Archive
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Melsonby driver chasinf glory
RALLY driver Barry Pittaway is indebted to the man who owed him money. It was the impetus the Richmond motorsport enthusiast needed to get into a sport he is now taking by storm. "Someone owed me some money and all he had was an old rally car, a Chevette
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Dominant Carmel lead the way in town championships
Carmel School's athletes capped a wonderful season by winning 15 of the 21 trophies at the annual Darlington Secondary School's Athletic Championship which was held at the Eastbourne Complex for the first time. They lifted the Coronation Cup for being
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Plans to cut unit hours
COUNTY councillors are raising no objection to plans to reduce the hours of a minor injuries unit near Consett. The unit at Shotley Bridge Hospital, manned by nurse practitioners, was set up as part of a controversial health service shake-up in 1996 that
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Neighbours join forces to fight crime
THE latest addition to a major crime fighting partnership has been established - and Hambleton residents are being urged to throw their weight behind it. A new forum for co-ordinators of Neighbourhood Watch schemes is now up and running, giving communities
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Police warn of petrol con
DARLINGTON police are warning people about a couple demanding money for petrol. The pair are said to have harassed an elderly woman in Duke Street last Wednesday, claiming their car had run out of petrol. Half-an-hour later they were seen flagging down
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Stars out for sixes
Darlington professional John Glendenen has a star-studded line-up for his six-a-side benefit event at Feethams on Sunday. Glendenen, the former Durham county player, also plays for Cumberland in the Minor Counties Championship and among the stars turning
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School adds an hour to the day
Pupils at Hummersknott Comprehensive School in Darlington are set to have an extra hour of lessons at the end of their day. Language and technology classes are to be introduced for pupils at a time when most youngsters are on their way home. The school
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Guisborough aim to be fenced in
PROGRESSIVE Guisborough have called a halt to major development at their Fountains Garth ground - until they can fence themselves in. Guisborough, members of the Darlington Building Society North Yorkshire and South Durham League, have completed pavilion
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Gawman leads
MEDALS were hard to come by at the second North-East Counties ASA Kellogg's Frosties age group championships in the international pool at Leeds. Chester-le-Street ASC was the most succesful local club with eight medals. The haul included one gold, four
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Youngsters' efforts recognised
YOUNGSTERS got their just rewards from Tory leader William Hague at a sporting presentation ceremony. The Richmond MP presented certificates to members of Colburn Youth Club in recognition of their sporting excellence. The nine teenagers, aged 14 to 17
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Council pledges to clean up its act
LABOUR officials have pledged that a troubled council will strive to be open and work in residents' interests. Regional party officers stepped in after months of bad publicity for Durham City Council whose woes included a former officer's allegations,
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Appeal has been launched
A scout group is teaming up with organisers of a popular six-a-side youngsters' soccer league to kick off a £500,000 campaign for better facilities. And they hope their fundraising efforts will ensure the expansion of the league which already has nearly
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Traffic cones signal start of lengthy bridge repairs
HIGHWAY chiefs say extensive bridge repairs in the centre of Durham will cause severe traffic delays from this weekend. Durham County Council is giving New Elvet Bridge a £250,000 revamp that includes laying a new surface, repairing the exposed concrete
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Champions all round
YOUNGSTERS from primary schools throughout Darlington borough pulled on their gym shoes for their annual sports day last week. The Darlington Primary Schools Athletics Championships 2000 saw 26 finals over 60m to 400m contested by hundreds of children
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Talent takes to the stage
AMATEUR performers were given their chance to shine in front of an audience of hundreds at this year's Orange Darlington Festival. Children from as young as three took part in the event, held in St Cuthbert's churchyard on Saturday, which was hosted by
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All change in city car parks
A NEW car park is to open in Durham next week to make way for the closure of another near the city centre, but with a net loss of 83 spaces. The 190-space Framwelgate Peth car park, in the shadow of the city railway station, will close on Sunday, at 6pm
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Redcoats parade at museum
VISITORS to Beamish museum will be transported back to the Napoleonic War when a group of Wellington's Redcoats come on parade this weekend. The 68th Light Infantry Regiment Display Team will demonstrate how life was for soldiers almost 200 years ago
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Tighter taxi rules on way
DETAILS of strict new Government tests aimed at dramatically improving the quality of Darlington's taxis have been outlined. Representatives of Darlington Borough Council and Darlington police were given a presentation on the twice-yearly Vehicle Inspectorate
