Archive
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Airbag alert follows thefts
AIRBAG thieves are operating in North Yorkshire, stealing devices from two cars in Moulton. A Ford Ka and a Citroen Xsara, parked on drives outside their owners' homes, were targeted on Monday night. The total for January in the Richmond area stands at
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Arc helps students to bring Shakespeare to life
YOUNG people will bring Shakespeare's work to life in a series of special performances next week. Arc in Stockton has worked with every school and college in Teesside to produce a variety of difference performances across the area. Next week the works
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Car was sold with incorrect mileage record
A CAR dealer has pleaded guilty to two counts of false trade description. Barry Appleby, trading as Premier People Carriers, in Brunswick Street, Stockton entered a plea of guilty on Tuesday, the second day of his trial, having originally pleaded not
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Nursing home mourns 'Aunty Bella', at 107
ONE of the North-East's oldest residents has died aged 107. Bella Morton, a former postwoman, had lived at Peterlee Nursing Home, Peterlee, County Durham, for the last ten years. She was born on November 22, 1893, at Wellfield Station, and walked the
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C&A store goes, Littlewoods takes its place
LITTLEWOODS will take control of the anchor store of a North-East shopping centre at the end of March. Work started on Tuesday fitting out the store, recently vacated by C&A, in the Cornmill Shopping Centre, Darlington. Albion Small, manager of the
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Council home improvement scheme to be backed
COUNCILLORS will meet today to give their approval to a far-reaching programme of improvements to council homes across Stockton borough. The package, totalling £9.6m, will see improvements to hundreds of council homes, as well as providing grants for
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Video vote on changes
PEOPLE in Sunderland are being put in the picture about changes to the shape of the city council. A "vox pop" box, in which people can record their views on video tape, will tour the city as part of the consultation campaign Your Choice, Your Campaign
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Brave Sally seeking a home
A VET who had to amputate a stray dog's leg after the animal was struck by a lorry has hit out at irresponsible pet owners. Thankfully, black and white mongrel Sally has made a full recovery from the accident, thanks to the care she received at Sandy
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Museum visitors get close to nature
MUSEUM visitors took the chance to get up close to some live exhibits, normally only viewed from a safe distance. The Hancock Museum, in Newcastle, released some of its more exotic live attractions, normally kept out of harms way in secure cases and cages
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Cracking down on rip-off agents
UNSCRUPULOUS agents who seek to rip off young starlets are being targeted in a new crackdown. The Government yesterday unveiled a series of measures to try to protect budding models and actors, among more than 500,000 temporary workers. Agents will be
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In The Picture
THE British Academy Film Awards have always been Oscar's poor relation. They've been regarded as an after-thought, a ceremony that occurs weeks after the more glamorous Academy Awards in Hollywood. The Oscar ceremony may be over the top but boy, do those
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Websites dumped to give shares a boost
online business trading platform Just2Clicks.com last night said it would offload three websites in an effort to halve spending. The move comes as the Newcastle firm primed itself to make a major acquisition or even consider offers for the company. Just2Clicks
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Man attacked in city centre by youth
A MAN suffered a fractured cheek bone in an attack in a Sunderland street. The 20-year-old was walking along Tunstall Road, near the junction with Thornhill Park, at 10pm, on Tuesday, when he was jumped from behind by a youth and assaulted. The attacker
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Free Help at home offered
A COUNCIL has brought on board its very own Handy Andy to help people with odd jobs around their homes. Stockton Borough Council has joined forces with Age Concern Teesside and Transmore Van Hire to help people who cannot carry out their own household
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Precious video stolen
THIEVES who broke into a house stole precious memories as well as valuable property. The burglary victims are appealing to crooks to return not the hoard of gems and electrical gear stolen, but a treasured video which was in their camcorder when it was
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Faithful dogs join their new family
FAITHFUL pet dogs Dax and Jane have found a new home following the death of her elderly owner. The cross-breed terriers had been staying at Shincliffe Mill Boarding Kennels, near Durham City, since their owner fell ill on Christmas Day. She later died
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Villagers' plea for better lighting
PEOPLE in a small east Cleveland village are angry that their local council has turned down a request for safer street lighting. Residents of Carlin How say they are the forgotten village of Redcar and Cleveland and claim the council does nothing for
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Prostitute tells of rape at gunpoint
