POLICE are appealing for a Good Samaritan taxi driver to step forward after helping a young woman who was knifed by muggers.

The Asian cabbie took the 19-year-old to hospital after she was attacked by two men in Marton Burn Road, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, last Wednesday. One of the attackers tried to grab the woman's bag and when she clung on held a knife to her face and cut her. The men made off with the bag, containing about £70, before the taxi driver stopped to help. Police would like him, or anyone else who saw the attack, to call them on (01642) 301520 or (01642) 301521.

LOTTERY WINNERS: The winning tickets from the Great North Air Ambulance Service monthly lottery have been announced. The winning ticket for £200 is : 09672, £100 winner 08632, £50 winner 11805, and 15 £10 winners 11681, 09817, 14493, 10388, 09498, 08676, 10975, 11194, 08112, 14552, 09596, 08001,10212,13670, 11615. To join the lottery, or to help the appeal to have a second air ambulance permanently based at Teesside Airport, call (01668) 213824.

OPEN GARDEN: The grounds of the Manor House in Skeeby, North Yorkshire, are being opened to raise funds for a North-East hospice. The gardens will be opened by historian Val Hepworth on Saturday, July 6, from 2pm to 5pm, with all profits going to St Teresa's Hospice in Darlington. Entry is £2 but visitors are asked to note that wheelchair access is limited.

BLACKSPOT BRIDGE: The Government yesterday gave the go-ahead for a flyover on the A64 in North Yorkshire, at the notorious Bilbrough Top accident blackspot between York and Tadcaster. The bridge will eventually allow a dangerous gap in the central reservation of the dual carriageway to be closed.

Alert over: The virus alert which swept through York District Hospital last week is over. The virus caused the closure of several wards but a spokesman said yesterday there were no new cases and the hospital was back to normal.

HOLIDAY PROJECT: The Forestry Commission is to spend £5m to replace holiday cabins on the North York Moors. More than 60 cabins at Keldy Castle will be knocked down and replaced with state-of-the-art chalets. The intention is to attract more tourists and extra business.

CHEMICAL SPILL: Firefighters were called to a chemical spillage at a primary school in Felling, Gateshead, shortly after 4pm yesterday. Thomas Hepburn Community School had already closed for the day at the time of the call, at 4.20pm.

DAYS OUT: Sarah Snelling has won her family ten days out in North Yorkshire's Herriot Country. The mother-of-three, of Montrose Street, Darlington, took top prize in a competition run by the Herriot Country Attractions Group.

SCHOOL REUNION: Women who attended Easington Secondary Modern School, in east Durham, between 1947 and 1963 are invited to a reunion next Tuesday, at the Victory Club, Easington Colliery, at 7pm. There is no charge but guests are asked to take their own snacks.