Planning officers said 15% of the 140 letters supporting the scheme were "false representations".

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A cold and blustery day tomorrow with sunny intervals and variable amounts of cloud.

It will be mostly dry, but there is the chance of the odd shower.

A charity set up by the former Middlesbrough player and Hartlepool manager Colin Cooper and his wife after the death of their son is to be wound up.

Finlay Cooper died aged two in 2002 after choking on a screw that had fallen from a chair.

The Finlay Cooper Fund, external has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for children's causes across the region since it was set up more than a decade ago.

The decision was made to wind it down after the five trustees, including Colin and Julie, were likely to need paid help to continue the charity's work.

Colin said: "We've always said is that every penny that comes in goes out... and I think... we probably couldn't promise that anymore because we probably would have needed some help to do administration, to do event organising.

Image source, Cooper family

"But then we all sat down and went 'that's not what we started'.

"I think in our hearts we'd have loved to have kept going and crashed through a million pounds but 12 years and 600 grand plus, for five people in the name of a little boy - it's phenomenal."

Julie added: "It's helped us hugely to know that (Finlay's) name is helping other families and children in the local area.

"We can't thank the local people enough for everything... just support for me and Colin, knowing that people care and helping us raise money for the charity as well.

"When we lost him, I remember vividly the week after, the postman bringing a black bin bag full of letters from people from all over the country, just saying, 'I've been through it', and that was comforting as well."

The plan now is to invest a six-figure sum into a project that will serve as a permanent memory to Finlay.

The 33-year-old was arrested in Arthur's Hill, Newcastle after a counter terrorism operation.

The marine mammal was found "lounging" in the sun next to plant pots.

Police are appealing to trace a group of men who may be able to assist with an investigation into an attempted rape in Middlesbrough.

The attack happened sometime between 03:30 and 04:30 on Saturday on St Aidan's Street.

Officers are appealing to trace a group of men who came to the woman's aid and chased the suspects away.

Det Sgt Jonathan Christie said: "Whilst this incident will be concerning for some in the local community, we can reassure members of the public that this is an isolated incident and we are doing everything possible to find those responsible."

Image source, PA

Paul Middleton, 44, pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually communicate with a child.

Police have been granted more time to question a man arrested on suspicion of being involved in terrorism.

The 33-year-old was taken into custody following an operation in the Arthur's Hill area of Newcastle yesterday.

He was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and taken to a police station in West Yorkshire to be questioned.

The North East Counter Terrorism Unit said the operation was "intelligence led and pre-planned".

Today a court gave them an extension to question him until Tuesday 18 December.

Searches are continuing at the address in Philip Street.

BBC News Travel

The A19 southbound near Billingham is shut at Wolverston down towards the Portrack Interchange following a crash.

Traffic northbound is now building up too.

Image source, Northumbria Police

Some more on a story we mentioned yesterday - A woman living on Marine View in Seaton Sluice needed help after finding a baby seal on her doorstep just yards from a busy road.

Community Support Officer Paul Moorhead who attended the scene said: "When we turned up at the property it was a bit of a shock for us to find the seal pup lounging on some plant pots and having a bit of a sun bath.

"I'll be honest, we didn't really know what to do with it and I was half thinking of putting it in the back of my patrol car"

They ended up seeking help from the local branch of volunteer organisation British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the RSPCA.

The dehydrated pup was given fluids before being moved closer to the sea, and it then returned to the rest of his family who were swimming nearby.

Image source, Northumbria Police

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Teesside's largest social landlord has pulled out of a regional letting scheme.

Five Tees Valley councils, including Stockton, and four housing providers (Thirteen, Coast and Country, North Star and Home), have a common register for all those seeking social housing - the "choice based letting scheme " (CBL).

Thirteen withdrew from CBL in September - pointing to the number of forms people have to fill in and the number of people giving up on the process due to it being "confusing" and "unwieldy."

Data provided by Thirteen ahead of a meeting showed the average wait for a house through CBL was 356 days last year - with 4,214 people "abandoning the system" when filling in a form.

Thirteen chief executive Ian Wardle told Stockton Councillors the company is coming up with its own lettings system which will be in place by July 2019.

Mr Wardle said: "We want to make sure when someone registers for a property it's a quick and easy process. "Currently it's a 19 page long application.

"We know they give up and go on Rightmove and Zoopla to get a private let which is a big issue for us as a landlord - we want people to get property with us and stay with us for a long time."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A disgraced ex-Sunderland councillor has been expelled from the Labour Party.

