Archive
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Driver's courtesy before tragedy
The jury in the trial of a man accused of causing the deaths of ten men in the Selby train crash was told yesterday how he had driven "courteously" along a motorway. Lorry driver George Garner said he saw Gary Hart driving along the M62 shortly before
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Development agency's new members announced
regional development agency One NorthEast yesterday unveiled its new board members. The agency was criticised earlier this week when reports suggested the new appointments would mainly come from Tyneside, leaving County Durham and Teesside under-represented
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Mystery of shield rescued from bog
The three friends didn't know what to make of the beautiful bronze disc they dredged from the remote peat bog. It looked ancient, and probably was, but what did three farmhands know? As far as they were concerned, it simply looked like one thing - easy
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Youngsters spruce up area
YOUNGSTERS from an east Cleveland primary school have been planting trees in an effort to revitalise their village play area. The children from St Peter's CE Primary School, Brotton, began planting 1,860 saplings yesterday in a bid to give the playing
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Glaxo teams up with rival to share new drug profits
PHARMACEUTICAL firm GlaxoSmithKline has boosted its drugs pipeline by signing a deal to co-market Swiss rival Roche's osteoporosis treatment. The two firms have teamed up to develop and promote the drug, ibandronate, in all countries except Japan and
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Re-birth of estate attracts family life
THE re-birth of a Hartlepool housing estate is proving to be a real family affair. Joe Atkins moved from Great Yarmouth to Central Estate and was then followed by his son, Lee Spencer, his ex-wife, Jean, and her daughter, Valerie Blackburn. Confidence
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Architect is remembered in paintings and words
AN exhibition of paintings by the North-East's most famous architect, John Dobson, has gone on display in Newcastle. Mr Dobson, who lived from 1787 to 1865, designed buildings in the city such as Old Eldon Square and the Grainger Market. His fame spread
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Brass band triumph
A BRASS band has gained its best result for 20 years after blowing away competition from around the country. Ferryhill Town Band, from County Durham, finished third in the third division section of the National Mine-workers' Brass Band contest. And after
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Reyna's smart move ends hectic schedule
SUNDERLAND'S new £4.5m signing Claudio Reyna, itching to make his Premiership debut against Chelsea tomorrow, admitted last night: "I've got to be smart about it." The 28-year-old United States captain ended a hectic 48 hours, in which he was involved
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Pub fundraiser in resident's memory
A PUB charity is to help keep alive the memory of a cancer victim. The Old Station Inn, in Tow Law, is due to embark on a day of fundraising today, in memory of former resident Sylvia Lang, who died several months ago. A framed poster of Sunderland AFC's
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Council to pitch in for sports venture
PEOPLE are being asked their opinions on sports pitches with a view to upgrading those most in need. Middlesbrough Council's sports development team has produced a draft playing pitch strategy for the town, outlining areas it has identified as in need
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Exhibition to look at traffic congestion
SOLUTIONS to the region's traffic-logged highways - including setting up road tolls - will be the subject of an exhibition on Tuesday. As part of the Tyneside Area Multi Modal Study (Tamms), local people are being invited to give their opinions about
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Edredon Bleu to leave rivals up the Creek
WHITE-KNUCKLE ride Edredon Bleu has the speed to put his rivals to the sword in the Tingle Creek Trophy Chase at Sandown today. Henrietta Knight's dazzling front-running two-miler prevailed by a short-head over track and trip last term, edging out Fadalko
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Lording it up in the movies
The Lord Of The Rings, the film set to rival the hugely-successful Harry Potter phenomenon, has its world premiere on Monday. Film Writer Steve Pratt explores the fantasy genre. THE pain was too much to bear. Actor Billy Boyd knew he could put off visiting
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Stressed worker took his own life
A MAN who could not cope with stress at work shot himself with an industrial nail gun, an inquest heard. Design engineer Peter Hodgson, 41, chose to kill himself at timber merchants John B Smith's, in Stockton, Teesside, where he worked. Searching for
