Archive
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Hear all sides: Ray Mallon
YOUR comment (Echo, Apr 6), suggests that Ray Mallon could be elected as mayor of Middlesbrough on the sentiment of his reputation. That is an issue the voters of Middlesbrough will have to decide. There are many issues that leave a bad taste in the mouth
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Sainsbury's sales recovery
SUPERMARKET chain J Sainsbury has shown its recovery is firmly on track by posting a surge in sales. The group, which has been attempting to reassert itself in the face of stiff competition, said like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to March 30 were up
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'Saved by the father I never knew'
It was said to be unsinkable, but Monday marks the 90th anniversary of the night the Titanic went down. NOREEN BARR talks to the last British survivor of the most famous maritime disaster. FOR most of us, the sinking of the Titanic is a tragic piece of
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Saturday Sermon
LAST Tuesday was an unforgettable day in the lives of most of us over the age of 50. Mainly because the Queen Mother has been there all our lives, to be honoured and revered for her graciousness and longevity. No wonder Dr George Carey declared strength
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MP raises hospital fears in Commons
Fears over the future of operations at a North Yorkshire hospital will be raised in the House of Commons next week by the local MP. John Greenway, Tory MP for Ryedale, has secured a half-hour adjournment debate on Malton Hospital on Monday night. The
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Blair's defence of NHS reforms
TONY Blair was forced to defend his handling of the health service yesterday as he toured a hospital in Health Secretary Alan Milburn's North-East constituency. A report from the King's Fund health think-tank said the NHS had been overwhelmed by a flood
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Epidemic inquiry to visit North-East
EURO MPs leading the inquiry into last year's foot-and-mouth epidemic will visit the region next week to speak to the farming community about the Government's handling of the crisis. More than 30 members of the European Parliament will start a three-day
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Five years for addict who robbed young boys of bicycles
A SERIAL robber who threatened young boys with a knife and then stole their bikes was jailed for five years yesterday. Mark Blyth, 20, of Runnymede Close, Stockton, admitted the robberies at Teesside Crown Court yesterday. Tony Calloway, prosecuting,
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Large entry expected for cycling challenge
MOUNTAIN bikers of all ages and abilities are being invited to pit their skills against Kielder Forest, in Northumberland. The 10th Kielder Reiver Challenge is being staged by the Forestry Commission on May 25, giving leading racers and fun riders the
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Quakers determined to restore pride
REVENGE is in the air for Darlington when high-flying Scunthorpe arrive at Feethams today with their eyes on a play-off spot. The game is not of great importance to Darlington, but skipper Craig Liddle says it gives his teammates a chance to throw a spanner
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Brave Boro puts up worthy fight
Arsenal is aiming to accomplish a double after an exciting and tense 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory against Middlesbrough. But Arsenal's victory was spoiled when Sol Campbell was carried off with an injury that may affect the club's destiny this season
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Going Goofy over Disneyland
Hayley Gyllenspetz takes a short trip across the Channel to meet all the favourite characters at Disneyland Paris - and to experience the thrills of the newly-opened Walt Disney film studios IMAGINE waking up and finding Minnie Mouse at the breakfast
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Backpacker :The art of doing nothing
PAUL WILLIS discovers how to chill out in the heat of a tropical island I HAVE just spent two weeks of pure bliss on Indonesia's Gili Islands, reaching levels of relaxation usually only achievable in deep meditation or death. Whereas, in the fortnight
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Poison cloud peril
Hundreds evacuated after huge explosions at chemical factory A HUNDRED people were still unable to return to their homes last night after a chemical factory was rocked by massive explosions. The blasts sent a huge toxic cloud of thick, black smoke drifting
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McClaren aiming to end Gunners' 'lucky' streak
STEVE McCLAREN is praying that the luck Arsenal have enjoyed against Middlesbrough this season will rub off on his own side in tomorrow's FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford and keep alive Teesside's trophy dreams. McClaren is adamant that the gods smiled
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Reyna urges Cats to keep their nerve
UNITED STATES captain Claudio Reyna, two-goal match-winning hero of Sunderland's crucial game against Leicester City, last night urged his teammates to keep their nerve in the battle for Premiership survival. Reyna believes 41 points would guarantee safety
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A welcome splash of seasonal colour
I REALLY have to disagree with some of the comments made to me over the last few weeks that there isn't much colour in the garden at this time of year. In fact, I was so disheartened to hear people thinking this way that, at one point, I decided to prove
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Talking point: Beckham's is a talent well worth waiting for
DAVID Beckham looks like he will be boarding the plane to the World Cup regardless of whether he is fully fit or not. Is that a good move or a bad one? It would appear obvious, if Beckham is on his way to regaining full fitness, he is definitely a gamble
