Archive
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Timber blaze causes traffic disruption
FIRE fighters and police were called to a serious blaze in Darlington last night. A large quantity of timber window and door frames was set alight on Whessoe Road at 8.30pm. Two fire crews from Darlington were sent to the scene and police attended to
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Pools throw it away
CHRIS Turner has set his side a straight-forward target for the remainder of the season. On this showing, however, even winning one more game might prove too complicated a task for Hartlepool United. Pools chucked away more goals and
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Four-goal thriller for Quakers
DARLINGTON twice fought back from a goal down during a thoroughly entertaining four-goal thriller. Jason Kennedy and Pawel Abbott got Quakers' goals either side of half-time at The Northern Echo Darlington Arena. The result meant the
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Bikers hurt in A66 crash
TWO bikers were taken to hospital after a serious road accident on the A66 today. The incident took place one mile west of Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire at 11.55am. The rider and pillion passenger on a blue Suzuki, a couple from Wetherby, were taken
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Driver arrested, two hurt in crash
A DRIVER was arrested after a car crashed off a road into trees today. Two passengers in the car, an Audi 80, were injured in the incident, on Newport Bridge approach road, Middlesbrough, at 9.37am. One, a 37-year-old man from Northumberland
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Fountain bubbles spill near road.
A frothy deluge of soapsuds engulfed the fountain at the roundabout on Barmpton Lane today. Spilling out like some slow white fizzy soda (pop) Dr. Who nightmare, it spread threateningly across the landscape in the middle of the road, distracting
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Gold Cup Mascot Race
Catterick Young Farmers are doing the Gold Cup Mascot Race 2009 for Sue Ryder Care Charity on Sunday 26th April at Wetherby Racecourse. The theme this year is Be Keen, Go Green and Support your Local Market. Catterick Young Farmers new junior
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Ramblers take fell walk
Crook and Weardale Ramblers are due to take a 12-mile moderate/strenuous walk in the Howgill Fells on Sunday May 10. For more information contact 01388-763770.
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New chairman for town council on the cards
Greater Willington Town Council is to hold its annual general meeting on Tuesday May 5 at 6.30pm at the resource centre. Brian Myers, chairman of Durham County Council and county councillor for Willington, is expected to step down from his role as town
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Floyd tribute to play football club
Pink Floyd tribute act Floyd 2 are to entertain crowds at Crook Town FC on Saturday May 2. Tickets are £5 on the door. For more information contact 01388-762959.
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Eggscellent achievements
Workers from Spennymoor’s ASDA would like to thank all the children who took part in their Easter egg competition. First prize went to Chloe Young with Marisa Matthews and Laura Jackson winning second and third prize respectively. Special effort prizes
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Art Lands in Bishop Auckland
EYE-CATCHING art has been infused onto everyday parts of a Wear Valley town as part of a two-week festival. Art Land, an event running in Bishop Auckland until Saturday April 26, is designed to bring art to people who don’t usually visit galleries.
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Investigation into Army "sex camp"
AN investigation is underway into allegations that Army officer cadets took part in sex and drinking binges during a training camp in the region. The antics are boasted about in a magazine produced by members of the Sheffield Universities Officer Training
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Man in stable condition after attack
Police are appealing for information after a 24-year-old man was punched to the floor in Knole Road, Billingham. The incident happened at around 10pm on Sunday. The victim is currently in a stable condition in James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough
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Police appeal after man suffers head injuries
A 28-year-old man suffered severe head injuries after being attacked two men in Yarm Lane, Stockton, at around 2.50am yesterday. The victim was repeatedly punched and kicked by the unknown males. One of the men is described as white, aged mid-20s, stocky
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Campaign to reduce motorcycle accidents
CLEVELAND Police have launched a campaign to reduce the number of motorcyclists injured and killed each year. Officers in the force’s bike team are to continue to support the annual Ridewell event, which aims to cut the number of casualties while still
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Car overturns down embankment
TWO men were taken to hospital after their car landed upside down at the bottom of an embankment. The incident happened at about 9.45am this morning on the A1032 near the Newport Bridge, Middlesbrough. Firefighters had to cut the passenger
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Students selected for national art competition
A GROUP of Teesside students are in with the chance of winning £7,500 after being selected for the final of a national art competition. Four students from Cleveland College of Art and Design, in Middlesbrough, have secured places in the finals of the
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Views sought on conservation areas
RESIDENTS in Hartlepool are being asked to give their views on a new conservation area study. Hartlepool Borough Council has carried out a review of two of its eight conservation areas - Seaton Carew and Church Street. Now it wants people to tell them
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Porter back for Pools
JOEL Porter made a return to action for Hartlepool after missing Saturday's draw at Crewe with a groin strain. The 21-goal top-scorer has recovered from a groin strain to take his place in the side in the only change from the weekend. HARTLEPOOL UNITED
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Heir trigger
PRINCE WILLIAM grounded a plane by "overcooking the turbo" while training at an RAF base in the region, it has been claimed. The claim has been made by former engineering officer Joe Watt, now a York councillor, who spent 23 years with the RAF. Coun
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Visual treat for film-goers
YOUNGSTERS attending an Easter film screening in a North market town today will get more than they bargain for. Members of the King’s Church, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, have built a mock-up ark and dressed as animals to greet visitors for the screening
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Could you be a magistrate?
