A MAN has died after his car crashed through a fence in Stockton Road, Middlesbrough.

An inquest into the death of Thomas Beresford Davison, 65, known to friends as Barry, was opened and adjourned in Middlesbrough, yesterday. Mr Davison lived in Grosvenor Road, Linthorpe. There were no other vehicles involved in the accident, which took place on Wednesday.

CLOTHES RAID: A thief ran off with a rail of jackets worth £800 from a newly opened shop yesterday. The thief, thought to be in his 20s, was thin, with short, unkempt hair. He jumped into a stolen car waiting outside the Thurston Saddlery shop, in Coulby Newham, near Middlesbrough. Witnesses are asked to call police on (01642) 303126.

CYCLIST MUGGED: A 71-year-old woman cyclist was knocked off her bike, suffering minor injuries, when a teenager on another bike tried to snatch her handbag from her basket. He was thought to be in his late teens and the bike he was riding, along Arlington Road, Tollesby, Middlesbrough, was too small for him. Anyone who may know the youth is asked to call police on (01642) 303347.

POSTCODE PRESENTS: Loftus and Brotton police stations open their doors to allow the public to postcode Christmas presents today and tomorrow, and on December 28 and 29. The police will also increase patrols to reduce burglaries in the run-up to Christmas.

TABLE-TOP SALE: A table-top sale will be held at Redcar Literary Institute, In Lord Street, Redcar, on Tuesday, to raise funds for Newlands Community Mental Health Centre and Roseberry Square's craft and social group. The sale will be held from 10am to 2pm.

RUBBISH FIRE: Four flats were left with smoke damage after vandals set fire to a wheeled bin in a stairwell in flats on Redcar's South Lakes Estate. No one was hurt in the incident.

GARAGE BLAZE: A garage in Bamburgh Drive, Overfields, Middlesbrough, has been destroyed in a blaze, fuelled by furniture which was stored inside the building.

MARKET DAY: A flea market is at Saltburn Community Centre today, from 10am.