Archive
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24-hour armed siege ends as knifeman surrenders
AN armed siege which brought a normally quiet North-East village to a standstill ended last night when a man surrendered to police. Police firearms officers had surrounded the house in Blackhouse, near Stanley, County Durham, for almost 24 hours. A man
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Same again for Quakers
Darlington manager Gary Bennett has been given the go-ahead by chairman George Reynolds to bring in new players - but it looks as if there's no change in the transfer fee policy. Bennett had two meetings with the chairman in 24 hours regarding team matters
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Emerging talent on show for new boss
With just 167 caps, six international goals and an average age of 25 between them, it is one of the most inexperienced England teams ever sent out into action. And with injuries having deprived Peter Taylor of up to four of what was already a youthful
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Mother's plea to vice girls in hunt for killer
THE grief-stricken mother of a murdered prostitute has expressed her torment at having to organise her daughter's funeral instead of her wedding. Deborah Goodall, the mother of Vicky Glass, whose remains were found on the North York Moors on November
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So farewell then, Morse and Meldrew
MORSE Endeavour. Died Wednesday, November 15, just before 10.30pm. His loyal sidekick Lewis and ten million viewers were with him at the time. MELDREW Victor. Died Monday, November 20, victim of a hit-and-run driver. Leaves a widow, Margaret. Ten million
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Letters
TIDY VILLAGE RECENT negative publicity generated over removal of the tidy village award sign, intended for Thornley near Tow Law but mistakenly erected in Thornley outside Durham City (Echo, Oct 11), should not be an indictment of the village, rather
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Landlords push for more hours
LANDLORDS in a market town hope extended opening hours will stem the flow of drinkers attracted to towns with late-night drinking. Six pubs in Crook have applied for extended hours on Fridays and Saturdays. David Leighton, from Ye Olde Horse Shoe Inn,
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It's jam today for school's future pupils
HUNDREDS of east Durham pupils will be tuning up this morning for a music session with a difference. Wellfield School, in Wingate, will be throwing open its doors for the first time to children from its feeder nursery, infant and junior schools, to take
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Giving reptiles a hand
AN animal-loving broadcasting celebrity is coming to the aid of the country's only sanctuary for unwanted reptiles, based in the North-East. Wendy Turner Webster, of Channel Four's Pet Rescue, will kick off the Reptile Trust's latest fundraising effort
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Courageous Lucy shows she can step out in style
A TEENAGER who overcame a crippling leg injury has been crowned the best free-style dancer in Britain. Thirteen-year-old Lucy Metcalfe, from Shildon, County Durham, has carried off the coveted Nationwide Medallist of the Year award at Blackpool's Winter
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Break-in conspiracy
A MAN has admitted being involved in an attempted break-in at a post office over a Bank Holiday weekend. David Fisher, 41, yesterday pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to burgle Bishop Auckland Post Office, between April 30 and May 3 last year.
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Homes building scheme wins approval
A PROPOSAL to build 56 new homes in the centre of a County Durham town have been given permission by councillors. The plans to build the homes in Consett were given approval by councillors on Derwentside District Council, subject to conditions including
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Beckham aims to lead by example and keep top job
David Beckham is backing himself to make a big impact as new England captain and underlined his determination to hold on to the role long-term. Beckham will skipper his country for the first time when caretaker coach Peter Taylor's new-look side face
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Pubs crack down on troublemakers
POLICE have called time on rowdy revellers with a scheme aimed at ending the misery of residents. Publicans, police and council officials have joined forces with Pubwatch at Low Fell, near Gateshead. Nine pubs in Durham Road will warn each other of troublemakers
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Mother battles drugs menace
Distraught Beverley Dixon was determined to save her son's friends from drugs when he died from a heroin overdose. So she is making them attend an inquest into his death, when the final hours of his life will he outlined. Sports-mad David Dixon, 16, turned
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University security review follows attack on student
SECURITY has been reviewed at the Durham Students' Union building following an attack on a student. The fourth-year male was set upon in toilets in Dunelm House, New Elvet, Durham, by a gang believed to be from outside the university community. The student
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Documentary focuses on iron mining history
THE hills were alive (once) with the sound of ironstone mining. Now a council is sponsoring a film-maker's quest to make a documentary. Craig Hornby, 33, the man behind the lens, has already recorded the reminiscences of retired miners for the video,
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Fan given two-year football ban
POLICE have succeeded in getting a North-East football hooligan banned from every match in the country for the next two years. Michael Hawdon has been made the subject of a football banning order under new legislation introduced after the Euro 2000 championships
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It's a Grand job, says Champion
Grand National-winning jockey Bob Champion was in the region last night, to encourage youngsters to consider a career in racing. Mr Champion was representing the Northern Racing College, Doncaster, at the GO 2000 careers event at the Arc, in Stockton.
