UP to seven coroners’ offices across the region will be axed, under cost-cutting plans to scrap those where the number of deaths is “too low”.Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling is considering a proposal for each coroner area to handle 3,000
A FRANK Jemma Lowe admitted the 100m butterfly has started to move on without her after she could only finish sixth in this evening's Commonwealth Games final. Hartlepool’s Lowe, who swims for Wales in the Commonwealths, was a bronze medal winner
A DELIVERY delivery driver who fondled a housewife on his rounds walked free from court - after claiming the case had upset him! Andrew Hartley moaned that he had been fired from his job and become depressed since the incident in east Cleveland
THE brother of comedienne Victoria Wood is hoping to emulate his famous sibling by taking his one-man Charles Dickens-themed show on the road.Former long-serving Liberal Democrat councillor, Chris Foote Wood, from Darlington, will make his Edinburgh Fringe
A NURSING home aiming to break down misconceptions of how residents live has held a week-long fundraising activity week for all the family.Rosedale Nursing Home in Catterick Garrison, which looks after a high proportion of dementia residents, has held
GUSTAVO POYET has completed the signing of Dutch defender Patrick van Aanholt and he will join Sunderland in Portugal after progress was finally made on the transfer front. Van Aanholt was on Wearside today to sign a four-year deal after moving
The presence of unbeaten Oaks winner Taghrooda (3.50) gives added spice to Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, one of the great races of the Flat season pitching the classic generation against their elders over the Derby/Oaks distance
SARAH CLARK signed off her judo career in style as she claimed a gold medal for Scotland in her final international tournament before retirement. Clark, who was born and raised in South Shields before moving to Edinburgh around a decade ago, contemplated
A DRUG dealer caught bringing £6,000-worth of cannabis to the North-East was jailed for two years.Brian Hare was a passenger in a Mitsubishi Warrior pulled over by police on the A1(M) in County Durham at 5.15pm, on May 10 last year.Durham Crown
CLEVELAND Police have issued an urgent appeal for help in locating a mother and her two missing children Yoon Jin Jong, originally from South Korea, and her children Stephen Jae Gittins, three, and Stephen George Gittins, 11 months failed to attend
A PUB landlord arrested as part of the Claudia Lawrence investigation has described how it has left his family in turmoil.Paul Harris, 46, who runs The Acomb in Kingsway West, York, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of perverting the course of justice
A GIRLY girl who loves to brush and style her hair went for the chop so she could help less fortunate children.Sophie Simpson from Crook, County Durham, had her 14in brunette plait cut off then donated the hair to The Little Princess Trust. She is also
CHILDREN affected by the Chernobyl disaster have visited the region for a month long trip to boost their immune systems.Eight children from Belarus are staying with host families living in the Teesdale area of County Durham, thanks to the Teesdale-Richmond
POLICE are still searching for a 25-year-old vulnerable man who has gone missing without medication. Huram Hussain was last seen yesterday (Thursday) at about 2pm in Thornaby. Cleveland Police said officers are concerned for Mr Hussain as he is due medication
A CHARITY event in aid of the Alzheimer's Society will be held in Darlington tomorrow. Argos, on Skinnergate in the town, will be hosting face painting, making loom bands and other family activities, from 10am. Proceeds will go towards Alzhheimer's
JENNY DUNCALF will be out for revenge when she takes on Malaysian Nicole David in the quarter-finals of the women's singles squash tournament at the Commonwealth Games. Duncalf, who is from Harrogate, booked her place in the last eight with a comfortable
A GENEROUS mystery benefactor has granted the wishes of a charity for adults with disabilities - by providing them with land and a longed-for purpose-built home.Yatton House Society, which provides day care for adults with learning disabilities and physical
TWO teenagers have restored pride to English football, not on the pitch but on the table.Matthew Warr and Callum Oakes, both 17, from Darlington successfully defended their table football junior world championship title in Salzburg, Austria - becoming
THE flying programme for the launch night of the 26th Sunderland International Airshow had had to be cancelled. Displays by teams including the Red Arrows, The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, was to have formed part of the event this evening
ANGELINA Ballerina is pirouetting onto the Darlington Civic Theatre stage this weekend for a family friendly production.Six showings of The Mousical are running throughout the weekend and will see Angelina and her friends deliver an energetic show with
