TONIGHT'S the night for the stars of grassroots sport. The Local Heroes Awards 2004, organised by The Northern Echo, will be presented before an audience of 700 people at the Tall Trees Hotel, Yarm, near Stockton.

Special guests include England's 1966 World Cup hero Jack Charlton, Boro manager Steve McClaren, Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy, Darlington's David Hodgson and Hartlepool's Neale Cooper.

From the world of athletics, the VIP parade includes former world champion Steve Cram and Britain's greatest ever paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Richmond's Alison Mowbray, rowing silver medallist at the Athens Olympics, will also be there.

Money raised from the event will be donated to Sports Aid Northern, which provides vital grants to grass roots competitors in the region.

A record number of nominations were received, representative of the widest range of sports to date, and the judging panel had a extremely difficult task in selecting the category winners and the overall Local Hero of 2004.

Northern Echo editor Peter Barron, who will compere the awards, said: "The event is now in its fifth year and the standard gets better and better. It is humbling to hear about the dedication and courage of the finalists."

The winners will be announced in The Northern Echo tomorrow and a full-colour supplement on the event will be published on Friday next week.