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Strike threat over move to curb monkey business
FOOTBALL mascots are threatening to down costumes and strike over Football League plans to curb their pitch antics. With the fur flying between mascots, fans and stewards, soccer bosses are threatening to impose a code of conduct to tackle bad behaviour
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Fundraising firemen put clothes on this time
FIREfighters who raised money for the families of the New York crews killed in the World Trade Centre attacks by taking their clothes off, have raked in more cash - this time by dressing up. The men, who performed a full Monty and starred in a saucy calendar
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Chuckles get charity staff smiling
PANTO stars the Chuckle Brothers cut the ribbon yesterday to open a new-look hospice shop. Paul and Barry Chuckle, who are playing Wishee and Washee in Aladdin, at Darlington's Civic Theatre, turned up to help staff at the town's refurbished St Teresa's
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Teenager frog-marched by gun threat stranger
A MAN who pretended to have a gun as he frog-marched a teenager around a town in the middle of the night avoided a jail sentence yesterday. Barry Dunn, 61, of Lakemore, Peterlee, County Durham, admitted a charge of affray and another of using threatening
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Pollution fear residents give up on resisting new homes
RESIDENTS on a Consett estate opposed to new homes on their doorstep are resigned to 51 houses being built after losing a similar battle two years ago. Broseley Homes has had its plans for the homes south of the Hallgarth estate at The Grove, Consett,
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Alternative site sought for town's drop-in centre plan
EFFORTS to create a drop-in centre for youngsters are to continue - despite the scheme being rejected by local councillors. The team behind the proposal said it still wants it to proceed and has pledged to look for an alternative site. North Yorkshire's
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Favouritism doesn't fool Cup veteran Taylor
Darlington head for non-league Altrincham today as firm favourites to win their second-round FA Cup clash. But Tommy Taylor's men are well aware they will have to treat with respect a side two divisions below them in the UniBond Premier. This season Altrincham
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The Point is place to be
THE first newcomer to a revamped £120m North-East industrial complex could soon be on the way. Negotiations with a tenant interested in a 30,000sq ft unit at the Lingfield Point site, in Darlington, are at an advanced stage. It is believed the deal for
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Winter walks will take in town views
A PROGRAMME of winter guided walks around Darlington has been put together by volunteers. The walks, organised by Darlington Borough Council's countryside section, will give people the chance to take different views of the town. Titles of the walks, taking
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'Marinelli better than Juninho' says Ince
PAUL INCE last night controversially claimed that Carlos Marinelli's precocious talent already eclipses the proven quality of all-time Middlesbrough favourite Juninho. Argentinian Marinelli, signed by Bryan Robson from Boca Juniors for £1.5m two years
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Visitor enjoys Northern warmth
THE warm friendly hospitality of the North-East has won the heart of a South African visitor who has spent three months in the region. Aruna Singh explored the facilities at Bishop Auckland College as part of a senior management development programme
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Police place extra patrols to protect festive shoppers
POLICE in Washington are gearing up for the festive season with extra patrols in busy shopping areas. With goods and large amounts of cash and changing hands in the run up to Christmas, Northumbria Police want to ensure that residents and businesses do
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Inquest told of terrifying final moments of crash jet
AN RAF pilot had less than three seconds to save himself as his multi-million pound fighter plummeted to earth when a routine training flight went horribly wrong, an inquest heard yesterday. Witnesses watched in horror as the 600mph Harrier GR7 jump jet
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Santa's pit stop before town tour
SANTA'S sleigh has started its rounds of Darlington after a last-minute MOT. The Darlington Bondgate Round Table tours the town and outlying villages every Christmas to raise funds for local charities. Maintenance work was needed on the sleigh before
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The chapel at amen corner