POLITICIANS from the main political parties will debate the future of the UK’s energy supply next month.The debate at Durham University will consider issues such as the role of nuclear power, fracking and renewable energies.Conservative MP James
A BUSINESSMAN from County Durham has become the first person to be jailed as part of a major police investigation into the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young women.Gurhan Sayan was jailed for three years nine months for sexual assault, which he admitted.The
A TAPAS bar reopened today in memory of its owner, who died suddenly on Wednesday. The Old Yard Tapas Bar in Bondgate, Darlington, has been shut since the body of award-winning restaurateur Peter Turnbull was found, and floral tributes have been
A TEACHING assistant has admitted kissing a male pupil at the school where she worked. But Helen Louise Turnbull denies other allegations of a more serious sexual activity with the teenage boy last summer. The 35-year-old is alleged to have
A ‘SUPER sibling’ event has been held in memory of a loving big sister on the day after what would have been her 25th birthday.Actor Steven Arnold, who plays Ashley Peacock in Coronation Street and former professional snooker player, Willie
A YORK attraction is searching for a beauty queen with a difference to reign over its summer sideshow, Carnivale.The York Dungeon is encouraging people from all walks of life and all shapes and sizes to apply to be its Carnivale queen, or even king.The
A GOLFER is organising a fundraising tournament to raise awareness for the North East Autism Society in support of his brother, and has pulled in professional golfers to play alongside local amateurs.Bradley Rowntree, from Barnard Castle, is holding the
A SURPRISE retirement party for a long-standing history teacher and head of year at a Richmond school celebrated the lasting effect he will have on the school.On Monday, July 21, past and present members of staff from St Francis Xavier School gathered
A MAN suffered serious head injuries following a vicious assault near a primary school.The victim, from North Wales, was visiting Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, for a funeral when he was attacked at about 1.30am yesterday (Thursday, July 24).After receiving
THE first of five community venues saved from closure by a housing company has reopened and residents are now being urged to use it so they don’t lose it.Dale and Valley Homes, which manages around 4,000 former council houses in the Wear Valley
A MIDDLESBROUGH-born cyclist who once beat road racing legend Eddy Merckx has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Sport Science in recognition of his distinguished career.‘Super Sid’ Barras won 200 races in his 18 years as a professional
CELEBRATING couples have made it a golden weekend in County Durham as they celebrate 50-years of marriage.Robert and Maureen Ross, of Coundon, and Allan and Eileen Tate, of Ferryhill, have both marked half a century of marriage on July 25.The two couples
BUDDING artists at a Richmond primary school have created a version of a Mackenzie Thorpe painting after learning about his work dedicated to the Tour de France.Pupils at St Mary’s RC Primary School in Richmond spent a term studying the artist&rsquo
A PARK created on a former cokeworks and colliery has again won a coveted Green Flag award.Elba Park was opened in 2010 on the former Lambton Cokeworks and Colliery between Chester-le-Street and Sunderland after years of decontamination work.The national
A CHARITY’S annual Sunflower Appeal has been launched to help people remember a loved one in a very special way.Throughout the August beautifully crafted sunflowers, bearing the name of relatives or friends, are planted as part of a display within
THE WINNER of a competition to design a badge for North Yorkshire Armed Forced Day 2014 has handed over a donation to the Royal British Legion.Richmond School pupil Grace Maddison-Potts, 12, came out on top of the HMS Heroes competition across schools
THE founder of a teenage cancer charity is setting off on a Coast to Coast adventure to raise funds for Butterfly Giving.Hannah Larkin will be joined by father Paul when they set off from St Bees in the morning (Satuday, July 26) and along the way they
RESIDENTS were encouraged to voice their views on everything from housing and open spaces, to retail facilities and parking at an open evening in Newton Aycliffe this week.Great Aycliffe Town Council has been given the go ahead to create a neighbourhood
A WEEK-LONG campaign will be launched next week to cut the number of people killed and injured by distracted drivers on the region’s roads.Police say no fewer than 855 casualties were caused between 2009 and 2013 across Durham and Cleveland due
A MAN has died after being hit by a van as he walked along a lane late at night.The accident happened last night (Thursday, July 24) at about 11.30pm on the B6313 at Bluehouse Bank, between Pelton Fell and Grange Villa, near Chester-le-Street, County
