A WALK-IN advice centre is visiting County Durham to encourage more people to apply for Government energy grants. The Warm Front Bus will be in Trimdon Colliery today to offer advice about grants to improve home heating and insulation. Energy efficient
A STRUGGLING football club will have to step up its performance in the bar as well as on the pitch if fans are to drink it out of debt. With Willington AFC owing nearly £4,000 to brewery Interbrew, striking a deal to pay it off in pints seemed the only
A TEENAGE girl tried to steal takings from the New Kyo Chop Suey House, New Kyo, County Durham, on Sunday. Staff spotted the girl as she searched behind the shop counter at about 8.40pm. She fled the scene empty-handed. She was about 16, 5ft 6in, with
STRENGTHENING work on a bridge in Arkengarthdale has started and is due to be completed by Christmas. Beck Crooks bridge, on the Reeth to Tan Hill road, has a 17-tonne capacity but that restriction will be removed when work is finished. A spokesman for
HUNDREDS of young musicians are in for a busy month of festive concerts in County Durham. More than 30 orchestras, bands and choirs in the nine to 18-years category will be involved in performances. Durham County Council's music support service at Bishop
A PROJECT to keep youngsters off the streets in a crime-hit village has paid dividends, police figures have revealed. Youth workers spent the autumn organising a series of outings for teenagers in Pont Head, Leadgate, near Consett. The latest police figures
A SUPERMARKET chain has revealed plans to open a number of small food shops in the grounds of one its stores which recently closed down. Morrisons closed its shop in Neasham Road, Darlington, in June and sold the lease to national cut-price superstore
Every music hall comedian worth his salt used to have a bundle of gags about the old British Rail catering, and the scorn in the old days was often richly deserved. It's amazing that the efforts put in by our main line operator GNER have changed the image
UK ECONOMY: Simon Page (Echo, Nov 28) suggests that many will have long memories of Tory economic mismanagement. Those whose memories go back long enough will readily recall the many Labour economic disasters since 1945. The Cripps fiasco led to the currency
PUPILS at a Darlington school are taking to the stage in a show featuring some familiar faces. Girls from Polam Hall Junior School will be performing Jubilee, a show written by Alan Simmons, for their annual drama production next week. The four to 11-
A NORTHERN Echo reporter has agreed to bare his legs to raise money for The Giving Tree appeal. Sedgefield chief reporter Andrew White is being sponsored to have his legs waxed later this month. All the money raised will go to the annual Giving Tree appeal
YOUNG adventure-seekers are appealing for help as they attempt to raise funds for the trip of a lifetime next year. A party of fifth and sixth-formers at Durham School must each raise £3,000 to meet the cost of the World Challenge expedition to Mongolia
PEOPLE in Darlington will soon be able to book theatre tickets online thanks to a revamped website. Darlington Borough Council's website has undergone major changes with the help of a County Durham-based business consultants. Waterstons has created an
THE music department of a school in Stockton is hoping to end the year on a high note. Brian Carson, music in the community co-ordinator at Grangefield School and head of department Rupert Booth have been working with the school choir in preparation for
ASTRONOMERS unveiled the latest piece of equipment in their optical arsenal yesterday - a portable, 12-inch, computerised telescope. The telescope has been bought with the help of a £5,000 National Lottery grant and is capable of beaming live pictures
Hartlepool Central Library hosts a programme of festive activities this week. At 2pm tomorrow visitors will be able to enjoy street organ music. On Thursday and Friday, Ward Jackson School choir will perform with Brierton School choir singing a selection
A FORMER art student who neglected his creative skills during his working life has taken up painting again in his retirement. George Crawford studied oil painting and commercial art at Hartlepool College of Art from 1950 to 1954. But after completing
PARENTS in Hartlepool can hunt for those last-minute Christmas gifts while their children are being cared for, thanks to a new drop-and- shop scheme at Brierton Community Sports Centre. Scheme activities include basketball, netball, badminton, mini tennis
THE BOSS of a national project which nurtures creative skills in young people has visited the North-East to see the scheme in action. A group of ten and 11-year-olds at Westlea Primary School in Seaham, County Durham, put on a short theatrical production
A POPULAR Christmas sing-along makes a welcome return to two towns later this month. Derwentside Leisure Services is organising Christmas town centre events after a successful run last year. The first takes place on Monday, December 16, in Middle Street
PLANS for an amusement arcade in an area plagued by gangs of youths have been turned down. Easington District Council received an application to turn a former solicitor's office in Blackhills Road, Horden, into an amusement arcade and cafe. The applicant