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Flood-hit communities getting back to normal
A COMMUNITY is returning to normal following severe flooding in Teesside last week. High Clarence Primary School in Stockton reopened yesterday, after high water levels had closed it for almost a week. The school's nursery was expected to be open as usual
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Tasty way to back farmers
THE best of British farm produce is on the menu for a church's autumn supper. Members of All Saints Church, East Cowton, near Northallerton, have put together a choice of dishes for the event on Saturday, at 7.30pm, to show their confidence in locally-produced
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Bogus officer's jewellery haul
A BOGUS council officer made off with thousands of pounds worth of jewellery after tricking a pensioner into believing she was a genuine caller. The woman, in her late-20s, called on the 81-year-old at about 11.30am on Saturday. When she arrived at the
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Man grew cannabis in dad's home
AN innocent couple were on holiday when police raided their home and seized a drugs farm, a court heard yesterday. Thomas Kline, 37, installed 29 cannabis plants in the airing cupboard at his parents' house soon after waving them off, said Ian Skelt,
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Quite a lot of pomp in the circumstances
LIFE will never seem quite as rich again after last weekend. For reasons best known to himself, the Lord Mayor of London decided to appoint me his chaplain. The Lord Mayor is elected every year in November and spends his year in a great variety of ceremonial
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A drop of the North-East's finest for African city
THE North-East's very own water company has been chosen by South Africa's largest city to improve and manage its water and waste water networks. Greater Johannesburg local authority has selected Northumbrian Water as the preferred bidder to provide water
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Job Search 2000
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Assistant shop manager, Richmond, £4.52ph, 21-28hrs pw, retail experience an advantage but not essential as training given, must be flexible regarding
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JOb Search 2000
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Domestic staff, Marton, £3.85ph, Wed 9am to 3.30pm, required for elderly tenants in own homes, must have some experience. Ref: MID 20978. LGV Class
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Job Search 2000
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Welder, Peterlee, £3.70ph, 40hrs pw, age 18 plus, semi-skilled Mig welder required, must hold clean, current driving licence and telephone. Ref: PEV
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Police take high-tech command
POLICE have commissioned a high-tech command vehicle to enable them to handle major incidents more efficiently. The Major Incident Command Vehicle has been developed by Cleveland Police at a cost of £35,000. Designed to act as a nerve centre for the combined
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Teachers to meet schools plan head
TEACHERS are to meet the man heading a schools' shake-up today. Richard Jenner has been given responsibility for the coordination and delivery of plans to build a £10m City Academy on the site of two existing comprehensives, Langbaurgh and Keldhome, each
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£2m draft for good health
A PLAN has been drafted to spend up to £2.1m on improving the health and social care of an area's residents. At a meeting of Middlesbrough Borough Council's cabinet today, Middlesbrough and Eston Primary Care Group will present its investment plan for
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GYM_tonic for high jumper aiming for place at commonwealth games
A COUNTY Durham athlete will be hoping to achieve even greater heights with a year's free gym sponsorship from his local council. Wear Valley District Council's leisure and marketing department has offered Ian Holliday, the North-East indoor and outdoor
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Fun run mudlarks rewarded
YOUNGSTERS received their just rewards for wallowing in mud as part of a charity run. The children, from Kirkleatham School, in Redcar, completed the seventh annual 10k Green Tree Run, promoted by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and The Tees Forest
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Firm builds on past success
A NORTH-EAST building firm is poised to sweep the boards in a national competition for the third year running. Landscape, building and drainage materials manufacturer Marshalls, at Eaglescliffe, Teesside, has been shortlisted in the 2000 Brick Awards.