Paul Middleton, who represented the Washington South ward, pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually communicate with a child under the age of 16 yesterday.

The 44-year-old had already been thrown off Sunderland City Council last week after failing to attend a council meeting for six months.

Following the hearing at South Shields Magistrates' Court, a Labour Party spokesman said: "Paul Middleton has been expelled from the Labour Party following his guilty plea and conviction."

Image source, Sunderland City Council

District Judge Roger Elsey heard Middleton had been Paul Middleton, who represented the Washington South ward, pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually communicate with a child under the age of 16 on Tuesday, 11 September.

The 44-year-old had already been thrown off Sunderland City Council last week after failing to attend a council meeting for six months.

Following the hearing at South Shields Magistrates' Court, a Labour Party spokesman said: "Paul Middleton has been expelled from the Labour Party following his guilty plea and conviction."

District Judge Roger Elsey heard Middleton had been caught in a sting by undercover police officers while speaking to a girl he believed to be just 12-years-old and living in a care home, over an online chat room in September 2017.

The ex-councillor was first elected in 2015 and was suspended by the Labour Party in June, pending an investigation, after which he was listed as an 'independent' councillor.

According to Labour Party rules, a member can be expelled if convicted of a 'serious offence'. Middleton is due to appear at Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing on January 10.

The museum was closed during the set up and removal of the Great North Exhibition.

New plans reveal that The Trap, in Coxlodge, could be demolished after laying empty for more than a decade.

The Kenton Road pub has become the subject of vandalism and is falling into disrepair.

A developer now wants to knock the building down and build a new housing and retail complex in its place - comprising two shops, six apartments above and three townhouses.

Plans submitted to Newcastle City Council by Maria Ferguson Planning, on behalf of applicant Mr H Choudhury, state: "It contributes nothing to the local economy or to the appearance of the local area and it is therefore imperative that a new use is found for the site as soon as possible."

Previous plans approved by the council in 2010 had indicated that the site would be converted into a restaurant, but that never came to fruition.

Image source, NCJ Media

The pub is one of the buildings that originally formed the mining village of Coxlodge, but the developer says that it has limited value to the area.

They added: "The proposed development will provide much needed housing, as well as local leisure use to serve the local community."

The proposals have already gained the support of Northumbria Police.

Brian Stobbs, the force's architectural liaison officer, said: "The building has had several calls over the last 2 years in relation to youths forcing entry into it and generally causing anti-social behaviour around it.

"With this in mind it is beginning to become a crime generator requiring police attendance therefore I think it is time at least for it to be demolished and something new put in its place therefore I have no objections to this application progressing."

DNA spray is to be used to tackle motorcycle offenders in the North East.

Police officers will carry canisters containing an invisible water-based UV solution which can spray riders' skin, clothes or bikes with a uniquely-coded dye.

This can then provide forensic evidence to link individuals or items to a specific crime.

In October, Northumbria Police revealed a specialist team had been set up to tackle anti-social behaviour and disorder linked to motorcycles.

Investigations had found that a large number of the motorcycles involved were stolen and linked to serious criminality including violence and drugs.

Dozens of juveniles and adults have been arrested by the team.

Last week the task force seized a hoard of stolen property, weapons, drugs and fake number plates in a string of dawn raids.

Image source, Northumbria Police

The transport hub could revert to its former name if a deal to bring it into public ownership is backed.

Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland Conservative MP Simon Clarke will vote against Prime Minister Theresa May in a vote of confidence in her leadership this evening.

A holiday home will be built in Scarborough in memory of Bradley Lowery, 6, who died from rare cancer.

Bridges, rural roads and drains in Northumberland will be improved after the county council was allocated an additional £7.732m from the Department for Transport's Local Transport Plan Capital Block Funding for 2018-19.

Councillor Glen Sanderson, who is responsible for local services, said: "This is fantastic news for the county.

"An extra £8m is very valuable for us, having been through a very difficult winter."

He explained that an additional programme of work to bridges would be funded, which would include a start to repairs to Berwick's Old Bridge.

Image source, Alan Hughes

A significant amount of resurfacing will also take place and minor roads in rural areas will be refurbished.

A pot of £1.5m will be split between the area managers to spend on necessary refurbishment and drainage while £1m has been allocated to improve the roads and infrastructure on Northumberland's industrial estates.