THE Office of Fair Trading's inquiry into the behaviour of our big four supermarkets is welcome. They are so large that increasingly they dictate to shoppers what food they are allowed to buy, and they dictate to producers - most notably farmers - what
FOUR games unbeaten have raised spirits and belief at Victoria Park, now it's time to step on and ensure the threat of relegation is avoided. Hartlepool United meet Huddersfield tonight and three points for Paul Stephenson's side will lift them away from
MULTI-MILLIONAIRE Duncan Bannatyne is considering a stock market flotation of his hotel and health club business, it emerged last night. The entrepreneur and reality TV show star said a flotation was an option - although he had not gone so far as to appoint
PUB group Local Heroes plans to acquire several sites across the region as turnover is expected to climb to almost £9m. The Billingham-based company may sell some of the smaller outlets in its estate of 24 pubs, to provide funding for the purchase of
Mesothelioma is a little-known disease which is expected to kill up to 10,000 Britons a year by 2020, including large numbers of North-Easterners. Health Editor Barry Nelson listens to one victim's story. DAVE Craig was the sort of guy who never seemed
MICROCHIPS RE identity cards. Why waste millions talking about it? Why can't they microchip all babies, like cats and dogs? If the existing microchips aren't any good on humans why haven't they got round to inventing some that are? First, they can't be
A mum accused of killing her baby son has had her trial postponed - because she is pregnant. Gemma Fennelly, 23, is charged with the manslaughter of Mitchell Bate, aged 22 months. She is jointly charged with her partner Mark Bate, 33. The pair, both of
A HEALTH and safety expert has urged construction workers to take asbestos more seriously as North-East hospitals see more cases of younger people with work-related lung cancer. Bill McKay, principal inspector for construction and asbestos licensing at
A SHOP assistant who stole £20,000 from work has avoided jail because he put the stolen money in a building society account and did not spend it. By the time police uncovered the money, it was worth more, thanks to interest on the account. For seven years
CHEAP is the new chic. The great and the good recently discovered Primark - about 20 years after the rest of us - and found that you can sometimes get more than you pay for. But what about make-up? If you can't face the superior assistants - and the superior
BORIS THE SPIDER (4.45) should be suited by conditions in Ayr's Western House Hotel Novices Handicap Hurdle. The Scottish air clearly suits Michael Hammond's Middleham-based horse, who has posted a win on the Flat at the course on a similarly testing
A RESCUE plan has been drawn up to save plans for a sports hall for a town centre school and its surrounding community. Greenfield School Community and Arts College, in Newton Aycliffe, had expected to get a £1.3m sports facility to be used by pupils
A POSTMAN is among eight staff nominated for the Royal Mail's First Class People Awards. Harry Mears, from Ingleton, near Staindrop, County Durham, is one of the eight posties in the North-East and Yorkshire who have been chosen by satisfied customers
COUNCILLORS have defeated an 11th hour attempt to reduce council tax rises in line with inflation. The Conservative group on Darlington Borough Council was attempting to ensure council tax rises of 2.5 per cent by 2009-10, but the move was thrown out
AN exhibition showing work from two community art classes has gone on display. The exhibition, at Woodhouse Close Library in Bishop Auckland, shows examples of work from two ten-week courses held in Tow Law and Hunwick. Run by Learning Skills in the Community
STAFF and pupils at a Darlington school are celebrating after receiving glowing praise from Government inspectors. Mowden Infant School is rated as "good" in a new Ofsted report, to the delight of everyone involved. Inspectors hailed the school's efforts
A RESCUE plan has been drawn up to save plans for a sports hall for a town centre school and its surrounding community. Greenfield School Community and Arts College, in Newton Aycliffe, had expected to get a £1.3m sports facility to be used by pupils
THE driver responsible for the death of six-year-old Leonie Shaw is today facing up to 14 years in prison. Colin Meek will be sentenced at Teesside Crown Court for burglary, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified. The 34-year-old, who has a
THOUSANDS of people are expected to visit a North-East venue next weekend for a multi-cultural festival. The second Gateshead International Jazz Festival is to be held at The Sage Gateshead next Friday to Sunday. Programme director Ros Rigby said: "The
A WEBSITE to give disabled people information about a town centre has been short-listed for a national award. The Wheelygood site - run by Darlington Association on Disability (DAD) - is the first of its kind in the country. It has an interactive map