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Young skaters put pen to paper in plea to council
YOUNG skating fans who complain that older kids are driving them off a new arena are counting on the power of the pen to get them back on their boards. Children from Crook Primary School used their English lessons to mount their postal protest to leisure
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Club honours
GOAL-GETTER Jason Mumford received the top goal-scorer trophy at the Annfield Plain AFC awards night on Saturday. Jason received the award for his 31 goals in 30 games. In his two years with the club he has scored a total of 59 goals in 59 appearances
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Joanne wins team place
ONE of the region's top teenage riders has achieved her dream of winning international honours. Joanne Little, from Howden-le-Wear, near Crook, and her chestnut pony, Decka, have been chosen for a British event team competing in Haagen, Germany, on July
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Gala spirit revived in former pit village
AT THE crack of dawn the former mining village was stirred to life by sounds and sights its residents had not seen for more than three decades. Hundreds of people spilled into the streets in slippers and dressing gowns to watch their banner carried behind
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Cash boost
A FORMER pit village's new playground has received a £92,650 boost from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust Partnership. The money will be ploughed into Kids Zone at Coxhoe, which was set up to keep youngsters of all ages amused. It will pay for a CCTV
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Cobbler laughs off complaint
Lawyers are considering prosecuting campaigning cobbler Tony Martin for breaching the peace by filling the window of his shop on Claypath with newspaper cuttings chronicling the problems of Durham City Council. Police have confirmed that they have sent
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Hickey hammers
DARREN Hickey crashed 12 boundaries to set the Darlington innings alight when the Feet-hams side responded to a healthy Marske total of 189-9 in the Darlington Building Society NY and SD premier division on Saturday. Opener John Glendenen hit six fours
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Heritage cash paves the way
FUNDING is finally to be granted to allow restoration work to begin on a village church almost two years after it was virtually destroyed by fire. St Brandon's Church, at Brancepeth, which was left an empty shell in the blaze in September, 1998, is to
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First class day for Durham
IT is six years since the first ball was bowled at the Riverside Ground at Chester-le-Street, heralding the dawn of an exciting new era in North-East sport. Today marks an historic milestone in the evolution of County Durham as a venue for first-class
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Union protest over axing of steel plant jobs
UNION leaders in the steel industry have reacted angrily to the decision by Corus to axe hundreds of jobs in the North-East, saying the decision was "disgraceful". The Iron and Steel Trade Confederation (ISTC), said the 530 job losses at Redcar, Teesside
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Tears of anger as clothing workers face redundancy
THE figures on shop steward Louisa Cowan's redundancy cheque stared her in the face - just £1,783.08p reward for nine years' work. Rows of machines stood silent at the Susie Radin factory, in Crook, County Durham, yesterday, as their operators filed in
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LOO_WITH_A COMIC_VIEW WINS_PRIZE
A HARD-UP couple couldn't afford wallpaper for their loo - so they plastered the walls with the Beano. Roger Clark and wife Gaille transformed their dreary upstairs toilet into a comic masterpiece - on a budget of just £5. Their imaginative lav is about
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Sports winners' success goes to their heads
YOUNGSTERS at Polam Hall School were given a pampering when they visited the Saks hair and beauty salon to collect sports day prizes. The salon, in Blackwellgate, sponsored the trophies given at the school sports day. The first, second and third prizewinners
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Three locked up after boy -kicked like a football'
A 16-year-old schoolboy was kicked around like a football during a vicious unprovoked street attack by a gang of drunken men. Witnesses who saw the attack described how the thugs kicked the unconscious youngster "as if they were taking a penalty". His
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Pub's live music bid is rejected by council
COMPLAINTS from residents have prompted councillors to reject a village pub's bid for a public entertainment licence. The Killinghall Arms, in Middleton St George, near Darlington, applied for a licence to stage live music and entertainment. But people
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Banking sector in spotlight
ALL eyes will be on the banking sector next week as former building societies Northern Rock and Alliance & Leicester kick off the sector's reporting season. Alliance & Leicester will unveil half-year results on Friday with the City expecting pre-tax
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Young robbers are locked up
TWO bullying thugs who targeted schoolboys to mug for their pocket money were locked up yesterday. Three boys were robbed as they queued up outside the ABC Cinema, in North Road, Darlington, and two youths were mugged in the town's Market Place. One of
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Mo leads the battle against area's -dire' drugs problem
