A HOMEOWNER spoke of her shock after a skull – believed to be human – was found in the garden of her property, on May 15, 2018.

An investigation was launched after the remains were discovered during work on an extension of a house in Springwell Terrace, Darlington.

A cordon was put in place around the house and garden while officers worked at the scene, sifting through soil samples in the front garden of the semi-detached property.

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Specialist tests were carried out to determine whether the skull was definitely human, to age it and estimate how long it may have been in the ground.

While the investigation was at an early stage, Durham Police were unable to rule out any lines of inquiry, including whether it could be the missing skull of Julie Paterson who was murdered in her flat in Barningham Road, Darlington, in April 1998.

Firefighters were dampening down a smouldering scrap yard in Sunderland following huge fire which created a plume of smoke visible from miles around.

A spokesperson for the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were alerted to the fire at the former Alex Smiles waste management plant, in Deptford Terrace, at about 5.50pm on Monday, May 14, 2018.

“We sent nine pumps and two aerial ladder platforms and high volume pump. At its height we had about 50 firefighters there.

“There are now four engines at the scene and 12 firefighters, with two aerial ladder platforms and a high volume pump still in use.”

The fire involved two steel buildings which have been out of use for about two years.

An adventurous North-East father-of-two made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, it was confirmed on Wednesday, May 16, 2018.

Self-employed heating engineer Steve Graham, from Darlington, reached the summit of Everest at 11.22am, with his family receiving the news via a satellite telephone text message.

His wife Hollie told The Northern Echo: “We’re ecstatic – absolutely speechless to know that he’s made it.”

Hollie told of the moment she received an unexpected text from a satellite phone, confirming that Steve’s party had reached the peak at just over 29,000 feet.

“We weren’t expecting direct contact but, out of the blue, there was a text from another member of the party saying they’d reached the summit and that everyone was safe,” she said.

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“Then there was another message from Steve, sending his love, and saying he would speak to us when they got back to base camp on Friday.

We’re dumbfounded and still in a state of shock but we won’t relax completely until we’ve spoken to him and know that everything is okay because there’s still a risk of frostbite.”

Steve, 45, an experienced mountaineer, is raising money for St Teresa’s Hospice and Prostate Cancer UK, and is carrying a flag bearing the logos of the charities, as well as three Darlington primary schools that have supported him – Mowden, Abbey and Reid Street.