A PROSTITUTE told a court yesterday how she was raped in her home by a client who held a gun to her head. She said it was the second time in just over a week that kerb-crawler Keith Arliss, 37, picked her up in Middlesbrough's red light district. The
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Anti-violence project gets extension
AN art project that aims to educate the public about the scale of domestic violence in County Durham has been such a success it looks likely to be given a six-month extension. Derwentside District Council officers have recommended that councillors allow
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Outlook is bleak for village pub
A NORTH Yorkshire village seems certain to lose its pub, even though an application for new homes on the site has failed to win support. Newton-le-Willows, near Bedale, has already lost its post office, shop and village school, and The Wheatsheaf Hotel
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Pop singer's youth talk
CALIFORNIAN pop and country singer Ashley Jay, 16, is to hold a chat shop in Consett, County Durham, for youngsters to talk about drugs and other youth issues. Miss Jay, who works with troubled youngsters in the US, will also be performing at Consett's
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Rare flora extends its fame on global scale
WITH its small, kidney-shaped leaves and greenish-yellow flowers, until this week the alchemilla minima was found only in the Yorkshire Dales - but now can be seen all over the world. The limestone grassland plant, known only by its scientific name, is
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Closing door on a lifetime of memories
BIDDING a final farewell to her terraced home will prove a real wrench for miner's widow Ivy Barker. For from the day she was born, 82-year-old Ivy has lived in the same house at Number 9 Ascot Street, in Easington Colliery, County Durham. It was only
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New-style public consultation meetings to begin
THE first meetings of new-style public consultation forums will be held in Derwentside later this month. Derwentside District Council, Durham County Council and the Derwentside Primary Care Group - the local authority for health services such as GPs and
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Authority may drop collection service
PLANS to stop making door-to-door rent collections could finally be approved by councillors. Leading councillors at Derwentside District Council agreed in principle to cut the service to the 2,700 council house tenants who used the service last year,
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Authority signals support for revival of Dales rail line
A bid to revive an old railway line through the heart of the Yorkshire Dales has won tentative backing at a meeting. The authority which runs the national park has been one of the organisations which has, in the past, resisted the restoration of a link
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Death of ex-footballer spurs workers into charity action
BIG-hearted workers at a North-East company are game for anything when it comes to charity. Inspired by one-time Middlesbrough footballer and motor neurone sufferer Willie Maddren, who died last August, staff at Ravenstock Tam have raised £2,080 for research
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Police in road accident plea
POLICE are appealing for witnesses to a rush-hour accident which led to a city's central motorway being closed for three hours yesterday. The accident happened when a Ford Escort hit the central reservation near the Swan House roundabout, Newcastle, just
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Charity offers training for care home workers
CARE workers across the region are being offered a helping hand to gain vital training and qualifications. St John Ambulance in North Yorkshire and Teesside is providing courses in care at NVQ levels two and three. The scheme is designed to help care
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Bike pair hurt in head-on collision
A MOTORCYCLIST and his passenger were taken to hospital and detained overnight following a head-on collision. The accident happened at about 7.45pm on Tuesday as a Ford Sierra and a Triumph motorcycle travelled in opposite directions along the Greenway
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Bank helps tanker firm keep on the move
A TANKER company from the region has improved the quality of its fleet thanks to £750,000 of funding from Yorkshire Bank. Imperial Tankers of Billingham offers specialised transportation for chemicals, fuel and edible oils and it delivers 700,000 tonnes
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WWaddle I do without you, Malcolm the one-eyed mallard asks guide duck daisy
THE world is a dangerous place for a bird with one eye, but this mallard has his own guide duck. An attack by a rat on a nest of ducklings left the six-month-old bird with only one eye, and vulnerable when his mother abandoned the nest, but another duckling
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And let the flags fly once more
NEWLY created an MBE at the age of 92, the remarkable Canon Leonard Piper makes a heady admission in the Durham diocesan newspaper. Before the last war, he says, he and fellow curate Brian Canning would frequently fly a black shirt from the tower of St
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Bus shelter deal struck
MORE than 80 bus shelters are to be installed throughout a County Durham town. A contract signed by Darlington Borough Council and Adshel will result in the shelters being placed on busy bus routes over the next two years. Adshel, the UK's biggest street
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Firefighters' training gear goes missing
