Live: Breaking news, traffic and travel across Teesside

The Evening Gazette's live breaking news blog brings you regular updates, pictures, video, tweets and comments covering the latest Teesside and North Yorkshire traffic, travel, weather, crime and council news for today, Wednesday 4th February 2015.

You can contribute to the live blog by posting your comment below, and you can also tweet us @EveningGazette to share breaking news stories, pictures and opinions.

Our Teesside breaking news live blog begins at 07:00am every weekday and is updated throughout the day and into the evening.

Ennsub's oil and gas work a success Down Under

Subsea firm Ennsub has successfully completed a contract for one of Australia’s largest oil and gas developments.

The products and equipment manufacturer, which is based in Aberdeen, opened a new Wynyard Park office and Teesside production facility in December. It employs 12 staff across its operations.

Bosses said they chose Teesside as the location for their new facility because of the area’s ‘highly capable supply chain and access to a large skilled workforce and excellent transport links’.

Ennsub has successfully completed the design, manufacture, testing and installation of bespoke sealing systems for the Wheatstone Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) platform off the coast of Australia.

The Wheatstone Project is one of Australia’s most significant resource developments, developed to provide greater security of supply for the country.

The company designed two sealing systems for the platform, on behalf of a tier-one marine contractor, mobilising four engineers to Australia who managed to complete the installation in half the allocated time.

Scott Macknocher, managing director of Ennsub (left) with Barry Stewart, director and general manager at ROVOP

Scott Macknocher, managing director of Ennsub, said: “This was a great opportunity to demonstrate our design, innovation and supply capability on such a prestigious project.

“Our experienced design team gained a real understanding of the industry and project application.

“We are very pleased with the success of the operation and performance of both the equipment and our experienced offshore technicians.

“The solution significantly reduced the planned installation time and had major cost saving benefits for the end user.

“This project is an excellent example of our capability to deliver bespoke solutions on similar projects.”

Ennsub was formed two years ago by a group of directors with strong subsea manufacturing backgrounds, including Tekmar’s Paul Lavelle and Gordon Conlon. Their aim was to target a niche in the market for deployment systems for high-tech deepsea WROVs, built by the likes of North-east neighbours SMD and exploit a demand created where the subsea industry had not kept pace.

Recently Ennsub secured a £2m contract to supply US firm Benthic with a launch and recovery system for its offshore exploration and surveying equipment.

The work will be carried out at Ennsub’s Teesside base, ready for commissioning in the second quarter of 2015.

Keepmoat buys three new sites including in Stockton - creating up to 100 jobs

UP to 100 new construction jobs could be created in the North-east following a £35m investment into the region by housing and regeneration specialist Keepmoat.

The community regeneration firm, which operates across the North and the Midlands from 22 offices, has acquired three sites in Stockton, Durham and Newcastle.

Land on Swainby Road in Stockton will be used to build 174 new homes – 144 for sale and 30 affordable homes – for Tristar Homes. The £18m project which forms part of a regeneration partnership initiative involving Stockton Borough Council and the HCA.

As part of the acquisitions, the firm said as many as 100 jobs will be created or protected, a significant increase on its current 288-strong North-east workforce, which covers contracts within the region from a base in Gateshead.

The company said subcontractor appointments are currently underway and will be completed within eight weeks.

News of the three sites follows the publication of annual accounts Keepmoat Homes – the housebuilding division of the Keepmoat Group – which shows revenues rose by a third to £209.8m in the year ended March 2014, partly driven by consumer demand for the government Help to Buy scheme.

Adjusted EBITDA topped £20.9m, 44.1% up on the previous period’s £14.5m, while the number of plot sales rose by 23% to 1,853.

Through Durham Villages Regeneration Company, Keepmoat’s joint venture with Durham County Council, the firm will be building 81 new homes in Sherburn Hill.

Construction has started in the last few weeks and the local community will be able to view the show homes in July.

Meanwhile, the site of the former St Stephen’s School in Longbenton is set to be developed with 41 new dwellings, providing 31 for sale and 10 affordable homes for Isos Housing.

The £5m scheme, which is the latest purchase by Keepmoat from the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, will be completed in early summer.

Ian Prescott, land and partnership director of Keepmoat, said: “We are delighted to continue to grow in the North East and these three new site acquisitions are set to make a significant positive impact on local communities, even more so as we plan to use local labour wherever possible to complete the developments.”

Work on the Stockton development started on site last month and the first homes will be ready for new owners in late spring.

Drug dealer's suspended sentence branded a 'monumental disgrace' by families whose lives were 'made a misery'

Angry residents of a Thornaby estate have expressed “outrage” at the suspended sentence handed down to a 20-year-old local drug dealer.

Rory Knox, of Staindale Road, was given a second chance after a judge at Teesside Crown Court was told he had turned his life around.

Knox was given a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years after admitting possession of Class A and B drugs with intent to supply and breach of a suspended sentence.

When police searched his home they found crack cocaine, skunk cannabis and two mobile phones with text messages from addicts, the court heard.

The young dealer kept wraps of cocaine in plastic eggs, and he had more cannabis in his bedroom and £290 in cash.

Lewis Kerr, defending, said that with the support of the Probation Service and his family Knox had put drugs behind him.

Recorder Felicity Davies told Knox at last Friday’s hearing that when she first read the case papers she had no doubt that she would be sending him to prison for years.

But after hearing of his work with the Probation Service she suspended his sentence, saying she was giving him “a very significant chance”.

He was also given 18 months supervision, 240 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge.

But the sentence has been met with anger from Thornaby residents and a local councillor.

A spokesperson for the Dales Residents Association described the suspended sentence as “an absolute disgrace and an insult to the positive work of the police, Stockton Council anti-social behaviour team and Thirteen and a major blow to the local community”.

He added: “This monumental disgrace must be worthy of at least an enquiry.”

Steve Walmsley

Thornaby independent councillor Steve Walmsley described the case as “an absolute farce” and said “residents on the estate are outraged”.

He added: “Residents on a brilliant Thornaby estate whose lives have been made a misery for so long are now faced with the prospect of this criminal peddler of poison being left at large.”

The court had heard that on the day of the police raid, February 25 last year, Knox was on bail for a separate offence for possession of Class B drugs with intent to supply.

Knox was handed a suspended sentence last April for that offence after mobile phones showed he had been dealing in diazepam and temazepam tablets which his mother Linda Knox was stealing from a chemist’s where she worked.

Last April, Linda Knox, also of Staindale Road, was given a 22-week jail sentence, suspended for 18 months with 12 months supervision, after she pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and supplying controlled Class C drugs.

#OnThisBoroDay 2006: An irate Boro fan throws his season ticket at Steve McClaren

As if leaking four goals in a thumping on home turf wasn’t humiliating enough, Boro boss Steve McClaren had a raging fan to deal with.

Patience had worn thin. With Boro well on their way to a heavy defeat at the hands of Villa, a club in the bottom half of the Premier League, one Riverside regular had seen enough.

So much so he jumped the advertising hoarding, approached the dug-out and launched his season ticket in the direction of the boss on this day in 2006.

It was a telling moment.

A win at rock-bottom Sunderland the week earlier had done little to ease the frustrations of Boro fans.

The 7-0 mauling at Arsenal was still raw and the table had a particularly concerning look to it. Boro were sitting just one place above the drop zone and having not won at the Riverside in the last six attempts it was hard to see how things were going to pick up.

If the reaction of the irate supporter told a story then so too did the emotion on the face of Lee Cattermole at the full-time whistle.

At just 17-years-old, the battling midfielder had demonstrated exactly what his team-mates needed to show more of to stop the rot - desire.

McClaren didn’t go into hiding after the hammering. He faced up to the press.

“I fully understand the frustrations of everybody and the anger because we have let the fans down at home,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, what he didn’t say was that Aston Villa could have helped themselves to even more.

He wouldn’t have been wrong.

When Luke Moore scored his third and Villa’s fourth, the clock was still yet to reach the 65 minute mark.

Fortunately, the rout stopped there.

While fans were running out of patience, one man who wouldn’t press the panic button was Steve Gibson.

“The only way this club has gone under Steve McClaren is up,” he told supporters who had waited at the ground after the game.

“We have had a bad couple of months but there are reasons for that. We need all the fans to get behind the team.”

From one extreme to the other.

Just a week after the Villa embarrassment Boro swept aside Chelsea. Season tickets remained firmly tucked in pockets.

Obama’s Big Fat Greek Budget

In a speech at the Department of Homeland Security, Obama declared that he wants to “replace mindless austerity with smart investments that strengthen America”. Those “smart” investments scattered across a gargantuan $4 trillion budget include a $500 million Green Climate Fund for the Third World and $105 million to help the government build better websites.

Obama is fond of putting the word “smart” in front of stupid ideas to make them seem less stupid. The $4 trillion budget is actually as stupid as the new left-wing Greek government elected on a platform of not paying its debts. This new government intends to replace the old policy of getting money in exchange for cutting spending with a new policy of not cutting spending and demanding money anyway.

So far this new policy has been rejected by every country from Germany to China.

Greece has managed to spend itself into a debt that stands at 175 percent of its GDP. But of course we’re Americans. Our “smart” government with its “common sense reforms” and eagerness to spend a vast fortune to build better websites couldn’t possibly have dug us into a hole that deep.

Our debt-to-GDP ratio is only 101 percent. Under Bush, it stood at 64 percent. By the time the last election rolled around, it was nudging 100 percent.

But that’s no reason for “mindless austerity”. It’s no reason to stop investing in things like spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help Third World countries buy crudely inefficient solar panels from China that will break down even before our economy does.

Obama’s idea of “smart” investments that “strengthen America” is to borrow money from China to buy things from China for other countries. That’s not even a smart investment for China which has been reducing its holdings of US Treasury bonds because it’s not all that confident in our “smart” investments.

While Obama announced that he wouldn’t accept a budget that doesn’t raise spending, Greece’s left-wing finance minister also announced that he won’t accept “the self-perpetuating crisis of deflation and unsustainable debt”.

“You have to be prepared to blow the whole thing up, simply by being intransigent if you are not taken seriously,” he declared.

That’s also Obama’s strategy. Intransigence and blowing up the economy is all he brings to the table. Greece’s finance minister plans to go after multinationals and the rich to close the gap. Considering how fast the wealthy and corporations fled France when its Socialist government tried that, you can only imagine what will take place in Greece. But the Greek leftist strategy is also Obama’s strategy.

Both act as if the existence of a massive debt is something that they can ignore if they feel like it. Debt, like war, will be over if you want it to be. You can wave it away with imaginary economics.

Obama promises that his illegal alien amnesty and ObamaCare boondoggles will save us so much money that a $4 trillion budget will be no challenge. Every one of his disastrous proposals can be paid for with their own promises. Money is being spent using his own speeches as the IOU.

The Greek left is doubling down on unions, attacking privatization and hiring more government workers. Its priorities are the same ones as those of Obama, Jerry Brown or Bill de Blasio. The attacks on austerity use homeless families as human shields, but they are really about protecting the institutions of the left.

