COUNCIL chiefs have launched a consultation exercise about a town's £125,000 new toilets.

Residents met Stockton Borough Council members and officers at Norton Green Community Centre to have their say. The council announced in March that the toilets would be built, in response to a petition signed by more than 600 people.

NATURAL CAUSES: Hun-garian-born retired labourer Karoly Ivanics swept up asbestos dust while working at the ICI oil works on Teesside between 1967 and 1969, a fact he entered in a log he kept of his working life. While the 67-year-old's death was related to mesothelioma, the cancer was not caused by any exposure to asbestos, pathologist David Scoones told an inquest in Middlesbrough. Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield found that Mr Ivanics, of the Seaview Nursing Home, Saltburn, died of natural causes.

DRIVERS WARNED: North-ern Electric is carrying out cable diversion work in Bowesfield Lane, Stockton. This will result in the road being closed under the Bowesfield railway bridge and A66 overbridge for ten weeks. Signed diversions are in operation. The work is being carried out in advance of the construction of stage two of the South Stockton Link Road.

ACCIDENTAL DEATH: Confused Raymond Watson, 79, of Glaisdale Avenue, Newham Grange, Stockton, had two falls within days at his home. An inquest on Teesside heard that one or both of them could have led to his death. Mr Watson suffered a brain clot, which was removed in surgery, but predisposed him to the bronchial pneumonia chest infection, which was the direct cause of his death. Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield ruled that the cause of Mr Watson's death was an accident.

FLAG PRIDE: Hartlepool Marina officially joined the elite when its coveted Blue Flag was unfurled. The accolade, given by Encams, reflects the high standards of water cleanliness, management and visitor facilities. The marina, the first in the North-East and one of only 27 nationally to be given a Blue Flag, was submitted for the award by Hartlepool Borough Council via its Pride in Hartlepool campaign.

Flower festival: Skelton Methodist Church is the venue for a Jubilee Flower Festival on Saturday, from 10am to 4pm and on Sunday, from 2pm to 6pm.