Archive
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Morpeth face tough competition in relays
MORPETH Harriers will be flying the flag for the North-East in today's English Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park. The Northumberland club won the Northern Women's Six-Stage Road Relay title and finished runners-up in the men's Six-Stage Championships
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Betting by Victor Chandler
Champions Day from Ascot is the celebration of the 2012 Flat season and we have a terrific card to look forward to. The action includes the brilliant Guineas winner Frankel (3.35) looking to maintain his unbeaten record with a ninth straight win in
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Adam demands players' best
Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam believes the team have yet to play to their true potential but is confident they are more than a match for Manchester United. The Reds' arch-rivals visit tomorrow looking to end a run of three successive defeats at Anfield
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Moyes brands Rooney ban a joke
Everton boss David Moyes has branded Wayne Rooney's three-match Euro 2012 ban "a joke". It will be next week before the Football Association receive the written conclusions they require from UEFA before deciding whether to launch an appeal. Opinion
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Late team news New signings for Norton, Ryton, North Shields and Tow Law
Norton have announced that they have signed midfielder Leon Scott from Shildon. Scott was transfer listed by Shildon a week ago, and Norton boss Conrad Hillerby signed the player on Friday afternoon. Tow Law manager Ian Davison has been very busy in
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Gillford Park v Easington off
Easington are facing a big fine and a points deduction after they called off Saturday's second division game at Gillford Park. The club have lost several players since manager Andy Colledge resigned on Wednesday night, and with nine more players injured
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In memory of Margaret
PLANS to commemorate a community stalwart have been discussed by a parish council. Middleton St George Parish Council has agreed to spend £500 on a memorial bench in memory of Margaret Clemence, the warden of Dinsdale Court. Mrs Clemence died suddenly
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Bombay Bicycle Club – Newcastle O2 Academy
Bombay Bicycle Club are yet again back in Newcastle to showcase their dazzling new album, A Different Kind Of Fix. They launched into fast paced new single, Shuffle which is a dynamic, slightly nostalgic and a brilliantly catchy song, which sets the pace
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Fundraising for education centre
A FUNDRAISING drive is being held in a Darlington supermarket to help an organisation for children with Down’s Syndrome. This weekend in the entrance to the Morrisons supermarket at Morton Park shoppers will be able to take part in a raffle, tombola
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News in brief
CHRISTMAS TREE: Middleton St George Parish Council has agreed to the purchase the village Christmas tree. It is hoped to have a switching on ceremony by the Christmas tree on Station Road on November 27 from 4pm with musical accompaniment from Cockerton
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Bridge repairs in village
RESIDENTS have been warned that a bridge over a railway in the centre of their village is to be replaced. The work to the bridge at Middleton St George is to take place in about one years’ time and will be done over two weekends. Sue Dobson, from
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Vulnerable youngsters get £100k for creativity
VULNERABLE young people will get the chance to be creative with the help of a £100,000 arts grant. Tees Valley Arts (TVA), an arts development agency covering Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton authority areas
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Man run over by own van
A MAN has suffered two suspected broken legs after being run over by his own van. The 46-year-old was working on the vehicle when got up to move a wheelie bin. However, its handbrake snapped and the van rolled onto him, trapping him underneath.
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Homes to get solar panels
SOLAR panels are to be installed in dozens of homes in a former pit village as part of a pioneering project to deliver greener and warmer homes. Nearly 90 privately-owned homes in the village of Craghead, near Stanley, will have the panels fitted which
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Defence Secretary Liam Fox resigns
LIAM Fox tonight resigned as Defence Secretary over his links with his close friend, lobbyist Adam Werritty. In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, Dr Fox said that he had mistakenly allowed the distinction between his personal interest and government
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Bench dedicated to young cancer victim stolen
THE family of a young woman who died of an undiagnosed heart defect have discovered a bench dedicated to her memory has been stolen. The handmade, solid oak bench was recently stolen from a spot overlooking Sandsend beach between Staithes and
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Doing what they do best
Comic Strip Presents: The Hunt For Tony Blair (Channel 4, 9pm) Top Gear USA (BBC Three, 7pm) CAST your mind back to the days when Tony Blair was still Prime Minister, and then try casting it back even further to the era of Fifties film noirs.