THE behaviour of children at one of the region's primary schools has been described as outstanding by a team of Government inspectors. The Ofsted team rated Stokesley CP School as good in all categories, after two days of lesson evaluations and interviews
YOUNGSTERS have been going native in a rare way, on Teesside. Pupils from Lingfield Primary School, Coulby Newham, helped Tees Forest and Middlesbrough Council staff plant two rare black poplars yesterday. In ancient times, the tree was common all over
A MAN has been stabbed in the face during a night out. It happened outside Bar R at the Roker Hotel, in Roker, Sunderland at 11.15pm on Monday. A 25-year-old man was involved in a dispute with another man outside the premises. He suffered a knife wound
A LIBRARY has reopened after completing work to improve access for disabled people. The revamped Stanley Library in the High Street has a new floor, automatic doors, a wheelchair ramp and a low-level counter, to make it easier to return books. It has
THEATRE groups will take to the stage next week in the Saltburn Annual Drama Festival. The festival, organised by the Saltburn 53 Drama Group, starts on Monday, with performances every evening through to Saturday. On Monday, Saltburn 53 Drama Group presents
WINNERS of the first Best of Darlington awards will tonight be recognised for their outstanding contributions to the community. Individuals, groups and businesses from across the borough will be commended for their dedication to making Darlington a thriving
A couple are celebrating a milestone after a half century of marriage. Ken and Olive Monk reach their golden anniversary today. The couple married 50 years ago at St Catherine's Church in Crook, but now live in Clifton Road, Darlington Retired Mr Monk
PUPILS helped start a £62m school building programme in the North-East. Youngsters from Kingsmeadow Comprehensive School got work on their new school underway on Tuesday by making the first cuts in the ground where the foundations will be laid. They swapped
EQUESTRIANS are being offered free advice with the launch of a community leaflet. Working with the British Horse Society and the North East Community Forests, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council created the leaflet in response to demand. Copies are available
JOHN and Doris Nunn celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with friends and neighbours yesterday. They put on a spread and shared cups of tea and the odd glass of wine at their Parkside home, in Tanfield Lea, near Stanley. Mr and Mrs Nunn used to take
A RECYCLING race by communities in North Yorkshire vying for a £1,000 prize is hotting up. A total of 38 parishes across the Hambleton district have only weeks left to boost their recycling tally. Each has been asked to increase the amount sent for re-use
THE manager of Durham's Irish pub will have one of his busiest times in his last day in the job - on St Patrick's Day. O'Neill's in Claypath will be marking next Friday in traditional style with Irish food, music and dancing, and a live broadcast by Durham
NEWCASTLE Falcons are banking on Dave Walder's tactical kicking to keep them afloat in tomorrow's Guinness Premiership match at Bath. On what is expected to be a wet day, Walder comes in at fly half for Toby Flood, who is playing for England Under 21s
CHILDREN visiting a shopping centre this weekend will be able to play at dressing-up, with a difference. English Heritage is holding free activity and information sessions at Gateshead MetroCentre. Children will be able to try on period costumes, imagine
PLUSH fittings from the spiritual home of a North-East football team could be available to hardcore fans for the right price. Wooden panels that once graced Feethams, the former home of Darlington Football Club, have been put up for sale on Internet auction
THE manufacturing industry showed signs of recovery last night after official figures revealed the sector started the year with modest growth. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said manufacturing output increased by 0.2 per cent in January - the
CAR dealership Lookers last night rejected a hostile offer worth £258.8m from a rival. The bid, from Pendragon, of Nottingham, came days after the company completed its acquisition of Sunderland-based Reg Vardy for £506m. Lookers said in a statement:
MIDDLESBROUGH have conquered the Romans at the Riverside and head to Rome next week knowing a place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup beckons for the first time. This performance from the Premiership's only representatives left in the competition
THERE is nothing like a big night of European football to stir the senses but, for most of this season, Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup matches have been nothing like a big night of European football. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk can justifiably claim to be one of
A FIRE boat was used to rescue a Japanese akita fighting dog after it fell 25ft into a dock basin. Fourteen-month-old Thor was out walking with his owners when he bolted off into the darkness. As Steph Whitelock and partner Jack McKinley tried to catch