POLICE are investigating the theft of a trailer which is used to train firefighters at a North-East airport. The trailer, valued at £8,000, was stolen from the fire station at Teesside International Airport, at 11.35am yesterday. It contains equipment
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Community in shock after PC found hanged at home
MYSTERY surrounds the death of a promising young police officer who was discovered hanged in his own home. PC Andrew Miller was the beat officer for the Chilton area, in County Durham, and was highly-respected both within the force and the local community
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Robson happy to release Dyer for England
NEWCASTLE manager Bobby Robson has pledged to do all he can to help England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, including releasing Kieron Dyer for this month's friendly against Spain. The former England boss has warned Eriksson that Dyer is struggling for fitness
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Shearer edges ahead of Cort in fitness race
ALAN Shearer has overhauled Carl Cort in their personal battle to be the first to return to front line action at Newcastle United. It appeared certain that Shearer would still be on the sidelines when Cort made his first team comeback after being out
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Concerns grow for missing man
CONCERN is growing for the welfare of a missing man. Two police forces are looking for Edward Corbett who was last seen leaving his Middlesbrough home to attend his father's funeral, in Leeds, on January 25, and has not been seen since. The 39-year-old
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Couple warn of danger
A COUPLE are warning about the silent killer - carbon monoxide - after a lucky escape. Deadly fumes killed George and Norma Brown's four- month-old poodle, then knocked them out. The couple had contacted their daughter, Michelle Thompson, after discovering
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Thieves get away with £30,000 in store rooftop raid
THIEVES stole £30,000 in gift vouchers, telephone cards, stamps and cash in a roof-top raid on a city store. The huge haul was taken when raiders scaled the rear of WH Smith, in Durham's Market Place, and smashed their way in through a window at roof
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We won't give in over steel
THE Government and unions last night refused to surrender in the fight for thousands of jobs axed by steelmaker Corus. Trade Secretary Stephen Byers pulled no punches over the group's decision to shed more than 6,000 workers nationwide. The cuts leave
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Eagles sent on Coventry trophy hunt
NATURAL Flow Newcastle Eagles are hoping to take their fine BBL championship form into uni-ball trophy this weekend, as Tony Garbelotto and his team take on London Leopards in the quarter finals at the Skydome Arena in Coventry tomorrow, tip off 3.45
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Old soothsayer may go public
A DECISION is imminent on whether a major tourist attraction should go into public ownership. A campaign has been launched in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, for Mother Shipton's Cave to be taken into public ownership, so it can be retained as a magnet
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Charity race to help pay for autism treatment
THE family of a three-year-old autistic boy, whose mother claims her son's condition was caused by the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, are holding a charity race night to help to pay for his expensive treatment. Matthew Gibson was a healthy,
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Campaign to encourage reduced salt intake
HOSPITAL staff involved in a national campaign are hoping their advice will not be taken with a pinch of salt. Dieticians at South Cleveland Hospital, in Middlesbrough, are aiming to raise awareness of the amount of salt in a typical diet as part of a
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£500m and 18,000 jobs - value of green industry
THE massive economical boost to the region from the environmental sector has been outlined by the results of a new survey. According to the Environmental Industries Federation (EIF) figures, the sector accounts for 18,000 jobs and £522m of the North-East
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Half-way house scheme backed
ONE of the first half-way-houses for ex-service personnel facing life on the streets is to be opened in North Yorkshire - just a few miles from the Army's biggest UK garrison. Research last year showed as many as one in four of Britain's homeless people
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Getting ahead with the web
A report launched this week has recommended the use of a so-called "surfing proficiency test" to help youngsters get more out of the Internet. The idea is that children will be able to take the test to qualify for unsupervised use of the Internet at school
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Oldest woman dies at 103
THE oldest resident of Newton Aycliffe has died only days short of her 104th birthday. Jessie Farrow, who lived in Defoe Court Nursing Home, achieved her ambition of seeing the new millennium. Her great-nephew, Anthony Parkin, said: "She always said she'd
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Parents vow to fight for school
PARENTS and pupils held a demonstration yesterday to find out why their special school is earmarked for closure. Council proposals to close Westlands residential school in Eltham Crescent, Thornaby, along with Bishopsmills and Saltergill special schools
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Class of '52 to reunite