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Partnership support Duke’s award
A PARTNERSHIP of County Durham businesses has committed funds to support young people doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award. The initiative is being led by Carillion Developments and Arlington Real Estate, the developers of DurhamGate on the former
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IT system controls Swedish traffic
SWEDISH drivers are to enjoy smoother journeys because of work by a North-East IT firm. County Durham-based Nicander has completed the third of four stages of a project to control and manage road traffic in the Scandinavian nation. The National
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Market report
LONDON’S top flight index closed 38.4 points lower at 5403.4 after a lower-than-expected trade surplus in China for September suggested the country’s economy may be starting to come off the boil. Global sentiment was hit as JP Morgan Chase
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It's time for an NHS U-turn
A RECENT survey found that a very high proportion of people want to be able to chose where they have their hospital care. However, this cannot be reconciled with the development of specialist units in our region’s hospitals. Take, for
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Out on a limb
FOR goodness sake, get that 100 year old beech tree, (Echo Oct 6) at Irton, near Scarborough, chopped down, before any more money is wasted. It is absolutely stupid that a five-year wrangle over a tree has taken so long. Roland Braham, Richmond
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Christianity
ENGLAND is no longer a Christian country and that is the cause of many of our problems. Lucy Sacco, Crook.
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Ethna Campbell
I READ with interest the obituary you published about Ethna Campbell (Echo, Sept 26) and was disappointed that the focus was on a difficult period in her life. I want to tell everyone who didn’t know Ethna that she overcame her problems and was
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Quantitative easing
IS quantitative easing a joke? The Bank of England has supposedly made £75 bn appear from nowhere at the touch of a plastic button without one single note being printed. How very clever. Bank governor Mervyn King states that this invisible money
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BBC
I’D like to know why BBC bosses are carrying out swingeing cuts in output. Nationally, the BBC Trust is proposing to make huge cuts (20 per cent) to meet the cost of freezing of the licence fee. This equates to 2,000 jobs in a programme hypocritically
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Fox hunting
DEAN MELS suggests Labour should lay off the Defence Secretary because it voted against fox hunting (HAS, Oct 10). Let us not forget that, in certain parts of the country, the fox is still regarded as pest and vermin. Le Reynard cannot be trusted
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Privatisation
A RECENT report by Consumer Focus says 13.5 million Britons live in households with incomes under 60 per cent of the national average. They aren’t just unemployed people, 60 per cent of the poorest are in employment. Every day 1,200 people are
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Memories
MORRIS CULLEN’S letter about Leasingthorne village in Hear All Sides, on October 5, certainly brought back a lot of memories. I lived in nearby Coundon and Leeholme until 1988. I can recall as a young man regularly walking down the narrow footpath
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Debt
WE cannot afford to give away £9.7bn in foreign aid. It is unbelievable that we borrow money to give away to other countries. Gerald Pear, Middlesbrough. IN Americia, 40 per cent of the wealth is owned by one per cent of the population. Taxation
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Short termism
LIKE all those that have gone before it, the £1.4 bn regional growth fund will do little to build a vibrant and sustainable economy. It is another quick fix solution put forward by Whitehall and the Government’s economic advisers that is doomed
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Crime
THE Government is going ahead with a scheme for Police Commissioners. How can it justify the expense? Wouldn’t it make more sense to look at merging small county forces together? There must be big savings to be made if Yorkshire just had one
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End of the road for the car?
