Dog walkers across County Durham are signing up to be part of a growing network of responsible pet owners. More than 1,000 people have now joined the Green Dog Walkers Scheme and pledged to always pick up after their dogs to help keep communities clean and safe. Recent campaigns to promote responsible dog ownership in West Cornforth,...

Adults can improve their English and maths skills with a series of free courses. Sessions, run by Durham County Council, take place at community centres, children’s centres and libraries across the county throughout the year. Improving your reading, writing and numeracy skills can make a big difference when you are filling in forms and...

A family fun event is being held at Woodham Community Centre this weekend. If you’re thinking of trying something new in 2014, this could be the place you start! The event, between 10am and 2pm on Saturday (11th January), aims to promote the health benefits of active travel through a variety of activities including: Nordic Walking...

By Martin Walker A state-of-the-art gym will form part of an exciting £1.5m football facility on Aycliffe Business Park, it has been revealed. The Soccer Factory now hopes to open its indoor five-a-side complex in the spring after problems with its refurbishment programme caused slight delays. But bosses behind the new facility are...

People in County Durham are being warned not to fall for a new type of scam which claims to offer protection from nuisance calls. Durham County Council’s fair trading team has issued the warning to make residents aware of a so-called service which offers to stop householders receiving unwanted telesales and marketing calls. The scam...

A number of Newton Aycliffe students got to meet the former Prime Minister Tony Blair during a special event. The youngsters attended the Tony Blair Sports Foundation’s sixth birthday party at the Copthorne Hall Hotel in Newcastle. Joshua McNulty, Gabrielle Welsh, India Roddam and Haydn MacLean – all from Woodham Academy – enjoyed...

Newton Aycliffe NPT Sergeant Mark Edwards returns with his first blog of 2014... Well I’ll start with the obvious one – Happy New Year! It’s been all change for the Police in Newton Aycliffe of late. I am sure you will all be aware now that we have again relocated – our former home on the Business Park at Parsons Court has closed...

By Martin Walker A Newton Aycliffe couple were duped out of £8,000 by iPad con merchant Kirsty Cox - despite knowing her nearly all their lives. Now they say they still feel resentment towards Cox, even after she was sentenced to a two-year prison sentence on Friday. Cox, 37, formerly of Hamsterley Road, was jailed at Teesside Crown...

iPad con merchant Kirsty Cox has been locked up for two years. The 37-year-old, who'd pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud last November, was told by a Teesside Crown Court judge she'd caused misery to her many victims after her £450,000 scam in 2012. And she's been told she now faces further investigations into her finances. Click...

By Dan Lewis Newton Aycliffe rounded off an inconsistent 2013 with a rare away win, which enabled them to finish the year in the top half of the Northern League table, and in a considerably stronger position than they were 12 months previous. The win at Sunderland RCA was as comfortable as Aycliffe have enjoyed for some time. The pitch...