Austerity simply means living within a budget. The Keynesian budgetophobes, who portray budgetary restraint as the plot of some Dickensian villain, insist on more “smart” investments in big government. And when you’ve made enough “smart” investments that your bonds are junk and the banks won’t lend you any more money at favorable terms, then it’s time to denounce that austerity.

The left makes crazy promises that it can’t keep, spends money it doesn’t have and then waits until a halfway responsible government gets into office so that it can denounce its austerity cutbacks. It goes deep into debt to international banks and then rants and raves against them. And then it asks them to lend it more money. It denounces the European Union, but suckles greedily at its financial lifelines.

Obama denounces a “mindless austerity” that his own mindless spending and refusal to compromise made necessary. His $4 trillion budget consists of phantom taxes that will never be collected, imaginary savings that will never materialize and entirely real amounts of money being spent to create a huge pile of debt and massive deficits down the road.

The closest thing Greece has to a plan is to turn to Russia in the hopes that either Vladimir will be generous or the EU will panic at a breach in the sanctions on Russia and cut Greece’s debt some more. That’s not economic reform; it’s political terrorism aimed at extracting money, not for a recovery, but to delay the reckoning a little longer before dumping the problem into the lap of another government.

Obama is all too familiar with that brand of political terrorism. When S&P downgraded Treasury debt, former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned that the credit rating firm would have its actions “looked at very carefully.” A $5 billion lawsuit followed. Whether it’s the American left or the Greek left, they both still believe in solving their mathematical problems at the point of a gun.

Obama needs Wall Street the same way that the Greek left needs the European Union. It’s a corrupt and dysfunctional relationship in which after all the noise dies down, the real losers are the taxpayers. Greece’s tax revenues are already falling. Its plan to squeeze more money will only accelerate the process. Obama’s plans to loot revenues outside the country are even more willfully delusional.

That leaves what’s left of the middle class as the biggest target. Google isn’t going to let Obama pick its pockets. But the middle class has fewer options. Obama’s plan to tax 527 college fund savings has been aborted, but it’s only the first shot across the bow of the upper middle class and then the middle class.

When Obama talks about “middle class economics”, what he really means is an economics built on taxing the middle class. His budget, with its expansion of the earned income credit and free community college, doesn’t offer much to the middle class, but it takes a lot.

And what it takes most of all is their future.

Debt is about more than just money. It’s about the end of expectations and the death of hope.

Polls of Greek adults showed them to be the biggest pessimists globally, but Americans are catching up. Three quarters of Americans are not confident that their children will live better than they will. The first American generation to see a decline in living standards has been born under a cloud of debt, surrounded by rising prices and falling incomes. It sees a government that spends trillions in their name which they will be expected to somehow repay with the jobs that don’t exist anymore.

The generations of tomorrow will be the ones left holding the bill for Obama’s debt. His $4 trillion budget is paid with the coin of their lives and dreams. His debt is their future.

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A Day in the Life of a Dissident Reporter in Obama’s America — on The Glazov Gang

[Subscribe to the Glazov Gang’s YouTube Channel and LIKE it on Facebook .]

This week’s Glazov Gang was joined by Michael Loftus, host of The Flipside With Michael Loftus, Morgan Brittany, a conservative TV and movie star, and Tommi Trudeau, host of Politics Tonight With Tommi Trudeau.

The Gang discussed A Day in the Life of a Dissident Reporter in Obama’s America, analyzing the frightening case of former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson — and her daring refusal to toe the Party Line (starts at 27:10 mark).

, analyzing why the Muslim Brotherhood is being allowed to infiltrate a public charter school in Sacramento. The discussion was preceded by a focus on Michelle Obama’s “No” to Hijab in Riyadh, Hijab Day at NP3 High School, Islam — A House of Cards?, and much more.

Don’t miss Jamie Glazov discuss his battle on Hannity against the Unholy Alliance and the mechanisms of Jihad-Denial:

To watch previous Glazov Gang episodes, Click Here.

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Security Challenges Facing Israel in 2015

The latest incident in the Golan’s Quneitra border illustrates the security challenges Israel faces in the year ahead. Last week six Hezbollah operatives were killed, including an Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG), General Muhammad Ali Allah-Dadi. The presence of an Iranian IRG general and top Hezbollah operatives on the Golan points to an Iranian attempt to build a missile base on the border of Israel.

The al-Manar website (Hezbollah’s mouthpiece) acknowledged that six Hezbollah operatives were killed in Sunday’s (January 18, 2015) Israeli air strike, among whom was senior Hezbollah commander Muhammad Issa and Jihad Mughniyeh, son of former Hezbollah operations chief Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in 2008.

Israel’s northern border is expected to heat up in the coming months and years, both in the Golan Heights facing Syria, and on the Lebanese border where Hezbollah is in control. The real existential challenge to Israel however remains Iran. The question of whether to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is bound to rise again, especially around July, 2015, when P5+1 negotiations with Iran are expected to end following two extensions. Iran can be counted on violating the interim agreement which called on the Iranians to freeze their nuclear project in exchange for western powers easing sanctions on Iran. The Obama administration is eager for further extensions despite Iranian history of cheating in its nuclear program.

The National Interest (December 1, 2014) article, by the head of the Arms Control Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University, Emily Landau, and Shimon Stein, Senior Research Fellow at the INSS, former Deputy Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and former Israeli ambassador to Germany, wrote “The interim agreement enabled Iran to dangerously move forward on R&D, into more advanced generations of centrifuges, which offset the significance of the dilution and oxidization of Iran’s stockpile of 20% enriched uranium, the centerpiece of the interim deal. Both activities relate to the speed in which Iran could breakout with weapons-grade uranium – one route was stopped by the deal, but a second route was enabled and granted legitimacy.”

Landau and Stein asserted that “The terms of the deal did not touch upon Iran’s vast stockpile of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU), already enough for six or seven nuclear devices if enriched to weapons-grade, or its work on long-range-ballistic-missile delivery systems, which continue unhindered.” Iran has protected its breakout ability while the P5+1 continue to grant Iran economic relief to the tune of $700 million a month. Iran’s weaponization work, under investigation by the IAEA for cheating, has not paid a price either by the UN or the P5+1.

The debate within Israel between doves, who seek international backing for any Israeli operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities, and hawks, who believe that now it the time to act unilaterally if necessary, will continue in earnest this year, especially as the June and July deadline of the P5+1 negotiations with Iran approaches. Regardless of who will be Prime Minister of Israel following the March 17, 2015 elections, dealing with Iran’s nuclear program will be a top priority.

Another war with Hezbollah may be inevitable, albeit, not desired by Israel. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, vowed not to bring another war onto Lebanese soil, but he also announced that he will avenge Israel’s elimination of Hezbollah’s top military leaders, and the Israeli attacks on the weapons convoys from Syria to Lebanon.

Since the second Lebanon War in 2006, Hezbollah has built a huge arsenal of long, medium and short range rockets with a GPS guidance system that could hit all strategic points in Israel, including the Hedera power station, and Tel Aviv. Israel’s Iron-Dome will be able to intercept and destroy most of the Hezbollah rockets, but not all. It is more than likely that Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and the seaports of Haifa and Ashdod would be out of action for several days. Hezbollah will also seek to infiltrate through underground tunnels, into Israeli towns and villages. Hezbollah is not however, an existential threat to Israel, although it is a definite strategic threat.

The growing presence of al-Qaeda (al-Nusra Front) and other jihadist forces, including the Islamic State in the Golan area, guarantees that a serious confrontation with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will occur. At the moment these forces are preoccupied with combatting the Assad regime and battling each other. But, as soon as they can stabilize their hold on territory, one can be sure of their terror attacks against Israel.

Tel Aviv has now become the arena for a Palestinian stabbing campaign, following numerous stabbing incidents last year in Jerusalem. NPR reported (January 21, 2015) “A Palestinian man is accused of stabbing 11 people (Jews) on a bus in central Tel Aviv today, wounding three seriously, before he was shot in the leg by Israeli police, who took him in for questioning.”

The Palestinian Authority is seen as encouraging individual acts of terror against Israelis in order to stir the situation in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) following the Palestinian failed attempt to secure membership at the UN late last year. Hamas received a heavy blow in last year’s Gaza war, and is activating its west Bank terror cells to act against Israelis. Stabbing and vehicular homicide against Israeli-Jews has become the new form of terror. Because these are individual acts, Israeli intelligence cannot readily uncover them. Palestinian Security forces, together with Israeli security have a common interest to eliminate Hamas’ influence in the West Bank. In 2015, knifing will become a fashionable terror tactic. Yet, there is little chance for a Third intifada.

A rational analysis would rule out another Hamas war with Israel. Hamas’ infrastructure was severely damaged, and it will take a while to rebuild. The same rationale however, would have prevented Hamas from launching last year’s war. The blockade imposed on Gaza by Egypt and Israel, and the conclusion that “they have nothing to lose,” might compel Hamas to try another round of hostilities with Israel.

The threat to Israel from Hamas is tactical, and Israel already proved that it has effective answers to deal with it. Still, the Palestinians pose a political rather than military threat at the moment. That does not preclude attempted kidnappings of Israeli soldiers and civilians in the coming year that might precipitate another serious conflagration with either Hamas or Fatah in the West Bank.

Israel’s offshore gas Tamar platform (Tamar 2 reserves are estimated to be 6.3 trillion cubic feet) has only one pipeline that connects it to land in Israel. Environmental groups in the country oppose additional pipelines, which makes Israel’s supply of gas vulnerable to an attack by Palestinian or Hezbollah terrorists.

Lastly, there is always a possibility of a cyber-attack against Israel. In 2009, in what has become known as Stuxnet, the U.S. and Israeli scientists crippled Iran’s nuclear program by sabotaging industrial equipment, and destroying Iranian centrifuges that enriched uranium. Iran has been hard at work trying to retaliate. The Internet can now be a weapon that can damage Israel’s water and electricity systems, as well as its financial and military system. 2015 will likely witness unremitting attacks on Israel.

In the final analysis, Israel is well prepared to defend itself against the tactical threat from Hamas and the Jihadi groups, and even from the strategic threat Hezbollah presents. The one scary threat to the Israelis remains a nuclear Iran, run by fanatical Ayatollahs.

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Israeli forces detain 5 Palestinian youths in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Monday detained five Palestinian youths in East Jerusalem neighborhoods, a local information center said.

Jawad Siyam, the head of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in the Silwan neighborhood, said in a statement that Israeli forces detained three young Palestinians in al-Tur and two in Silwan.

“Israeli forces detained a child as he was leaving his school in al-Tur, which caused clashes to erupt in the area as locals attempted to free him,” Siyam said.

“He was very scared,” he added.

Israeli forces also detained two youths, Muhammad Yasser Abu al-Hawa and Mahmoud Abu Jumaa, in the area.

Meanwhile, in Silwan, Israeli forces arrested two “children” who were still carrying their school bags after school.

