Local Democracy Reporting Service

Schools in County Durham were short more than £5m from their budgets by the end of the last financial year.

Image source, Getty Images

According to figures from Durham County Council, 20 of the county’s maintained schools had a combined deficit £5.633m as of March 31.

However, the council also expects 15 of these schools to be back in the black by April next year.

The schools budgets deficit had grown by about a third from March 31 last year, up by £1.462 million and with an additional four schools dragged into the red.

One example is Wellfield Community School, in Wingate, who set a balanced budget for this year, leaving it with a deficit of £3.393m. According to a report prepared for cabinet this will shrink to £2.66m by the end of 2020/21.

Nathaniel, 13, and seven-year-old Kane got the tattoos on the last day of their Majorca holiday.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Transport bosses could spend more than £13m on a temporary depot for the Tyne and Wear Metro fleet.

Nexus is hoping to purchase the former landfill site in Howdon, to relocate 10 trains while it redevelops its existing Gosforth depot.

The landfill site is valued at £1m and a total budget of £13.3m has been set aside for the acquisition of the land and the construction of the satellite depot.

A North East Combined Authority report stated that the temporary facility will be needed to ensure the continuous operation of the Metro while construction works are taking place in Gosforth

If approval for the project is granted by NECA, the depot will also require planning permission from North Tyneside Council.

Adrian Harms
Sports reporter, BBC Sussex

Durham put Sussex in on a grey morning and soon had them in trouble as Luke Wells, who has scored a number of centuries against them, was caught at second slip for eight by Tom Latham, off the bowling of Matt Salisbury.

That was in the fourth over but Durham didn’t taste success with the ball again in the session, thanks to a first half-century from 19-year-old left-hander Tom Haines and one from Phil Salt.

They have put on 121 runs so far for the second wicket. Salt looks set to break his personal best which was 72 in a match at Chester-le-Street last September. He has 59 and Haines 62.

Image source, BBC Sport

Anna Snowdon
BBC Local Live

Northumbria Police want to reunite an old photograph with its rightful owner.

Image source, Northumbria Police

The photograph was handed in to officers at East Boldon Metro station last month by a member of the public, and was found rolled up and soaking wet.

It depicts a Lancaster bomber with its maintenance crew, and is believed to be part of the 617 and 627 Dambusters squadron.

If this photograph belongs to you, or you know who it belongs to, then you can get in contact with the force by emailing them., external

The 550-space facility is expected to be approved retrospectively by planners in Gateshead.

Anna Snowdon
BBC Local Live

Police in Sunderland are searching for four people after a man was assaulted on a bus.

Charlie Eve says glass smashed "all over the floor" while he celebrated Harry Kane's winning goal.

Anna Snowdon
BBC Local Live

With England's next World Cup match coming up on Sunday, you might already see people in the supermarket stocking up on beer for the game.

However a shortage of carbon dioxide could take the fizz out of beer and other sparkling drinks this summer.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK has only two plants producing carbon dioxide and one is closed for maintenance, threatening to leave drinks makers high and dry.

Carbon dioxide comes from ammonia plants that manufacture fertiliser. But as demand for fertiliser peaks in winter, manufacturers often shut down during the summer for maintenance work.

Carbonated drinks producers are said to be "desperate" amid the worst CO2 supply crisis for decades.

Gavin Partington, director general at the British Soft Drinks Association, said soft drinks producers were "taking active steps to maintain their service to customers".

He said that also included working with their suppliers and looking at alternative sources of CO2.

A special school in Gateshead is set to move to a new multi-million pound building to cope with sky rocketing demand for places.

Gibside school will move to new site on Shipcote playing field.

Questions were raised at a meeting this morning whether the council had already made a decision on the move as a heating system spur had been placed on the site.

The new building is expected will house 170 pupils aged three to 11, compared to 130 currently and will open by Autumn 2020.

