Updates for the North East have now finished for the day - thank you for joining us.

We'll be back with more news, sport, weather and travel updates from 08:00 on Monday and hope you can join us then.

BBC Weather

Patchy cloud and clear intervals this evening and overnight with a few showers, especially after midnight. 

The showers wintry, especially on higher ground where a slight covering of snow is likely in places by morning along with some icy patches.  

The parents of a Darlington boy who has a rare condition say they're unhappy at having to meet the cost of buying him cornflour.

George Morrison has to take 30g of cornflour each day to manage his Glycogen Storage Disease. 

Local pharmacists have stopped prescribing it in favour of a new drug called glycosade. 

But George's mother Sam says they don't want to risk it just yet.

The family's local clinical commissioning group says it doesn't commission pharmacy services, but would be happy to offer support to the Morrison family.  

Tune into Look North tonight at 18:30 to see George and his mother talk about his condition and how they manage it.

TV presenters Ant and Dec say the Queen personally asked for them to host a horse-themed show celebrating her 90th birthday. 

The Geordie duo will front the extravaganza which will be staged in the grounds of Windsor Castle in May and broadcast live on ITV. 

Image source, PA

The pair spent part of last year shadowing the Prince of Wales, presenting a documentary about the Prince's Trust last month.

Asked how their role in the tribute show came about, they say: "Apparently, she asked for us to do it.

"We don't really know how it happened but can only imagine she's called Charles and asked if he knew anyone that could do it. And he's said, 'I've just met a couple of lads who've been following me around for a year.'"

Suspected designer goods have been seized in morning raids, including 45 boxes supposedly containing Nike trainers

Durham County Council’s Fair Trading team recovered suspected counterfeit items, including the trainers, from two homes in Newton Aycliffe and Bishop Auckland on Wednesday.

The officers targeted the properties as they were linked to an earlier raid at an address in Ferryhill shortly before Christmas, in which around 150 suspected fake items were seized, some of which have since been confirmed to be counterfeit.

Image source, Durham Council

The goods from the properties are thought to have been advertised on the internet at a fraction of their retail price.

Two people have been interviewed by council officers on suspicion of trademark offences following the raids and enquiries are continuing.

Motorists are being warned by Cleveland Police not to leave their cars running and unattended whilst de-icing. 

The most recent incident was this morning when a white Kia ProCeed was taken from a driveway on Bamburgh Court in Ingleby Barwick.

Det InspGlen Westmoreland, from Stockton Volume Crime Team, said: “We see this happening time and time again when the weather gets cold.

"Some people probably think that this won’t happen to them, but my message to those people is that it could happen to anyone."

More on the news that Bede's World in Jarrow is closing - The board of trustees say "it is with great regret" that they took the decision for Bede's World to cease operation from today "due to a lack of funds."

Bede's World is a museum dedicated to the Venerable Bede, a saint and influential scholar who also known as the father of English history  

The Board say "steps are being taken to put the company into administration through the appointment of an Insolvency Practitioner" and that they've arranged "immediate care of the farm animals and the security of the site."

This video by BBC Newcastle explains more:

Millions are commemorating Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday this week, but what happened to the strange tradition of Kissing Friday?

Until about the start of World War Two, the girls of Yorkshire were allowed to finish school before their male colleagues - at least for one day a year. 

Image source, Getty Images

The reason was that boys were allowed, under a tradition of indeterminate origin, to kiss them without fear of getting a slap or being chased by an angry parent.

Under the rules of Kissing Friday, falling two days after Ash Wednesday, the tradition supposedly said that no girl was allowed to say no.

These traditions, which apparently reached their zenith in the late-Victorian/Edwardian era, largely died out by the middle of the 20th Century. They would be unthinkable now but appear to have been uncontroversial at the time.  

The Gazette
Newspaper

A mystery driver went to the aid of Stockton pensioner Keith Ferguson when he fell in the street, suffering serious head injuries.

