IN response to the letter from WP Carter about the plight of widows and families of former Gurkha soldiers living in Nepal (June 10), I wish to alert your readers to a charity which helps the people to whom his letter refers. The Gurkha Welfare Trust
UNLIKE reader G Alderson (June 10) I feel John Prescott was justified with his V-sign to Downing Street journalists and photographers. If some members of the media are so ill-mannered as to ask a question by shouting it across the street, they deserve
NORTH Yorkshire king of golf clubs Simon Dyson lived up to his billing as the top player in the field with a first-round 69 in the St Omer Open in northern France. Dyson is the only player from the top 115 on last year's Order of Merit competing in France
A DETAILED study of social services in North Yorkshire has revealed major changes are needed to improve efficiency and avoid overspending. North Yorkshire County Council commissioned the independent audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers amid fears the council
THE national debate on genetically-modified (GM) food was arriving in North Yorkshire today - giving local people the chance to have their say on the controversial issue. GM Nation? - the public debate on GM issues - was holding its northern regional
YORK will miss out next year on the jewel in its artistic and spiritual calendar - the Mystery Plays. The world-famous plays, which give a massive boost to the city's crucial tourism industry as well as scores of local amateur actors, have traditionally
IN 1989, Steven Soderbergh was the new subversive name on the block with sex, lies and videotape. In 2003, Steven Shainberg matches him, inviting James Spader to do his introverted oddball thing again, as legal services take on a whole new meaning in
CARERS in the Selby came together yesterday to share their worries and concerns as part of National Carers' Week. The Carers' Open Day at Selby Day Care Centre in Union Lane, Selby, was organised by Selby and York NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT) to highlight
THERE will be an antiques and collectors fair in the New Village Hall, Thorpe Willoughby, on Sunday. Organisers say there will a good range of items on display, including jewellery, porcelain, furniture and linen, and there will be genuine dealers on
THE St John Ambulance Life Savers Appeal has taken a step forward with another generous donation from York Rotarians. The Rotary Club of York Ainsty donated £3,500 for the provision of a Falcon trolley stretcher, which will be used in the new Crusader
YORK COLLEGE students returned from the regional Skillbuild finals with a clutch of medals. The awards ceremony, held in Bradford, aims to recognise the efforts of students in a range of categories. In the painting and decorating section, Craig Robinson
WORK to tidy up scruffy-looking roundabouts on York's northern ring road has finally been carried out, says a top city councillor. Coun Irene Waudby, City of York Council's executive member for commercial services, said grass has been cut and the areas
More than 70 children took part in the recent inter-primary schools tennis competition. First time participants, Sutton-on-the-Forest and Huntington joined Heslington Lord Deramore's, Fulford St. Oswald's, Poppleton Primary, Ripon choir school, Queen
FOUR Guides from York have worked hard for at least a year to earn one of the country's top youth awards. The members of the 12th York Guide Company, which meets at Holgate Methodist Church, attended a camp fire party to receive the prestigious Baden
A MAN who bit the ankle of the police officer who arrested him pleaded guilty to assault at Selby Magistrates Court. Dean Cooper, 24, of Beech Croft, Barlby, said he could not remember the incident, which took place after he was arrested at Jems Nightclub
AT the halfway stage of York Veterans' Bowls League, the division one title is becoming a battle between Barbican and Holgate. Barbican beat third-placed Bert Keech 'C' 25-19 and still lead Holgate, who beat West Park 'B' 23-9 by two points. Huntington
THE team that achieved one of the most remarkable victories in York local league football are staging a reunion on Sunday. The side in question, a Fulford United Reserves team from around the 1950s, won a match despite fielding only five players for the
YORK will be falling under Harry Potter's magic spell a week from today. The city's major bookstores will host wizard midnight parties to celebrate the publication of the schoolboy spellcaster's latest adventures. WH Smith, in Monks Cross, Waterstones
A hole that appeared in a York Street earlier this week was being mended today. Peter Evely, City of York Council's head of highway regulation, said damage to a storm drain had caused the hole in Walmgate, and council workers were due to rectify the problem
I BEGIN this week with a timely reminder to play by the rules, with the coarse fishing season on rivers beginning on Monday (June 16). Following a recent successful blitz on illegal anglers, the Environment Agency is determined to keep up the pressure
RESIDENTS are being urged to report young offenders to the police in an attempt to stop persistent anti-social behaviour. In the latest incident, youths in Pickering carved graffiti into a wooden table in Riverside Walk, causing £200-worth of damage.
A SUPPORT group for heart patients in the Selby and York area is teeing off its fundraising efforts with a charity golf day. The York Coronary Support Group (YCSG) was founded in 1988 by a small number of heart patients at York Hospital. It now runs a
ORCA the wonder dog paid a visit to a York school to help students learn about disabilities. The golden retriever shot to fame last month when he saved his disabled owner, Cheryl Smith, after she fell down a ditch in her motorised wheelchair. The visit
EASINGWOLD sidecar star Steve Webster faces more work. An extra date has been added to the 2003 World Sidecar Championship, making the series into ten rounds. The extra race will be at the A-1 Ring, Zeltweg in Austria during the weekend of July 19-20.
TEENAGERS were showered with broken glass when a York bus stop panel collapsed on top of them. Jessica Stead, 17, of Sadler's Court, Alne, near Easingwold, said the incident in The Stonebow left her friend, Sam Jordan, with a cut on her head, and the
The York City Social Club at Bootham Crescent is to open on a more regular basis in an attempt to increase revenue at the club. The City Supporters' Trust has formed a committee to run the social club, which will also be made available for functions.