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Roman King on road to joy
MUCH-TRAVELLED Roman King rates one of the afternoons' best bets in the Key 103 Classified Stakes at Haydock. Originally trained by John Gosden at Newmarket, Roman King (2.35) has since been round the houses with spells at Micky Hammond's and Mark Johnston's
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Postal pervert strikes again
A pervert who plagues a churchgoer with obscene messages through the post has a second target. For five years, the man has sent sexually-explicit messages and pictures to a seriously-ill woman in her late 40s. After police highlighted the case in January
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Pool go for broke in bid to grab play-off place
HARTLEPOOL United boss Chris Turner has called for one last push as the chase for the play-offs goes down to the wire. Pool have two games left and are relying on Scunthorpe and Shrewsbury to drop points in the next week to stand a chance of making the
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Clark at the double
AGAINST a backdrop of supporter angst, Darlington successfully completed their revenge mission in style by putting on a good performance against one of the division's promotion chasers. They won against Scunthorpe 2-1. But George Reynolds wasn't there
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'Kieron ready to face Derby' says Robson
NEWCASTLE United boss Bobby Robson has declared Kieron Dyer fit to play at Derby today - despite his £20m-rated England midfielder limping out of training this week. Dyer suffered a reaction when playing in a practice match at Newcastle's training ground
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Expert allays fears over effect of fumes
A TOXICOLOGY expert said last night that fumes from the North Shields chemical blaze were unlikely to pose a serious health threat to residents. Dr Faith Williams, a lecturer in environmental and occupational medicine at Newcastle University, said if
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Executive confirms earlier plea on safety
THE Health and Safety Executive confirmed last night that it had already ordered a tightening-up of safety procedures at the Distillex plant following a previous toxic leak. The leak, in January, caused dozens of people to feel unwell after inhaling methylene
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Helping hands are required
Bishop Auckland have asked for volunteers as they race to beat the UniBond League's deadline. Bishops intend to share Shildon's Dean Street ground next season to stage league matches, but they are racing against time to beat the UniBond League's April
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Comment: Scoring a goal for profit
REFORMS to licensing laws in recent years have met with our approval. For far too long, legislation was steeped in a bygone age which was out of step with modern living and other countries. The prospect of pubs opening to sell alcohol at breakfast time
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Woman struck by police car 'critical'
A WOMAN is critically ill in hospital after being struck by a police car on a pelican crossing. An investigation has been launched into the accident, which left the woman with serious injuries yesterday afternoon. The Police Complaints Authority (PCA)
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Trading results and the Budget
THE main news next week will be the Budget on Wednesday, but apart from Chancellor Gordon Brown's speech there will be a number of company announcements. The weeks starts with a first-quarter trading update from chip designer Arm Holdings on Monday. Although
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Enterprise snaps up 1,860 pubs
PUBS group Enterprise Inns has continued its expansion by agreeing a £875m deal to buy 1,860 pubs from rival Laurel. Enterprise, which owns 3,500 leased and tenanted pubs, said the acquisition fitted with its existing portfolio and "further enhances the
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Theatre: Moving on with the Dragon
Actress Britt Ekland tells STEVE PRATT why she's emjoying the life of a gipsy AS "a woman of a certain age", Britt Ekland realises her chances of big screen opportunities are limited. "Unless you're Maggie Smith or someone like that, there's not a lot
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Prayers answered with Open degree
A NORTH-East vicar is among hundreds of scholars from the region who have graduated from the Open University. The Reverend John Masshedar, vicar of Shotton, County Durham, swapped his prayer books for study books when he enrolled on a social science degree
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RA bid to halt Birtley
Birtley Town, who have already won the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup, aim to reach their second final when they host Darlington RA in the Sunderland Shipowners' Cup this afternoon. Following an indifferent start to the season, Birtley are the in-form side
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Surgeon's victims to protest
FORMER victims of gynaecologist Richard Neale are expected to be represented at a demonstration outside the Department of Health on Monday. The protest, on the steps of Health Secretary Alan Milburn's London headquarters, could be the first step in setting
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Today's pupils pay tribute to child victims
A YOUNG girl is found wandering the streets alone at night holding something heavy in her arms. An adult approaches her and discovers that she is carrying the body of her dead sister. That haunting tale was just one of many never forgotten stories remembered
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Seventh heaven for Pool
SEVEN goals, three points and one game to go and everything to play for - what more can you ask for? While Pool were thumping seven past Swansea on Saturday and won the game 7 - 1, it was one of Pool's old boys who had just as big an impact on the play-off
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Driver found slumped over wheel is banned
