The Journal

Drivers' Parking Ticket Victory

A blundering North council is being forced to refund pounds 21,000 in parking fines after admitting it failed to put proper rules in place. Sunderland Council last night confessed legal orders necessary to fine people for parking in taxi ranks had not been correctly implemented.

Engine Trouble Theory

Air Row Talks Collapse

Flood Village Service

School Trips Cancelled in Wake of Fire

School trips had to be cancelled after the arson attack as Kimberley Coaches was forced to cancel many of its services. Police cordoned off the compound and the company also had to cancel its Tyne Blue Line routes from Newcastle to Great Whittington, Hexham to Colwell, Prudhoe to Ovington and Hexham to Bellingham.

Arsonist Confesses in a Text Message

A spurned lover started a blaze which devastated a North bus depot ( and then confessed all to his ex-girlfriend by text message. But the unlucky-in-love arsonist was arrested one week later when his ex went to the police and showed them his confession.

Japan Earthquake Shocks Rugby Stars

Newcastle Falcons stars last night spoke of their shock as a powerful earthquake rocked their hotel while on tour in Japan. Although the epicentre of the quake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, was 200 miles from the team's base in Tokyo, the tremors still shook their 33-storey hotel.

Plea Over Mean Theft

A disabled teenager watched helplessly as a thief stole his walking frame from his front garden. Cerebral palsy sufferer Karl Brown, 18, of Trenholme Road, Middlesbrough, relies on his pounds 300 aluminum walking frame to get around but at 11.15pm on Saturday, a man took it from his garden.

Wheel Owners Hit Back

The owners of the giant Ferris wheel installed on the banks of the Gateshead Quayside have hit back at critics who have suggested it has been a failure. Critics have argued the wheel is over-priced at pounds 5.50 for adults and has been largely empty since the end of the Tall Ships spectacular.

Retrial for Accused

A man accused of murdering a pensioner and seriously wounding a young man will face a retrial in the new year. A jury in the trial of Robert Fox, 37, of Hylton Red House, Sunderland, was discharged yesterday after failing to reach a verdict.

Call Centres 'Could Face Staff Shortage'

The North-East could face a major shortage of qualified workers to fill positions in call centres ( one of the region's most vital industries, a report warns today. The City and Guilds study confirms predictions that current difficulties in recruiting maths and science teachers will get worse in the next decade.

School Leavers 'Failure in Workplace'

School leavers are a dismal failure in the workplace with poor levels of reading and writing and little grasp of figures, a survey has claimed. Pupils this week will receive their GCSE and A-level exam results, but more than half of 4,000 employers polled marked the standard of literacy, numeracy and oral skills of school leavers they recruited as "poor" or "very poor".

Big Brother's Anthony Gets a Great Welcome

Hundreds of fans turned out to welcome Big Brother winner Anthony Hutton's triumphant homecoming last night. The Victorian bandstand in Blackhill and Consett park cannot have witnessed scenes like it, as Anthony, 23, danced to booming disco music, dressed in a Big Brother t-shirt and woollen hat, to the screams of youngsters. He expressed amazement at the size of his welcome, saying: "It is off the scale. This is nothing like I was expecting.

Newsman Bemoans 'Shift in Balance of Power'

Bbc newsreader Michael Buerk has complained that the "shift in the balance of power between the sexes" has gone too far, saying "life is now lived in accordance with women's rules". He has cited females in the top jobs in BBC broadcasting as an example, saying "these are the people who decide what we see and hear".

Ant and Dec in New Hall of Fame

Geordie duo Ant and Dec are joining the late Laurence Olivier, Ricky Gervais, Nicole Kidman, John Cleese and the Rolling Stones to be among the first stars immortalised on Britain's equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Avenue of the Stars will be a permanent walkway in London's Covent Garden.

Pounds 100,000 Whiskeys

Two bottles of Irish whiskey thought to be among the oldest in the world and valued at pounds 100,000 each have been put up for sale in Wiltshire. The bottles ( a single malt and a whiskey liqueur ( were produced at Nun's Island Distillery in Galway, Ireland, around the turn of the 20th Century.

Madonna Hurt in Riding Fall

Madonna was last night thought to be recovering at home after falling from a horse while celebrating her 47th birthday. She has three cracked ribs, a broken collar bone and a broken hand.

A Long Time Getting the Joke

An album of watercolours thought to be by a Victorian servant have been identified as the work of famous Tyneside engraver Joseph Crawhall. About 80 humorous sketches were brought into the Westerhope saleroom of auctioneer Anderson and Garland, under the premise they were the work of "Polly, the old servant of Punch artist Charles Keene".

Sloppy John Is Brought to Heel

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but Margaret Elliott would disagree. She was fed up with her husband of 38 years John's sloppy attitude around their County Durham house.

Eco-Power Course

Bosses at Northumberland College say they have launched the country's first NVQ2 course in sustainable energy. Students on the course at Kirkley Hall, Ponteland, which starts next month, will be able to specialise in wood fuel or wind power.