FORMER pupils of the class of '52 at a now-defunct primary school will have the chance to officially reunite for the first time since their schooldays. The former pupils of West Stanley Front Street County Mixed School, which was known as the Board School
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Airline restores the Oslo connection
NORTH-EAST travellers will get back a direct air service between Newcastle Airport and Oslo, thanks to a new non-stop British Airways service. British Airways' largest franchise partner, British Regional Airlines, will start a 1hr 50min daily service
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400 sign petition against phone mast at stadium
ABOUT 400 people have signed a petition to prevent a mobile phone mast from being erected at a sports stadium. One2One has applied to Middlesbrough Borough Council for permission to put up a mast, complete with transmitters, at the town's Clairville Stadium
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Lord to honour nine TA soldiers
NINE territorial Army soldiers are to be presented with outstanding service certificates by the Lord Lieutenant of Teesside, Lord Gisborough, at a ceremony at the Hollis VC Armoury, at Coulby Newham, on Friday. Lord Gisborough will also inspect a guard
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Quake appeal started
AN INDIAN community has launched an appeal to raise £10,000 to help survivors of the Gujarat earthquake. Kish Shah, secretary of Cleveland's Hindu Cultural Society, said: "We have been contacted by many churches and voluntary groups across Teesside, all
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Great! i've scratched my new car
A MAN who went to buy a packet of sweets for his children came away with a car. Self-employed block pavier Marc Pickering, from Spennymoor, County Durham, won a £15,000 Vauxhall Astra SRi after buying an Instants scratchcard at Tudhoe Colliery Post Office
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Suspect says stab victim was friend
MURDER suspect Lee Bright told a court yesterday how he had long conversations with stab victim Bruce Walker and considered him a friend. Mr Walker bled to death after he was stabbed three times in the back following a visit to The Garden, Newcastle -
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Crockery and pottery with place in history
A NORTH-EAST museum has gone to pot with the opening of a new exhibition of 1950s and 1960s crockery. The Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, is showing a display of studio pottery and glass, which will run until April 22. The exhibition shows
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Couple set fundraising goal to help son
A FAMILY are hoping that a fundraising campaign will help them to coax their young son from his locked world. Sandra and David Barker, from Bishop Auckland, want to take two-year-old Ryan to a centre in America which offers development programmes for
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Bosses in move to cut prison numbers
MOVES are under way to ease overcrowding at one of the North-East's oldest jails, prison bosses revealed last night. About 160 inmates are to be moved to other institutions from Durham Jail where prisoner numbers are exceeding capacity. The announcement
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Police force door in gas leak scare
POLICE and fire officials forced their way into a house after reports of a gas leak. Transco contacted Hartlepool police at 7.50pm on Tuesday after officials had failed to rouse the residents of a house where there was a strong smell of gas. A gas meter
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Mayor stages ball on warship Invincible
LINKS between Durham and its adopted warship are being renewed in a busy schedule of activities in coming days. HMS Invincible, the Royal Navy fleet flagship, sails into the River Tyne today, at the start of a six-day visit, building on affiliations with
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Time running out for bridge
THE restoration of Reeth's historic suspension bridge is becoming a race against time. The original crossing stood for more than 80 years until it was washed away in floods last year. A tree trunk, being carried downstream by the fast-flowing River Swale
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Inquiry after man dies at wheel of car
POLICE are investigating the death of a pensioner who is understood to have collapsed behind the wheel of his car. The 69-year-old man was pronounced dead at Sunderland Royal Hospital following an accident when his Fiat Panda hit a rock in Sandpoint Road
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Water mixing well with Scotch
Northumbrian Water has won a major deal in the brewing industry. It has signed a partnering agreement with Bairds Malt, the UK's major supplier of malt to the whisky, and brewing industries. This will see the company providing water and wastewater services
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Flats blaze blamed on extension lead
HOUSEHOLDERS in the region have been warned to check electrical appliances after a family narrowly cheated death in a blaze at their home. The fire broke out at a ground floor flat in Diamond Street, Saltburn, early yesterday. The building is a house
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Council savings axe falls on jobs
Proposals by a north Durham council to save more than £300,000 through restructuring have been completed. Derwentside District Council has shed 23 jobs, including those of two directors, in a streamlining of the authority from five main departments to
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Club is victim of handbag snatch
A REWARD has been offered for the return of an unusual prop to a North-East night-club. The owners of the Millennium Disco, at Teesside Park, Stockton, are searching for a giant handbag stolen from a special party night. Despite being danced around by