The two were identified as Abdullah Siyam and Yazan al-Awar. They were taken to the Russian compound for interrogation.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized abroad.

According to a 2014 report by the Child Rights International Network, some 700 Palestinian children per year are arrested and face “ill-treatment” by Israeli forces

Canines and kitties finally find loving homes thanks to Gazette appeals

Dozens of dogs and cats are starting 2015 with the best present ever - a new, loving home.

Following an appeal in the Gazette featuring animals from the Dogs Trust, Saltburn Animal Rescue Association (SARA) and the RSPCA, kindhearted readers came forward to offer some of the lovable pets a place to live.

Many, however, are still looking for their happy ever after.

Sadly all the dogs featured at SARA are still looking for a family. Five of the eight featured cats, however, have been rehomed.

Among them was Abe, a six-year-old moggie who was adopted by Anna Fox after she spotted him on the Gazette’s Facebook page.

'Abe' the cat

“It said he was affectionate and that was exactly what I was looking for,” said the 32-year-old from Middlesbrough.

“He’s a little bit shy at the minute while he finds his feet but we’ve had a lot of support from SARA.”

Another SARA dog seeking a home is Diego, a three-year-old crossbreed.

“He came into us a stray after being with us a couple of months we found him a home with a lovely couple but unfortunately the man passed away,” said Ann Prosser at SARA.

“The man was the primary carer for Diego and unfortunately Diego was too strong for the lady to look after on her own so she had to return him to kennel life where he is very stressed,” she said.

“Diego is a lovely happy playful dog who is looking for a very special home as an only dog, even though he does walk well with other dogs.

“He is extremely loyal, affectionate and intelligent and a fantastic dog with people who he knows.

“His only real issue is that due to his past he is wary of strangers and therefore needs an experienced owner.”

For details of any of the dogs and cats still needing home call SARA on 01642 488108.

Meanwhile, the Dogs Trust waved a fond farewell to 14 cute canines following the Gazette appeal.

But 15 of those featured are still looking for homes.

The charity based in Darlington is offering free neutering of lurchers in February for those in receipt of means-tested benefits.

A spokeswoman said: “Year after year the charity has hundreds of abandoned lurchers handed over to them, like six-month-old Rascal .

“Neutering helps prevent thousands of unwanted puppies being born each year that may be destroyed, cruelly abandoned just days or weeks after their birth or sold online to people who buy a puppy on impulse, only to give it up when they realise the time and money it takes to care for a dog properly.

“Neutering may also encourage calmer, more predictable behaviour and also removes significant health risks.”

Anyone who can offer a dog a home or would like more information about the neutering service should call the Dogs Trust on 01325 333114 or visit Hill House Farm, Sadberge, DL2 1SL, between noon and 4pm every day except Wednesday.

Linthorpe couple want planning application for two flats near their home thrown out

An animal-lover with a garden which is a wildlife haven wants a planning application to build two flats near her home in Middlesbrough thrown out.

Retired teachers Margaret and John Peacock have lived in Thornfield Road in Linthorpe since 1981.

Their home, which they share with seven bulldogs, has a huge garden with a stream and is visited by a host of birds and animals including foxes, bats and newts.

A planning application has been submitted to Middlesbrough Council to build two apartments on a neighbouring property with associated access.

Potential objectors have until February 17 to raise any concerns. Margaret said there have been 45 objections and two petitions submitted so far.

“I want to be able to sit in the garden with my husband - who has terminal prostate cancer - in the summer and enjoy our time together,” said Margaret, 65, a retired business studies teacher.

Residents on a Linthorpe St. are concerned plans have been submitted which would wreck a wildlife haven at the rear of their homes

“We don’t want noisy building work.

“If I lose my stream (which runs into the garden of the proposed site for the apartments) I will totally lose my wildlife.

“I have a robin that comes in the garden and feeds from my hand. We have two kinds of bats that live here. There is a fox that comes in.

“Most people don’t even realise there is even a wildlife haven here. It’s beautiful.

“We want some quality of life.

“It would break my heart if this went ahead.”

Residents on a Linthorpe St. are concerned plans have been submitted which would wreck a wildlife haven at the rear of their homes

Scarlet Pink, of community group Hands on Middlesbrough, said: “The land at the back of 77 Thornfield Road is clearly important to the local residents and so they should be listened to.

“The plans would mean the building of an access road cutting through the residents’ green space on Aysgarth Road which is a thriving habitat for foxes, birds and bats, has many mature trees and a beck running through it.

“It is next to what is a conservation area and I was told by a resident that it was once recognised as a nature corridor which led to Linthorpe cemetery.”

A spokesman for Middlesbrough Council said: “We can confirm that a planning application has been received in respect of land on Thornfield Road in Linthorpe and that the consultation process is now under way.

“Members of the public are welcome to give feedback and comments on the proposals via the planning section on the council’s website up until Tuesday, February 17 and these will be fed into the decision making process.”

Structure of Middlesbrough Council to be overhauled with some services returning in-house

The structure of Middlesbrough Council is being overhauled with some privately run services returning in-house in a bid to save money.

The council has been working with partner Mouchel - an international infrastructure and business services group - for almost 15 years.

Revised arrangements - which have been approved by the council’s executive - will build on the success of the partnership to date, said Councillor Mike Carr, executive member for the Change Programme.

The services returning to the council include administration, customer services, HR, payroll, ICT, accounts receivable/accounts payable, the Apprenticeship Training Centre and health and safety while Mouchel will retain responsibility for council tax collection, housing benefit payment and pensions administration services.

The partnership is subject to regular reviews, a council spokesman said, and the overhaul has been prompted by the contract with Mouchel up for renewal as well as the Change Programme, the authority’s reaction to severe cuts to the budget.

Therefore, the option to bring certain services back in house has been viewed to be more cost effective.

The move has been welcomed by Unison who said that the move would “protect jobs” and be a “good, cost-effective solution”.

Mouchel will also continue to offer a range of support services to Middlesbrough schools.

The company expects to create at least 100 new jobs in Middlesbrough over the next five years.

The company has already seen growth across all areas and has been “extremely successful” with its pensions business bringing on board Greater Manchester, Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire Police Services.

The focus is now on the next stage of development for its Pensions Centre of Excellence in Middlesbrough.

Mouchel is also seeing continuing demand for HR and payroll services and has had growth in the academies and schools market, with more than a dozen new customers coming on board this year.

The company’s centre of excellence for revenues and benefits is already based in Middlesbrough.

Cllr Carr said: “The council established the Change Programme as its approach to meeting the severe financial pressures we face.

“As part of this process we will consider a whole range of delivery models and this will undoubtedly result in a change the way we operate and how we work with our partners.

“This particular outcome demonstrates this and also proves that we are concerned with effective service delivery, not privatisation.

“The successful partnership that the council has with Mouchel has achieved a great deal since its launch and I am confident that this new arrangement will continue to do so.

“A key consideration for the council has been the added value that Mouchel will bring in terms of future jobs growth, which is the key reason for the arrangement continuing.”

Craig Apsey, managing director of Mouchel Business Services, said: “I am pleased that our partnership with the council is continuing and I look forward to the next few years.

“Mouchel remains committed to its strategy for growing its base in Middlesbrough and these plans are progressing well.”

Ian Campbell, Middlesbrough branch secretary of Unison, said: “I think it’s good that the council has taken the decision that providing these services in-house is going to be a good cost-effective solution for the tax payer because that helps protect jobs.

“In particular I feel that it’s really important that the council has its own HR function provided in-house rather than externally.”

Middlesbrough's Neptune Centre's revamped facilities officially launched

Stretch your body and your mind at the revamped Neptune Centre in Middlesbrough.

With a new state-of-the-art gym and spinning studio as well as a new library, you don’t have to choose between working your body or your mind.

The major overhaul of the leisure centre in Berwick Hills includes a bright and airy reception, longer opening hours at the new library, improved access to the second floor activity areas and gym, as well as repairs to the balance tank under the swimming pool.

The Neptune Centre is also now home to Berwick Hills Library.

The Neptune Centre, Berwick hills, Middlesbrough, which has opened up a library, gym and new reception area at the existing centre where the swimming pool is. The new gym.

To launch the upgraded facilities, the centre has launched a new fitness programme building on the venue’s existing classes.

Councillor Tracy Harvey, Middlesbrough Council’s executive member for environment, said: “The Neptune is already one of our most popular venues and these latest exciting improvements will only enhance its reputation as a focal point both for those looking to keep in shape and for community activity.“Improving the health and wellbeing of the people of East Middlesbrough is a key priority and these improvements are an important contribution to that long-term goal.”

Middlesbrough Council leisure services had more than 1.3m visits last year including a 40% increase in gym memberships.

Cllr's Tracy Harvey and Brenda Thompson

Sport and leisure service manager Paul Ayre said: “Our Active Family membership means the whole family can come to the gym together and it encourages children to be active from a young age.”

He said the Active Middlesbrough memberships can be used across the local authority-run leisure centres in the town including the new Sports Village due to open in the spring.

Two new memberships - Active Swim and Active Tots - have also been launched.

Find out more about the new programme at http://bit.ly/1CWEUq6

Repainting of Teesside's Newport Bridge remains on track despite bad weather

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The controversial repainting of Teesside’s Newport Bridge remains on track despite the bad weather.

Paint and structural work is continuing to be carried out on the bridge and Stockton Council said it is still on track to have the work finished by late Spring.

The bridge is being painted red and silver to mark its 80th anniversary. The Grade II listed bridge was last painted 15 years ago.

And the renowned green landmark is increasingly turning red with large parts of the bridge showing the new colour.

The revamp of the bridge has faced massive delays and costs - as well as creating months of traffic misery for Teesside commuters. The bridge was reopened to motorists at the end of October thanks to a tunnel-style scaffold constructed over the road. This allowed all four lanes to be opened while painting continued overhead.

Work currently being carried out includes the underside of the bridge being repainted and several layers of grey undercoat being applied to the whole bridge.

The work is being carried out by Pyeroy Group Ltd.

The Newport Bridge was the first of its type to be built in Britain and was, at the time, the largest “vertical lift bridge” in the world.

It was built on Teesside, with Dorman Long, fabricating the steel.

The most expensive Iranian film, about the life of the prophet Muhammad, will premiere today

The movie Mohammad, Messenger of God”, a film about the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), is the most expensive full-length movies Iranian, a product with a budget of $ 30 million, will have its world premiere Sunday at the film festival in Tehran.

In the period of the contradictions that exist in large numbers on the world stage, which presents the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), a biographical film about youth, it is the most expensive film of the Iranian realized that “someday” will have its world premiere on Sunday, according to irishtimes.com.

International Fajr film festival in Tehran, which coincides with the 36th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, contains in its program, the movie. According to the organizers of the festival, in order to protect the dignity of the Prophet (PBUH), the film will be shown out of competition.

Iran was an outspoken critic of how depicted the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the West, condemning the latest cover of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo” published after the terrorist attack in Paris on 7 January, which is the prophet, Muslim, crying and holding a poster with the inscription “Je Suis Charlie”.