DIFFERENT people, different hobbies. I enjoy a football match, or an hour or two in an art gallery, but, when it comes down to it, I’m never happier than when I’m wandering around a car showroom. An odd way to pass the time, I know. When I told
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The right to dignity
IT is a matter of great concern that too many hospitals in England are failing to provide the most basic care to elderly patients. Out of 100 unannounced visits to hospitals, inspectors working for the Care Quality Commission discovered 55 cases
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A silver celebration
The MetroCentre celebrates its 25th anniversary today. Joe Willis looks back at the history of the shopping and leisure centre, which remains Europe’s largest. FOR a quarter of a century, the Metro- Centre has stood beside the A1, a mecca for the
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Sufferer's son raises £7,000 for Parkinsons research
A FUNDRAISER whose father suffers from Parkinson’s disease has raised £7,000 for research into the condition. Ian Watkinson, of Thirsk, said an auction of promises and live music evening at Sessay village hall raised £2,495 for the Parkinson’s UK charity
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Pets with wrong colour fur overlooked
STAFF at an animal rescue centre say potential owners are being prejudist to some dogs and cats - because of the colour of their fur. The Blue Cross rescue centre in Topcliffe, near Thirsk, said it has noticed black and black and white cats stay at
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Plane crash pair 'lucky to survive'
A FLYING instructor and his pupil were lucky to survive after their light aircraft crashed into Yorkshire's highest peak at more than 100mph, a report has found. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the crew were rescued nearly five hours
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Indian evening to heat up village hall
AN EVENT featuring an Indian dance and music troupe and a South Asian meal is being staged in a village hall to raise funds for a new heating system. Manasamitra will perform A Journey Into India at Osmotherley Village Hall on Saturday, October, 29
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Darlington caravan dealer's owner suspends shares amid financial difficulties
A LEADING caravan retailer's ongoing financial problems led to its shares being suspended today. Discover Leisure, which owns the former Barrons dealership at Burtree Gate, Darlington as well as outlets at York and Birtley, County Durham, said that its
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Killer back behind bars
A CONVICTED killer who murdered his own mother was back behind bars today. Mark Rutter, 42, absconded from Stockton Hall Hospital, a medium-secure psychiatric unit at Stockton-on-the-Forest near York, last Wednesday morning. But he was recaptured in
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Tomlinson a big fan of controversial van Commenee
UK ATHLETICS head coach Charles van Commenee may be a controversial figure to some British athletes, but long-jumper Chris Tomlinson believes the tough-talking Dutchman can help Team GB achieve their medal target at the London 2012 Olympics.
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Durham widowers explore life 'without her'
A GROUP of older men including a former Astronomer Royal have written a book about being a widower and living alone. The friends, who include 84-year-old Sir Arnold Wolfendale who was Astronomer Royal from 1991 to 1995, first decided to write the book
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Purcell to exit Quakers early
Manager Mark Cooper says Tadhg Purcell has played his final game for Darlington, despite the striker being available tomorrow before his one-month loan expires. The Irishman played three games for Quakers, scoring once, but was an unused substitute for
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Solano facing a spell on the sidelines
HARTLEPOOL United will be without Nobby Solano until next month, after he suffered a hamstring strain last weekend. The influential right winger pulled up during last weekend's loss at Notts County and was immediately replaced. After having the injury
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STL Division Two preview: Easington fail in bid for postponement
Second Division Easington have had a request for a postponement of Saturday’s game at Gillford Park turned down flat by the league. Easington were stunned by the sudden departure of manager Andy Colledge in midweek, and with uncertainty growing at the
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STL Division One preview: I'll sub you if you don't follow my instructions -- Myers
Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers has told his players that he will sub them without hesitation if they disobey his instructions at home to Consett in the first division . Myers was furious with the way Bishops folded against Bedlington in
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FA Cup preview: Travelling army can make a big difference says Ainsley
Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley is hoping that the club’s travelling army will make a big difference in their FA Cup third qualifying round tie at Witton Albion on Saturday. Three busloads of fans are making the trip across country for
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Fireball driver pays homage to rescuers
A DRIVER who was pulled from the wreckage of his car seconds before it erupted into flames told of his ordeal last night and thanked the “heroes” who saved his life. Father-of-one Andrew Basham, 32, said the people who helped him escape were
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Talent contest entries are all rather wooden
THE region has an aspiring hopeful to support in a new, but rather boring, national talent competition. However, with the shock departure of 16-year-old Middlesbrough singer Amelia Lily from the X Factor, supporters of North-East talent can now
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Hunt is launched for post office thieves
POLICE are hunting three men who snatched a till from a post office counter only minutes after a newsagent foiled a similar attempt in his shop a few miles away. Police were called to the post office, in Bank Top, Bishop Middleham, County Durham
