The region’s only scheme to provide a 100 per cent discount on council tax payments to vulnerable households could be extended for another year. Members of Durham County Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve plans to continue the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme into 2021/22 when they discuss the authority’s Medium-Term Financial...

In every issue of our Aycliffe Business magazine, we take a break and sit down with a different employee or business owner/leader to ask them 20 questions about a variety of subjects. In our latest edition, Craig Jones from Rare Rockets answers our 20 questions over a cuppa… 1: What do you do? A: I’m the CEO of Rare Rockets, and my...

Researchers from Teesside University and the University of Sunderland are conducting an important study to understand why some people are reluctant to take the Covid-19 vaccine. The study will explore people’s attitudes towards taking the vaccine across the general population, and within Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities...

By Bob Wood Newton Aycliffe FC played their first game in eight months as football at last returned to the Beaumont Landscapes Stadium. The friendly against National League North side Spennymoor Town had been brought forward 24 hours to the Monday evening to avoid a clash with the small matter of England v Germany. An impressive Moors...

A new team of PCSOs will soon been taking to the streets of County Durham and Darlington after being welcomed into the force. The 19-strong group met Chief Constable Jo Farrell and Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen as they commence their training on Monday. The 12-month programme will see the new recruits put through their paces with...

A local haulier has come to the rescue for a local junior football team after some of their equipment was vandalised during a lockdown raid. Heighington Football club have been fundraising to replace goals after the incident. And the club’s Under 11 Blacks team, managed by Dave Raine, have sealed a two-year sponsorship deal with...

A grandad putting his grandchildren at risk, a man banned from keeping animals and a driver who started a dangerous pursuit – just some of the drivers flouting seatbelt laws recently. The trio were amongst the 89 drivers who were stopped as part of the national seatbelt campaign which ran from May 31 to June 13, supported by officers from...

Tony Thompson, managing director of Aycliffe-based Cobots Online, talks about the emergency of collaborative robots... UK SMEs continue to view automation as a “nice to have” but not a necessity. Many perceive the technology as too complex or requiring specialist expertise and that it is only there for the largest and most advanced...

Lee Weldon’s weekly round-up from the wicket… Saturday 26th June – NYSD Division 2 Bedale 1st XI v Newton Aycliffe 1st XI – weather was overcast and cool. Newton Aycliffe won the toss and chose to bowl first. Bedale 1st XI 191 all out after 42 oversGeorge Slatcher 3 for 25, Sean Morgan 2 for 33 and James Layfield-Carroll 2 for...

A new National Training Centre has been opened in Darlington which will take advanced therapy and vaccine manufacturing to new heights. Teesside University’s National Horizons Centre is one of three designated training partners which will deliver high impact on-site and digital training as part of the Advanced Therapies Skills Training...