Now his family are keen to trace a driver they believe may have saved their dad’s life., external

Image source, The Gazette

Luke Walton
BBC Look North

Looking towards the weekend, Sunday Politics will be talking about cuts and protests - including this one in Darlington over cuts to council staff, libraries and children's centers. 

Tune into BBC One at 11:00 on Sunday or catch up on the iPlayer 

A museum dedicated to the Venerable Bede, a saint and influential scholar who also known as the father of English history, is to close down.

Image source, Matt Storey

 Bede's World volunteer coordinator Ben Hudson described it as "very sad news"  

Two men have been arrested after cocaine, heroin and cannabis with a street value of more than £2.3m was seized on Teesside, external.

About 24kg of cocaine, 16kg of heroin, 144kg of cannabis resin and 12kg of herbal cannabis was discovered by Border Force officers in Teesport on 29 January.

The men aged 32 and 38 were held after National Crime Agency investigators raided a property in the Yoker area of Glasgow.

BBC Sport

In a discussion about ticket prices during this morning's media conference, Newcastle manager Steve McClaren said: "Football is a working class game and we must never take that away. 

"Make the prices available so they can come and fill stadiums."

Image source, AP/Jon Super

First-time buyers in England who buy a house this year will already have spent an average of £52,900 on rent, research for a landlords' trade body suggests.  

Image source, Thinkstock

"Rents are becoming alarmingly unaffordable due to the lack of available housing," said David Cox, managing director of Arla.

The research also reveals wide regional variations.

Those buying a property for the first time this year in London had spent an average of £68,300 on rent, Arla's figures suggest.

The lowest figure was in the North East, where the research suggested first-time buyers would have spent £31,300 on rent before buying a home.

The Shields Gazette

A project to end the misery of mobile phone 'not spots' is an embarrassing flop, a Government minister has admitted., external

BBC Newcastle
http://www.bbc.co.uk/BBCNewcastle

A stretch of the A1 in Gateshead will be closed tonight as a new footbridge is put in. 

Image source, Rueters

The old Chiltern Gardens footbridge was demolished in June. 

The new bridge, which can be used by pedestrians and cyclists, is longer than the wingspan of the Angel of the North and weighs 55 tonnes. 

Here's some video:

Former Sunderland footballer Adam Johnson had a sexual encounter in his car with a 15-year-old fan who had an "enormous crush on him" and idolised him, a jury has been told.

Prosecutor Kate Blackwell QC told the Bradford Crown Court that Johnson had researched "legal of age of consent" on the internet.

She said: "The Crown suggest that such a search to satisfy such an interest is unlikely to have resulted from a kiss and no more than a kiss, as the defendant contends." 

Mr Johnson denies two counts of sexual activity with a child.

Nick Barnes
BBC Newcastle's Sunderland commentator

I'm getting ready for tomorrow's game...

You can listen live on BBC Newcastle from 12:45 tomorrow.

Police are trying to trace five potential witnesses to a crash that happened back in February 2009.

Kane Howey Scales, 15, was hit by a Volkswagen Passat on the northbound carriageway of the A1018 Newcastle Road in Sunderland. 

Kane, who was from the Roker area of Sunderland, suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital. He died from his injuries a day later. 

Police carried out an investigation into the crash and a report was prepared for the coroner. It concluded the collision was an accident and that there were no charges brought against any of the parties involved. 

However, Kane's family still have unanswered questions around the collision and police are looking to help them find answers. 

BBC Sport

Newcastle boss Steve McClaren is also full of praise for his opposite number at Chelsea, and has good news for fans on the injury front.

"Guus (Hiddink) has done a great job [at Chelsea]," he says. "He's settled them down and made them hard to beat. They've got so many talented players"  

"We have Jack Colback and Emmanuel Riviere training all week. We have 18 days after this game and hope three or four could come back in."  

Image source, Getty Images