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Tributes paid to writer and former councillor
TRIBUTES have been paid to a former journalist and local historian who has died after a long illness. Derek Hebden, who was 68, combined a long career with The Northern Echo and its sister papers the Durham Advertiser series with service as a councillor
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Yorkshire's batting loss proves Glaisdale's gain
With the economical enthusiasm for which Yorkshiremen are renowned, John Thompson - 61-year-old captain of Glaisdale CC - rings after the awards night to report that their top batsman had a "fairly good" average. It's an exact quote. Darren Harland's
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Mallon letter piles on pressure
POLICE watchdogs will meet this week to decide whether yet another inquiry should be launched into the crisis-hit Cleveland force after a dramatic new twist. Lawyers representing suspended detective Ray Mallon have lodged an official complaint about the
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The Echo says...
POLICEMEN and presidents both need the trust of the people and the communities they serve. In America, there is growing concern that, whether it be Al Gore or George W Bush who wins, their legitimacy will have been damaged. What sort of mandate is given
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Midge can hold on to his place
HARTLEPOOL United boss Chris Turner last night told rejuvenated striker Craig Midgley: 'Keep it going.' Midgley is back in the Pool side after injury and suspension robbed Turner of a trio of strikers and he made the most of his chance in Saturday's win
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Robson gives Dyer warning as clubs chase Magpies star
Bobby Robson has warned clubs chasing England midfielder Kieron Dyer not to waste his time. Italian giants AC Milan and Inter Milan are the latest to be linked with the 21-year-old Newcastle star, who wins his sixth cap in Turin tonight. Leeds have also
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New Flintoff blow hinders
England enter today's opening Test against Pakistan with injuries still clouding their selection plans after another setback yesterday. Less than eight hours after landing in Pakistan as cover for injuries which were troubling Michael Vaughan and captain
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Woman is swept to her death
A WOMAN died after being swept away by the River Swale at Richmond yesterday. A witness dialled 999 after seeing her fall into the fast-flowing current at the waterfall below the castle at about 9am and police were on the scene within minutes. Officers
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Milburn writes a £450m prescription for the NHS
HEALTH secretary Alan Milburn announced a £450m tonic for the NHS last night. The cash will be spent on cutting waiting times, providing new drugs and improving anti-smoking services to reduce deaths from cancer and coronary heart disease. By the end
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Guard dog destroyed after boy attacked at scrapyard
A BOY seeking scrap for a go-kart was savaged by a guard dog while his brother and their friend could only look on in horror. Twelve-year-old Andrew Peacock, from St Helen Auckland, had visited a scrapyard near his home with older brother, Gareth, and
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Firm builds on past success
A NORTH-EAST building firm is poised to sweep the boards in a national competition for the third year running. Landscape, building and drainage materials manufacturer Marshalls, at Eaglescliffe, Teesside, has been shortlisted in the 2000 Brick Awards.