A MAN at the centre of a police hunt where an elderly woman died after being bitten by a police dog has appeared in court.Mohammed Zakwan Rashid, 18, faces charges of being concerned in the supply of 1.5kg of heroin, dangerous driving and the concealment
A WOMAN who carried out sadistic attacks on a vulnerable man has been jailed for 18 months.Thirty-year-old Clare Marie Trotter repeatedly punched the epileptic cerebral palsy sufferer in one attack, and, the following day “branded” him nine
DETAILS of nearly 2,000 North-East men who died in the First World War can now be found on The Northern Echo's dedicated website. More than 1,000 of those men come from Darlington, and their records are the result of a decade of research by former
A COMMUNITY arts venue is appealing for volunteers to help celebrate its second anniversary.An arts fair is being held at The Bridge Centre for Visual Arts, in Yarm Road, Darlington, on Saturday, August 9 to mark its second birthday.The centre became
A £1BN Government flagship scheme to get young people back into work is being wound up early after failing to help more than a fraction of those it targeted. Businesses have been told a deadline for applications for wage incentives under the Youth
NEW prepayment meters are being installed in hundreds of homes to help residents pay for their gas and electricity.From the end of the month, Derwentside Homes will install the new smart meters, which display how much gas and electricity is being used
VIRGIN Money is creating more than 100 North-East jobs in a move that will see it repay the Government £154m from a deal to buy Northern Rock. The firm says it is creating 200 new posts, including 120 in the North-East. Bosses have also revealed
THREE-YEAR-OLD Martha Barker has been checking out some of the canine competitors ahead of a sponsored walk for Durham's St Cuthbert's Hospice. Martha, of Redcar, will be a judge in the Cutest Dog Competition at the annual Paws for a Cause, which
PRODUCERS of the popular TV show Come Dine With Me are looking to recruit contestants for their new series.An episode of the hit Channel 4 show is to be shot in Durham and the surrounding area at the beginning of September. The show’s format is
PAUL DRINKHALL has expressed his satisfaction after England's men's table tennis team progressed to the quarter-finals at the Commonwealth Games without dropping a set. Having enjoyed a perfect record as they beat Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago
A RENOWNED jazz a cappella group will perform in Richmond next month ahead of a performance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.The Oxford Gargoyles, an ensemble made up of Oxford University students who have had to pass an audition to join, will appear
SCORES of soldiers are set to attend a candlelit vigil to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.Members of the Royal Artillery, based at Alanbrooke Barracks, Topcliffe, will join residents at the event in Thirsk Market Place at 10.30pm
COUNCILLORS look set to approve controversial plans for accommodation for vulnerable young people, despite objections from residents.The proposed application would see six log cabins sited at Green Lane Farm, in Neasham Road, near Hurworth.Operated by
THE cost of a long-awaited bypass has been reduced by more than 20 per cent, saving £8m on original estimates. The Government gave final approval for the Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar bypass and agreed to contribute £29.2m towards the £34.6m cost
POLICE are appealing for information to trace a 25-year-old vulnerable man who has gone missing without medication. Huram Hussain was last seen today at about 2pm in Thornaby. Cleveland Police said officers are concerned for Mr Hussain as he
BUILDING bosses have warned the Government must do more to address a skills shortage and get more apprentices into the trade.A survey from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) says Government funding reforms could stop companies taking on younger workers.Brian
Keen gardeners in Hartlepool are being invited to showcase their skills by entering the town’s Allotment Show. The borough council is staging the event at Summerhill country park on Sunday, August 31. Entries must be received by August 15 and
HOMEOWNERS on a new estate said they are being stung by spiralling costs to have its small communal gardens maintained. Residents living in Stainton Mews, a Taylor Wimpey development in the picturesque village of Stainton near Middlesbrough, say
A BLUEPRINT to reinvigorate a historic market square after the controversial felling of mature trees has been unveiled.The proposal for Thirsk Market Place features a community arts space for use by local groups, a modern wishing well, three trees for
A SUMMER fair helped to raise hundreds of pounds towards entertainment and activities for residents at a Darlington care home.Staff at Eastbourne Care Home, in Cobden Street, Darlington, hope to raise more than £400 following their annual summer