A RECRUITMENT drive has been launched to encourage people in North Yorkshire to become magistrates. Anyone aged between 18 and 65, from all backgrounds, can become a magistrate. Full training is provided. Working people can claim an allowance for loss
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Leeming hosts rugby league draw
AN RAF base in the region was the venue for the draw for fifth round of rugby league’s challenge cup. RAF Leeming, in North Yorkshire, hosted the draw, which was made by Air Vice Marshal and director of the RAF sports board Chris Davidson, who drew the
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Hunt for top musician
THE hunt for a top artist to honour with a music award is reaching its final stages. The Rotary Club of Chester-le-Street, working with the James Etherington Music Trust for young musicians, will be choosing a singer or instrumentalist to receive the
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New courses offered
A NEW series of courses, ranging from beginners’ guitar to belly dancing, is to get under way soon. Durham County Council’s Clayport Library will host the courses run by New College, Durham starting with sign language on Monday, April 27. Belly dancing
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Young mother collapses and dies in pub
A MOTHER-OF-THREE collapsed and died in a pub while out with friends despite desperate efforts to resuscitate her. A police spokesman said the 25-year-old was at the Coach and Horses pub in the Front Street, Consett, when she collapsed at 10.25pm
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New term brings new building for school
A NEW term will bring a £25m new building for hundreds of pupils at a top-performing secondary school. For many years, Durham Johnston School has been split between sites on opposite sides of the city - in Crossgate Moor and Whinney Hill. But soon
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Why we should all eat more acorns
Foraging for wild food is increasing in popularity. Ruth Campbell meets one expert who demonstrates how you can eat like a king for free all year round. THE ground is still cold and hard. The trees are bare of fruit. Many plants are only just
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Oh, we do like to be at Seaton Carew
As families flock to the coast, Ian Bond extols the virtues of a seaside town he thinks deserves much better than to be dismissed as a joke. A GOOD name, the good book says, might be better than riches, but in my book a bad name travels further
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Hot stuff
Hell’s Kitchen (ITV1, 9pm) THEY say if you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen. Which is exactly what several previous celebrity chefs have done in ITV’s Hell’s Kitchen. Gordon Ramsay quit as head of the kitchen after the first series
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Check it out
THE Health and Safety Executive is currently running an initiative across County Durham to highlight important safety issues relevant to property developers. Our research has shown that many people developing property as a business, especially
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The Durham Singers, St Cuthbert’s Chapel, Ushaw College, Durham
THE magnificence of JS Bach’s St John Passion was laid out in all its glory by the Durham Singers in this perfect setting. Reflecting on the spiritual message of the Passions in a traditional sermon at the interval, the Bishop of Durham, The
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Music blight
I SHARE Catherine Davison’s distaste of music being played everywhere (HAS, April 10), including restaurants, doctors’ surgeries, shops, etc. I feel it is quite unnecessary and an intrusion – quite off-putting. Several years ago I joined Pipedown
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Too true
SIR Michael Parkinson is not one of my favourite people, but he was quite correct to berate the media for its exploitation of poor Jade Goody (Echo, April 8). One newspaper, on the day of her funeral, actually said of the coverage that “it was
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Returning troops
RE Hugh Pender’s letter about homecoming parades for our soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (HAS, April 10). It is of huge importance that our troops do not slink back into the country like assassins in the night, but that they are shown
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Margaret Thatcher
SO, Des More is at it again, praising the evil woman, Margaret Thatcher (HAS, April 1). She didn’t put this country right, she ruined it. With her puppets in the Cabinet, she set out to destroy the miners and unions from day one in 1979 and the
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Euro elections
I SPENT half an hour on the internet trying to find a map that gives the boundaries of the different regions for the European Parliament elections in June. I found nothing. I did find a Government site with a picture of the Speaker of the House
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MPs' expenses
AN oven glove, a washing machine, pergola and plants, another washing machine, a flat screen television, a drill and bit set… No, it isn’t a repeat of Bruce Forsyth’s Generation Game. Yes, now you’ve guessed – it’s another episode of MPs and Expenses
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It’s blunt but Parky is spot on
JADE Goody’s grandmother wants to wring Michael Parkinson’s neck for last week’s tirade against the Big Brother contestant in the Radio Times. I’d like to shake his hand. Amid the acres of news pages devoted to portraying Ms Goody as some kind of
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Antarctic heroes
AS a boy, I used to read the Arthur Mee encyclopaedias. It was in one of the volumes that I first read the story of Scott of the Antarctic. The story tells of how Captain Robert Scott achieves his goal of reaching the South Pole only to find a
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A sporting chance