The film, which will be released under the name “Mohammad, Messenger of God” in the opening ceremony of the festival, directed by Majid Majidi, a renowned Iranian filmmaker who has worked for more than five years – and in the biggest secret, in order to produce this art that this is only the second film is a big budget movie in history of Iran about the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The first Iranian film th o prophet Mohammed was “The Message”, the Director in 1976, Moustapha Akkad, Anthony Quinn in the role of chief, which led, in turn, disputes, although it did not show any second of the Prophet (PBUH) on the screen, so as not to offend the beliefs of Muslims.

Majid Majidi says that he had his doubts about biographical film directed by Moustapha Akkad, considering that this art could not show correctly the life of the Prophet Muhammad”, showing only Jihad and war, but also because “the image of Islam in this film is the way of the swords”.

The film Majid Majidi, funded by the government of Iran, which is the first part of an ambitious trilogy about the life of the prophet, tells the story of Prophet (PBUH) from his birth to 12 years, încheiindu-his first visit to sham (Syria), where Bahira, the monk-Christian, I predicted that there would come one day the prophet.

Iran plans to distribute widely this film, since March, at least in countries speaking English as in Arabic.

For more:

http://bit.ly/1zbmrEY

Former manager refused a licence to reopen Royal George pub in Thornaby following police objections

The former manager of a Thornaby pub has failed in his bid to be issued a new licence to run the venue.

Stockton Council’s licensing committee this afternoon refused to issue Kevin Blackburn with a licence for The Royal George in Thornaby.

Councillors agreed with Cleveland Police, who objected to the application after pointing out “numerous incidents of violence and anti-social behaviour as well as after-hours drinking”.

The pub has been shut since last November, after the previous landlord of the Grade II-listed building on Thornaby Road surrendered the licence ahead of a review hearing at Stockton Council’s licensing committee.

At that time the pub was under review by Cleveland Police.

The committee heard a presentation from Mr Blackburn and business associate Lisa Lester, who said they had invested thousands into the building.

If a licence had been granted, the pub would have been able to open from 12pm to midnight every day of the week.

In his application, Mr Blackburn said he would work closely with the police and nearby residents.

He said there would also be close monitoring, including CCTV.

Councillors were also told that previous patrons of the pub would no longer be welcome.

However, a document presented to licensing councillors before the hearing said police feared granting a licence would “undermine the crime prevention objective”.

Their report to the council said: “Blackburn was manager at the premises in October 2011 to March 2013.

“During this time he was in charge when Operation Lumberjack - a drugs search operation - was carried out at the premises with a positive result.

“A second Lumberjack operation was carried out in the premises with a positive result.

“During Blackburn’s reign as manager the licence conditions were also checked with him and a number of breaches found.

“Cleveland Police object to this application and believe that the premises will still have the same customer base and management as before.”

A council environmental health officer also objected, saying there had been complaints about noise.

Adam Forshaw: 'Boro showed real steel and togetherness to keep the clean sheet at Brentford'

Boro new boy Adam Forshaw was delighted to pick up three points on his Boro debut although he admitted it was strange to return to Griffin Park for the first time.

Forshaw was Brentford's star performer last season as the Bees secured promotion to the Championship but wasn't expecting the most welcoming reception on his return after a move to Wigan in the summer.

But rather than dwell on the mixed reaction from the Brentford fans, the 23-year-old midfielder praised his team-mates for holding out for a vital three points.

"First and foremost we got the three points so it was a good day for everyone involved," said the Scouse schemer.

"It was a bit of a strange one for me and I didn't get the best reception but it was nice to get on and get some minutes and make my debut.

"The reaction was a bit of a mixed bag. I walked out at the start of the game and got a few claps so I thought 'this could be nice' but then throughout the game there were a few boos."

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Forshaw was introduced midway through the second half as Boro looked to see the game out following Grant Leadbitter's opener on the stroke of half-time.

"Brentford are a good side, they're no mugs and they're up there for a reason," Forshaw told the club's website.

"We showed real steel and togetherness to keep the clean sheet.

"The lads have said it wasn't their best performance of the season but at the end of the day we got the three points and that's the main thing.

"Some games you dominate and just can't find the winning goal and then days like Saturday you go 1-0 up from a penalty but are clinging on a little bit towards the end.

"But still, it's a results business and we'll take the three points."

British stars shine at Oscar Awards lunch

Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike who are among the British Oscar hopefuls, celebrated their nominations in the company of their Oscar rivals at a star-studded lunch ahead of the Academy Awards.

The annual Oscar nominee luncheon brings together contenders from all categories for a "class photo" and a chance to celebrate each of the films before the live Oscar broadcast on February 22.

Eddie, who is vying for a best actor gong for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, has already collected a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe for his performance.

But he said he has not yet prepared a speech for Oscar Sunday or subjected his new wife Hannah Bagshawe to rehearsals.

He said: "It's bad luck if you start to over-prepare; the whole thing has been such an extraordinary flood of emotions and euphoria that I've tried not to find too much method in the madness and I'm taking every day as it comes, but Hannah has been very grounding."

He added: "I've been lucky enough to win and I had the most wonderful experience after the Golden Globes of taking the Golden Globe in my hand luggage through the x-ray machine at the airport.

"I did that thing where I went through and saw the bag go through and then I saw the woman stop the machine and go close up on this weird shaped thing and say: 'I think it's an award or something.' And I was just praying they would make me open it up but they didn't."

Notably absent from the festivities was Benedict Cumberbatch, who is also nominated for the best actor prize for his portrayal of Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne were among the Oscar nominees at the annual Beverly Hills lunch (AP)

The two English actors will compete with Birdman star Michael Keaton, Foxcatcher actor Steve Carrel, and third-time nominee Bradley Cooper, who plays Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in American Sniper.

Eddie's co-star Felicity, who plays Jane Hawking in the film, is nominated for best actress, but said at the luncheon that the journey to the Oscars had overwhelmed her at times.

"The past few months have been all these events where you're so nervous that you reach the point where you can't get any more nervous, so it's nice to finally be at the luncheon and now actually be enjoying it and celebrating the film and taking stock of it and letting it all sink in.

"The whole time of making a film that I cared so deeply about and playing a woman I think is extraordinary and to be celebrated and for people to see the film, it means an immense amount."

She will compete with fellow British actress Rosamund for the best actress prize. Rosamund is nominated for her turn as Amy Dunne in the big screen adaptation of Gillian Flynn's hit novel Gone Girl and, speaking at the lunch, said she saw the nomination as an endorsement of her career so far.

She said: "I suppose it means recognition and someone saying to you did ok, more than ok.

"I was very privileged to get an award in Santa Barbara last night called a Virtuoso Award, and I grew up in a musical family where virtuoso is a term usually reserved for musicians, meaning someone of skill and deftness and something very spontaneous and free.

"I thought I've always strived to be spontaneous and free and to get more skilled as I carry on working so even being nominated for an Academy Award means someone saying you're going down that road in the right direction.

"It certainly isn't an end point, I feel I'm just about now getting good at what I do, that's what it feels like, and then I rely on writers and directors to give better opportunity for inspiration and that's exciting. It means somebody thinks you're doing ok and that's good enough for me."

Felicity and Rosamund are joined in the best actress category by Still Alice star Julianne Moore, Reese Witherspoon for her performance as Cheryl Strayed in Wild and French actress Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night.

The Academy Awards will be presented at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on February 22.

Object thrown from footbridge over A174 sounded 'like a gunshot' as it smashed car window

A driver who had her car window smashed when an object was thrown at it from a bridge said it was “like a gunshot”.

The unknown object was thrown from a footbridge over the A174 and smashed the car’s rear window.

Police said the incident was “extremely dangerous”.

The driver said: “If it had happened seconds earlier, I would have been killed.

“It is also really lucky that no one was in the back of the car. I dread to think how awful it could have been.”

The 35-year-old woman, who didn’t want to be named, was driving a Peugeot 307 towards Middlesbrough on the A174 near Hemlington on Monday at 6.30am when the terrifying incident happened.

She said: “It sounded like a gunshot.

“It smashed through the rear windscreen.

“Whatever was thrown must have deflected back off as it wasn’t in the car.

“I can only think that it was a brick or something.”

The driver said she pulled over near the Stainton sliproad and called police.

She said: “It was very scary. I didn’t see anyone on the bridge when I looked up.

“Whoever did this clearly just didn’t think of the consequences. It is such a malicious thing to do. These mindless idiots need to realise that they can cause fatal accidents and it was very lucky that I had no passengers or children in the back of the car.”

The driver said she has written to Middlesbrough Council calling for more safety on the bridges.

She said: “Something needs to be done to stop people being able to do this. Maybe a mesh dome could be put up or mesh sides.

“It is happening far too often and it won’t be long before someone is seriously injured or killed.

“I also want to warn drivers to look up at these bridges just to make sure no-one is there.”

Similar incidents have happened in the past on the same bridge and Cleveland Police have previously made warnings about the dangers.

A spokeswoman for the force confirmed they are investigating the recent incident.

She said: “This was an extremely dangerous thing to do and it is disappointing that our previous warnings and messages on such behaviour have gone unheeded by the person or people responsible for this incident.

“Thankfully the lady did not suffer any serious injuries or lose control of her vehicle and she was able to report the matter shortly after it occurred. We have spoken to her again over the phone and have taken details.

We would urge anyone with information on the person or people responsible to contact Cleveland Police on the non-emergency number 101.”

'The whole of Teesside was in total gridlock': Drivers' frustrations after traffic light fault causes tailbacks

Road chiefs have apologised to motorists hit by gridlock caused by temporary traffic lights at a major road junction.

The Highways Agency has said sorry to the rush-hour commuters who faced delays of up to 90 minutes on the A174 Parkway on Tuesday morning.

Lengthy queues built up on the road, which is undergoing £7.9m improvements, after the lights on the A19 interchange roundabout went out of sync - resulting in only a few cars being let through at a time.

“Following work on the A174 roundabout on Monday night an issue occurred when resetting the traffic lights,” said a Highways Agency spokeswoman.

“As soon as we were made aware of this issue engineers were called to the site to rectify the problem. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to motorists.”

As a result of the delays, some motorists chose to reverse their vehicles up sliproads to avoid the problem - prompting Cleveland Police to issue a warning.

“Driving in the wrong direction on sliproads is highly dangerous, can cause serious collisions and is problematic for officers who may be on scene,” said a spokeswoman for the force.

“Please be patient in queues of traffic and check travel news before setting off on your journey. This could prevent you being stuck in a queue of traffic.”

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Ron Harker, 62, of Marton, told The Gazette this has been a problem he has faced on several occasions.

Ron, who works at an engineering firm in Darlington and has made the same commute to and from work for 41 years, said: “This is the third or fourth time this has happened in recent months while the roadworks have been there.

“The whole of Teesside is in total gridlock. The problem is the lights on the junction were incorrectly timed.

“The cost to businesses is phenomenal, someone should be held accountable.”