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Families to get verdict on village green fight
RESIDENTS will today hear the outcome of their High Court fight to have an open space - used by locals for sports and recreation for at least 20 years - declared a village green. Pamela Beresford of Limetree, Fatfield, is challenging the City of Sunderland's
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Council hopes initiative will create work opportunities
JOB seekers flocked to a fair aimed at boosting employment and career opportunities in Darlington. The Darlington Into Work event, held at the town's Dolphin Centre on Monday, followed a similar event last year and attracted a bumper crowd of young and
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£3m upgrade breathes new life into school
A SCHOOL hopes to become the heart of a community after unveiling a £3m refurbishment. King James First Community College, Bishop Auckland, has been given a new lease of life with a multi-million pound investment that should improve life for students,
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Extra cash grants to beat the burglars
About 3,000 homes in Gateshead will benefit from extra Home Office cash to tackle burglary, it was announced today. The crime-breaking scheme, run by Northumbria Police in partnership with Gateshead Metropolitan Council, was awarded £60,000 in April 1999
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Teenager denies raping woman in alleyway
A TEENAGER went on trial yesterday, accused of trying to rape a woman in an alleyway after an evening out. John Sanderson is alleged to have offered to walk the woman home from a bar in Hartlepool and then, after ignoring requests for him to leave her
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Teenager urged to contact her family
POLICE are urging a teenager missing from her home for more than three weeks to contact her family. Lindsay Pearson, 15, was last seen on Friday, October 20, when she went missing from The Coach and Eight pub, in North Road, Durham City, run by her mother
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Fishermen warn of new fuel protest
CANCELLED fuel protests by fishermen across the region could be renewed if the industry does not receive Government help. Fishermen suspended their action, pending a meeting with Agriculture Minister Nick Brown later this week. The fishermen had been
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Spa pool therapy a splash hit at centre
A HIGH-TECH hydrotherapy pool has proved a real hit with disabled people who have given it a whirl in one north Durham town. The spa pool - the only one of its kind in the North-East - is the latest addition to the facilities offered at the award-winning
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Experts to examine crater
COUNCIL engineers will meet with mining consultants today to examine a gaping hole which suddenly appeared in an area of old mine workings near Newcastle International Airport. The crater, 80ft wide and about 100ft deep, was discovered by a member of
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Accusation of hypocrisy over metric measures
campaigners claimed last night that a council taking a greengrocer to court for selling a pound of bananas is itself peddling goods in imperial measures, Greengrocer Steven Thoburn, 36, is facing prosecution by Sunderland City Council for selling his
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Toast of the quay
A NEW beer has been produced in honour of the continuing work to restore HMS Trincomalee in the region. Camerons Brewery, in Hartlepool, has launched Famous Frigate to celebrate work on HMS Trincomalee, which has been restored at the Historic Quay over
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Headteacher faces inquiry
A headteacher has been suspended from her job at a village school over claims she smacked pupils. Elizabeth Carey, 51, was removed from her job at the tenpupil Millfield First School, in Northumberland, after parents complained to police. Police and education
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Woman 'lied about rape'
POLICE have reassured residents there is no rapist at large in Hartlepool, after a woman was said to have lied about being attacked in her home. The woman claimed to have been raped by a man who tricked his way into her home, in the Alwick Road and York
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Sous on the warpath?
The Game Tavern isn't the place for those who like Sunday lunch to offer change and a doggy bag from a fifty shilling note, nor indeed - as shortly we shall explain - for diners who prefer to be home for the World at One. With one or two slings in the
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Building on a hiding to nowhere
WHEN George Thompson locked the doors to a hide and skin works for the last time he told his manager he wanted to be the person to press the button to bring it to the ground. Yesterday, 15 years later, Mr Thompson, 69, had his wish granted when he returned
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Armed gang strikes twice
AN Armed gang is believed to have stolen thousands of pounds in clothes and cash in two raids on Tyneside. Staff members were slightly hurt in each incicent. Two men, armed with a hammer and a crook lock, burst into the Bike Place, at Gateshead's MetroCentre
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JOb Search 2000
MORE details about the jobs below are available from the Employment Service Direct on (0845) 606 0234. Vehicle spray painter, Manfield, 40hrs pw, am to 5pm Mon-Fri plus overtime, must be time served and fully experienced in spraying commercial vehicles