LIFE begins at 50 - that was the message at the 2003 Years Ahead exhibition in York. More than 800 over-50s attended the Evening Press event at the Merchant Adventurers' Hall, Fossgate, York, yesterday, to find out about everything from holidays and healthcare
NORTH Yorkshire king of golf clubs Simon Dyson lived up to his billing as the top player in the field with a first-round 69 in the St Omer Open in northern France. Dyson is the only player from the top 115 on last year's Order of Merit competing in France
SQUASH ace Simon Parke is relishing a return to Yorkshire after announcing his entry to the Prince English Open in Sheffield. Parke, formerly of Knaresborough and Harrogate but now based in Nottingham, is currently ranked 12th in the world but is banking
POLLING stations in Ryedale are to come under the spotlight from the district council. Its overview and scrutiny committee made the decision after the chairwoman, Coun Pamela Anderson, said there had been concerns at the recent local elections that some
A MAN who shouted abuse at police and then head-butted their patrol car in a North Yorkshire town has been fined by Selby magistrates. Michael Havron, aged 44, of The Close, Towton, near Tadcaster, admitted being drunk and disorderly on June 6 in Tadcaster
CONDITIONS at York have dried out ahead of the two-day meeting on Knavesmire, which features the £75,000 William Hill Trophy tomorrow. After walking the track ahead of today's first day, clerk of the course William Derby said: "It's good to firm. It was
POLICE boat teams have been searching the River Derwent for a pensioner who disappeared last month. Christopher John Hanby went missing from his home in Parliament Street, Norton, on May 24. The 62-year-old, who had been suffering from depression, is
SPONSORSHIP for York City Knights has hit a new high with today's announcement of a new deal with train company Arriva Trains Northern. The Knights have signed a sleeve deal with the York-based company, which will see the club sport the Arriva logo on
A CONTENTIOUS plan to build a three-storey block of flats next to the home of a seriously-ill man has been supported by councillors in York. The proposal to build 18 flats in New Lane, Huntington, was agreed yesterday, despite 22 letters of objection
ONE of the new members of City of York Council has called for a review of the system which gives free spaces for councillors in the car parks it runs. Green councillor Andy D'Agorne believes that members of the authority ought to look again at whether
YORK council finance chiefs say they have made nearly £400,000 for the city's coffers with some smart investments. The return achieved by treasury officials at City of York Council was 0.57 per cent higher than the normal benchmark used for short-term
A JURY has acquitted a York hotel employee accused of raping a university student he met at a nightclub. The 12 men and women at York Crown Court took just under two hours to return their unanimous verdict on Damien Robertson, 21, of Acomb Road, York.
WOMEN war veterans descended on a museum near York, as air force veterans from around the country attended a special event. Hundreds of women visited the city yesterday to celebrate the Second Annual Women's Allied Air Service Memorial Day at the Yorkshire
TORY MPs today blasted controversial plans to split York into a political "doughnut" containing two Parliamentary seats. The plans will see the city divided into "York Central" and "York Outer" constituencies, proposals backed by Labour politicians at
The York City Social Club at Bootham Crescent is to open on a more regular basis in an attempt to increase revenue at the club. The City Supporters' Trust has formed a committee to run the social club, which will also be made available for functions.
Kiss Me Kate, the most famous line from Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew, takes on a different meaning in York Shakespeare Project's new production. Boys will be girls and girls will be boys and the immortal words will be said by Ali Borthwick's
ANTHONY Burgess called it "one of the great comic novels of the 20th century". Robert Robinson, question master of radio and television, considered it "the funniest unknown book in the world". Dapper humorist Frank Muir deemed it "one of those little
SPONSORSHIP for York City Knights has hit a new high with today's announcement of a new deal with train company Arriva Trains Northern. The Knights have signed a sleeve deal with the York-based company, which will see the club sport the Arriva logo on
Heather Small may have a big, big voice but she had to overcome shyness to make herself heard, as she tells CHARLES HUTCHINSON Heather Small sings empowering soul music that exhorts self-belief. Songs such as Search For The Hero and Proud, the unofficial
YOU could be mistaken for thinking this tranquil river scene was in Venice. But it depicts York's Foss Bridge, a photographer's delight, in February, 1979, with the white York Motor Exchange building in the background. York folk and visitors alike now
YORKSHIRE have closed their ears to those who pour scorn on the new Twenty20 Cup competition and today they were putting the final touches to a strategy which they hope will see them win the final at Trent Bridge on July 19. A combination of wanting to
WE commemorate two special days in June - D-Day and Father's Day. They are linked inexorably, for without our older generations we would not exist. But my daughter and her five-month-old son, Connor, will be in no mood to celebrate because husband Carl
MARK Goodwill isn't the dull timewaster you all thought he was when you read his dreadful letter ("Masked complaint", June 10). As a robber I was very grateful for the information that Sainsbury's is a soft target for criminals, whereas Asda is a no-go
AT 12.45pm on Sunday I was turned away from York's Beckfield Lane tip. The gate was shut and I was told the tip was closed because it was full. In the minute or so I was there five or six others were also turned away. I took my waste home and unloaded
GUN crimes on the streets of York and North Yorkshire have more than trebled, according to figures released today. And armed operations where North Yorkshire Police officers have been authorised to carry firearms have increased by almost a third. Offences
CITY of York Council's free newspaper is likely to be axed as part of an overhaul of the communications department. During the election campaign, the Liberal Democrats said they would review the communications strategy to save money. Leader of the council
THE scheme to tame North Yorkshire's worst accident blackspot has been delayed for several months - because the bill is massively higher than originally expected. The Highways Agency had planned to start construction of a new flyover on the A64 at Bilbrough
Dazzling Bay can provide Tim Easterby with his second successive triumph in the William Hill Trophy, the feature race on Timeform Charity Day, at York tomorrow. