like to avoid in this evening's World Cup draw. Boateng, who recently ended a three-year international exile
SHAY GIVEN will open contract talks with Newcastle United tomorrow, but has admitted extending his stay on Tyneside will be a decision made for football rather than financial reasons. As well as looking for a deal that rewards his 8 years of excellent
One of the most well-known figures on the North-East scene has given his frank assessment of where the NHS stands and where it is going. Health Editor Barry Nelson talks to Ken Jarrold. KEN Jarrold is an NHS man through and through. When he retired this
TRIBUTES were paid last night to the memory of a remarkable mother who refused life-saving cancer treatment to protect her unborn baby. Tragic Bernadette Mimura - known as Milai - lived just long enough to see her son, Nathan, baptised in a schoolroom
A police officer's career lay in tatters today after he was convicted of assaulting a drunk during an arrest. CCTV cameras caught PC Andrew Davison twice kicking Thomas Robertson as he lay on the ground struggling with police officers. He was convicted
AFTER feeling no ill-effects from full training, Julio Arca will make an ahead of schedule return to Sunderland action tomorrow with manager Mick McCarthy warning supporters not to pile the burden of expectation too heavily on his shoulders. Having come
A CONVICTED rapist who broke into an 85-year-old woman's home and threatened her with a knife has been jailed for nearly nine years. When Dean James Robinson was only 17 - nine years ago - he was jailed for raping a young woman in Dove Street, York, forcing
ROB Andrew yesterday ridiculed the regulations which have forced him to select flanker Mike McCarthy on the wing for Newcastle Falcons' European Challenge Cup tie away to Italian club L'Aquila tomorrow. The rules allow clubs to register 36 players for
Mulberry yesterday attributed its highest profits in a decade to sales of handbags and accessories. The company, based in Bath, decided to concentrate on its two core divisions after results for the first half of last year slumped £107,000 into the red
North Yorkshire Timber has taken its workforce through the 100 mark and opened its sixth regional sales centre in Darlington. The timber supplier, which was set up in Northallerton in 1979, has acquired a site at Whessoe Road, Darlington and will open
THE jury in the trial of a triple murder charge doctor has been told by a judge to feel under no pressure of time when it retires to consider its verdicts. Mr Justice Forbes said he would finish his summing up in the case of Dr Howard Martin later today
A DISGRACED doctor who wrote false prescriptions to feed his addiction to painkillers has escaped being struck off. Robin Wade avoided jail earlier this year when he admitted obtaining codeine-based drugs for himself with 22 false prescriptions. He used
NEWSPAPER group Trinity Mirror has announced 29 job cuts at the Scottish edition of the Daily Mirror. The news was broken at meetings with staff at the paper's offices in Glasgow yesterday. Trinity said the cuts were due to challenging economic conditions
VISITORS to Darlington's Crown Street library can enjoy a host of festive activities in the run-up to Christmas and the New Year. On Wednesday, December 21, between 10am and noon, there will be a make-and-do session for children aged four to ten. Youngsters
CAMPAIGNERS who battled in vain against the closure of a landmark pub claim to have secured the town's first parish referendum. Residents are furious at Darlington Borough Council's approval of the demolition of the White Horse pub, in North Road, and
A DVD outlining the variety of public services available in Darlington was launched yesterday. The Information for All DVD is aimed at people whose first language is not English. There are contributions from a range of organisations, including Darlington
CHILDREN as young as three are being taught about anti-social behaviour in a programme launched in the North-East. Youngsters from Havelock Primary School, in Sunderland, were the first to try out the Leaflettes storytelling programme, launched at the
COUNCIL chiefs have hailed new figures showing that the number of people visiting Darlington town centre has dramatically increased. Darlington Borough Council said that 10,240 more motorists used the town's short stay car parks in October and November
