By Martin Walker A chemical firm responsible for an illegal gas release in Newton Aycliffe has been fined £10,000. It happened at Ineos, near School Aycliffe, as 56 tonnes of gas, particles and steam were shot into the Aycliffe sky, leaving homes at the nearby Chestnuts housing estate coated in white powder. As reported in today’s...

By Martin Walker Phil Wilson has moved to reassure Newtonians that the long-awaited Hitachi deal is still on track. Reports over the weekend had claimed that the number of carriages to be produced at Hitachi’s planned train-building factory in Newton Aycliffe is being cut – threatening the whole project. But the Department for...

By Martin Walker Police are hunting thieves who’ve stolen 75 litres of hazardous chemicals from a Newton Aycliffe factory. Offenders have scaled an eight-foot fence at Almit Metal Finishing on Aycliffe Business Park before stealing three containers of chemicals used in nickel and zinc cleaning. The liquids, which were all in blue...

Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club are hoping to repeat their flying start to a season later this summer – but maintain it throughout the campaign. It was the sort of start that only the most optimistic of Aycliffe fans would have hoped for. But Aycliffe manager Cymon Lee (pictured) says the side must look at the bigger picture. The...

By Martin Walker Health officials have confirmed that concerns about inadequate smear tests at a Newton Aycliffe GP practice go back at least five years. As reported on Aycliffe Today last week, about 1,000 women in the Aycliffe area were being invited to have new smear tests because of fears that previous tests had been done...

By Glen Robertson A school teacher from Newton Aycliffe described being a torchbearer on the Olympic torch route as “one of the best days of my life”. Jon Tait, Assistant Head at Woodham CTC and Head Coach of the Woodham Warriors American football team, carried the flame through Stockton on the same day the torch visited Newton...

The next meeting of the Police and Communities Together (PACT) for the West Ward in Aycliffe will be held next week. Durham Constabulary are dedicated to making your neighbourhood safer. If you have any issues affecting your quality of life and want to discuss it with your Neighbourhood Policing Team then get involved in your local PACT...

Aycliffe Today Sports Editor and Newton Aycliffe FC reporter Glen Robertson continues his daily Euro 2012 blog… England 0-0 Italy – Italy win 4-2 on penalties Once again, England exited a major tournament via the dreaded spot-kicks. Ashley Young and Ashley Cole both missed their penalties, as the Italians progressed to a showdown...

Brodie Millichap picks out this week’s TV highlights... FIVE PICKS OF THE WEEK Today At Wimbledon: Monday BBC2, 8pm. Wimbledon begins this week and this is your first chance to catch the highlights of the first day’s play at the All England Club. Strawberries and cream at the ready as the experts take a look back at the opening day...

By Glen Robertson Around 1,000 women in Newton Aycliffe are being told they will have to repeat cervical smear tests, after it was revealed that the procedure wasn’t carried out correctly. Women who were tested at Bewick Crescent Surgery, some as long as 18 months ago, are being advised by health officials that they will need to re-do...