A drive has been launched to coordinate action against the growing menace of drugs on Teesside. Stockton's Drugs Action Team (DAT) was launched yesterday by Redcar MP Mo Mowlam, the Minister with responsibility for tackling drug misuse. She said the narcotics
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Churches celebrate with a picnic
MEMBERS of different churches will come together for a picnic and day of entertainment on Durham's Palace Green today. The family fun day is being held from 11am for worshippers of all denominations. Activities will include circus skills workshops, face
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-Superbug'killed man after toe operation
A MAN who went into hospital for a minor operation died after contracting an antibiotic-resistant "superbug". An inquest yesterday heard how Alan Young, 64, picked up the lethal MRSA infection after an operation to remove a gangrenous toe. He was admitted
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Brandon win
LEEHOLME lost the top spot in the South West Durham Bowls League when they were defeated at Cockton Hill, who now share the leadership with Spennymoor A, who have a game in hand. Brandon won at Glenholme, and in division two Langley Park lost at Shildon
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triumphs give choristers something to sing about
DURHAM Chorister School has hit a high note in the choir stalls and on the pitch. It rounded off an excellent sporting year when its under-11 cricket team played in the national final of a competiton for the second year running, at Old Trafford. Unfortunately
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Club clinches anniversary show win
A DOG club has celebrated its tenth anniversary by scooping top honours at a local show. Members of the Northallerton Applegarth Dog Club were crowned champions of the It's a Knockout contest on Teesside, when they beat off challenges from Hartlepool
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Help us, PM is begged
RESIDENTS in Ferryhill Station have begged their MP, Prime Minister Tony Blair, to step in and take action to turn around their fortunes. They held a public meeting in the Eldon Arms, attended by the Mr Blair's agent John Burton, to air grievances over
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Rise in number of children -at risk'
THE number of children placed on the child protection register in Redcar and Cleveland is on the increase. A report to the borough council's executive reveals that 126 children were put on the register between January and March - compared to 113 in the
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Former mayoress dies
THE funeral of a former Mayoress of Durham who died aged 83 was due to be held on Thursday. Lily Stobbs, of Langley Moor, who died last Friday, was the wife of Walter Stobbs, who was the city's first citizen in 1982-83. Mr Stobbs, a butcher who was Independent
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squad line up
Here's a team with a fine North-East pedigree chosen from the squads visiting the Riverside this weekend WEST INDIES ROGER HARPER Coach of the current squad, following on from a playing career with the West Indies as off-spin bowler and middle-order batsman
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Steel jobs euro plea
A PLEA to bring forward a referendum on Britain's entry into the euro was made last night in the wake of 526 steel job losses on Teesside. An industry lobby group says tens of thousands more jobs in manufacturing industry are at risk and the Government
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Rats scare shuts school
PUPILS are awaiting the outcome of a weekend rat-catching operation to find out whether their summer holiday will start a week early. Sightings of rats in the school grounds forced the closure of Seaham Comprehensive yesterday, as a pest control company
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Village is highlighting its history
THE people of a small village will celebrate more than two thousand years of history this weekend. Organisers of the millennium celebration at the village of Ebchester, near Consett, County Durham, which dates back to Roman times, will concentrate on
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Pub regulars put on festival of family fun
A COMMUNITY festival will take place this weekend, organised by the pub regulars. The Anchor Aid charity was set up in 1986 by past and present licensees and drinkers at the Anchor Inn, in Belmangate, Guisborough. The charity raises money for a variety
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Don't forget your dinner jacket
OF all the things to forget before setting off on a voyage - my toothbrush. It meant a hurried departure from our ship into Malaga. After taking in a few worthy attractions on the way, later I found myself in a chemist's gesticulating madly in a toothbrushing
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Action plan for voluntary groups link-up
AN ACTION plan has been agreed to develop formal links between voluntary sector and local authority groups in County Durham. The development of a "Compact" for the county was top of the agenda at a conference attended by scores of voluntary and community
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999 hoaxer is locked up
A PERSISTENT drinker who made scores of hoax 999 ambulance calls will stay behind bars for now. John Newman, 35, was given the first anti-social behaviour order in County Durham last month because of behaviour which has seen him arrested 212 times. The
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Students stage cafe art show
DINERS at a cafe in Middlesbrough can feast their eyes on some original art. Sassari's Continental Caf in Middlesbrough has allowed two students from Cleveland College of Art and Design to exhibit their work. Fourth year part-time fine art student Jean