FARMERS are joining together to fight crime. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has welcomed plans by Cleveland Police to launch a Farm Watch scheme. Farmers are being invited to a meeting in Guisborough tonight to endorse a telephone, ring-round network
A SCHEME to restore a part of Darlington to its former glory is to be extended. Darlington Borough Council has been awarded an English Heritage grant of more than £500,000 to revitalise the Northgate area of the town. The cash boost has come from the
A COUNCIL still faces obstacles to its efforts to close an elderly people's care home, despite a judge rejecting a challenge from campaigners. The High Court dismissed a national pressure group's challenge to Durham County Council's decision to shut Stoneleigh
FATHER CHRISTMAS will be going down a mine as a museum prepares to welcome families to two fun weekends. The first is on Saturday, from 10.30am to 4pm, at the The North of England Lead Mining Centre, in Killhope, Weardale. Santa will be in his underground
DID no one even speak to him? A five-year-old boy wanders away from his mum in the centre of Glasgow, gets on a train and turns up in Macclesfield nearly four hours later - and nobody has said a word to him or expressed an iota of concern. Are we that
IN the Teesdale Mercury, it is readily conceded, there are few stories to shift the dear old Earth upon its axis. Every Wednesday the paper celebrates items like the best dressed banana competition (Bowes WI), the favourite piece of wallpaper competition
AN organisation is to be set up to improve access to open countryside in North Yorkshire. The local access forum will act as an advisory group on issues in areas of the county that are outside the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors national parks. The
Companies are being asked to tender to become Darlington Borough Council's main insurer. There was controversy earlier this year when the local authority received a renewal quote from Zurich Municipal with the premium increased by £400,000. The council
A CHARITY is bridging the gap between the old and young by encouraging them to make Christmas decorations together. Children from Tow Law Millennium Primary School visited elderly residents at the town's Baring Court yesterday to help them make decorations
HUNDREDS of people are expected to turn out for a festive procession tomorrow. Among the crowd at Bishop Auckland will be a host of angels and kings as youngsters from schools have been asked to wear theme costumes. The Christmas parade will start at
CARING teenagers are helping to stamp out bullying in their school with the launch of a support group. Pupils at St John's RC Comprehensive School, Bishop Auckland, have volunteered to run a counselling service for victims of bullying. Ear For You holds
PRIMARY school pupils in Darlington have performed less well this year than last in English, mathematics and science, examination results show. The town's education authority was singled out for praise last year by the then Education Secretary Estelle
A man is being questioned by police on Teesside following a two-car collision which resulted in one of the cars careering into a garden wall in Valley Road, Middlesbrough. The woman who had been driving that car was shocked but unhurt.
Tyneside's bid to become European Capital of Culture 2008 has taken a step forward with the announcement that a music and arts centre is to host another international event. At a House of Commons reception it was revealed that the International Society
A TEENAGER appeared in court yesterday accused of making hoax calls to the emergency services, including two during recent firefighters' strikes. The youth, from a village in the Gateshead area, faces three charges of causing a nuisance to the public
PEOPLE in Hartlepool are being urged to make the most of new sport and arts opportunities in the town. New facilities are being built at four of the town's primary schools - West View, Stranton, Owton Manor and Brougham - thanks to almost £1.8m in grants
A COMMUNITY'S ten-year campaign to build a village school is reaching fruition as the building takes shape. Already, its frame is in place and hopes are rising that pupils at Grewelthorpe Church of England Primary School, near Ripon, will be using the
TWO drama students are being offered the chance to work with one of Britain's leading theatre companies. The Royal Shakespeare Company is staging Coriolanus and The Merry Wives of Windsor, at the leisure centre in Northallerton in February. They are looking
CRIMINALS behind pirate CDs, videos and computer games could face tougher punishments, consumer watchdogs in Hartlepool have warned. Stricter penalties have been introduced meaning unlimited fines or up to ten years in prison for anyone producing or selling
POLICE launched a fresh appeal for witnesses yesterday after an elderly pedestrian died following a road accident. Nelly Hynes, 77, of Crofton Road, South Shields, collided with an unknown vehicle at the junction between Wescott Road and Eggerton Road
ELDERLY householders are being urged to be on their guard following two distraction burglaries. The first incident took place at about 3.15pm on Monday, when an elderly woman answered the door at her home in Rowan Road, Eaglescliffe to a man and a girl
THE Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust has appointed a director of public health. Dr Tricia Cresswell, who has worked in public health since 1993, will take up her post on January 20. She will work with communities and lead programmes to