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North-East play has a certain je ne sais quoi
SOPHISTICATED Parisians are flocking to see a play about beer, football and North-East chic. Theatre critics say the play, called Sunderland, has a certain “je ne sais quoi” as it proves a surprise hit with the cultured patrons of a French theatre
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Child protection jobs reprieved
MINISTERS have lifted the threat to hundreds of North-East jobs, by announcing a reprieve for the quango that carries out child protection checks. The offices of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), in Darlington, will survive a controversial
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The words which could change the game
THEY are eight small words, but they could prove the straw that breaks the back of English football. "Maybe the path will be individual TV rights," said Liverpool's managing director, Ian Ayre, this week. Maybe it will. But if it is, it is
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Marine cable firms team up for Africa project
A DEEP sea cable-laying firm has again joined forces with a fast growing manufacturer on a multi-million pound offshore project Darlington headquartered CTC Marine Projects Ltd has been awarded a contract by SBM France to install and bury cables off
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Pardew happy to be talking football
ALAN PARDEW has been happy to enjoy a stress free international break - something he has come to realise does not come around too often at Newcastle United. Since taking over at St James' Park last December, Pardew has found Newcastle are never
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Don't change boundaries, parties argue
ALL three main political parties have told the body seeking to change England’s parliamentary constituencies that its plan to destroy the electoral face of North Yorkshire is flawed. At a Boundary Commission hearing in Leeds, the Liberal Democrats
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Free school campaigners say plans are going well
CAMPAIGNERS for a free school say their plans are progressing “fantastically well”, as they prepare to launch an intensive round of public consultation. Parents in Bowburn, Coxhoe and surrounding areas want to set up a state secondary school covering
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Instructor in fatal dive tells of problems
AN instructor in charge of a scuba diver who died after getting into difficulties in a flooded quarry has told an inquest that he also encountered problems. Graham Rowntree, who was leading James Askew, 35, his father and another diver in a deep
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'Windfarm build may go abroad'
MANY of the skills needed to create and operate the world’s biggest offshore wind farm 80 miles off the region’s coast may be sourced abroad, the Government has been warned. A consultation is under way into the proposal to erect 2,600 turbines
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Gerry's will to help may clinch award
A MOTHER-OF-FOUR from the region who runs a youth club and a gymnastics club for people with disabilities has been shortlisted for the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards. Gerry Fuller, of Chilton Close, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has been selected
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Manager accused of fraud had total control over cash
A COUNCIL manager who is accused of defrauding £100,000 from his employees to help three of his friends had complete control of his department’s budgets, a court heard yesterday. Michael Skirving told a jury at Teesside Crown Court that he had
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Why Rooney should not go to the Euros
ASSUMING England fail to overturn yesterday's UEFA ruling and Wayne Rooney remains suspended for the opening three matches of Euro 2012, he should not be selected for the tournament. There will be those who claim it is still worth taking Rooney
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Mowbray steps up Middlesbrough striker search
HAVING stepped up his striker search this week, Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray is keen to recruit a new centre-forward before the end of the month. Despite the recent arrival of Alex Nimely on loan from Manchester City, Mowbray remains short of alternatives
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Offshore safety training centre unveiled in Billingham
AN INDUSTRIAL training company has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in its Tees Valley centre to ensure the safety of workers in the burgeoning offshore wind farm sector. Danish-owned Falck Nutec is about to complete a major extension
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Can a good week get better for Larsson?
IT has already been quite a week for Seb Larsson and he hopes it will continue this weekend when the Sunderland winger returns to the club he still supports, Arsenal. At club level Larsson has had to deal with inconsistency from both of his
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FA Cup: I'll try not to be booked for over-celebrating says Cogdon
Spennymoor striker Gavin Cogdon is hoping that he won’t be booked for his celebrations if he scores against Witton Albion on Saturday. Cogdon will be entrusted with the task of firing Moors to FA Cup glory against the Evostik First Division side, and
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FA Cup: Renaissance man Clarke aims for another upset
Renaissance man Jamie Clarke is hoping to play his part in another Ashington upset against Guiseley on Saturday. The Colliers pulled off a big surprise in the last round when they defeated Vauxhall Motors, from the Blue Square North, in a replay
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FA Cup: Team spirit can help us win, says McClen.
The surroundings of Radcliffe Borough are a far cry from the glamour of the Premiership, but Hebburn midfielder Jamie McClen is relishing the challenge of helping his side into the final qualifying round on Saturday. The 32 year old was on target for
