Durham County Council has renewed its commitment to help residents improve their health by giving up smoking. The authority’s leader, Cllr Simon Henig, has signed the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control. It means the council will work with its partners to reduce the number of smokers in the county, highlight the negative...

By Martin Walker A Newton Aycliffe company that supplies a variety of wood products to a string of household retailers is set to report a 10% increase in turnover. Katell specialise is manufacturing fireplaces and surrounds, producing around 500 every week and supplying to the likes of ASDA, Homebase, Tesco and many national house...

By Martin Walker The steering group of Aycliffe Business Park Community (ABPC) has set out ambitious plans for the year ahead as it gears up for its first birthday. A special event is being held at the Xcel Centre on the park, on Friday 31st January from 8am, to celebrate the group's first anniversary. As well as regular news and...

A selection of pupils from Stephenson Way travelled to Spennymoor to take part in a Sedgefield School Sports Partnership “Sportsability” event. The event allows children of all ages to come together to receive taster sessions in sports and activities to learn about the need to develop their physical abilities. Trained coaches gave...

An award-winning engineering company is back on the up after bosses carefully guided it through the recession by exploring new markets. ALM Products, at Grindon Way on Heighington Lane Business Park, specialised in manufacturing and supplying hardware and systems for cubicles and lockers, and at its peak was turning over in excess of £3m a...

Police are looking for heartless thieves who’ve stolen a child’s Christmas present. The bike (pictured above) was taken from Whinlatter Place, in the Horndale area of the town. Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101, or mess them on Facebook   ...

A business deal which saw Newton Aycliffe manufacturer Ebac acquire a stockpile of 6,000 chest freezers is to give a boost to community organisations. When the County Durham company bought the Norfrost brand and machinery out of administration, breathing new life into the chest freezer range, the remaining stock of the Scottish business...

A group of Newton Aycliffe students have benefited from taking part in numeracy awareness week. Woodham Academy recently took part in the initiative to increase student understanding of where they use numeracy in other areas of the curriculum. The students found numeracy in a wide range of subjects including, art, cookery, technology,...

By Dan Lewis Newton Aycliffe were denied all three points on Saturday by a world class free kick late in the game as they returned to Moore Lane Park for the first time in 2014. The pitch passed a morning inspection due to the recent wet weather, but with areas of the ground being described as ‘heavy at best’ it was probably never...

Police are on the look-out for yobs who’ve vandalised parts of Aycliffe’s new town centre. The shopping centre was given a breath of fresh air with a £2m makeover last year. But on Saturday 4th January, some time after 5:30pm, damage has been caused to the new solid marble effect blocks that are shaped into musical...