He added: “This journey is generally good, but for the same simple problem to happen time and again, then to be left overnight without correction, is unacceptable.”

Another commuter told The Gazette he had been sat in the traffic for over an hour this morning.“It’s terrible traffic backed right past Coulby and Hemlington,” he said.

Traffic on Acklam Road heading towards Middlesbrough was also backed up as a result.

The temporary traffic lights are in place due to work to increase the capacity of the A19/A174 Parkway Interchange.

Work began last May and are expected to run until March.

Man whose body was found near Stockton bowling club was 'laughing and joking' the night before, inquest hears

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A man whose body was found in woodland close to a Stockton bowling club had been “laughing and joking” with regulars the night before, an inquest heard.

Matthew James Russell, 36, was found by a dog walker close to the West End Bowling Club in Hartburn on December 21 last year.

An inquest held at Teesside Coroner’s Court today heard that Mr Russell, of Stockton, had a history of depression and had tried to commit suicide in the past.

Mr Russell, known as Matty, had been “laughing and joking” with regulars and barmaid Abbey Beadnall on December 20 - and had seemed “in good spirits” according to Ms Beadnall.

Her statement, read at the inquest, said the pair had chatted until she finished for the evening, leaving him at the Darlington Road club to finish his drink and lock up.

It read: “Matty was always telling jokes and having a laugh. He said he was looking forward to Boxing Day, and told me when he had had a good drink on another Boxing Day.

“He even asked me if I would give bowling a go when the season started again.”

She said she had served Mr Russell water and orange cordial during the night, and that another club regular had bought him a bottle of Newcastle Brown.

She said “he showed no indication” of being depressed or “looking to take his own life”.

The inquest also heard the statement of Robert Tyson, a dog walker who called police after he discovered Mr Russell’s body on the morning of December 21.

After considering a pathologist report which said that Mr Russell died by hanging, assistant coroner Jo Wharton recorded that he had taken his own life.

'I just want to go to prison': Middlesbrough robber's confession after one-night crime spree

A robber who raided two shops armed with a screwdriver and a sledgehammer said “I just want to go to prison,”.

High on drugs Paul Hatton robbed a Middlesbrough shop, tried to rob another then tried to burgle a third, in the space of just over four hours.

First, he targeted a shop assistant who had already been the victim of a robbery, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He went into the AJ Store on Crescent Road, Ayresome with his hood up and lunged across the counter after paying for some sweets.

He tried to grab bank notes from the till, pointing a screwdriver at the female shop worker at about 6.50pm on January 4.

She tried to close the till which, after a brief struggle, was knocked on to the floor. Hatton fled.

He tried to rob the Gresham Food Store on Gresham Road at 8.40pm.

He pulled a weapon described as a sledgehammer from his jogging bottoms, said prosecutor Paul Lee today.

He lunged at the shop owner, who jumped over the counter and ran from the shop after he was told to “open the till”.

Hatton, 36, fled empty-handed after he fell over a heater and hit the till to no avail.

He was arrested on Linthorpe Road hours later at 1.10am after smashing a window at the EE shop.

He told officers: “Yeah I broke the window. I did AJ’s and Gresham Road too” and then said “I just want to go to prison”.

The victim of the first robbery said in a statement read out in court: “This has happened to me before and for it to happen a second time has really had an impact for me.

“I need my job. I don’t want to quit. Every time a customer comes in I remember the incident.

“It was very scary. I have nightmares about it and it brought back memories of the last one.

“I’ve heard that I was not the only victim. I can’t imagine what they’re going through.”

The Gresham store owner said he was startled and shocked.

Hatton, of Park Road North, Ayresome, admitted robbery, attempted robbery, attempted burglary and having two offensive weapons which were never found.

He had 70 previous offences including supplying Class A drugs and had just been released from a prison term for burgling a shop.

He muttered complaints in the dock as the facts of the case were read out.

John Nixon, defending, said Hatton acted “utterly and totally out of character” with no previous violence on his record.

He said Hatton, who had long-term drug addiction issues, showed regret and remorse and knew the awful fear he had put the victims through.

He had worked hard and brought up a family in a seven-year period, but lost his job and relationship and went into “complete decline”.

At the time of the offences he was at an emotional low, had taken substances and remembered nothing of what happened, leaving him “in a state of shock and utter bewilderment”.

The judge, Recorder Sarah Mallett, said the robbery offences were frightening, though they were short-lived and no one was injured.

She said: “These are small shops which are open late to provide a service to the local community.

“Both of these attacks were during the hours of darkness.”

She took into account his genuine remorse, difficult history and personal struggles, and said he was capable of being a responsible, hard-working person and he empathised with the victims.

She jailed him for five years.

Could Boro end a three-year wait to land the Championship Player of the Month award?

Boro could end a three-year hoodoo this week if one of Aitor Karanka’s promotion-chasing squad is named Championship Player of the Month.

January has been a superb month for the Teessiders, with the club drawing to within one point of Championship joint leaders Bournemouth and Derby.

Starting the month five points adrift of the Cherries at the summit, Boro have clawed their way back towards top spot after picking up 10 points from a possible 12.

Boro’s draw with Reading was the only match in which they failed to score and collect maximum points, with consecutive league wins over Huddersfield, Cardiff and Brentford following.

Add two FA Cup victories at Barnsley and Premier League champions Manchester City to the mix, and it’s hard to look beyond Aitor Karanka for the Championship Manager of the Month award for January.

The Football League will announce the nominations for both Manager and Player of the Month on Thursday, with the winners being revealed on Friday.

Should a Boro player win the individual award, it would be the Teessiders’ first success since Matthew Bates took the accolade in September 2011, one month after Marvin Emnes bagged top prize.

Championship Manager of the Month Tony Mowbray and Player of the Month Matthew Bates receive their awards in September 2011

But 28 months have since passed without a single Boro player picking up the Player of the Month award.

Could a Boro player end that drought on Friday? We take a look at some of the possible nominees.

1) Dimi Konstantopoulos

“You shall not pass” has been the battling cry from Boro’s Greek stopper in recent weeks.

The veteran keeper has conceded only one goal in his last six matches, which came during Boro’s 2-1 victory over Cardiff.

Before that you have to go to a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich on December 20 for the last time Dimi was beaten.

© CameraSport

A goalkeeper has not won the Player of the Month accolade since Reading’s Adam Federici in February 2012, but few can rival Dimi’s recent stats.

A stunning save in the final stages against Huddersfield earned Boro three valuable points, and he also had a busy afternoon at Brentford on Saturday, pulling off a string of big saves.

Few could argue if Boro’s stopper was nominated for the gong.

2) Ben Gibson

A key part of Boro’s defensive success, Ben Gibson started five of Boro’s six matches last month - with the FA Cup win at Barnsley his only absence.

But the FA Cup will not be taken into consideration by the Football League judges, meaning Gibson’s record of conceding only one goal in 360 minutes of Championship football last month could earn him a nomination.

The England Under-21s star was among Boro’s best at Brentford on Saturday, and has been almost ever-present under Aitor Karanka this season.

Defender Tyrone Mings won the Player of the Month award in September, but a central defender has not landed the gong since Curtis Davies in January 2012.

3) Lee Tomlin

After shaking off a knock and returning to full fitness, Lee Tomlin has played his way back into Boro first-team picture with style.

His double helped Boro sink Huddersfield at the Riverside, and he followed that up with another goal against Cardiff City.

The lively front man has impressed in the No 10 role and put in further solid displays at Reading and Brentford.

© CameraSport

His performance at Manchester City was also a joy to behold, with his stunning Bergkamp-esque flick almost ending in one of the FA Cup’s greatest goals.

Granted, the FA Cup may not be taken into consideration by the judges, but it’s still been a remarkable month for Boro’s front man.

A striker has won the Player of the Month award 10 times in the last 13, so don’t bet against Tomlin being among those considered for the accolade this time out.

Paul Collingwood slams England's decision to omit Durham all-rounder from World Cup squad

Durham captain Paul Collingwood believes England’s decision to leave Ben Stokes out of their World Cup squad was a strange one, saying the all-rounder “could’ve won you the World Cup”.

Stokes gave the national selectors a stunning reminder of his talents with a brutal century and three wickets as England Lions beat South Africa A by 89 runs on Monday to wrap up the one-day series.

Durham all-rounder Stokes, who was in England’s 30-man provisional squad for the upcoming World Cup but failed to make the final cut, clubbed 15 sixes and seven fours as he scored an unbeaten 151 off just 86 deliveries at the Mamelodi Oval in Pretoria.

Stokes then showed his skills with the ball, taking three of the final four South Africa wickets to fall as the hosts were bowled out for 289 in the 43rd over, leaving the Lions celebrating an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Former England one-day captain Collingwood condemned the choice not to take the 23-year-old to Australia and New Zealand.

“The thing that frustrates me is that England were batting him in the number eight position. He can win games of cricket with the bat solely,” Collingwood told BBC Radio Five.

“You’ve got a guy here who - if he came good in the World Cup - he could’ve won you the World Cup, he could have won three or four games.”

Collingwood compared the decision to play his Durham teammate Stokes lower down the batting order to Real Madrid or Portugal fielding Cristiano Ronaldo in a defensive position.

He added: “If you’re going to play him, you’ve got to play him in the right position - whether that be (batting at) four, five, or six.

“What England did with him is like telling Cristiano Ronaldo to play at right-back, express yourself on the pitch and score goals.”

England start their World Cup campaign against Australia on Saturday, February 14.

Applied Graphene Materials on track to meet growing demand for ‘wonder material’

A Teesside firm that manufactures graphene says it is well placed to play a leading role in meeting the “global appetite” for the so-called “wonder material”.

Wilton-based Applied Graphene Materials plc, which has developed leading technology to scale up the production of graphene, raised £11m when it floated on the stock market in late 2013.

It has since identified a wide range of potential markets for its product, a crystalline form of carbon that can be used in everything from tennis rackets to computers.

And bosses expecting big demand for AGM’s product say they are investing to secure its ‘long term position’ in the market.

In its first year, the firm posted an annual turnover of just £4,000 and losses of more than £2m, but its directors spoke confidently at the time about the business’ potential.

Since then, according to a trading update published ahead of its interim results for the first half of the current financial year, performance has been in line with expectations, with net cash of approximately £6.6m at the period end, January 31.

Operational priorities, the firm said, included customer sampling, developing customer relationships and ongoing enhancements to its processes.

“The board is pleased with the progress achieved in these areas and in particular the pace of progress since the announcement of the full year results,” the update said.

Currently around 90% of AGM’s ongoing engagements are with its three core target markets of advanced composites, coatings and functional fluids, encompassing global operators in these markets.

The update said the group had taken encouragement from early performance test data and had enjoyed a record month in November, when it came to providing samples to customers.

The company has started initial work on a ‘larger scale production asset’ which would continue into the second half of the financial year - and had also been focused on ‘developing existing proprietary production equipment’.

