Proposals designed to implement a new pay and grading structure for some 9,000 Durham County Council employees will go before Full Council next week. Since its launch as a Unitary authority in April 2009, in which eight councils became one, a wide scale project of information gathering and job assessment has been undertaken. The aim of...

Chelsea star and Newtonian ROSS TURNBULL writes an exclusive blog for Aycliffe Today... Hi and welcome to my second blog for Aycliffe Today. A lot has happened since my last blog a few weeks ago. After our win at QPR we went to Mallorca for some warm-weather training and the atmosphere there was good. Results have been a bit...

Police are appealing for witnesses after a man tried to steal an 84-year-old woman's handbag in Newton Aycliffe. The incident happened on Greenwell Road on Sunday February 5, at approximately 1.30pm. The elderly woman suffered injuries to her ribs when the robber pulled her to the ground as he attempted to make off with her bag. The...

By Martin Walker Craig Liddle admits the uphill task of keeping Darlington in the Blue Square Bet Premier League this season is the biggest challenge he’s ever had to face. The Quakers slumped to their 13th league defeat of the season at promotion-chasing Southport last night. Karl Ledsham’s eighth-minute strike and Shaun...

Police are advising people to be alert for a money-raising scam operating in County Durham. The scam involves a phone call from someone claiming to working for a company calling themselves Ministry of Justice. They claim they can recover bank charges, credit card charges and cash associated with mobile phone contracts. They ask the...

No midweek game for Newton Aycliffe, but there was two other results in the Northern League first division on Tuesday night, while West Auckland’s derby at home to Shildon was postponed. STL Northern League Division One Dunston 1 (Shaw), Jarrow Roofing 0 Penrith 0, Consett 0 West Auckland v Shildon postponed  ...

By Martin Walker Jason Steele is hoping to help Middlesbrough get their season back on track at home to Nottingham Forest tonight. Tony Mowbray’s side have now gone six league games without a win – their last victory was at home to Hull on Boxing Day – slipping to ninth in the Championship table. But goalkeeper Steele, who’s...

Newton Aycliffe NPT Sergeant Mark Edwards continues his weekly blog on Aycliffe Today… Hello again. Well, I said I would keep future entries shorter so will do my best to stick to that! It’s been a busy week in Newton Aycliffe. Earlier in the week our Serious Crime Team (SCT) dealt with a 21-year-old male from the town who had been...

By Martin Walker Tributes have been paid to local councillor Terry Hogan who passed away recently. Mr Hogan, a passionate independent, passed away on Friday February 3 – his funeral service was held at St Clare’s Church in the town yesterday (Monday). Founder of the Great Aycliffe Independents, the former Labour Party member and...

By Ryan Gillham Durham Wildcats coach Dave Elderkin was frustrated with his side's showing in front of the Sky Sports cameras, as the Wildcats were soundly beaten by Leicester Riders. With the TV cameras visiting Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre for the first time everything was set in place for the game to be a real match up against the...