A FORMER art student who neglected his creative skills during his working life has taken up painting again in his retirement. George Crawford studied oil painting and commercial art at Hartlepool College of Art from 1950 to 1954. But after completing
A NORTH Yorkshire parish has expressed its outrage after learning it will lose more than half its income because of Government red tape. The Government has instructed auditors to check the accounts of even the smallest parish meetings. That means Lastingham
THE £1m expansion of Northallerton College has been celebrated in a mathematically-appropriate style. The new classroom block is dedicated mainly to maths teaching, so the cake cut to mark its opening symbolised one of the best known mathematical formulas
PUPILS and staff at a Stockton primary school are celebrating after receiving an Ofsted report showing great improvements have been made. The inspectors noted how, following a period of some change and difficulties, St John the Baptist Primary School,
YOUNGSTERS at a Darlington school had plenty of bright ideas yesterday when it came to creating lanterns. About 40 year five pupils from Corporation Road Junior School spent half a day designing and making the colourful lanterns with the help of members
FATHER Christmas swapped his sleigh for a white limousine when he switched on the festive lights in Spennymoor town centre. After his grand entrance, Santa and the Mayor of Spennymoor, Councillor Ross Hawkes, switched on the lights and Christmas tree
A HARVEST festival celebration has proved bountiful for two local charities. A seasonal service was held at the Coachman Inn, in Snainton, near Scarborough, by the Reverend John Manchester. He then went on to help auctioneer Richard Ward run an auction
CHILDREN'S stories are being brought to life at an art exhibition. Prints by Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac have been assembled for the display in Bishop Auckland Town Hall. Between them, the artists have illustrated some of the best-loved children's
A WOMAN appeared in court yesterday accused of attacking her estranged husband with a glass. Sharon Middleton, 33, of Ypres Road, Catterick Garrison, denied wounding her husband, Mark, on October 4, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Her lawyer
AN 11-year-old boy has been discharged from Middlesbrough General Hospital where he was treated for facial injuries after falling off the roof of the North Riding Infirmary, Middlesbrough. The boy was rescued by fire- fighters using an hydraulic platform
A MAN will appear in court today charged with manslaughter. David Brent Lilley, 36, was found dead in the back yard of a house in Maple Terrace, Shiney Row, near Washington, Wearside, at about 10.30pm on Sunday. Mr Lilley, a warehouseman, from Thirlmere
A MAYOR has helped launch a collection of imaginary letters. Bert Ward's book, called Dear Bob, is a series of fictional letters written by a mother to her son serving on HMS Norfolk. It charts the course of events and incidents, such as an outbreak of
UPLAND farmers are to be given help to shepherd the dwindling flocks of sheep on the North Yorkshire Moors. Members of North York Moors National Park Authority will be told next week that the flocks are an essential part of the traditional management
You probably saw the news the other day that Mike Collier, the Chief Executive of One North East, will be retiring next May. As his Chairman Dr John Bridge said, he will be a hard act to follow in the regional development agency. Mike will always be associated
CAMPAIGNERS have reacted angrily to news that disgraced surgeon Richard Neale has been invited to take part in the forthcoming inquiry into the scandal surrounding his work. It raises the prospect of the struck-off former consultant at the Friarage Hospital
A HUSBAND and wife were taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries after they were involved in a car accident. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident, which happened in Yarm Road, Low Hartburn, Stockton on Sunday at 3.20pm. It is believed
HUNDREDS of young musicians are in for a busy month of festive concerts in County Durham. More than 30 orchestras, bands and choirs in the nine to 18-years category will be involved in performances. Durham County Council's music support service at Bishop
A TRAINING scheme backed with European funding is being held in a shopping centre. Bishop Auckland College and Wear Valley District Council have teamed up to offer an innovative training facility in Bishop Auckland's Newgate Centre. The Bishop Auckland
A TEENAGE girl tried to steal takings from the New Kyo Chop Suey House, New Kyo, County Durham, on Sunday. Staff spotted the girl as she searched behind the shop counter at about 8.40pm. She fled the scene empty-handed. She was about 16, 5ft 6in, with
Companies are being asked to tender to become Darlington Borough Council's main insurer. There was controversy earlier this year when the local authority received a renewal quote from Zurich Municipal with the premium increased by £400,000. The council
YOUNG achievers in Wear Valley and Teesdale are to have their efforts recognised at an awards ceremony for the first time. Tonight's ceremony will be an opportunity to praise the work on a variety of projects performed by members of the area's youth clubs