With Gateshead’s English Institute of Sport under threat and Sport England funding diverted from the North-East, the development of our future elite athletes appears bleak. But a scheme linking the region’s five universities is reason for optimism
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The same old spin
IT was one of the least attractive aspects of the Blair decade in power – New Labour’s apparent obsession with “spin”. In striving to tame the monster of 24-hour news, and negate the traditionally Tory-dominated press, Tony Blair’s administration
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Mowden Park handed lifeline
HOPES are rising that Darlington Mowden Park can pull off the great escape. Having looked relegation certainties for most of the season in National Three North, they suddenly have a lifeline. They continued their revival on Saturday by drawing
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Gale confirms return to form with 93
ANDREW Gale cranked up his pre-season form with a composed 93 in Yorkshire’s three-day friendly against the students of Cambridge at Fenner’s yesterday. The 25 year-old left-hander, the subject of much speculation as to whether he will open the
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Vaughan and Bell fail as Thorp shines
MICHAEL Vaughan failed in his bid to give the England selectors a nudge in his one opportunity ahead of the naming of the first Test squad of the summer. Former captain Vaughan fell for 12 in his appearance for MCC against county champions Durham
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Mickleson and Woods blow their opportunity
TIGER Woods and Phil Mickelson served up one of the great head-to-head duels in major history at Augusta National yesterday evening – but both came off the course bitterly disappointed. Although Mickelson was the one to win it by one, a closing
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O’Neill confesses Arsenal favourites
ASTON Villa manager Martin O’Neill admitted his side have a mountain to climb to claim a Champions League spot after being held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by Everton at Villa Park. Villa came from 3-1 down to salvage a point and remain in fifth
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City boss defends Robinho decision
MANCHESTER City boss Mark Hughes defended his decision to leave Robinho on the bench after his side slumped to a dismal 3-1 home defeat against Fulham. Stephen Ireland had given the Blues a half-time advantage but, just as they did in the corresponding
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Falcons bow out of cup
Saracens 32 Newcastle Falcons 13 FLY-HALF Glen Jackson kicked 22 points and created a try as Saracens eased into the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup. Tries from Samoan international prop Cencus Johnston and young South African centre
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Jonny losing battle
JONNY Wilkinson looks unlikely to make a comeback for Newcastle in time to be considered for this summer’s Lions tour to South Africa. Wilkinson, out since dislocating his knee last September, failed to make the 32-13 European Challenge Cup quarter-final
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Victory for top three
THERE’S little change at the top of the table after the three front runners all won. Leaders Newton Aycliffe conceded an early goal to Wolviston’s Glen Smith but John Close quickly levelled and in the second period the home side struck twice
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Apprentice learns from United master
HE may only be two matches into his managerial career but Alan Shearer’s work on the training ground is already reaping its rewards at Newcastle. Just ask Andy Carroll. With Newcastle trailing to Abdoulaye Faye’s first half opener at Stoke City
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Moors face fixture pile up in bid for title glory
skilltrainingltd Northern League SPENNYMOOR manager Jason Ainsley says his side shouldn’t be written off as they face a hectic schedule in the race for the skilltrainingltd Northern League title. Moors beat South Shields thanks to a
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Bullish Bates insists Boro will build on Hull victory and escape relegation
HAVING silenced some of their doubters with Saturday’s 3-1 win over Hull, Matthew Bates claims Middlesbrough will continue to confound the critics in the remaining six matches of the season. Boro recorded only their second win in 20 league games
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Teessiders spin back into survival mix
AS the Middlesbrough players were warming up ahead of Saturday’s ‘must-win’ game with Hull, the Riverside music controller played a dance compilation that had been specially assembled by midfielder and part-time DJ Stewart Downing. By the time
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Carroll jumping for joy
ANDY CARROLL last night described the emotion he felt after emerging from the bench to grab the equaliser that has given Newcastle United a new lift in their attempts to stay in the Premier League. Carroll, 20, has struggled to force his way
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We could have won, claims stand-in captain Bardsley
PHIL BARDSLEY believes Sunderland could have taken all three points against his former club on Saturday. Neither the burden of captaincy nor the challenge of shackling Wayne Rooney prevented the right back from emerging as the Black Cats’ outstanding
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Cats earn plaudits in defeat
THE Sunderland players received such a warm ovation from their supporters at the final whistle on Saturday you’d have thought they’d beaten Manchester United rather than extended their losing streak to four matches. The Stadium of Light crowd
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Eligibility of Darlington on-loan strikers is queried
