The new Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday that 20,000 new Police Officers will be recruited across the country has received a cautious welcome from Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner Ron Hogg. Hoggn noted that the number of Police Officers employed by Durham Constabulary has been reduced by nearly 400 since 2010 as a consequence...

Record-breaking crowds have experienced the excitement and diversity of 21st century brass thanks to County Durham’s liveliest music festival. More than 40,000 people experienced this year’s Durham BRASS, a ten-day musical extravaganza which culminated in a free open-air party at Wharton Park in Durham on Sunday. The Big Brass Bash and...

Revealed: The ticking software time bomb that could disrupt half of all businesses in January 2020. Chris Petty, MD of Cornerstone Business Solutions, tells us the bad news first… Your business, like most others, relies on Microsoft software every day. It’s the software you use the most – for email, documents, to run your company’s...

Nominations for a prestigious green awards which are in their 30th year can still be made following an extension of the deadline. People can now nominate individuals, projects or groups for the County Durham Environment Awards up until Friday 2 August. The awards are organised each year by Durham County Council on behalf of the County Durham...

A colourful new sensory room has been officially opened in Newton Aycliffe. Spider-man and Beauty and the Beast’s ‘Belle’ were on hand as Aycliffe mayor Mary Dalton cut the ribbon at the ‘Sensory Squadron’s’ new facility within the ROF 59 activity centre on Aycliffe Business Park. The £6,000 sensory room will provide children...

Newton Aycliffe-based software innovator Excelpoint has appointed four new members of staff to further strengthen its team. Loraine Henderson has joined the firm as marketing and customer engagement manager. Loraine previously managed her own marketing consultancy business, has over five years' experience on the board of directors at Roman...

Lee Weldon’s weekly round-up from the wicket… Saturday 20th July – NYSD Division 2 Newton Aycliffe 1st XI v Thornaby 2nd XI – weather was warm and overcast. Aycliffe won the toss and chose to bat first. Newton Aycliffe 1st XI 178 for 8 after 50 overs Chris Palmer 38, Adam Gittins 31 and Sam Telford 29 Thornaby 2nd XI 53 all...

County Durham’s first Climate Emergency Exhibition took place last week. As Durham County Council plans for a carbon neutral future, County Hall played host to its first Climate Emergency Expo to showcase projects, services and technologies from across the region that are working to tackle climate change. The council was joined by the...

A Newton Aycliffe student is in the running for the ‘Young Innovator of the Year’ award at this year’s UK Energy Innovation Awards. Thomas Shepherd, a year 12 student UTC South Durham who is studying mechatronics, maths, physics and foundation engineering, has been shortlisted for his innovative approach to a potential solution for gas...

A road was partially blocked following a four-vehicle crash in Newton Aycliffe. The incident happened on the A167 between the junction with Central Avenue and the Rushyford roundabout on Thursday. Traffic was reported to be heavy on surrounding roads as far as the A1. It is not yet known if there are any injuries. The incident is the...