Image source, Gateshead Council

Anna Snowdon
BBC Local Live

Four men from Durham and Northumberland have been charged with offences linked to cockfighting as part of a joint investigation by North Yorkshire Police and the RSPCA.

The men, aged 53, 31, 29 and 23, have been charged with:

• Causing an animal fight to take place
• Keeping or training a cock for use in connection with an animal fight
• Without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, being present at an animal fight

The 29-year-old man has also been charged with keeping premises for use for an animal fight and being present at an animal fight on other occasions.

Officers have released photographs of three other men they would like to speak to in connection with the investigation:

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A South Tyneside Councillor has said that fly-tippers, dog foulers and litter louts should be embarrassed into changing their ways.

The authority's Place Select Committee heard that complaints about littering and dog fouling have decreased by more than a third.

Councillor Jeff Milburn, told the panel he thinks more should be done to tackle the problem:

"We should crack down,"

"We've got the cameras and when we catch these people we should really embarrass them.

"It will show to the public we mean business."

However Gary Kirsop, director of operations for South Tyneside Homes, was keen to emphasise the use of cameras wasn't as easy a solution as some thought.

He told the panel: "We don't need to go to a magistrate (for permission to place the cameras), but we've got to have the statistical evidence.

"That's why we've got to spend time getting that.

"It might be for anti-social behaviour or littering, but we've got to have the evidence for why you've put it in that area."

Anna Snowdon
BBC Local Live

A London Stockbrocker has become Little Mix's go-to songwriter, composing hits like Black Magic and Shout Out To My Ex.

Camille Purcell, a south London singer, has been talking to the BBC about how quit her job as a City stockbroker six years ago to try her hand at songwriting.

Image source, VIRGIN EMI

Camille has worked with Little Mix since their second album, and the band won Brit Award for their song Shout Out To My Ex, which they co-wrote with her.

Daniel Holland
Local Democracy Reporter

A £700,000 car park for the Great Exhibition of the North has been built without official approval, it has been revealed.

Gateshead Council blamed "urgency and officers' oversight" for pressing ahead with the local authority-run 555-space car park at the Baltic Business Quarter.

They had to seek belated approval for the project from the council's cabinet on Tuesday morning and will discover on Wednesday evening whether they have secured retrospective planning permission.

The temporary car park in Quarryfield Road is primarily intended to serve the extra visitors coming to Tyneside for the Great Exhibition of the North, which starts this Friday. Bu it is expected to have a lifespan of five years.

The council says it will help mitigate the future loss of the Mill Road and South Shore Road car parks when further development on the Quayside goes ahead.

The car park proposal will come before the Gateshead Council's planning committee at its meeting fthis evening, where it is recommended for approval.

Lisa Gallagher
Weather presenter, BBC Look North

Periods of light rain and drizzle moving south. More in the way of brightness this afternoon.

It will be a fairly cloudy morning with just a few bright spells.

There will be some light rain and drizzle is possible at times too.

It will be mostly dry through this afternoon with a better chance of some sunny spells developing.

Maximum temperature: 15C to 18C (59F to 64F).

Illegal metal detectors searching for treasure at Hadrian's wall are causing damage to the 1,900-year-old world heritage site, according to archaeologists.

Image source, Press Association

More than 50 holes have been dug by "nighthawks" at the Brunton Turret section, which was built by men of the Twentieth Legion of the Roman Army.

All sites are protected as scheduled monuments meaning using a metal detector without proper authorisation is a criminal offence.

Mike Collins, Historic England's inspector of ancient monuments at Hadrian's Wall, says these people are committing a criminal offence:

BBC Tees
www.bbc.co.uk/BBCTees

Durham Constabulary says that five of the six World Cup incidents they were called to after the England match on Monday were related to domestic abuse.

The force said it's a stark statistic when England won - because domestic abuse rates increase by 38% when England lose.

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Illegal metal detectorists are targeting sections of the wall in their search for ancient artefacts.

More than 100 secondary pupils who live in England travel to schools in the Scottish Borders.