Newton Aycliffe man Michael Watson has been jailed for a knife attack on a 32-year-old local man earlier this year. Known locally as ‘Spike’, Watson eventually pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and possessing a knife in a public place after originally pleading self-defence. He was originally charged with attempted murder after the...

Thousands of people have passed through the doors of a new £1.1m leisure complex in its first two months. Ten weeks since the activity centre opened at ROF 59 in Newton Aycliffe, just under 5,000 people have visited the former World War II munitions factory to sample its state-of-the-art attractions. ROF 59 underwent a £1.1m redevelopment...

X Factor star Josh Daniel is set to perform at a special Christmas show in Newton Aycliffe town centre. The 22-year-old Teessider, who narrowly missed out on the live finals in this year's competition, will line up alongside other former X Factor contestants in Aycliffe on Saturday 5th December. Josh, from Billingham, hit the headlines when...

In an effort to ensure equity and fairness within the workforce, a consultation exercise has begun within the Council on a proposal to bring teaching assistants’ terms and conditions in line with other council employees. Durham County Council is seeking agreement to pay its teaching assistants for the hours that they actually work, in line...

Victims are being asked what they would do if given the chance to come face to face with the young people who commit crimes against them. Between April and September this year, 236 victims of youth crime were contacted by Durham County Council’s Youth Offending Service to offer them the opportunity to see offenders give back to the wider...

Police are appealing for information after two bikes were stolen from the same house in Newton Aycliffe. The black Python Rock mountain bike (above) and the white Carrera Olympic Edition road bike (below) were both taken from an address in Washington Crescent some time between Monday (23rd November) and Friday (24th). Anyone with any...

The Aycliffe Juniors football season continued over a cold weekend with some teams squeezing two games in to catch up on fixtures and others not getting in on the action, due to some wintry weather. The Under 8’s played a re-arranged game on Saturday at Middleton Rangers. Yet another amazing free kick from Rhys gave a 1-0 lead and further...

Newton Aycliffe police are appealing for help after a number of crimes were committed earlier this week. Officers say several incidents, involving sheds and garages being broken into and also vehicles being broken into at locations across the town, happened overnight from Monday 23rd November through to Tuesday 24th November. Police are also...

In 2015, a host of South Durham companies made the commitment to build happier and healthier workforces with the support of the Local Motion workplace team. Key companies such as Prefere Resins, Sabre Rail, North East Laboratory Services, Evans Business Centre and Smurfit Kappa all signed up to the Local Motion workplace package, making the...

More than 500 properties were found to be at risk of burglary during ‘dark nights’ patrols across the force area in just one week. The operation formed part of a force-wide initiative to prevent crime on the run-up to Christmas. Durham Constabulary officers and staff from neighbourhood police teams, alongside Neighbourhood Watch...