DARLINGTON are today unlikely to include Liam Hatch and Danny Carlton after their eligibility came into question ahead of Saturday’s draw at Chesterfield. Quakers are at home to third-placed Bury today and manager Dave Penney does not want to
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Quakers drama continues
THERE has been enough drama at Darlington in recent weeks to fill a book, admitted an embattled Dave Penney after an extraordinary day at Chesterfield. It was the latest chapter of a bewildering campaign. Quakers have had plenty to deal with,
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Budtz stands tall to earn useful point
TOO often this season, from both the dug out as manager and the director’s box in his role as director of sport, Chris Turner has watched Hartlepool United play well and get their share of plaudits, but ultimately lose. At the stage of the season
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Porter set to return
TOP scorer Joel Porter is expected to return to the Hartlepool United side for this afternoon’s encounter with Scunthorpe. The 21-goal marksman missed Saturday’s draw at Crewe, as boss Chris Turner kept him out of the action after he suffered
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Shearer prepared to forgive Martins
OBAFEMI MARTINS will be asked to explain the reasons for his late withdrawal from the Newcastle United squad again this morning, but Alan Shearer insists the £10m striker still has an important role to play this season. Shearer was frustrated
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Violence advice is given out by workers
WOMEN and girls who have been victims of abuse or violence were offered advice and support at the weekend. The Home Office is highlighting work the Government has taken to tackle violence against women. It includes a review into police powers
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Reopened pub aims to defy recession
A COUNTRY pub that has reopened aims to beat the recession – just as another one closes. The Comet Hotel, at Hurworth Place, near Darlington, enjoyed a busy Easter Sunday as new manager Lynn Simpson set about reviving the fortunes of a local
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Residents call for poll to shake up authority
PROTESTORS are calling for a poll, which could cost as much as £25,000, to change a council officer’s role. Residents of Ferryhill want a public vote on whether the job title of Ferryhill Town Council’s executive officer, Jamie Corrigan, should
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Free tickets given away for shows
HUNDREDS of free tickets to live theatre in the region will be on offer over the next two years. The Highlights Rural Touring scheme for the North Pennines and County Durham is one of 200 organisations and theatres to offer free theatre tickets
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World in miniature
RAILWAY children are sharing their love of trains with passengers on a tourism line. Weardale Railway Junior Club has built a working model railway on display at Stanhope Station, County Durham. The youngsters named their display Stanham
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Railway could link to main line in July
THE US company running a heritage line is on track to end years of rail isolation for a dale’s residents by the summer. Weardale, in County Durham, could be connected to the main line at Bishop Auckland by July if operator British American Rail
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Tourism boosted by sunny weekend
VISITOR attractions are hoping for more bumper crowds today to cap a busy Easter weekend. Daytrippers flocked in their thousands to soak up the warm sunshine on the region’s beaches yesterday. Parks and outdoor attractions also reported more
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Bid to improve care for elderly people in dales
A PILOT scheme which aims to break down the barriers between health and social care in the region has been given the go-ahead. The Durham Dales Integrated Care Organisation will bring together a dozen GP practices and six other organisations.
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Hannah bids to be model student
A STUDENT from the region has reached the finals of a competition to find Miss Student UK. Hannah Williams, pictured, from York, studies management and leadership studies at Anglia Ruskin University, in Cambridge, and entered the contest after
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Boxer exchanges rings to keep his wedding vow
AN amateur boxer is throwing in the towel in a national competition – because his next big fight clashes with his big day. Stuart McCrone wisely chose wedding rings over the boxing ring by bowing out of the Amateur Boxing Association’s senior
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Revved up with generosity
EASTER cheer was brought to dozens of children in hospital as part of a mass motorcycle ride. The traditional Easter Egg Run, organised by the officers of Durham Police’s bike section – now in its fifth year – delivered chocolate eggs to children
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Cemetery CCTV ban despite appeals
COUNCIL officials have refused to install CCTV cameras at a graveyard despite more than 6,000 people signing an online petition calling for improved security. The mother of a child whose headstone was stolen from the cemetery at Darlington
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Steroid junkies getting younger
THERE has been an alarming increase in the number of people – including children – admitted to the region’s hospitals after injecting anabolic steroids, figures reveal. The number of admissions for poisoning from the musclebuilding drugs has leapt
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Call for hope in hunt for Claudia and Maddy
THE Archbishop of York called for renewed hope in the search for missing university chef Claudia Lawrence and Madeleine McCann. The Most Reverend Dr John Sentamu said he could not imagine the pain and suffering endured by their families. But
