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Local Democracy Reporting Service

Demands to remove flowers from a crematorium have led to a dispute about floral tributes.

The Acklam Cemetery sanctum vault in Middlesbrough is a place where families can place the ashes of their loved ones along with a headstone marker.

The family of Laura Huxstep – who died aged 58 – placed her ashes at the vault shortly after her death on January 21, 2015.

Having had no problems since then, Laura’s daughter, 42-year-old Stacy Stobbs says the family was shocked to discover a notice tied to one of their floral displays demanding its removal.

Image source, Stacy Stobbs

Stacy said: “Last week my dad turned up to the crematorium and found a notice on the flower stand saying ‘all unauthorised items must be removed by September 28’.

“We were shocked because we had already been given permission. My dad was absolutely devastated.”

A Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: “Our approach is similar to that adopted by other crematoria, and we always endeavour to give visitors notice that items are to be removed.

“The aim is to maintain a well organised and peaceful space that meets the needs of families and loved ones.”

The Shields Gazette

Here's today's front page and a link to the top story, external.

Image source, Shields Gazette

Follow the latest news stories from the National League, including transfers and selected contract announcements.

Newcastle City Council says the planned facility would not present a risk to the community.

Why does it rain "cats and dogs"? Have you ever said you are "saving for a rainy day"?

With downpours across the region, and showers on the way, now is perhaps a good time to reflect on why so many well-known phrases make reference to the rain.

Click on this link for an explanation of where some of them come from.

Image source, Getty Images

Two major pharmaceutical companies have failed in a legal bid to prevent NHS doctors in 12 clinical commissioning groups in the North East from prescribing a cheaper treatment for a debilitating eye condition.

The decision could save the NHS across the UK hundreds of millions of pounds. The eye condition wet age-related macular degeneration - wet AMD - can lead to rapid sight loss and affects around 26,000 people across the UK.

There are two existing treatments available to patients. But the drug Avastin - normally used to treat cancerous tumours - is just as effective and much cheaper. It's already widely used in the United States and Europe, but isn't licenced to be marketed for wet AMD in this country.

The drug companies Novartis and Bayer sought a judicial review to stop doctors from offering the cheaper drug. They have lost - and the NHS as a whole could now save as much as 500 million pounds a year.

BBC Look North
North East and Cumbria

A group aiming to reduce the impact alcohol is having on the region is accusing multi-national companies of failing to display important health information on their products.

Balance North East says fewer than 10% of products surveyed across the country carried the weekly drinking guidelines of 14 units of alcohol per week.

Although 24 products did contain the information, none of them were big name brands, it found.

Iain Lee died six days after suffering serious head injuries in an "incident" in County Durham.

Owain Wyn Evans
Weather presenter, BBC Look North

There will be a windy start to the day, with gusts reaching up to 45 or 50mph, and a weather warning is in force first thing for the strong winds.

Thereafter, it's a story of blustery showers, some of them heavy, but also some brighter spells.

It will be cool, with temperatures no higher than 13C (55F).

Check the forecast here.

Hartlepool Mail
Newspaper

Here's today's front page and a link to the top story, external.

Image source, Hartlepool Mail

Police says they are investigating whether any criminal offences have taken place.

Take That will play Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium next year.

The band will headline on 1 June and will be supported by Rick Astley.

The club’s head of commercial Lee Fryett said: “Part of the club’s long-term vision is for the Riverside Stadium to be used as a venue to host world class events, and this is a real coup for us.

“We’re working closely with the Tees Valley Combined Authority and Middlesbrough Council to bring a world class events to the Tees Valley region, and their support, along with that of SJM, has been terrific."

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This feed will be updated with any breaking news and sport stories tonight as well as travel updates.

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The dog may have mistaken an officer on a roof for a suspect before it bit Irene Collins, an inquest hears.

Late night visitors trying to get home from Newcastle city centre will be able to use a night bus this weekend.

Stagecoach is bringing back the popular service and it will run every Friday and Saturday night.

A special introductory £1 single fair will be charged to celebrate the launch of the service.

An extraordinary archive of letters written by survivors of the Spanish flu pandemic, which paints a vivid picture of a nation gripped by fear and chaos, is helping to provide insights into life in the shadow of a killer disease.

Hannah Mawdsley, who is researching the documents at the Imperial War Museum, describes the letters as a "precious window into the human experience of the pandemic", which killed more than 250,000 people in Britain and as many as 100 million globally.

• Click here to see the full map

Bequeathed to the museum by historian and journalist Richard Collier, the collection was amassed in the 1970s and is comprised of about 1,700 accounts of those who witnessed the pandemic first hand.

You can see the numbers of people who died in Durham here:

The RMT union announces further action over train guards on the South Western and Northern networks.

Drama students say they need a theatre with stage lighting, but a university says it is "not essential".