Party retains ward seat

LABOUR'S Peter Dunlop won a three-cornered fight for a vacant seat in Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's Grangetown ward. He polled 463 votes, ahead of Paul Tuffs (Lib Dem) with 242 votes and Lynda Russell (Conservative) with 27 votes. Mr Dunlop, a member of the Future Regeneration of Grangetown and vice-chairman of the South Bank and Grangetown Single Regeneration Budget, joins Labour colleagues Lynn Pallister and Arthur Harvison in the three-seat ward. The poll, called after the death last year of Labour's Barbara Bowater, maintains Labour's overall majority of three on the 59-member council.

SCHOOL PRAISED: Pupils and teachers are celebrating after receiving a good Ofsted report. Marwood Church of England School, Great Ayton, near Middlesbrough, was visited by inspectors last November. The report said pupils achieved well and attained high standards in reading, writing, maths and religious education. It also described the good teaching throughout the school and the good links with the parents.

ALARMS BOOST: Elderly residents of bungalows in Hartlepool can rest easier after having anti-intruder alarms fitted to their homes. Thirty properties in Tweed Walk, a Hartlepool Borough Council-run sheltered housing complex, are benefiting from the devices that emit a high-pitched sound to alert householders if a door or window is opened.

FESTIVAL HIT: An all-girl percussion group of Normanby Primary School, Normanby, who practise in lunch hours and after school, have struck the right note at the Eskdale Festival of the Arts, earning distinctions in seven classes on their debut in music competition. The 20 year four and six girls play xylophones, glockenspiels and other percussion instruments.

NEW COURSES: With a growing need for trained volunteers to work with immigrants and asylum seekers, Stockton Adult Education Service is inviting people to attend Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages classes. The next ten-week training course will begin on April 15. For details call (01642) 393536.

Choir date: The Cleveland Philharmonic Choir, conducted by John Forsyth, is performing JS Bach's Mass in B Minor next Saturday at 7.30pm in Stockton Parish Church. Cleveland Philharmonia, under the leadership of Christopher Haigh, will accompany them. Tickets cost £8, £6 for concessions and £2 for children from (01642) 656273 or are available at the door.

New facilities: Work to introduce pedestrian facilities at the Bishopton Road West, Fairfield Road and Rimswell Road junction in Stockton is being carried out by Stockton Borough Council. From Monday the works will involve lane closures and three-stage temporary traffic signals, between 9.15am and 3.30pm