CASTLE Bolton is in Wensleydale, west of Leyburn, population about 60. It should not be confused with Bolton Abbey, which is on Yorkshire's opposite extreme, but probably it has been for centuries. The semi-ruined castle stands - imposing, eponymous -
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Fears over 36-hour drinking session
DRINK-DRIVE campaigners in the North-East have condemned moves to grant New Year revellers the chance of a 36-hour pub marathon. Yesterday, Government minister Kim Howells announced special licensing arrangements which mean pubs can stay open for 36 hours
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Why comedy is a serious business
THE current state of laughter on the box is a gift to headline writers. The line, TV comedy is no laughing matter, may be obvious but it's all too obviously true. Sit-coms have been in the doldrums for ages. ITV tried, and conspicuously failed, to improve
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Why comedy is a serious business
THE current state of laughter on the box is a gift to headline writers. The line, TV comedy is no laughing matter, may be obvious but it's all too obviously true. Sit-coms have been in the doldrums for ages. ITV tried, and conspicuously failed, to improve
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Ground Zero has N-E help to hand
A WORLD famous engineering company based in the North-East is helping to clear up the aftermath of the terrorist atrocities in America. Four Australian-born engineers from Cleveland Bridge of Darlington, County Dur-ham, are putting their specialist skills
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Pools run ended by Hatters
Hartlepool United's five game unbeaten run came to a thrilling end as they went down 2-1 to Luton Town. Pools were two down at the break. First Pools keeper Anthony Williams spilled a cross and Dean Crowe tapped home before Matthew Taylor scored in injuty
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A suitable case for taking cheer to children
STAFF at a travel agents will be packing Santa's suitcase and taking a trip to a hospital next week, to bring a smile to children's faces. The suitcase has been packed full of Christmas gifts and toys for children in hospital over the Christmas period
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Backing for jubilee bandstand proposals
A PLAN by Malton Town Council to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee next year by building a bandstand or a clock has been backed by Ryedale district councillors. The community services and licensing committee was told by its chairwoman, Councillor Elizabeth
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Poultry run is still on region's calendar
THE lifting of foot-and-mouth restrictions has kept an annual event on the region's calendar this Christmas. The 17th Loftus Christmas Poultry Run will take place on Sunday, December 16, and race organisers, Loftus Athletics Club and Redcar and Cleveland
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Milk monitors are cream of the crop
SEVEN youngsters have been rewarded for their efforts in running a milk monitor scheme at school. The pupils, from Ingleton Church of England school, in Teesdale, and Vane Road Primary, in Darlington, have been awarded certificates and badges for their
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Residents given say over library hours
VILLAGERS in East Durham are being given a say in when their £180,000 new library should be open. The library, at Wingate, is due to open early next year and will offer improved facilities, including a children's area, plus displays and increased computer
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Biker's ban reduced on appeal
A motorcyclist prosecuted over the death of a 71-year-old woman killed when crossing the road had his driving ban cut by a year in London's Appeal Court yesterday . Aaron Holland, 19, was riding the motorbike given to him by his father when he struck
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1,600 sign release protest petition
MORE than 1,600 people have signed a petition opposing the early release of two teenagers who left a Harrogate boy for dead at a local beauty spot. Attack victim Ashley Murray, now 16, was 13 at the time of the attack, in August 1999. He was stabbed 18
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Clarion call to announce new paper's arrival
AN exciting era for newspapers in east Cleveland began yesterday with the launch of a new paper. Newsquest North-East, parent company of The Northern Echo, has renamed The Clarion, the weekly free newspaper for Redcar, Guisborough, Saltburn, Marske, New
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M&S comes off the list
Marks & Spencer is delisting from stock markets in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. The group has decided to pull out due to the low amount of its shares traded in each exchange. Only a very small percentage of the group's shares are held via the listings
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Santa's tank ride hit by Afghan conflict
