THIS week, 15 years ago, Quaker supporters faced uncertainty as Darlington Football Club was put into administration.

The Darlington Supporters' Trust set the target of raising £250,000 to salvage the 120-year-old club, to avoid a winding-up order by the Inland Revenue.

The trust kick-started its £250,000 by raising £2,000 through bucket collections at a match against Hull City.

Board member Tony Taylor said: "That is the figure we're almost certainly going to need at some time in the not-too-distant future."

Meanwhile, a mystery protestor took to the streets with brown parcel tape to wage a lone war against boundary changes, 30 years after they came into force.

The culprit used the tape to blot out the words County Durham on signs marking the border with North Yorkshire, close to the A66 near Barnard Castle - and each time it was removed, another tape raid was carried out.

The signs in question were all in a swathe of land previously within the North Riding of Yorkshire - until the boundaries were reshaped in 1974.

Sonia Hall, owner of the A66 Motel at Smallways crossroads, where the Durham name has been covered over, said: "It looks as if some someone is trying to make a point by hiding Durham's name from view."

Ian Tallentire, of Smallways Garage, said: "Several local road signs have been tackled. Some days the brown tape is in place and other days it is missing. It's all a mystery."

And a US opera singer embarked on the Coast to Coast challenge while bringing the hills alive with the sound of music.

The tenor set off on the 200-mile walk from St Bees, in Cumbria, via the North Pennines to Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire, stopping off each night to perform in pubs, churches, halls and farmhouses.

He sang composer Franz Schubert's Die Winterreise, The Winter's Journey at each stop.