“Whilst the cost of this design work is modest in the context of the likely overall cost of the construction of a larger production asset,” says the report, “this investment signifies the group’s intention to seek to put in place capacity in advance of anticipated growth in demand to secure the group’s long term position in this exciting market opportunity.”

During the period, AGM gradually increased the run rates of its production assets, providing evidence of the consistency and quality of production at higher volumes.

This activity will continue in the second half of the financial year as ongoing enhancements continue to be made to the group’s manufacturing and dispersion processes.

During the period, the group also invested in its senior management team with Nigel Blatherwick coming on board as commercial director and Dr Adrian Potts as vice president (business development) for North America.

AGM said its priorities for second half of the year include scaling production through demonstrating running at higher production rates, providing further samples to customers; and supporting “in depth, high quality customer relationships”.

The company’s interim results will be announced on March 25.

Three-car collision on A19 southbound carriageway causes delays for motorists

A multi-vehicle pile up is currently causing delays for motorists on the A19.

Three cars collided on the southbound carriageway, in between the junctions for Norton and Portrack, at 1pm today.

Emergency services received numerous calls about the smash, which involved a Porsche, a Volvo S60 and a Volkswagen Passat.

Officers from Cleveland Police have been required to close two out of the three lanes off to traffic - resulting in delays.

Acklam Hall consultation starts as council considers potential road changes

A public consultation looking at possible changes to the roads around the controversial re-development of Acklam Hall is underway.

Middlesbrough Council has secured £148,900 to be spent on improvements to the roads around the re-development of the Grade I listed building and its grounds - which include the creation of 56 new homes.

Concerns have been raised by residents and councillors regarding the effects additional traffic will have on the surrounding roads.

Seven improvement options have been identified and have now been put forward for public consultation.

The options affect Church Lane, St Mary’s Walk and Hall Drive in Acklam.

The go-ahead for the public consultation was approved by executive member of regeneration, Cllr Charlie Rooney, at a Middlesbrough Council Executive meeting at the town hall yesterday .

As part of the consultation there will be public meetings with Acklam Community Council, officer meetings through the Middlesbrough Officers’ Traffic Group and liaisons with scheme developer Acklam Hall Limited.

There will also be a letter drop to affected residents.

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The options which are being looked at include introducing traffic calming measures on the full length of Church Lane and St Mary’s Walk and a point closure at the junction of Church Lane and St. Mary’s Walk.

Introduction of ‘left in, left out’ arrangement at the access to the new development is also a possibility as well as introducing a mini roundabout at the junction serving the new development.

Another option is to simply do nothing and leave the roads as they are and the other two options involve introducing additional traffic calming measures on both approaches to the bend, and on approaches to Green Lane Primary School, and widening Hall Drive.

The Acklam Hall development was approved by Middlesbrough Council Planning Committee in May 2012.

The hall will be given a new lease of life as a business and conference centre with restaurant and function space.

The development will feature a health and care village, including a new GP surgery.

And last May approval was given for Taylor Wimpey to build 56 homes on the east and western side of the hall, which is Middlesbrough’s only Grade I Listed Building.

Residents launched a petition against the development saying it would be like ‘turning Downton Abbey into Little Wynyard’.

Rob Farnham, principal traffic engineer, said: “There are existing highways issues on these roads. This consultation is giving us the chance to explore all aspects of the scheme and the highways issues and work out what options are the best.”

Mr Farnham said the consultation will last two weeks.

He said: “After that period, we will look at responses and bring a report back to determine how we take it forward.”

Cllr Rooney said: “This consultation period will give everyone involved the chance to have their say and we will look at what the best option is for everyone.”