WHEN Santa's reindeer took a much needed rest there was only one other form of transport the great man would accept for a scheduled trip to a North-East town - a British Army tank. But, in the end, even the wishes of Santa had to take second place at
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Widdrington now silencing doubters
TOMMY Widdrington has come under heavy criticism from the Hartlepool United faithful this season, but manager Chris Turner believes his summer signing is now proving his doubters wrong. Widdrington had never played in the Third Division, or the old Fourth
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Museum counts financial cost of farming epidemic
ONE of the North-East's top museums has lost an estimated seven per cent of trade after being hit by foot-and-mouth disease this year. However, new director of Beamish Open Air Museum, Miriam Harte, said the figures would have been much worse if the North-East
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Holiday firms ready to report
MORE clues about the effects of September 11 and consumer confidence will be sought next week with comments from the travel and tourism operations. Travel and tourism has been hit hard by the current political and economic situation, but specialist operator
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Hate mail writer's appeal bid fails
EFFORTS by the infamous Manfield poison pen letter writer to clear his name have hit a major setback. The Royal Courts of Justice last night confirmed James Forster's application to appeal against his conviction had been rejected by a single senior judge
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Planting project for future
HUNDREDS of trees have been planted in a project to improve Hartlepool's environment. Hartlepool Borough Council's Pride in Hartlepool campaign has stumped up two grants totalling £1,500 to fund the work. A grant of £972 was awarded to Greatham Parish
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Five released in death probe
Five people arrested in connection with the death of a man more than a year after he was hurt in a pub fracas, have been released on police bail. Kevin Pharoah, 49, of Leam Lane, Gateshead, died in October after an epileptic fit. He had developed epilepsy
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Price to pay for Thomas the Tank
VISITORS are to be charged entry to York's National Railway Museum (NRM) - just two months after admission prices were scrapped by the Government. The temporary charges are to be made during a two-week Thomas the Tank Engine event in February. The admission
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Wainwright fires Quakers through
A rare Neil Wainwright header put Darlington into the third round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win at Altrincham on Saturday. Darlington took a 22nd minute lead through Danny Chillingworth and it looked as though the visitors would stroll into the next round
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Reds too strong for Boro
Middlesbrough's recent run of form came to an end on Saturday as Premiership leaders Liverpool strolled to a comfortable 2-0 win at Anfield. The Reds are now six points clear in the table after first half goals from Michael Owen and Patrick Berger. Boro
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Residents get more time for survey
OFFICIALS have extended the deadline for returning questionnaires on housing after only a third were returned. Durham City Council sent the survey to 13,000 owner-occupied and rented houses in the district. The answers will help to shape the council's
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Aladdin's magic aids tree appeal
THE cast of Darlington's pantomime have lent their support to the town's Christmas Giving Tree Appeal. The tree is already laden with presents donated by the people of Darlington for families in the town who cannot afford a good Christmas. The stars from
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MP's welcome return to school
AN MP returned to school yesterday to take a look at improvements since his last visit. Sunderland City Council has upgraded the facilities for the reception class and years one and two - at Barnwell Primary School, Penshaw. Fraser Kemp, MP for Houghton
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Firm making great progress thanks to solid advice
A FAMILY stone products business has steered its way to success thanks to professional advice from chartered accountants Keith Robinson and Co. Brand Pre-cast, of Middlesbrough, which produces commercial and domestic floor slabs and artificial stone products
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Newcastle boss has a dual mission for Dyer
BOBBY Robson hopes the comeback of Kieron Dyer will give Newcastle United the perfect Premiership boost. And the Magpies boss believes the highly-rated midfielder can earn himself a place in England's 2002 World Cup squad. Dyer has not kicked a ball in
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Have you been framed?
