George Ford returns from England duty to guide Leicester Tigers to a gritty win against Newcastle Falcons.

Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock is fined £7,000 for comments he made following his side's 2-1 defeat by Swansea.

Dizzee Rascal and Stereophonics will play the four-day event near Penrith at the end of July.

After three people were jailed for killing Hemawand Ali Hussein, four more men are being hunted.

A watchdog says five wards run by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust are "inadequate".

One student was almost four times over the drink-drive limit, a court is told

Paul Robson denies being "a cold and calculating killer" while giving evidence at a murder trial.

Newcastle council hopes banning parents driving to school gates will cut pollution and congestion.

Daniel Holland
Local Democracy Reporter

The Metro will be fully operational again by 11 April, the day before non-essential shops, hairdressers and leisure facilities are due to reopen.

The network, which has needed more than £40m of government funding to keep it going during the pandemic, has been running a reduced timetable since late November due to a shortage of drivers.

Thirty new recruits were taken on last September, but with delays to training because of lockdown, 20% of train services had to be cut from the timetable.

Nexus chief operating officer Martin Kearney said: “We are now nearing a full complement of driver resource and we are performing very well at the moment."

Last week, it was confirmed that the Metro has secured an additional £8m government grant that will allow it to keep trains running at reduced passenger levels until 21 June.

Three men were found guilty of the manslaughter of a man who was shot in the head.

Peter Holmes was convicted for a £46,000 shortfall in his accounts, but he blamed a computer error.

Two household recycling centres in Gateshead are staying open for longer to try and cut mammoth three-hour queues experienced by residents getting rid of their rubbish.

Gateshead Council’s two tips at Campground in Wrekenton and Cowen Road in Blaydon reopened in May last year after the first lockdown, with an alternate number plate system for when people can go.

But recent “unprecedented public demand” has seen drivers waiting as long as three hours to access the sites, causing problems on nearby roads.

From today the opening hours of both sites will be extended by three hours, closing at 20:00.

The alternating odd and even number plate system will stay in place.

A project to help monitor and protect the region's bees has begun.

There are a hundred different species of bee in the North East, and conservationists are asking members of the public to join in with the effort to track them.

It's the second year the North East Bee Hunt has been held, as numbers of the insects are declining around the country.

Last year a number of rare bees were discovered in the region, including the hairy-footed flower bee and the bilberry bumblebee.

More details can be found here on the here., external

Image source, Christopher Wren

Newcastle wing Mateo Carreras is banned for nine games after admitting intentional contact with the eye of Wasps' Josh Bassett.

A company wants to demolish an old shed but opponents say it is the last link to a historic railway.

About 10% of Middlesbrough care staff have turned down the offer, a health security panel is told.

Connor Lilley lost his job when the Covid-19 pandemic began but has found a new career path.

Tree felling is helping to restore an ancient ecosystem which can store even more carbon than trees do.

Paul Robson tells a court he tried to give first aid to his ex-partner who was lying motionless.

Health bosses hope to use data to map out where in Middlesbrough vaccine uptakes are lower.