Students at Woodham Academy have been involved in an Apprenticeship challenge with local company Gestamp Tallent over the last six weeks. Six students have worked in groups to design, develop and produce a concept one-person transport system. Students took their final ideas and presented them as a sales pitch to a group of company...

A criminal has been forced to repay cash to three Newton Aycliffe shops after going on a thieving spree. Lewis Francis Bowmer, 19, from Aycliffe, appeared at the town's Magistrates Court on May 8 charged with several counts of shoplifting. As reported by NPT Sergeant Mark Edwards in his regular blog on Aycliffe Today, Bowmer was...

A coroner has warned of the dangers of hoarding and criticised TV programmes for trivialising the issue after a Newton Aycliffe pensioner died in a fire in a house packed with clutter. Firefighters took half an hour to come to the aid of Ann Bradshaw at her home in Honister Place a year ago. The rescue effort was hampered by hoarded...

A fairly brief question on our Facebook page was enough to provoke a mini outpouring of opinions recently, which suggest the general public is indeed disillusioned or disconnected with local politics. Less than one in four of us turned out for the Durham County Council elections, while the turn-out for the Aycliffe Council elections were no...

Representatives from Durham police will be speaking at the North East Retailers Against Crime event in a bid to drive down the risk of counterfeit currency fraud in the region. At the same time, officers across County Durham are warning people to be on their guard for fake bank notes over the coming weeks, after concerns were raised about...

By Martin Walker The victim of a house fire had hoarded so many items inside her Newton Aycliffe home that rescuers had difficulty getting inside, an inquest heard. Anne Bradshaw, 66, died in hospital after the fire in Honister Place, Newton Aycliffe, in May 2012. Items piled against the front door delayed access by fire crews, who...

A bike has been stolen from a house in the Osric Place area of the town. It happened some time between 8am and 4.15pm on Tuesday May 22) when the unsecured mountain bike was taken. Police said: "We would urge all owners of bikes and other valuable property to keep them secure at all times throughout the day and night, to help stop crimes...

Businesses in our region are set to benefit from £30m of investment cash which has now been received by the North-East LEP, to create and safeguard at least 2,300 jobs. The LEP has added the cash, which comes from a successful application to the third round of the Regional Growth Fund, to its North East Investment Fund, now worth more than...

Northern League first division outfit Newton Aycliffe have confirmed their pre-season programme, with an eye catching friendly against outgoing league Champions Darlington forming the centrepiece. Allan Oliver’s side will square off against Martin Gray’s Quakers on Wednesday 17th July at Moore Lane Park, three days before their...

NPT Sergeant Mark Edwards continues his regular blog on Aycliffe Today... It’s been what feels like a long time since my last blog, unfortunately operational requirements resulted in me being abstracted to another department down in Darlington for a short while. I’m now more or less back in comfortable surroundings and am happy to...