Teesside and County Durham stories you might have missed

Middlesbrough's historic Central Library has reopened after a major overhaul

From a historic nuclear deal agreement to sad news for an estuary's seals, it's been a busy week on Teesside and County Durham.

Here are five stories you might have missed.

'Jewel in crown' library opens after £1.9m revamp

A new children's area has been built on the ground floor of the library

A library has reopened its doors after undergoing a £1.9m refurbishment.

Grade II listed Middlesbrough Central library closed in December 2023, after successfully securing funding to upgrade facilities.

The work included a full redesign of the ground floor to create a children's library with play areas and family facilities.

The council's executive member for neighbourhoods, Ian Blades, said the library was "rightly seen as one of the jewels" in Middlesbrough's crown.

• Read more about the library refurbishment here

'Historic' nuclear deal to create 2,500 jobs

Hartlepool's existing power station is set to be decommissioned in 2028

A new deal to build up to 12 advanced modular nuclear reactors in a town could create up to 2,500 jobs.

The agreement, between Centrica and US firm X-energy, will see the country's first reactors of this kind deployed in Hartlepool, Teesside.

The companies estimate the site would generate enough power for up to 1.5 million homes and unlock £12bn for the North East.

Jonathan Brash, the Labour MP for Hartlepool, said the deal was a historic moment for the town.

• And you can read more about the nuclear deal here

All of estuary's newborn seal pups found dead

Seal pups were monitored suckling at Seal Sands in Teesside

Every new seal pup monitored in an estuary this year has died, mainly from a condition called mouth rot, a conservation research group has said.

For the last two years, the Tara Seal Research team has been monitoring common seals and their pups at Seal Sands and Greatham Creek in the Tees estuary. As part of its Tees Estuary Seal Study, the team counted 21 pups at Seal Sands but found they had all died weeks later in the Tees Bay area.

Dr Sue Wilson, from the conservation team, said the pups dying before they reached two months old was "devastating".

• Read more about the seal pup deaths here

GP who tried to kill man with poison struck off

Thomas Kwan was jailed for more than 31 years after admitting attempted murder

A disguise-wearing GP who tried to kill his mother's partner with poison in a row over an inheritance has been banned from working as a doctor.

Thomas Kwan, 54, was masquerading as a community nurse giving a Covid-19 booster jab when he injected Patrick O'Hara with a toxin in Newcastle in January 2024, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard.

Having deemed Kwan unfit to practice medicine, the tribunal said he would undergo "erasure" from the medical register with immediate effect.

Kwan, who lived in Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees, and worked in Sunderland, was jailed for 31 years and five months after admitting attempted murder.

• Read more about how the tribunal came to that decision here

Two sites in North East become 'AI growth zones'

The £10bn data centre was confirmed earlier this year

Plans to make it easier to develop AI projects at two sites in the North East have been revealed.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said Blyth, in Northumberland, and Cobalt Park, in North Tyneside, were to be made AI growth zones, which it said would "boost economic growth" and create "thousands of jobs".

Teesworks in Redcar was not included in the announcement, despite Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen previously saying the government had given its "commitment" to award the site the same status.

Houchen's spokesperson said proposals for the status "remain in progress". DSIT said it was working through more than 200 proposals, including Redcar, to "identify the most promising".

• Read more about the AI projects here