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Brigade may ban phone masts
SAFETY fears have prompted a fire authority to consider ban ning mobile phone masts at fire stations in the area. The Cleveland authority will meet on Friday to discuss proposals for a ban on masts being built for profit on its land. A recommendation
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Computer learning centre to come on-line
A £1.2M learning centre with the latest computer technology is to open in Newcastle. The centre, at West Gate Community College, will be funded under the Government's Excellence in Cities initiative and will be linked electronically to centres at Walbottle
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Schoolboy makes grade in contest
A SCHOOLBOY from the region has been voted one of the top GCSE students in the country. Dominic Morgan, 16, who attends High Tunstall Comprehensive School, in Hartlepool, achieved the highest social sciences GCSE during the summer. Dominic was one of
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Doctors in this house on the move
A CENTURY-OLD doctor's surgery is set to close its doors for the final time. Harland House in Norton, which was a doctor's house, and later became home to Norton Medical Centre, will close on Friday. The medical centre, which has eight doctors and more
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Joel's pride as medal arrives - 60 years late
A SECOND World War veteran has been awarded a medal nearly 60 years after his part in the conflict. Joel Aldred, 81, from Ferryhill, County Durham, found out a year ago that the Greek government had decided to honour him. But the medal for his exploits
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Strikes called over bins row
REFUSE workers are planning a series of one-day strikes in protest at changes to their contracts. The first strike involving refuse workers in Redcar and Cleveland will begin on Monday, starting at 6am, and lasting for 24 hours. This will be accompanied
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Plan to bulldoze homes is criticised
A WOULD-BE Tory MP has slammed controversial plans to flatten thousands of homes in rundown areas of Newcastle. Labour-run Newcastle City Council has revised its Going for Growth blueprint following protests from residents. The council plans to demolish
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Forum bid to settle battle over beach cleaning tradition
MOVES to settle a long-running dispute over ways to keep Hartlepool beaches clean get under way next week. For decades, people living in Hartlepool have complained about seacoalers, people who collect dumped coal and other materials from beaches, to sell
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Cut-price deal on security for bike owners
POLICE are offering cyclists the chance to secure their bikes against thieves by buying cut-price marking equipment. Cleveland Police are selling electronic transponders at the reduced cost of £10. They give cycles registration numbers, which identify
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Closer watch wanted on criminals
CRIMINALS could soon be watched even more closely as Hartlepool Borough councillors move to increase CCTV coverage in the town. There are 33 closed circuit cameras watching crime hot spots throughout the town, but the system is not always monitored. That
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Four hurt as cars crash
FOUR people were hurt when two cars crashed on a major North-East road. The accident happened on the A19 Hylton Bridge, at Sunderland, at 7.30pm on Sunday. A Renault 5 hit the central barrier and rebounded into the offside lane, where it stopped with
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Helen wins contest to have story published
A schoolgirl has beaten off competition from 5,000 other writers from across Britain and abroad to win a competition. Now Helen Hammond, 14, of Chester-le-Street will have her work published in a book of short stories. Helen is among 100 youngsters to
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Champions need backers
A TEENAGE dancer from the North-East and her Welsh partner are looking for sponsorship following a championship win. Victoria Carruthers, 15, and Lee Penaluna, 17, became the British under-21 classical sequence champions at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool
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Joiner welcomes mature folk
A TEESSIDE firm which has recently expanded into bigger premises has given a fresh start to two men who have been unable to find work. Tim Clarke, 43, from South Bank, was unemployed for more than 11 years, while Brian Thompson, 53, from Middlesbrough
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Teacher vies for big prize
A NORTH-EAST science teacher has been short-listed for a £10,000 prize for her work. Christine Prior, of Bede College, in Billingham, is one of seven people nationwide nominated for the Salters' Prize for Chemistry. The winning teacher takes home £5,000
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Window tribute to late curate
A CHURCH window, which has been restored in memory of a former curate and solicitor, will be dedicated this month. Charles Michael Wilson was a former curate at St James' Church, Albert Hill, Darlington, and hailed from Teesside. He was also known as
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Camerons Brewery set for sale
ONE of the North-East's most famoud names in brewing looks set to change hands. The famous Camerons Lion is believed to be up for sale with owner Wolverhampton & Dudley expected to announce plans for the Hartlepool site within the next few weeks.
