By Martin Walker Thousands of music-lovers will descend on two parks in Staffordshire later this year after tickets for the biggest festival in England sold out. Ex expected, general tickets for the 2012 V Festival quickly sold out last week as fans flocked to secure their place to see a string of headline acts at the August gig. The...

Hitachi says it remains committed to building the new plant in Newton Aycliffe, despite delays in the final sign-off. The Japanese company is planning to build a £4.5bn train factory at Aycliffe Industrial Park, creating hundreds of jobs and pumping millions of pounds into the local economy. And it has moved to reassure the region...

Darlington have reduced matchday ticket prices at the Northern Echo Arena. For the rest of the season, and the final five home games of the campaign, matchday tickets will be priced £15 adults, £10 concessions and £5 children. General manager Jason Lees said: “We’d hope this will encourage more of our fans to come back on...

By Martin Walker Hundreds of Aycliffe schoolchildren are getting a special insight into personal safety during a popular event on the town’s Industrial Park. The Safety Carousels is a multi-agency event delivering a series of safety workshops to 8,000 year 6 students in the County Durham and Darlington area. Held at The Workplace,...

Cheltenham Thursday 2.40 RIVERSIDE THEATRE (pictured), 5/1fav with Ladbrokes We mentioned Threefortea as a threat to Alles Garde on Wednesday and it duly obliged so we know we're getting closer to a winner, and what better way to bring it up than with yesterday's main man Barry Geraghty. The Irish pilot brought home a superb 80/1...

By Glen Robertson The North-East’s only baseball side are expanding their set-up to include a brand new sport. Newton Aycliffe Spartans, who are rapidly approaching the start of their first-ever league campaign at baseball, are now offering sessions on softball. A direct descendant of baseball, softball has similar rules but is...

Durham County Council is asking residents to help them to establish existing and future housing requirements and residents only have a few days left to have a say. A targeted survey has been posted to 35,000 houses within County Durham to provide the council with up to date information on the amount of housing needed and help guide the type...

Craig Liddle's reaction to Darlington's 1-1 draw with Luton Town on Tuesday night is now in our Video Vault. Click here to see it  ...

A council has announced it is to apply for Government cash to further boost recycling rates. Durham County Council is to formally express an interest in receiving funding through the Government’s Weekly Collection Support Scheme. The authority is currently in the process of harmonising collection arrangements across the seven former...

Aycliffe Today’s resident chef Debbie Elizabeth serves up a weekly mouthwatering suggestion specially for our readers… This week… Tuna steak with garlic, parsley and lemon zest Serves 4 Ingredients 250g tuna steaks (x4 about 2cm thick) 1/2tsp dried chilli flakes 4 tbsp extra virgin oil 2 tbsp water 2 lemons (zest &...