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Hospital cutbacks a step closer
COUNTY councillors are raising no objection to plans to reduce the hours of the minor injuries unit serving the Consett area. The unit at Shotley Bridge Hospital, manned by nurse practitioners, was set up as part of a controversial health service shake-up
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Young musicians ready for East European tour
EUROPEAN music lovers are in for a treat when 80 young musicians leave their native Teesside next week to perform on the wider stage of Poland and Germany. The youngsters, aged 14 to 19, are all members of the Tees Valley Youth Orchestra and Tees Valley
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Funding brings extra security
SCHOOLS are getting a £116,000 security boost as part of efforts to regenerate a run-down area of Sunderland. Nine schools in the Pennywell area of the city are getting anti-crime measures such as security fencing, CCTV cameras and access control systems
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Elliot Lands a Treble
ATHELETICS Durham City Harriers Ithe veterans North-East track and field championship held at the Monkton Stadium, Jarrow, members of the Durham City Harriers had an excellent day. Brenda Elliott scored a treble of victories in her new age group of O50
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Durham's England dream is realised
THE dream to bring international cricket to the North-East evolved after 1990 when Durham's application to join the county championship, to be the 18th first-class county was accepted. Two years later Durham, with Ian Botham in its team, embarked on first-class
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Chinese move no threat to B&D jobs
MANAGEMENT at an award-winning North-East factory last night reacted quickly to quash fears among staff concerned at proposed changes in production. Rumours engulfed the workforce at Black & Decker that part of its production was being switched to
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Objectors fear store road route hazard
A PROPOSED one-way system for supermarket traffic has hit widespread objections amid fears it could create a hazard for pedestrians. Plans for the new Quality Fare supermarket in Bedale were approved earlier this year on condition that suitable traffic
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A day of challenges
THE engineers of the future have put their thinking caps on to tackle a series of technological problems. About 240 youngsters in year nine at St Leonard's Roman Catholic Comprehensive School, Durham, spent a day working on a series of engineering challenges
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New -youth shelters'
YOUNG people could soon be congregating in special 'youth shelters.' Wear Valley District Council is considering providing official meeting places for teenagers in an effort to stamp out vandalism and give them somewhere suitable to meet friends. The
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Councillors back new school plan
COUNCILLORS have backed plans to close two schools and build a new school for their pupils. Brandon Infant School and Brandon Junior School will be merged in a new primary in 2003 under proposals agreed by Durham County Council's Executive Committee.
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Raid on post office
MASKED robbers escaped with only a handful of cash after raiding a village post office shortly after a money delivery. The robbers, wearing masks and dark clothing and wielding baseball bats, burst into the building at Bearpark, near Durham City, at lunch
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Schoolchildren make their voices heard
ARTICULATE youngsters made themselves clearly heard in a public speaking contest. Students from five schools took to the podium in Bishop Auckland Rotary Club's competition, held in the grand surroundings of Auckland Castle last Wednesday. Twelve competitors
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Bar licence bid stalled
A LICENCE bid for a proposed pub/restaurant development in Durham's former police station has been delayed further. Businessman Richard Lazenby's application for a drinks licence for the planned Cathedrals establishment in the Victorian-built station
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Miss leads the way
EVEN though they are not much more than five years old, the 13 tots who went on their school's Primary Pootle on Sunday were already looking back on old times. The reception class at Sunnybrow went back to their old nursery schools in Willington Primary
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School reopens after major revamp
WEATHERMAN Bob Johnson couldn't conjure up the sun but the forecast is looking brighter for a primary school's pupils. The popular Tyne Tees TV forecaster officially re-opened Nevilles Cross Primary School in Durham last week following extensive building
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Pupils attend service
MORE than 2,000 final year primary school pupils from across the diocese of Durham attended the annual Church of England Schools' services at Durham Cathedral, over two days last week. Each school group paraded into the cathedral behind their home-made
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Work due to start on flood-damaged bridge
THE rebuilding of a bridge that collapsed under the pressure of recent flooding could start within a month. The nineteenth century Mercury Bridge at Richmond was devastated by last month's severe flooding but the county council says it is on the way towards
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Full house at Riverside for England
