Teesside and County Durham stories you might have missed

The Auto-Dolly Tug will be trialled at the airport's new test centre

An escape from a coach fire, a North East book festival, Hula Hoops workers rejecting a strike, driverless coaches, and flood defence plans. Here are five stories from Teesside and County Durham you might have missed this week.

Passengers safe after A19 coach fire

The coach caught fire on the A19 but all passengers were evacuated from it safely

Part of a major road was closed after a coach caught fire.

The blaze broke out at the Doxford Park turn-off of the A19, near Seaham, County Durham, at about 10:35 BST on Tuesday.

All passengers of the coach were safely evacuated and Durham Police said nobody was injured.

• Read more about the coach fire here

Driverless buses to take holiday-goers to planes

Aurrigo's Auto-Shuttle will be trialled at Teesside Airport

Holiday-goers at an airport will be taken to their planes by driverless vehicles following a £1m deal.

Teesside International Airport has signed a contract with Aurrigo International, which will trial its eight-seater Auto-Shuttle at the site from October.

The company will also test its Auto-Dolly Tug, which has been designed to carry cargo and bags around airports, from January.

• Read more about the driverless buses here

North East authors join forces at book festival

Ann Cleeves, Steph McGovern and Eliza Clark are part of the Durham Book Festival line-up

A book festival's return will bring together different generations of North East writers, its organisers say.

Durham Book Festival will take place between 10 and 12 October, hosting Dame Pat Barker, Steph McGovern, Eliza Clark and Ann Cleeves, whose books have been adapted into TV shows Vera and Shetland.

Former White House national security adviser Fiona Hill, who was born in Bishop Auckland, will also launch a podcast series as part of a festival commission.

• Read more about Durham Book Festival here

Crunch talks as Hula Hoops workers reject strike

Workers at KP Crisps had been balloted in a pay dispute with the company

Workers making Hula Hoops, Pom-Bear and Discos crisps have voted against striking in a dispute over pay.

GMB union members working at KP Snacks' factory in Billingham, County Durham, were balloted on whether to take industrial action after declining a salary rise of 77p per hour.

GMB said its workers had asked for an increase of £1 per hour but, when the ballot votes were counted on Tuesday, there was not enough support for strike action.

• Read more about the Hula Hoops workers' decision here

Plans to repair creek's 'poor' flood defences

The creek's defences have been hit with high tides and erosion due to climate change, the Environment Agency says

Proposals to repair "poor" flood defences to protect a town and combat coastal erosion have been lodged as part of a multimillion-pound plan.

Flood defences at Greatham Creek and Greenabella Marsh, off Tees Road, near Hartlepool, had been badly damaged since they were built in the late 19th Century, the Environment Agency said.

The creek flooded in 2014 and has been damaged by drought, erosion and a rise in sea levels.

• Read more about the flood defence plans here