PROMISING Picassos have had their talent recognised at an annual show.Final year art students at Hummersknott Academy, in Darlington, showcased their work at the school’s summer show, where visitors could vote for their favourite piece in different
A SELF-made millionaire estate agent has been selected as the Conservative candidate for one of the safest Tory seats in the country.Kevin Hollinrake, a married father-of-four who is managing director of North Yorkshire-based Hunters, the UK’s fastest-growing
RYAN SIDEBOTTOM believes Yorkshire will have done it the hard way if they qualify for the NatWest T20 Blast quarter-finals tonight. The Vikings face Sidebottom’s former county Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Headingley in the 14th and final group game
Lancashire v Durham Natwest T20 Blast (Day One) DURHAM are hoping a disappointing Twenty20 campaign will not deter the fans from turning out in force for the final match at home to holders Northamptonshire this evening. A seventh defeat in
SIR Bradley Wiggins appeared to call time on his Grand Tour career after picking up a silver medal on his track comeback at the Commonwealth Games. Wiggins, riding just his second major track meeting since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, led Ed Clancy
MO FARAH insisted he had no choice but to pull out of the Commonwealth Games through illness, as more of the star quality due to be on show in Glasgow disappeared. The morning after the Games opened with a spectacular ceremony at Celtic Park, the
AND you wonder why bosses despair… Some 30,000 teenagers are to be allowed to lie in bed later in the mornings and start school at 10am, or even 11am in the case of sixth formers. The £1m experiment will run in 20 schools and among the people involved
STUART AIREY insists England’s lawn bowls men’s triples team aren’t afraid to win ugly after two opening-day victories marked a perfect start to their quest for Commonwealth Games gold. The 42-year-old from Sunderland, with the help of John McGuinness
SO Prince George is one year old and very bonny he looks too. Just like a one year old. Very reassuring. Apparently he had two birthday parties, one at home and one at Granny Middleton’s. And probably like every other one-year-old he was more
THE Shafts of Light exhibition at the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle is brilliant. More than 70 paintings of life in the northern coalfield – most by artists who were working miners. It’s a fascinating exhibition, curated by local experts Dr
Dear Sharon, What next? Do you remember years ago when people got married the reception was usually in a chapel/ church hall, and the meal consisted of a plate with ham, pease pudding, lettuce and tomato and buttered bread buns, beetroot and pickles
IT has been a busy year for table tennis starlet Karina Le Fevre and after turning 21 last week she is hoping to cap it off with a Commonwealth Games medal. Le Fevre was at the Games in Delhi four years ago but now a little older and wiser – and
DURING part of my life which involved shuttling regularly back and forwards by train across the Pennines, I was struck by the number of huge Victorian mills poking their lofty chimneys out of every other valley. Many of the towns and villages along
AN engineering firm says it has created 300 North-East jobs after starting work on train control equipment for a £6.5bn transport scheme. Siemens is making components for Class 700 electric trains, which will run on the Thameslink programme.
Alan Carr: Chatty Man Summer Special (Channel 4, 9pm) THE irrepressible Alan Carr makes a welcome return to Friday evenings which have become about as exciting as the offer of a high five with David Cameron. This two-parter continues in the mould of the
IT'S official - the new Dino Jaws exhibition is a pile of poo. Dinosaur poo. The main attractions are ten animatronic dinosaurs, fresh from being seen by 750,000 visitors in just five months in the Hong Kong Science Museum.But the exhibit that gets
G HARRIS has obviously not looked hard to find any Liberal Democrat successes in the coalition (HAS, July 21). Yes, the promise not to raise university fees was a disaster. The mistake was in not explaining we could only fulfil that promise if
YOUR report that Councillor Charlie Kay had no idea of the existence of a village where a planning application he was considering was located shows just how defective the decision-making system is at Durham County Council when it comes to planning
I AM writing in support of Nicola Leyland, the former headteacher of Shotton Hall Primary School in Peterlee (Echo, July 22). She was a breath of fresh air. She made a difference, always in attendance at events and always available to speak to
I QUITE agree with Dennis Woodcock about the cancelling of Darlington in Bloom due to a lack of entries (Echo, July 23). I enter the competition and was very upset that it was cancelled at the last minute. I and many others have put a lot of hard