The country's cricket enthusiasts will be focusing their attention on Chester-le-Street when England play their first international there. England will play the West Indies this Saturday, and on Sunday Zimbabwe will play the West Indies as part of a three-way
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Tune in and have your say
BUDDING broadcasters went on air in an experiment aimed at developing a switched-on approach to media courses. Durham's New College took to the airwaves in a venture that organisers hope will become a regular fixture. The amateur station features a blend
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Drinks licences
A NUMBER of County Durham off-licence premises have lost their liquor licences in the past week after a police crackdown on the sale of alcohol to under-age youngsters. Police asked magistrates to revoke alcohol licences following a series of initiatives
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Jail defends cells policy
OFFICIALS at Durham Jail defended their policy of scrapping segregation for sex offenders and other inmates. Prison governors were speaking after an inquest into the death of a former sex offender found hanging by laces from his cell door at the prison
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Appeal boost
An appeal to raise £35,000 for an eye laser at Bishop Auckland General Hospital has received a £2,000 boost thanks to the success of a golfing tournament. Patients currently travel to Darlington Memorial Hospital for treatment, but it is hoped waiting
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Council leads fight
A NEW council-led task force is spearheading the fight to win back the 108 jobs being lost to the Far East this week by a clothing factory closure. But there are already fears in Crook that Friday's shutdown at Susie Radin will be a hammer blow which
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Speedier service for eye patients
PEOPLE with eye cataracts should get speedier treatment through a £242,000 cash boost to hospitals in North Yorkshire and south Durham. The funding will streamline services at the Friarage at Northallerton, the Friary in Richmond, the Richardson in Barnard
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Birtley stage first four-team special
Ambitious Wearside League club Birtley Town's Millennium Soccer Tournament gets underway tonight. Kevin Finnigan, Birtley's general manager, said: "The event has taken more than five months to organise and it is the first of its type for any team in the
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Tribute paid to Aycliffe Angel
A LEADING light of The Northern Echo's campaign for official recognition of the region's unsung war heroes has died. Aycliffe Angel Maisie White spent the Second World War working in the munitions factory in Newton Aycliffe. More than 50 years on, with
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Music over the decades at fun day
RESIDENTS on a troubled Durham estate undergoing a major revamp are looking forward to a day of fun this weekend. Sherburn Road, which is getting a multi-million pound facelift, is holding its annual fun day in the grounds of the Laurel Avenue Community
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Taste of Arabia opens summer music festival
STORIES from the Arabian Nights and musical romances of royalty and slaves open Bishop Auckland's Summer Music Festival tomorrow (Friday). The three-night event at Auckland Castle starts with a presentation from Joglaresa of an Odyssey of Medieval Mediterranean
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Crackdown on crime
POLICE in Ferryhill are getting some help from an unlikely source when they launch a series of events promoting crime prevention. Ferryhill crime prevention and community safety week starts on Monday and is being supported by Sedgefield Borough Council
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Health club will create town jobs
AT least 40 jobs will be created now that a £3m health club in Darlington has been given the go-ahead by the Government. Plans by Bannatyne Fitness to build a health club at a former bus garage site on Haughton Road were put on hold because it is outside
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Gymast takes top award
The presentation evening for the Orange Awards for the Darlington young sports winner of the month will be held on Tuesday at the The New Orange Building on the Yarm Road industrial estate. The awards will be presented by the Mayor of Darlington, Coun
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Town gears up for fun
A MAJOR celebration of a town's heritage is aiming to excite renewed interest in preserving it for the future. Northallerton's first History Day takes place on Sunday, the culmination of a week-long Millennium festival and the result of months of planning
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Exhibition scrapes surface
AN exhibition at a Durham museum is giving visitors insight into the work of archaeologists. Durham University's Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology is staging Scraping The Surface, which features the work of archaeology photographer John Sunderland
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Hopes for bank site
BARCLAYS Bank's hard-hitting decision to close scores of rural outlets robbed communities of an essential lifeline earlier this year. But a Wear Valley group is hoping to turn the loss into a positive step for local residents. The bank's Willington branch
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Blooming good picture show
A PAINTING by a Spennymoor schoolboy is featured in a calendar produced by Northumbria in Bloom. Jonathan Kitching, aged 11, from Whitworth School, won first prize for the special schools up to 12 years of age category in the Northumbria in Bloom children's
