A 36-year-old man is being treated for serious injuries in a hospital's intensive care unit after being attacked in the street. It is understood the man was with a friend and two women who were confronted by a gang of youths on the station approach, Hartlepool, between Beni's Takeaway and The Bank public house, in the early hours of Saturday. Witnesses are urged to contact Hartlepool CID on (01642) 302126.

HOUSE FIRE: A blaze which partially-gutted an empty house on the Whinney Banks estate, Middlesbrough, spread to the house next door. The first floor and roof of the house in East Crescent was totally destroyed, the flames damaging ten per cent of the adjoining property.

CHARITABLE STEPS: Twenty four ambulance workers from Coulby Newham, near Middlesbrough, walked 18 miles, from Sandsend to Saltburn, to raise funds for the neonatal unit at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

HELPER DIES: A 40-year-old Teesside-born welfare rights worker has lost her 18-month battle against a serious illness. The funeral of Wendy Semp, whose parents, Ivor and Rita, live at Stainton, near Middles-brough, will be held in north Manchester on Wednesday. The former Citizens' Advice Bureau manager leaves her partner, John, a brother, Michael and sister, Joanne.

LIGHT WORK: Off-peak lane closures and night working will be in operation when lighting columns are installed on a two-and-a-half mile stretch of the A19, between the Sheraton Interchange and Dalton Piercy, near Hartlepool, from today. The work will include digging up verges to house electrical cables.

SPEAKING UP: Residents will get a chance to air their views about local issues at the annual meeting of the parish assembly at Egglescliffe Community Centre, Durham Lane, Eaglescliffe, on April 25.

HELPING WAY: A sponsored four-mile walk will be held to raise cash for the Hartlepool and District Hospice. Fundraisers will step out along the Castle Eden Dene Walkway on Sunday, May 12. Sponsor forms are available from Lynne Wilkinson on (01429) 288252.

FOOTBALL TREAT: Eleven pupils from Middlesbrough's Park End Primary School were rewarded for hard work on a Middlesbrough Football Club educational course with a trip to the National Museum of Football, at Preston, and a visit to the club training ground where they met first team players.

MARATHON ROW: While thousands of runners pounded through the streets of London yesterday, Superintendent Ian Rowland "rowed" 26 miles on a rowing machine at the Cleveland Police gym. Supt Rowland, who was left with a form of paralysis to his left arm and leg following a crash, was raising funds with two colleagues for the Stroke Association.