RESIDENTS were evacuated from their homes yesterday after a block of six flats was flooded by a burst water main. Water on the first floor of the flats in Loft Hill, Moorside, Sunderland, flooded into a next-door flat and began seeping through the ceiling and into flats on the ground floor.

The alarm was raised at 1am. When fire crews arrived, water was pouring down the stairways and corridors. Northumbrian Water officials switched off the supply from outside the block. Two of the flats were severely damaged by water.

Film maker: A North-East film-maker has received a financial boost in her bid to tell the story of her father's emigration to Britain during the 1960s. Sandhya Suri, of Darlington, has shown her film at the Cinema du Reel festival in Paris. Ms Suri, who graduated from The National Film and Television School, has combined videos and letters she has found to detail her family history over a 40-year period. Darlington Borough Council has given £600 to help with the production costs.

Teenager HELd: Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with a serious sexual assault on a woman in her home last week. The man was being questioned last night at Scarborough police station over the incident in the North Yorkshire resort's Falsgrave area last Wednesday. A police spokesman said several warrants were being executed in the town in the search for evidence.

Euro talk: The Tees area branch of the European Movement and Britain in Europe meets at Darlington Arts Centre, in Vane Terrace, Darlington, from 7.30pm on Wednesday, April 10. Malcolm Craggs, of the Government Office for the North-East, in Newcastle, will speak at the meeting on The North-East and Europe Regional Aid.

AUTHOR SIGNS: Gervase Phinn, famous for a series of books describing his adventures as a schools inspector in the Yorkshire Dales, will be returning to his old stamping ground on Saturday. He will be at White Rose Books, in Thirsk, between 11am and 1pm, signing copies of his latest work, Head Over Heels in the Dales. Signed copies can be reserved in advance by ringing Thirsk (01845) 524353 or e-mailinginfo