OF ALL the garden facilities, the cold frame is the one that is most under-rated. If you have a greenhouse it is the place to wean young plants prior to planting in the garden. If you do not, then it is a useful protection for over-wintering plants and
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Inquiry continuing over missing anaesthetics
INVESTIGATIONS are continuing to find three syringes full of anaesthetics that disappeared at a controversial hospital. Police issued a warning on Thursday that the drugs are lethal after they were reported missing from the University Hospital of North
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Comment from The Northern Echo - Battle's over, the war begins
THOSE who counselled against military intervention in Afghanistan have been proved wrong. Despite warnings to the contrary, the Taliban has been toppled with relative ease. It is a spent political force. The agreement brokered in Bonn appears to establish
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The chapel at amen corner
CASTLE Bolton is in Wensleydale, west of Leyburn, population about 60. It should not be confused with Bolton Abbey, which is on Yorkshire's opposite extreme, but probably it has been for centuries. The semi-ruined castle stands - imposing, eponymous -
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Witnesses call after boy hurt
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a stone-throwing attack left a five-year-old boy needing hospital treatment. Christopher Smith had 11 stitches to his face after the attack, by two older boys, at about 3.30pm on Monday. He had been playing in
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Incinerator site to become wildlife haven
A FORMER rubbish dump is to become a haven for wildlife. The old civic amenity site at Newport Road, Portrack, Stockton, on Teesside, closed its gates for the final time yesterday, following the opening earlier this week of a £625,000 waste recycling
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Schools' consortium to provide training
PRIMARY schools in County Durham and Darlington have formed a consortium to provide teacher training. The 11 schools led by Barn-ard Castle CE Primary School in the High Force Education - Darlington and Dales Teacher Training Consortium, have been fully
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Basket success nets youngsters the trophy
SPORTING youngsters are cock-a-hoop after slam-dunking their way to success. Members of the year ten basketball team at Thirsk School have proved they are the masters of the court by taking the honours in the Harrogate and Ripon Area Schools Trophy. The
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Fire brigade history role for Craig
A historian has been appointed to catalogue pictures and information about the County Durham and Darlington fire brigade. Craig Godwin, of Consett, has converted the loft area of his house into a storage area for memorabilia about the brigade. He has
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Swindler cost nine jobs at firm
A company accountant who cost the jobs of nine people by swindling £150,000 to fund his drinking and gambling, has been jailed for two years. William Erskine, 47, left his bosses at Bewick Engineering facing financial ruin after pilfering the cash over
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Tractor is stolen from compound
POLICE want to find thieves who made off with a mini-tractor and grass cutter worth more than £20,000 in total. Thieves scaled the walls of a Sunderland City Council parks division compound in Doxford Park, in the city, between Thursday night and yesterday
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Flight attempt foiled when shoes fell off
CABLE puller Andrew Riddler was foiled by his shoes when he tried to outrun the law, a court heard yesterday. As Riddler, 25, fled as police moved to arrest him on the market square in Ripon, his shoes fell off and he was caught, Peter Scott, prosecuting
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'End-of-the-line' motorist jailed for 'bad' driving
A MAN with a motoring record a judge said was as "bad as he had ever seen" was yesterday jailed for two-and-a-half years and banned from driving for five years. Mark Andrew Webster, 34, formerly of Lowfield, in Scarborough, had been committed for sentence
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Woman jailed for credit card conspiracy
A WOMAN whose second-hand shop in a North-East coastal town was the front for an international credit card fraud conspiracy, was jailed for 18 months yesterday. Sonia Latchford, 33, ran the shop Finders Keepers, in Redcar, east Cleveland, from which the
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Visitor enjoys Northern warmth
THE warm friendly hospitality of the North-East has won the heart of a South African visitor who has spent three months in the region. Aruna Singh explored the facilities at Bishop Auckland College as part of a senior management development programme
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Blow to hostel as turbine rejected
A YOUTH hostel which has been hit by the foot-and-mouth crisis has been denied permission to build a cost-cutting wind turbine. The Langdon Beck Youth Hostel Association hostel, at Forest-in-Teesdale, County Durham, had applied to build a turbine to create
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Hear All Sides
Letters from The Northern Echo HEALTH SERVICE IT is dogma and other daft policies which are at the heart of the problem facing the NHS. In France, when one goes to a doctor or to hospital, the patient pays and then claims the money back through insurance
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Tolkien? Give me Austen any time
If only Bilbo Baggins had never left home, says Sharon Griffiths, who prefers a cold shower to reading Tolkien. FIRST Harry Potter and next the Lord of the Rings - prepare for wizard overload. The first film of the three part Tolkien epic is released
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Looking after brigade's past
AN historian has been appointed to catalogue pictures and information about the County Durham and Darlington fire brigade. Craig Godwin, of Consett, who has converted the loft area of his house into a storage area for fire brigade memorabilia, has now
