FIREFIGHTERS from Stockton helped free an injured person from a car in Billingham on Saturday (May 25).

Fire crews were called to the road accident, involving a Renualt Megane and a Land Rover, which happened on The Causeway outside Billingham Forum, Billingham, just before 1.40pm.

The Land Rover had overturned and the Megane was so badly damaged that fire crews had to cut the roof off to free the driver.

INJURED MOTORCYCLIST: A 53-year-old man was airlifted to hospital on Saturday after his motorbike crashed in Stockton. The man, who was suffering with pelvic injuries, was treated at the scene, in the Durham Road area, before being flown to James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, by the Great North Air Ambulance just after 1pm. He was understood to have been in collision with a car and his condition was said to be stable.

RECYCLING DOUBLES: New blue bins introduced in Redcar and East Cleveland have helped double recycling rates. Redcar & Cleveland Council ran trials with new blue bins in Greater Eston, which replaced the three different boxes and bags for sorting out recycling. The blue bin takes glass, plastic and cardboard with a separate inner caddy for paper. The process – known as co-mingling – means residents no longer need to separate the items for recycling. Blue bins are being rolled out in Redcar from June and then Guisborough and the rest of East Cleveland by September.