POLICE who found a car in the middle of a main road with its engine running and minus a tyre saw joiner Sean Molyneux slumped over the steering wheel, a court heard yesterday. Molyneux, 24, travelled with friends from his home in Southport to spend the
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Rolls-Royce invests £2.5m in aero plant
AERO-engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is investing £2.5m in its Sunderland facility to manufacture new products for engines that will power Airbus aircraft and the Eurofighter Typhoon. The factory on the Pallion Industrial Estate, which employs more than
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Family's heroin death agony
THE mother of a bright teenager described yesterday how she tried in vain to get her daughter off heroin before it killed her two days short of her 16th birthday. Catherine Longstaff had been on the verge of sitting her GCSE exams and pursuing her dream
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Magpies leave it late
AS John Gregory pounded the streets of London yesterday, no doubt doing his best to avoid TV presenters, he must have spent around four hours reliving those two moments from Saturday afternoon that just about finished off the Rams' run in the top flight
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'Becks is a gamble worth taking' - Eriksson
Sven-Goran Eriksson is prepared to take a World Cup gamble on David Beckham if the England captain's fitness is still in some doubt ahead of the tournament. However, Eriksson is confident his influential midfielder will have recovered from the broken
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Black Cats still left waiting for safety
Sunderland aren't bad enough to be relegated and - on this form - Liverpool aren't good enough to win the Championship. That seems a pretty fair assessment after a hard-fought game in front of a record 48,355 crowd at the Stadium as Liverpool climbed
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Community dreads what might happen the next time sirens wail
Shock at yesterday's explosion and fire at the Distillex plant on North Tyneside was already turning to anger last night. BRUCE UNWIN reports on the residents who are living in fear of their industrial neighbour TWICE in four months residents of Tyne-
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Catalogue of chemical alerts in area
THE North-East has one of the largest petro-chemical complexes in Europe, but has witnessed remarkably few major dramas. The most notable recent incidents in the area include: * October 25, 1986, one man killed and 13 injured, two critically, during two
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Officer hurt after patrol car rammed
A POLICE officer sustained spinal injuries after his patrol vehicle was rammed by a stolen car. The unnamed, married 33-year-old officer is in hospital on Teesside, his condition reported as "comfortable". Cleveland Police are appealing to people to help
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'Soldier David' warned of jail
A POISON pen letter writer who described children as the "Spawn of Satan" and threatened a Dunblane-style massacre yesterday admitted a two-year campaign of sending threatening mail and making malicious calls. Ian Julian Walker, who earned the chilling
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Cocaine courier jailed for four years
A COCAINE courier was jailed for four years yesterday after he was caught with more than £60,000 worth of the drug. Alex Hand, 25, admitted possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply at Teesside Crown Court. Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said police
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Terrorised passengers see drunk man fall from moving bus
A DRUNKEN man, who terrorised passengers on a bus, fell on to a busy road after opening an emergency door. The driver of the Arriva bus, Peter Wine, was so terrified by the actions of the man and two accomplices he called the police twice on his mobile
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Early blows for Durham
DURHAM contestants suffered early disappointments in the EIBA National Championships at Melton Mowbray. Darlington quartet, Ken Tinkler, Mark Jones, Allan Moore and Andrew Kirtland went out in the first round of the Four Championship, losing 24-14 to
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Reid orders his players to cheer up Wearside
SUNDERLAND manager Peter Reid last night ordered his players to make amends to disappointed Wearside fans in today's full-house clash against Championship-chasing Liverpool. "We haven't given the fans enough this season - the players know that - and this
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Phone mast refusal is overturned
A VOTE to oppose a mobile phone mast in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales has been overturned - on the advice of the national park's planning chiefs. A planning committee meeting last month wanted to reject Vodafone's bid to install an antenna on the tower
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Men held after police dawn 'terror' raids to sue for false imprisonment
A POLICE force is being sued for false imprisonment by two men arrested in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US. Omar Mohammed and Walid Zamzam were among six Middle Eastern men rounded up in dawn raids by armed police and accused
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Injuries hit Moxon's selection
THE battle for places at the top of Durham's batting order is already threatening to be decided by injuries. Michael Gough and Gary Pratt, who both made centuries on the tour to Cape Town, were unable to press their claims in the two-day practice match
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'When the world fell around me'
New York Fireman Richard Picciotto was inside the Twin Towers evacuating office workers when the second tower collapsed. STEVE PRATT recounts his amazing story. When Richard Picciotto opened his eyes, he thought he was dead. He was surrounded by darkness