MICROCHIPS: RE identity cards. Why waste millions talking about it? Why can't they microchip all babies, like cats and dogs? If the existing microchips aren't any good on humans why haven't they got round to inventing some that are? First, they can't
A DAD who battered his cheating wife to death with a 4lb paving mallet while his 10-year-old son cowered upstairs was jailed for life today. Michael Luke, 45, was found guilty of murder after he battered Johanna, 37, to death at their home in Priory Gardens
THE surgeon arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a patient died at a North-East hospital has voluntarily withdrawn from doing emergency work. The Northern Echo revealed yesterday how the 61-year-old - who has not been identified - was arrested
A HOLE-in-the wall gang used a forklift truck to smash into a post office early yesterday before making off with a safe believed to contain more than £50,000. As police cordoned off the scene in Wood's Terrace, Murton, County Durham, passers- by looked
SCIENCE and technology centre Netpark will create more than 500 jobs as part of £20m expansion plans. The science park, in Sedgefield, County Durham, announced yesterday it had picked Helios Properties as its preferred developer for phase two of the £300m
A TOTAL of £7bn is to be spent replacing and refurbishing half the primary schools in the country, the Government announced yesterday. Across England, one in 20 primary schools will be demolished and rebuilt and a further 8,000 refurbished within 15 years
STEVE McCLAREN last night hailed the 'excellent European performance' that has given Middlesbrough every chance of knocking the might of AS Roma out of the UEFA Cup. Boro managed to stop Roma from scoring a crucial away goal at the Riverside while also
FLOODS of nominations were received for the Best of Darlington awards from people across the borough who felt a person or group close to their hearts deserved recognition. Judges said they were very impressed by the standard of entries for each category
A FRAUDULENT funeral director was on the run from the law last night after he failed to turn up at court. Christopher Westcott, who uses a variety of aliases, was to have been sentenced yesterday for the theft of clients' payments and fraudulently obtaining
A couple of years ago I travelled to Sunderland by train to meet Neil Herron, the man behind the Metric Martyrs campaign. At the time we were on opposite sides of the Regional Assembly fence, so we sorted that out first and then the talk turned to football
A DOZEN veterans of one of Britain's forgotten wars returned to the region this week to pay tribute to the city whose generosity kept them going through their darkest hour. Since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, the former officers of
STAFF and pupils at a Darlington school are celebrating after receiving glowing praise from Government inspectors. Mowden Infant School is rated as "good" in a new Ofsted report, to the delight of everyone involved. Inspectors hailed the school's efforts
A MAN who offers a friendly lifeline to one his neighbours every day has been named as Sedgefield's best neighbour. Jimmy Milner, of Burnie Gardens, Shildon, won the Good Neighbour 2006 award in a scheme launched by Sedgefield Borough Council to praise
A GUIDE to best practice in family learning is to be launched in County Durham next week. About 200 people are expected at the launch and celebration of the work of the Family Learning Project at Durham County Cricket Ground, Chester-le-Street, on Thursday
A WOMAN who leapt to her death from a viaduct had made apparent suicide attempts days earlier, an inquest was told yesterday. Lorraine Edwards, 50, got out of her husband David's car at the end of the Bishop Auckland Viaduct and was seen by other motorists
DURHAM City Council's development company is to build a £1m community centre and bowling green for Newton Hall. It will be on land at the Abbey Sports Centre, in Abbey Road, Pity Me, and replace Newton Hall Community Association's centre in Carr House
RUNNERS are preparing for a popular charity road race on Sunday. More than 1,000 runners are expected to line up at the start of the annual Redcar Half-Marathon, in east Cleveland, with a £1,500 prize fund. The race, which incorporates the North-East
A PIECE of Harrogate' history is being restored in the town centre. A shelter once used by cabmen who carried passengers in horsedrawn carriages between High and Low Harrogate were part of the town's spa heyday. The shelter overlooks West Park Stray,
TRADERS in an east Cleveland town are backing Fairtrade products. With support from the town council, Guisborough is becoming a Fairtrade town. Fairtrade gives people the chance to buy products bought directly from farmers in the Third World. To promote
DRINKERS could be banned from a popular beauty spot because of the problems caused by anti-social behaviour. The Sheepwash reservoir, at Osmotherley, near Northallerton, is owned by Yorkshire Water and the public has a right of access to the land around
A SERIES of events around County Durham aim to give residents a taste for Fairtrade. As part of Fairtrade Fortnight, Durham County Council is setting out a stall to raise awareness of the products available. Market-stall browsers will be able to sample