PROFESSOR Peter Stone from Newcastle University has a remarkable photograph taken in 2011.It shows a burnt-out military vehicle close to the walls of a ruined Roman fort in Libya.The precision air attack which reduced one of Colonel Gaddafi’s mobile
AS someone born and bred in Durham City, I looked last week at some of the places I knew as a child. One of them was Flass Well, at the end of Ainsley Street. What a state it is in, overgrown to such an extent that it could not be found unless
PETER MULLEN suggests that the Israelis have no option but to keep on killing innocent citizens (Echo, July 22), including a large number of children. This is nonsense. They have a very clear option and that is to cease imposing the blockade and
HAS no one from Lartington Parish Council, which is going to install speed warning signs, ever driven through Skeeby, near Richmond, and had to slow to 20mph to climb the awful speed bumps there (Echo, July 21)? Here is the answer to Lartington
THERE has been some talk that the England football team should boycott the 2018 World Cup finals to be held in Russia. Given our recent performances in Brazil would anyone really notice if this threat was carried out ? Martin Birtle, Billingham
IN 1872, Matthew Richley, the Bishop Auckland historian, wrote that a field at Binchester was “an inexhaustible repository of antiquities”. Time and again, he said, Roman artefacts had been unearthed by ploughmen, and in about 1800, a horseman
AT a time of prolonged austerity to balance the nation’s books, public sector pay is bound to be a contentious issue. And it naturally follows that those who are paid most are subject to the greatest public scrutiny. It is, therefore, no surprise
CHANCELLOR George Osborne has admitted the Government must do more to cut North-East unemployment. Mr Osborne said he wants to end the region’s unwanted reputation as the UK’s jobless capital, by helping companies create more posts and increase
SUNDERLAND will fly out to Portugal later today when Danny Graham will be among those left behind looking for a new club. Black Cats boss Gustavo Poyet has informed a number of his players that they are not in his plans for next season, meaning
ALAN PARDEW looks set to give youth its chance once more against Wellington Phoenix tomorrow morning, as work goes on back on Tyneside to strengthen his attacking ranks. After failing to reach an agreement with Lyon for £16m-rated striker Alexandre
MIDDLESBROUGH head coach Aitor Karanka believes he made the right decision not to sign Jozsef Varga, despite being frustrated in his search for a new right-back this summer. Varga returned to parent club Debrechen in May after his season-long loan
I’VE been in Glasgow for a couple of days now, and it’s already clear that this is a city determined to enjoy itself. There were the usual grumbles in the build up to the Commonwealth Games – too much money coming out of the public purse, too much
Newcastle United The Magpies might be in New Zealand but there are still calls going in from St James’ Park in a bid to strengthen Alan Pardew’s squad. Where will the next signing come from and when will it occur? It would appear Arsenal could
A MUSIC lover whose huge album collection was turned to ash in a house fire has spoken of his amazement and gratitude after an on-line appeal for replacements went viral.John and Carole Hacking lost all their possessions when fire destroyed their home
CONTROVERSIAL Gypsy site proposals that attracted hundreds of objections from villagers who raised £7,700 to fight them have been granted on appeal. The two applications to convert land off Walworth Road in Heighington into private Gypsy sites
A COUNCIL chief executive’s pay has rocketed 25 per cent in two years whilst its lowest paid workers have been offered two per cent, prompting calls for more scrutiny on top public sector pay. The head of Hambleton District Council, Phillip Morton
EXPECTANT mums are being urged to give their opinions over the future of a North-East maternity unit.Deliveries at the midwifery-led unit at Bishop Auckland Hospital have been suspended since July last year after County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation
A WOMAN with a passion for vintage fashion has reached the finals of a national style contest with a little help from her four-legged friends. Melanie Calland, from Howden-le-Wear, near Crook, County Durham, is one of 20 finalists in Mr and Miss
A TEENAGE museum apprentice has been named County Durham’s first Tourism Superstar. Matthew Henderson, a live events and promotions apprentice at Beamish Museum, was crowned at Visit County Durham’s annual garden party held at Crook Hall, Durham
SUNDERLAND will fly out to Portugal later today when Danny Graham will be among those left behind looking for a new club. Black Cats boss Gustavo Poyet has informed a number of his players that they are not in his plans for next season, meaning
Sunderland are pressing ahead with an attempt to land Patrick van Aanholt from Chelsea. Gustavo Poyet has turned his attention to the 23-year-old after struggling to reach an agreement with Fiorentina over the sale of Marcos Alonso. Van Aanholt
