Police have arrested two people after recovering a number of items believed to have been stolen. A cream coloured Radley purse, a black purse with distinctive buckle and a black HTC mobile phone were recovered in Shildon. Police believe the items may have been stolen in Newton Aycliffe or Shildon, and want to identify the owners. Anyone...

Woodham student Lillie Bell has received the Durham schools' Physicist of the Year Award at an awards ceremony at Durham University. The awards ceremony recognises the talent of the most promising young physicists in year 10 or year 12 in schools in the Durham area, and was presented by Professor Carlos Frenk of the Institute for Computational...

Brave Newtonian Claire Welsh and a number of her friends and family smashed their target of raising £1,000 for charity by abseiling down the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough. Claire, who's from Aycliffe and works for Aycliffe Business Park training firm Optimum Skills, abseiled 165ft down the iconic Teesside structure with 11 others to...

School pupils who spread the road safety message among their classmates have been praised for their dedication. Durham County Council’s Junior Road Safety Officer (JRSO) scheme sees primary school children in Years 5 and 6 recruited to help keep their fellow pupils safe on the roads. The role involves maintaining a noticeboard, running...

Four swanky new town centre flats will soon be on the market. Aycliffe town centre owners, Freshwater, have nearly completed renovation of the units above the former HSBC bank along Dalton Way. As a result of the works, four flats will soon be coming into use for rent, available on the market through Northgate Estate Agents in the...

Budding scientists and engineers are being invited to a special summer holiday event in Newton Aycliffe. Aycliffe Youth Council, Great Aycliffe Town Council and a range of organisations have joined forces to organise a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) day in the town during the school holidays. Well known scientist John...

Students at Woodham Academy are working hard to practise their French ahead of their upcoming trip to the Côte Opale in northern France next month. This is an annual event in Woodham Academy’s calendar and, for many, one of the highlights of Year 8. Staying next to a glorious sandy beach just an hour south of Calais, students will have...

Newtonian Nigel Ould has qualified for the Amateur World Cycling Championships taking place in September. Nigel qualified after taking part in the Tour of Cambridgeshire Gran Fondo, a 128km road race, where he finished 15th in his age group (55-59 year olds). Nigel, a member of the Great Aycliffe & Middridge Partnership (GAMP) Forum, was...

Newton Aycliffe Juniors had five teams competing in their summer tournament at Sunnydale in Shildon. Each team played in groups of six with the top two progressing to the final. A damp morning did nothing to affect spirits and the whole day was played an enjoyable atmosphere. The Under 7’s played five league games, winning four and losing...

The North East's first University Technical College which will open in Newton Aycliffe next year says it plans to directly target girls to tackle a national shortage of women in engineering. The £10m South Durham UTC, which will be built next to Hitachi Rail Europe's train-building site on Aycliffe Business Park, is due to open in September...