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End of an era as doctor retires
PATIENTS are mourning the end of an era now that one of the oldest family practices in the North-East is winding up. Dr Arun Banerjee has been treating patients at the distinctive Red House surgery in Crook for the past 28 years, but the practice has
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Villagers celebrate opening of green after 20-year wait
A COMMUNITY'S 20-year campaign for a first class recreational area came to an end yesterday with the unveiling of a millennium green. Two local schoolgirls took centre stage as residents of east Thirsk saw the town's green area opened. Chloe Smith and
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Theatre company on the Fringe
A NORTH-EAST theatre company for people with learning difficulties will perform at the Edinburgh Festival. Sunderland-based No Limits, most of whose members have Downs Syndrome, will make its third visit to the festival's fringe next month. It will perform
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christine tees up dream present for shearer fan clive
NEWCASTLE United fan and keen golfer Clive Oliphant has landed a dream birthday present, thanks to his wife, Christine. The building company director's gift to mark his 44th birthday is the chance to caddie for his footballing hero, Alan Shearer, in a
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Students win accolades for positive effort
STUDENTS have been presented with certificates for their positive attitude toward their course. The awards were made by the health and social care department at Darlington College of Technology The certificates were given for various achievements, including
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Honours
PRIMARY schoolchildren from 11 schools in Middlesbrough had their own graduation ceremony yesterday. Almost 500 pupils took part in a procession from the University of Teesside to Middlesbrough Town Hall to receive their awards, for taking part in a two-week
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Nothing wasted
PRIMARY school pupils have been taking part in a recycling project by growing plants in industrial waste and by-products. The youngsters used recycled plastic containers along with slag from Corus, Redcar and ash, from the Energy from Waste plant, Haverton
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Sensitivity urged in moving elderly to private sector
MOVING home is a traumatic and stressful experience for most people. But when an elderly person is involved, the effects can often be more damaging. Many vulnerable elderly people are disturbed by change, and that is one of the key issues Darlington Borough
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Youngsters pen views on estate
YOUNGSTERS from a Darlington school have gone into print to express the stark reality of life on an estate ravaged by the bulldozers. Pupils at Firth Moor Infant and Nursery School speak of rats and abandoned animals in a series of poems submitted to
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Moves to centralise cleft lip surgery
HEALTH authorities are deciding on the future of cleft lip and cleft palate surgery in the region. Tees Health Authority has already backed plans for a single unit on twin sites in York and Newcastle, to serve the region, having decided that centralised
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Riverside enters the big league
WHEN Tom Graveney fronted a promotional video on an area where Chester-le-Street residents walked their dogs he could not seriously have believed that England would play cricket there ten years later. The video was designed to attract sponsorship for
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Stay in education - and get £30-a-week
DETAILS of a new allowance for youngsters in Hartlepool planning to stay on at school or college in September are being sent out. The students will be eligible for an allowance of up to £30 per week during term time, providing their parent's annual gross
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Store blast owner and son jailed for arson
A SHOPKEEPER who told police his store was blown up in a racist attack was yesterday jailed for six years after he admitted conspiring to start the fire himself. Mohammed Bashir, 48, and his son Mohammed Umran Bashir, 19, had both pleaded guilty at a
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MP praises centre's -vital' computer teaching
A TRAINING centre set up in Chester-le-Street has been praised by the town's MP, for helping people to log on to the world of computers. Consett-based Derwentside College opened its Information Technology Centre in the town's former Mechanics Institute
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Community groups celebrate Lottery windfall
COMMUNITY groups were celebrating a financial windfall yesterday after securing their share of millions of pounds in Lottery funding. The grants, to organisations in Hambleton, Ryedale and Scarborough, will allow them to move further ahead with ambitious
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Weight off Flintoff's mind as critics forced to eat words
Net rage switched Andrew Flintoff into the overdrive gear which shook the critics off his broad back at Old Trafford. Since Sunday's wash-out against West Indies at Lord's - which Flintoff missed - the spotlight has suddenly beamed in on his waistline
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line ups
Andy Flower: A wicket-keeper batsman of high class, a solid keeper, and fluent stroke maker who can dominate the best bowling. Heath StreaK: A top class opening bowler, at one time ranked in some systems in the top 5 in the world, and an effective wicket
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Riverside stage is ready