Wish 2014: List of groups and addresses to send your tokens to

Name of Group	Name of Group Leader	Address - Welcome Pack
12th Middlesbrough (Baptist) Brownies	Glynis Parks	35 Birchgate Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 5NP
15th Middlesbrough Trinity Guides	Jean sharrocks	28 Earlsdon Avenue, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 8JH
17th Teesside Boys' Brigade	Colin Martin	15, Green Close, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS7 0DD
1st Fairfield Scout Group	Mrs Margaret North	4 Bylands Grove, Fairfield, Middlesbrough
1st Hartburn Sea Scouts	Lesley Lambert	66 Wensleydale Gardens, Thornaby TS17 9BP
1st New Marske Girls Brigade	Eileen Cowle	11 Carnoustie Road, New Marske, Redcar, TS11 8DL
1st Norton-on-Tees Scout Group	Margo Ness	8 Jameson Road, Norton, Stockton, TS20 1EF
1st Saltburn Rainbows	Victoria Seaton	5 Elliot Street, Sketon Green, Saltburn by the Sea TS12 2DF
1st Whorlton Guides	Gemma Scoby	33 Cotherstone Road, Stockton - On - Tees, TS183LR
25th Ormesby Pathfinders Scout Group	Helen McGee	21 Eagle Park, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS8 9NS
2nd Billingham Scout Group	Colin Beall	98 Beamish Road Billingham TS23 3DY
2nd Normanby (St. George's) Scout Group	Julie Allan	32 Keswick Road Normanby Middlesbrough TS6 0BN
3rd Teesville Brownies	Andrea Kuy	10, Oakfield Gardens Ormesby Middlesbrough Cleveland TS7 9RH
4th Norton Rainbows and Brownies	Caroline Fell	14 Railway Cottages Norton Stockton on Tees TS20 1QD
50th Middlesbrough Park End Guides	Sonia Bowler	Park End Primary School, Overdale Road, Park End, Middlesbrough TS3 0AA
5th Fairfield Brownies	Jill Thurston	34 Oulston Road, Fairfield, Stockton, TS18 4HU
6th Norton (St Joseph's) Scout Group	Mick Gibson	23 The Green Norton Stockton-on-Tees TS20 1EJ
7th Middlesbrough Air Scouts	Dennis Ford	27 Skiddaw Court Nunthorpe Middlesbrough TS7 0RD
7th Stockton Gudies	Alison Tonkinson	152 Oxbridge lane, Stockton on Tees, TS18 4HR
9th Redcar Brownies	Melanie Collins	22 Warwick Road, Redcar, TS10 2HA
Abbey Hill Academy	Suzanne Florence	Abbey Hill Academy & Sixth Form, Ketton Road, Hardwick, Stockton - on -Tees, TS19 8BU
Abbies Love Charity	Tracy Clarke	45 Grange Farm, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, TS8 0SB
Acklam FC u9s	Tracy Powell	4 Church Close Thornaby TS17 6LB
Acklam Gym Club	Samantha Dixon	3 Burghley Drive, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, TS17 5GN
Acklam Womens Rugby Club	Hailey Burton	33 Cambridge Road, Thornaby, TS176LP,
Albert Parkrun	Louise Campbell	7a Limes Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 6RQ
Ann Charlton Lodge	Pauline Madden	Ann Charlton Lodge, Eden Hall Grove, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 4PR
Ash Trees School	Raechel Hogg	Ash Trees School, Bowes Road, Billingham TS23 2UB
Atlantis 449	john Bennett	41 Wollaton Road, Billingham, Cleveland, TS23 3BD
Bellamy School of Ballet - Team BSB	Zoe Bellamy	3 Brooksbank Road, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, TS7 9EQ
Belle Vue Nursing Home	Diana Archer	Belle Vue Nursing Home, 26a Belle Vue Grove, Middlesbrough, TS4 2PX
Billingham Amateur Swimming	Sue Mogford	16 Cameron Street, Norton, Stockton on Tees, TS20 1HW
Billingham Choral Society	Margaret Pringle (Mrs)	17 Barton Crescent, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, TS22 5HJ
Billingham Juniors FC	John Swanson	2 Fairdene Avenue, Stockton,TS19 7NH
Billingham Juniors Under 9s	Nicki Gibson	19 Tamworth Road Billingham TS232AX
Billingham Marsh House Harriers	Ann Blakey	59 Sherburn Avenue, Billingham, TS23 3PX
Billingham Stars Under 12 Junior Ice Hockey Team	Andrea Harrison	Andrea Harrison, 41 Low Grange Avenue, Billingham, TS23 3EH
Billingham Synthonia under 11's	Susan Heslop	7 Shearwater Lane, Norton, Stockton on Tees, Cleveland, TS20 1SH
Breathercise Teesside	Carol Jenkins	31 Belmont Avenue, Middlesbrough TS5 8EN
Bright Stars Nursery	Anne-Marie Ord	Thorntree Hub, Birkhall Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 9JW
Brotton Village Hall Trustees	Mrs J K Walker	Brotton Village Hall, Laburnum Road, Brotton, TS12 2RA
Butterfly Giving	Hannah Larkin	39 Comfrey Manor, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, TS8 OXT
Butterwick Hospice Care	Sarah Kernan	Finance and Fundraising Office, Butterwick Hospice, Middlefield Road, TS19 8XN
Cargo Fleet Juniors	Shaun Quirk	32 Cranmore rd, Middlesbrough, TS3 8JD
Caroline Grace School of Dance	Caroline Grace	57 Brocklesby Road, Guisborough, TS147PX
Centre Ladies Club	Margaret Jack	13 Malvern Road, Billingham, Middlesbrough
Chaloneer Primary School	Tracy Marsden	99 Park Lane, Guisborough, Cleveland, TS14 6PA
Charltons Community Centre	Graham Fawcett	Mr Graham Fawcett 28 Lauderdale Drive Guisborough Cleveland TS14 7ND
CHILD Deaf Youth Project	Angie Beckett	CDYP, Middlesbrough Deaf Centre, Derwent Street, North Ormesby TS3 6JB
Christ the King KS1	Mrs Angela Carson	Christ the King R.C. Primary School Tedder Avenue Thornaby on Tees TS17 9JP
Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team	Allan Mann	C/O Magnet Ltd, Portrack Lane, Stockton on Tees, TS18 2PS
Cleveland Retired Men's Association	John Best	122 West Dyke Road, Redcar, Middlesbrough,TS10 1JH
Coastwatch Redcar	Ray Preston	2 South Terrace, Redcar, TS10 3BJ
Corey's Smile	Annette Duncan	2 Summerfield Grove, Thornaby On Tees, Cleveland. TS170jW
Crash Bang Wallop Youth Theatre	Louise Egan	11 Lambourne Drive, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8QF
Crohn's and Colitis UK Tees Group	Bernice wood	100 Kirkleatham Lane, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 5DD
Cruse Bereavement Care (Middlesbrough)	Jean Wood	1st Floor, PJS House, 9-11 Harris Street, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS1 5EF
Dance Magic Fundraising Group	Vicky Cook	23 Talisker Gardens, Redcar, TS10 2TG
Dance On - Studio	Evelyn Smith	59 Westminster Oval, Norton, TS20 1UU
Dormanstown Junior FC	Billy Wells	160 High Street, Marske, Redcar, TS11 7NB
Eaglescliffe Elementis Junior Football Club U12s	Matt Harston	30 Seymour Crescent, Eaglescliffe, Stockton TS160LF
Eaglescliffe Elementis U12s	Erica Swales	17 Seymour Drive, Eaglesclidde, Stockton, TS16 0LG
Eaglescliffe School PTA	Jo Hall	Egglescliffe School Urlay Nook Road Eaglescliffe Stockton-on-Tees Cleveland TS16 0LA
Eltham Crescent Over 65`s Club	Michelle Wood	Mary Vernon, 29 Ternbeck Way, Thornaby, Cleveland. TS17 9RF
Erimus Centre Association	Richard Smith	Cumberland Resource, 5 Chelmsford Road, Middlesbrough, TS5 6PH
Fairfield Friends Association	Beverley Jones	Fairfield Primary School Glenfield Road Fairfield TS19 7PW
Foodbank	Jill Coyle	Billingham Foodbank, New Life Church, Low Grange Ave. Billingham. TS23 3DP
Frederick Nattrass Eyfs	Emma Hunter	Frederick Nattrass Primary Academy, Darlington Lane, Norton. Stockton on tees TS20 1BZ
Fresh Expressions	Margaret Morrell	32 Coniston Grove Acklam Middlesbrough TS5 7DD
Friends of Beverley School	Ian Roberts	19 Hoskins Way, Middlesbrough, TS3 8NJ
Friends of Linthorpe Cemetery	Dorothy Humphries	66 Barker Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 5ES
Friends of Marton Library	Claus Stroander	17 Auckland Avenue, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8NR
Friends of Redcar	Carl Quartermain	27 Yew Tree Avenue, Redcar, TS10 4QD
Friends of Redcar Cemetery	Dot Ahmed	6 St Thomas Grove, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 2DY
Friends of Stewart Park	Ann Thomas	45 Chestnut Drive, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8BuU
Friends of Thorntree Cemetaries	Billy Charlton	14 Creekwood, Middlesbrough, TS3 9RL
Friendship Group for Widowed People	Ann Robinson	Ann Robinson c/o Redcar Cricket Club, Kirkleatham Street, REDCAR, TS10 1QH
Full Swing Dance	Rachel Highfield	29 Glenmor Grove, Middlesbrough, TS6 0EP
Girlguiding TeesWest	Lesley Magson	9 Strathaven Drive, Eaglescliffe, Stockton on Tees, TS16 9HJ
Glastonbury House Management Committee	Donald Rycroft	131 Glastonbury House Lindisfarne Road Middlesbrough Cleveland TS3 0LG
Grace Greyhound Rescue	Tracy Cook	29 Pine Road, Guisborough. TS14 6JH
Grangetown Netball	Geraldine Williams	Grangetown YCC, Broadway , Grangetown, Middlesbrough, TS6 7HP
Grangetown under 8's	Marie Caraher	7 Ansdale Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 9HP
Grangetown ycc u12s	Amanda Allan	17 Wilton Way, Grangetown, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS6 7QP
Grangetown YCC U13	Sarah Morris	73 Shakespeare Avenue, Grangetown, Middlesbrough, TS6 7PP
Grangetown YCC U7's	Gavin McDaid	136 Lime Rd, Normanby, TS6 0BY
Great Ayton Tourist Information	Christine Parker	17 Buccleuch Close, Guisborough, TS14 7LP
Great North Air Ambulance Service	Amanda Simmister	Northumberland Wing, The Imperial Centre, Grange Road, Darlington, DL1 5NQ
Grenfell Club	Shirley Hicks	Grenfell Club, Grant Street, Redcar, TS10 1RW
Grove Hill Methodist "Open House"	Mrs Cynthia Brennan	9 Beeford Drive, Acklam, Middlesbrough,TS5 7JD
Guide Dogs	Jean Ruff	17 Highfield Road, Marske, Cleveland, TS11 6EG
Guisborough Amateur Swimming Club	Jon Walton	c/o 12 Lowcross Avenue, Guisborough, Cleveland. TS14 8BP
Guisborough Bridge Association	Jenny Tyrie	6 Tidkin Lane, Guisborough, TS14 8BX
Guisborough Cheerleading Club (The Pumas)	Sue Jemson	1 Whinchat Tail, Middlesbrough, TS14 8PW
Guisborough Town white u12	Joanne Dunning	5 Cedar Grove, Loftus , Cleveland,TS13 4XE
Hardwick Youth FC u16	Andrea Ruddy	51 Poppy Lane, Stockton, TS19 8FL
Hardwick Youth U10'S	Debbie Francis	84 Windermere Road, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 4LY
Hardwick Youth under 14s	Linda Smith	9 Tovil Close, Bishopsgarth, Stockton, Cleveland, TS19 8XH
Hemlington Juniors FC	Clare Walker	75 Eddison Way, Hemlington, Middlesbrough, TS8 9ES
Highcliffe Friends	Carly Rowe	Highcliffe Primary School, Hutton Lane, Guisborough,TS14 8AA
Home Start Teesside	Sue Cook	35 Marshall Avenue, Brambles Farm, Middlesbrough, TS3 9AX
Hope Animal Shelter	Clifford Spedding	1 White Cliffe cottage, Loftus, Cleveland TS13 4AN
Hope For Holly	Andy Gowland	3 Shandon Park, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS8 9XS
idance4me	Leanne Heslop	81 Scurfield Road, Hardwick, Stockton, TS19 8SQ
Impact Fitness Zone	Alan Chapman	Impact Fitness Zone, 92a Normanby Road, South Bank, Middlesbrough, TS6 6RX
Johansen Dance Company (JDC)	Stacey Williams	20 Spencerfield Crescent, Middlesbrough, TS3 9HA
Johnson School of Dance	Lynn Cook	Southlands Leisure Centre, Ormesby Rd, Middlesbrough, TS3 0HB
KTS Academy	Brenda McCabe	Marshall Drive, Brotton, Middlesbrough, TS12 2UW
Kudos Youth Group	Stephen Sutton	Kudos Youth Group, Coulby Newham Baptist Church, Langdon Square, Middlesbrough, TS8 0RW
Ladies of Steel	Debbie Powlay	33 South Avenue, Dormanstown, Redcar, TS10 5LZ
Lakes United FC	Lee Addison	31 Thames Road, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 1PW
Lakeside Artists	Keith Swain	12 Brabazon Drive, Marske by the Sea, Redcar, TS116NL
Little Nippers Parent/Carer and Toddler Group Saltburn	Pamela Farrell	12 Whiteoaks Close, Redcar, TS10 2SS
Locke Park Bowls Club	Evelyn Hayes	Evelyn Hayes, 9 Harewood Way, Redcar, TS10 2LP
Loftus Cricket & Athletic Club	Sarah-Jane Smith	Loftus Cricket & Athletic Club, Whitby Road, Loftus, TS13 4LG
Maisies Hope	Leanne Nellis	33 Hatchlands Park, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, TS17 5GT
Mandale Mill P.T.A.	Julie Ashton	Mandale Mill Primary School, Thorntree Road, Thornaby, TS17 8AP
Margrove Park Village Association	David Bywater	15 Margrove Park, Margrove Park, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, TS12 3BX
Marie Curie Cancer Care	Mrs Carole Hindle	46 Nimbus Close, Marton, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS7 8SH
Marske Bowling Club	Doris Clark	4 Coast Road, Marske By Sea, Redcar, Cleveland
Marske Community Partnership	Sheila Argument	2 Epping Close, Marske, Redcar, Cleveland, TS11 6DP
Marske Residents Association	Mrs Margaret Goodwill	43 Pennyman Walk, Marske by the Sea, Redcar, TS11 7AP
Marton Blues U14	Sharon Lance	11 Tees Road, Redcar, TS10 1QD
Marton Community Centre Group	Ann Falconer	12 Sandling Court, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8QP
Marton Fc Blue Under 9	Mark Puckrin	9 Cedar Road, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8DA
Marton Football Club	Kerry Morrow	10 Maidstone drive, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8QW
Marton U14 Blues FC	Dale Conway	25 Brigham Road, Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough, TS3 7DG