A MULTI-million pound pensioners' complex is being built on Teesside. Trinity Court will include 42 self-contained extra care apartments, a laundry, bistro, shops and a hairdressers, as well as on-site care. The Tees Valley Housing Group says it has chosen
CALLS for another secondary school to accommodate children from Europe's largest housing estate have received backing. Ingleby Barwick Parish Council has registered its concerns with Stockton Borough Council about the number of children bused bus out
The Government has announced plans to revolutionise half of England's primary schools so children can learn in 'inpsired' surroundings. Olivia Richwald toured on school where a new building has made all the difference. THE headteacher of St Gregory's
DONATED books are helping a north Durham school raise awareness of bullying and other social problems among pupils. Copies of A Young Person's Guide to Bullying were supplied to the Villa Real Special School, in Consett, by the Children's Safety Education
COUNCIL cutbacks will help fund free bus travel for pensioners, and pay for street patrols by wardens. The drive to find efficiency savings to support key services will continue at Middlesbrough Council, promises Councillor Nicky Walker, the council's
A MIDDLESBROUGH school is one step closer to playing football during this year's World Cup, after winning its regional heat at last weekend's Jetix Kids Cup. Nunthorpe Secondary School defeated six other teams in the under-12 tournament, part of the children's
DARLINGTON must make home rule count if they are to cling on to any hopes of reaching the play-offs, according to manager David Hodgson, writes Lee Hall. With four of their next six games at the 96.6 TFM Darlington Arena, Hodgson knows there is no better
Ken Harker is pounding the streets of the county as he builds up to the biggest races of his running career. He has been picked to represent Great Britain in the Masters World Indoor Championships, in Austria, this month and the European Championships
A PARISH council invited to give its views on a scheme to extend a former grammar school at Wath, near Ripon, was unable to comment because the majority of councillors were either trustees for the building's owners or related to the trustees. The Samwaeis
As Asda considers renaming its green eye shadow in honour of Big Brother contestant Chantelle, we test the supermarket slap to find out it you really can be chic and cheerful. CHEAP is the new chic. The great and the good recently discovered Primark -
A JURY has been told to ignore emotion when deciding if a jilted husband is guilty of murder or manslaughter. The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, QC, also warned the six men and six women to cast aside moral judgement in the case of Michael
HOW we love to play guessing games, but just when the feverish speculation surrounding successors for Sven and Souness was dying down Sunderland inexplicably decided to stoke it up again. The sacking of Mick McCarthy - or at least the timing of it - was
THE surgeon arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a patient died at a North-East hospital has voluntarily withdrawn from doing emergency work. The Northern Echo revealed yesterday how the 61-year-old - who has not been identified - was arrested
HOW we love to play guessing games, but just when the feverish speculation surrounding successors for Sven and Souness was dying down Sunderland inexplicably decided to stoke it up again. The sacking of Mick McCarthy - or at least the timing of it - was
UNIONS hope that workers at redundancy-hit Nestle can avoid compulsory job cuts. Kit Kat and Rolo manufacturer Nestle Rowntree announced earlier this month it was cutting 275 jobs in York and Newcastle, blaming energy costs and a competitive market. More
A 97-year-old woman left battered and bruised by a vicious teenage mugger forgave him yesterday - and revealed he had saved her life. Steven Lindsay, 17, knocked Eva Huddart to the ground and dragged her along the pavement as she clung to her handbag.
LEISURE group Whitbread yesterday announced a further expansion of its Premier Travel Inn business. Whitbread has entered into an agreement to acquire the business and assets of seven Holiday Inn-branded hotels from subsidiaries of LRG Acquisition for
DARLINGTON must make home rule count if they are to cling on to any hopes of reaching the play-offs, according to manager David Hodgson, writes LEE HALL. With four of their next five games at the 96.6 TFM Darlington Arena, Hodgson knows there is no better
Waterloo Road (BBC1) The Road To Guantanamo (C4) THE headmaster is on the roof of the school doing a very good impression of a man losing his mind. Perhaps it was double maths that drove him over the edge. Whatever the reason, Waterloo Road Comprehensive
KEVIN BALL was renowned for being an incredibly passionate Sunderland captain and, after being handed the caretaker manager's job, he wants his first skipper to instil just as much heart into a squad doomed to relegation. With Gary Breen suspended for