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Police chiefs to meet public
POLICE chiefs will meet residents on Tyneside next week to discuss crime problems. Gateshead West's senior officer, Superintendent Brian Graham, will talk about plans for future policing of the area at a meeting in Birtley Council Offices, Durham Road
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Youth charged over shop raid
A YOUTH has been charged in connection with a robbery at Somal's store, in Bradley Close, Ouston, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, last week. Eighteen-year-old Richard Thompson, of no fixed address, but originally from The Brooms area of Ouston,
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Scare for children as beasts flee from mart
TERRIFIED children had to be kept indoors yesterday after two beasts escaped from the auction mart near their school. Renewed calls were later made for an alternative site to be found for Northallerton Auction Mart before anyone is seriously hurt. The
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Search to find clues over body on rocks
POLICE have carried out a fingertip search of the area where a young man's body was found a week ago. Detectives are still trying to discover how 18-year-old John Paul Jeffries died. A murder-style inquiry was launched after the his body was found by
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No time to sneer at Hartlepool
ON FRIDAY, the London Evening Standard gloated over the downfall of Peter Mandelson. What would he do next, it asked? He'd spent all his life gathering oily skills and now had "nobody to give them to apart from the lowlife scum of Hartlepool". This obsessively
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Youngsters face tough language challenge
YOUNGSTERS in County Durham are being given the chance to learn some of Europe's most difficult languages. Special sessions are being held in 15 schools, organised by Durham County Council's international office, to raise awareness of the European Year
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Lift for disabled Russians
DAY centre clients in Spennymoor are helping to put a group of disabled Russian people on the road. Young members of Spennymoor Day Centre's Kaleidoscope Group, who all have a physical disability or sensory impairment, hope to send two adapted buses to
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Group's mining village tribute
A theatre group for disabled people is hoping to pay tribute to a village's mining heritage. Snug (Special Needs Unity Group) is based at Annfield Plain, near Stanley, and brings together handicapped and able-bodied actors. The group has made two successful
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Gazza backs double act to pull Boro clear of relegation
FORMER Boro star Paul Gascoigne welcomed two of his former bosses to Goodison Park on Wednesday, and then backed them to save the Teessiders from the dreaded drop. Gazza met up again with Bryan Robson, his manager at Middlesbrough, and Terry Venables,
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Therapy centre plan for station
WORK is under way to create a sports therapy centre in an old Hartlepool police station. Simon Hunter, 29, of Hartlepool, is converting the office, in Brierton Lane, into a therapy centre. The centre will open opposite the £2m sports complex to be built
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Forbidden fruits of the seashore
A LEGAL expert has claimed that the traditional activity of sea coaling is illegal and should not get in the way of coastline protection schemes. Hartlepool Borough Council has faced objections from sea coalers to its plans to build a wave wall and promenade
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'Stressed' teachers may vote for action
TEACHERS could vote to take industrial action, amid claims that staff shortages are causing them stress. The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) is in talks with its Middlesbrough members, along with members of the
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Quakers impressed by Forge
DARLINGTON manager Gary Bennett is stepping up his interest in left back Nicolas Forge. The Frenchman turned in another good display on Wednesday night in the reserves' defeat by Scunthorpe, after he impressed in his previous game against Blackpool Reserves
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A star in waiting
A NORTH-East singing sensation has made it through to the nail-biting last ten stage of the star-making TV show Popstars. Michelle Heaton, a 21-year-old from Newcastle, has seen off nearly 3,000 other wannabes to reach the final stage of the programme
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Bogus security men steal woman's cash
POLICE have hit out at crooks who posed as security men before stealing hundreds of pounds from an elderly woman. The two men approached the pensioner at her Blakelock Road home, in Hartlepool, and said they wanted to fit security cameras on the outside
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Race fans fancy Cape flutter
MEMBERS of one of the region's most successful racing clubs are winging their way to South Africa for their ideal holiday. Horse racing fans from the Mary Reveley Racing Club, in Stockton, will fly out to South Africa this week for a fortnight's trip.
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Parking fees rise has mixed reception
PARKING charges are to rise in Barnard Castle, prompting fears that the increase could sound the death knell for traders. Teesdale District Council agreed yesterday to replace the 40p per hour fee in its main Galgate car park - next to the Safeway supermarket