Middlebeck Juniors	John Poole	15 Kimberly Drive, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough Girl Guides	Steph Jackson	78 St Cuthbert Avenue, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8RG
Middlesbrough Lionesses Girls Football Team	Lynn Walker	7 Tomlinson Way, Middlesbrough, TS3 9JX
Middlesbrough MS Therapy Centre	Alan Riddiough	MS Therapy Centre, Unit B1 Stadium Court, Wallis Road, Skippers Lane Ind Est, South Bank, TS6 6JB
Middlesbrough Powerchair Football Club	Carolyn Bean	21 Pinewood Road, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8DB
Middlesbrough Roller Hockey Club	Andrew Kneeshaw	16 Grosvenor Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 5BT
Middlesbrough Sea Cadets	Mrs Liz Chambers	10 Park Avenue North, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS3 0PE
Middlesbrough Sportability Club	Tom Jones	21 Balder Road, Stockton on Tees, TS20 1BE
Middlesbrough Swimming Club	Terry Hine	Neptune Centre, Ormesby Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 7RP
Middlesbrough Youth Theatre	Janice Carmo	Toft House, The Avenue, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 6SA
MS Society Teesside Branch	Keith Craven	The Gateway, Lower East Street, Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, TS2 1SW
Nepacs Visitor Centre	Claire Healy	9 Naseby Court, Billingham, TS23 3LJ
Normanby United Football (under 11's)	Paddy Woods	28 Manor Green, Normanby, Middlesbrough, TS6 0DZ
North End & Newham Grange Association	Dave Bowes	48 Talbot Street, Tilery Estate, Stockton on Tees, TS20 2XB
North Ormesby 'VICS' under 8's Football Team	Samantha Dixon	3 Burghley Drive, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, TS17 5GN
Norton Baptist Church Young at Heart Group	Gillian Restall	171 Ashton Road, Norton, TS20 1RE
Norton Bellairs	Joanne Pearce	103 Apsley Way, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton on Tees, Cleveland, TS17 5GB
Norton Bowling Club	Jack Mee	3 Falcon Lane, Norton, Stockton, TS20 1LS
Norton Hockey Club	Graham Clarke	6 Canon Grove, Yarm, TS15 9XE
Norton Methodist Playgroup	Barbara Hart	11 Gladesfield Road, Norton, Stockton on Tees, TS20 2HS
Nunthorpe Bowling Club	Barbara Dobing	Nunthorpe Bowling Club, adj Railway Station, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS7 0JA
Nunthorpe in Bloom	Brenda Thompson	1 Grey Towers Drive Nunthorpe TS7 0LS
Open House	Cynthia Brennan	9 Beeford Drive, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 7JD
Overfields Primary School	Tracy Watson	Overfields Primary School, Daisy Lane, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, TS7 9JF
Pallister Park Bowling Club	Jan Saxton	96 Ingram Road, Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough, TS3 7BQ
Parent Network Hemlington	Rebecca Darcy	Hemlington Childrens Centre, Casshouse Road, Hemlington, TS8 9EQ
Pennyman Primary Academy	Stephen Newham	Pennyman Primary Academy, Fulbeck Road, Middlesbrough, TS3 0QS
Percy Middlesbrough	Anne Hood	Percy Middlesbrough, 2 Carcut Road, Lawson Industrial Estate, Middlesbrough, TS3 6QL
Playground Pals	Sarah Rathbone	Riverdale Primary, Hambleton Avenue, Redcar, TS10 4HH
Polton Allstars	Julia Johnston	3 Barnack Avenue, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8QB
Positive Strokes	Les Spicer	14 Beech Court, Ferndale, Stockton on Tees, TS19 0XR
Primrose Hill FC	Graham White	52 Johnson Grove, Stockton, TS20 1BX
PTFA	Gill Callaghan	Normanby Primary School, Flatts Lane, Normanby, TS6 0NP
Queensland Academy of Dance	Fiona Hopwood	20 High Street, Skelton, Cleveland, TS12 2ED
Redcar & District Breathercise	Tony Ridgway	26 Cambrian Avenue, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 4HF
Redcar Athletic	Dave Marshall	17,Lincoln road , Redcar, TS10 3RR
Redcar Gymnastic Club	Marie MacLeod	3 Strensall Close New Marske Redcar TS11 8BG
Redcar Town Girls	Stephanie Maddison	19 Alfred Street, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 3HZ
Redcar West Rainbows	Mary Lee	Does not want address published
Refresh Youth Events	Stefanie Hoyle	Yarm Methodist Church, Chapel Yard, Yarm, TS15 9AJ
Rhythm Train	Steve King	12 Kingsley Road, Fairfield, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 5AQ
Robert Atkinson Gym Club	Denis Robinson	37, Scarborough Street, Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire, TS17 6HR
Rochester Court Association	Jean Bak	21 Rochester Close, Stockton on Tees, TS17 6AZ
Roseworth Lodge Carehome	Tanya Crosby	Roseworth Lodge Carehome, Redhill Road, Roseworth, Stockton, TS19 9BY
Royal Sapphires	Margaret Kennett	19 Brigend Close, Grangetown, Middlesbrough, TS6 7PD
S & N Dance Centre	Roger Douglas	55 Kestrel Close, Norton, Stockton on Tees, TS20 1SF
Saint Martin of Tours Rainbows and Brownies	Gill Greenwood	148 Oxford Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 5EL
Saltburn Animal Rescue Association	Patricia Roberts	28 Turner Street, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 1AZ
Saltburn Blues Club	Harry Simpson	24 Bristol Avenue, Saltburn, TS12 1BW
Save our Samuel	Claire Hurst	4 Constable Grove, Billingham, TS23 3GL
Save Our Strays	Gloria Spencer	20 Rossendale Close, Marske by the Sea, Redcar, Cleveland, TS11 6DT
Schools' International Peace Quilt	Trish Booth	9 Brockrigg Court, Middlesbrough
Scoil Rince í Muir	Veronica Muir	92 Coniston Grove, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 7DG
Senior Over 50s Group	Mary (Molly) Griffiths	2 James Street , North Ormesby, TS3 6LB
Skelton Bowls Club	Maurice Hart	63 Millholme Drive Brotton Saltburn-by-Sea, TS12 2UR
Smith Dock Bowling Club	Margaret Green	50 Caithness Road, Teesville, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS6 0AL
SNAPS (Special Needs Activities with Parents Support)	Ruth Benson	16 Hillside Road, Norton, Stockton on Tees, TS20 1JG
South Billingham Methodist Church - Godly Play Project	David Parkin	28 Allendale Road, Billingham, TS23 1PP
South Cleveland Heart Fund	Dr Adrian Davies	James Cook University Hospital, Murray Building, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS4 3BW
St Gabriel’s Primary Academy	Ms Eileen Donaghue	St Gabriel's Catholic Primary Academy, Allendale Road, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, TS7 9LF
St Joseph's Primary School	Chris Barclay	Marton Road, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS4 2NT
St Mark's Church, Marske-by-the-Sea	Sue Sotheran	Home Farm, Yearby, TS11 8HQ
St Mark's Elm Tree Primary School	Sharon Tebbs	St Marks Primary School, St Marks Close, Bishopton Road West, Stockton on Tees, TS19 7HA
St Peter's Catholic Academy	Jean Marie Myers	St Peter's Catholic Academy, Normanby Road, South Bank, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS6 6SP
St. Augustine's PTA	Dawn White	St. Augustine's RC Primary School, Gunnergate Lane, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, TS8 0TE.
St. Margaret's Church, Brotton	Mrs. K.M. Cuthbert	The Educational Centre, Saltburn Road, Brotton, Saltburn By The Sea, TS12 2PJ
St. Thomas of Canterbury St. Vincent De Paul Conference	William Scott	47 Lincoln Crescent, Billingham. TS234BH
Stainsby School of Gymnastics	Charlotte Wilkinson	7/8 Limeoak Way, Middlesbrough, TS18 2LS
STAMP Revisited ~ Independent Mental Health Advocacy Service	Lauren Rafferty	Roseberry Park Hospital, Marton Road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3AF
Stanghow Community Centre	Jean Scott	8 Seaton Terrace, Stanghow, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, TS12 3LB
Stockton Amateur Swimming Club	Clem Laidler	39 Kinderton Grove, Norton, Stockton, TS20 1QS
Stockton MS Group	David Henderson	74 Windermere Road, Stockton on Tees, TS18 4LY
Stockton Rugby club	Jane King	Stockton Rugby Club Norton Sports Village Station Road TS20 1PE
Stockton Town FC	Craig Higgins	Stockton Town FC, Bishopton Road West, Stockton on Tees, TS19 0QD
Stockton West End FC	Ken Aitchison	4 Old Road, Billingham, Middlesbrough, TS23 1DS
Stokesley & Broughton Colts FC	David Howe	83 Lime Road, Normanby, Middlesbrough, TS6 0BZ
Stokesley cricket club	Lynn Gaunt	2 Woodlands Walk, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, TS9 5QG
Stokesley RDA Group	Claire Robinson	10 Farrier Close, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, TS17 0RE
Streets Ahead for Information	Kim May	109 - 111 Parliament Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 4JE
Sutton Estate Residents Group Middlesbrough	Eric Crosby	38 Sutton Way, Sutton Estate, Middlesbrough, TS4 3HQ
SVP (Redcar)	Edel Gittins	4 Trafalgar Terrace, Redcar, TS10 1QQ
SVP (St Vincent de Paul Society)	Teresa Bond	8 Ling Close, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8SA
Swerve TTC	Paul Warters	Kirkham Row, Beechwood, Middlesbrough, TS4 3EE
Swift-tees	Rosanne Lightfoot	217 Acklam Road, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 7AB
Sydenham Singers	Elizabeth Buckley	7 Sydenham Road, Oxbridge, Stockton on Tees, TS18 4DG
Take Heart Support Group	J Clark/E Hartley	Langdon Square Community Centre, Coulby Newham, TS8 0TF
Tees Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Society	Mrs Eileen Whittingham	23 Arlington Road, Middlesbrough, TS5 7RD
Tees Valley RSC	Julia Hudson-Bailey	135 Cambridge Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 5HL
Tees Valley Wheelchair Sports Club	Ali Barnes	69 Levick Crescent, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 4QZ
Teesmouth Field Centre	Julie Mason	c/o Hartlepool Power Station, Tees Road, Hartlepool, TS25 2BZ
Teesside Ability Support Centre	Malcolm Turley	Acklam Road Middlesbrough, TS5 4EG
Teesside Hospice	Jane O'Byrne	410 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, TS5 6HF
Teesside Rangers 2014	Joanne Teasdale	28 Lockwood Court, Middlesbrough, TS6 0TQ
Teesside Sport Girls Centre of Excellence	Mrs Melanie Libbey	5 Adam Close, Redcar, TS10 4QJ
Teesside Woodturners' Association	Brian Haggath	Brian Haggath, 5 Fountains Crescent, Eston, Middlesbrough, TS6 9DF
Tennis World Juniors	Nigel Garton	C/O TENNIS WORLD, Prissick Base, Maryon Road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3SA
The Bradley School of Dance & Musical Theatre	Margaret Connelly	Parochial Hall, Guisborough Road, Great Ayton, Middlesbrough, TS9 6AA
The Link CIC	Ellie Mealing	Dove House, 5 Turner Street, Redcar, TS10 1AY
The Look A Head Cancer Campaign	Pam Cooper	Pam Cooper, Secretary, 21 Crooks Barn Lane, Norton,TS20 1LW
The Moses Project	Angela Storey	Rivers of Life Church, Lightfoot Grove, Stockton on Tees, TS18 3EE
The Redcar Pier Association	Gordon Henderson	The Redcar Pier Association, C/O The Redcar Angling Centre, 159 High St, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 3AN
Thornaby Amateur Swimming Club	Matthew Price / Carina Peebles	7 Little Pasture, Ingleby Barwick, TS17 5ND
Thornaby FC Under 12's	Chloe Caswell	C/O Thornaby FC, 17 Lythe Walk, Eston, Middlesbrough, TS6 8HE
Thornaby under 9s Football Team	Marjorie Bollen	26 Stoneyhurst Avenue, Acklam, Middlesbrough, TS5 4RE
Thorntree United	Geraldine Purvis	c/o 93 Barrington Crescent, Thorntree, Middlesbrough TS3 9HZ
Tickle The Taste Buds Lunch Club	Melanie King	36 Gunnergate Lane, Marton, Middlesbrough, TS7 8HY
Trinity Holistic centre	Heather Mclean	Trinity Holistic Centre, James Cook University Hospital, Marton road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3BW
Uncle Biff's Children's Club	Danielle Cutler	27 Pulford Road, Norton, Stockton on Tees, Teesside, TS20 1QY
Victorias Wish	Lynne Lawrence	44 Winchester Road, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 3QW
Whale Hill Community Ass	Lyndsey Peters	Whale Hill Community Ass, Goathland Road, Whale Hill Estate, Eston, Middlesbrough, TS6 8AW
Whalehill School Scout Group	Michele Johnston	4 Ambrose Road, Eston, Middlesbrough, TS6 0RQ
Whinney Banks YCC FC U9s & U10s	John Smith	36 Whinney Banks Road, Whinney Banks, Middlesbrough, TS5 4HG
Whinney Banks YCC U8s	Lorraine Lamb	7 Sydney Close, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS5 4LD
Whinstone Primary School	Miss D Stansmore	Whinstone Primary School, Lowfields Avenue, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-On-Tees, TS17 0RJ
Yarm Road Methodist Church Genisis Project	David Clark	20 Ludham Grove, Stockton-On-Tees, Cleveland, TS19 0XH
Yarm Tennis Club	John Schofield	23 Welbury Close, Hartburn, Stockton, TS18 5LJ
Zetland Park & Corus Ladies & Men's Bowls Club.	Mr John Wadrop	150 Rievaulx Road, New Skelton, Saltburn by the Sea, TS12 2YP.
Zoes Place Baby Hospice	Sue Fox	Zoe's Place Baby Hospice, Crossbeck House, High Street, Normany, Middlesbrough, TS6 9DA