THE Riverside will be packed to the rafters when the venue hosts its first England clash - the NatWest Series one-dayer against the West Indies. All 15,000 tickets have been snapped up and tickets are also selling well for tomorrow's contest when the
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Dream ticket for music fans
REHEARSALS are under way for a Millennium show involving schools and churches in Darlington. More than 400 people are taking part in Hopes and Dreams, a musical that comes to the Civic Theatre this month. Producer and director, the Rev Fran Lane, from
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Plans for former leisure centre
AN exciting new venture supporting talented dales musicians could have the added benefit of giving a redundant leisure centre a new lease of life. The Weardale Musicians' Collective is in talks with cement makers Blue Circle over setting up a base in
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Residents win fight to halt bus stop move
RESIDENTS have won their fight against plans to move a village bus stop which has been described as a safety hazard. Durham County Council has dropped proposals to move the stop, on the eastern side of The Hayricks, Tanfield Village, near Stanley, to
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New term = eight more classrooms
PUPILS of a girls' school, who broke up for their long summer break this week, will be greeted by new facilities on their return in September. When summer term ended at Durham High School for Girls on Tuesday, children in the infant group left a scene
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No worries . . . just showers
STAGING the North-East's biggest ever cricket match on St Swithin's Day may seem like asking for trouble. Legend says that rain falls on St Swithin's Day then it will rain for the next 40 days and all cricket fans know better than to tempt fate over the
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Family's donor appeal
THE anxious family of a six-year old girl given just eight weeks to live will today bring to Chester-le-Street their campaign to find a donor who could save her life. A bone marrow transplant is the only chance for Molly-Ann Barnett, who suffers from
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Road safety anger grows
VILLAGERS fighting plans for a traffic light junction on a busy road have accused a council of hypocrisy. Durham County Council's highways committee angered people at West Rainton last month by backing plans for lights at the junction of the A690 and
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Bogus letter condemned
A BOGUS council letter has been distributed to residents homes claiming they were to be rehoused. The letters were distributed in the Walker and Byker areas of Newcastle, claiming to be from an assistant housing officer at the city council. Yesterday,
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Now where does that cricket team play, again, Peter?
IN an official council list of the 14 most interesting things about Chester-le-Street, there is a 1,000-year gap between 990AD and 1973. The cynics would say that tells you everything you need to know about the town's national profile. But the County
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Alarm register aims to cut noise nuisance
HOME owners are being encouraged to register their house alarms with Middlesbrough Borough Council. Although burglar alarms work to keep homes secure they can cause a noise nuisance if false alarms ring constantly. To combat the problem, Middlesbrough
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Watchdog seeks acid spill witness
ENVIRONMENTAL watchdogs are appealing for a witness who reported an acid spill to come forward. Julian Carrington, from the Environment Agency's emergency control centre, is asking the witness to come forward in order for them to learn more about the
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Searching for the sound of summer
HERE comes the sun - well maybe, but what ever is happening with the weather it's time to pack your bags, head for the beach and wonder which tunes are going to be this year's big summer hits. They say that music knows no boundaries and already Italian
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Honour awaits former student
A LEADING authority on health care issues was unable to receive an accolade from her former university, due to ill-health. Dr Miriam Stoppard was the most well-known name among the quartet of figures selected to receive honorary degrees at this summer's
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Spellman On Form
CRICKET Boddingtons, Durham Coast League Under-18 Castle Eden made the highest score of the night, 158 for two when they visited Ryhope. John Spellman, a regular in the Castle Eden first team, carried his bat for 68 and Matthew Tudball ended with 57 not
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-I haven't started yet. I've got lots to say and they know it'
SUSPENDED police chief Ray Mallon has warned Cleveland Police that he will ensure the truth about Operation Lancet is made public. He told a fundraising dinner: "I haven't even started yet - I've got lots to say and they know it." Detective Superintendent
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Police chief in Commons bike mission
THE man behind a police force's pioneering bike safety campaign is heading for the House of Commons to meet biker MPs and industry leaders. Superintendent David Short, of North Yorkshire Police, has been invited to a reception at the Commons by the all-party
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Council counts cost of vandals
VANDALS have run up a repair bill of more than £1,500 within six weeks in Wear Valley. Wear Valley District Council's Technical Services Committee totted up how much vandals have cost the taxpayer since the last committee meeting on May 25 and discovered
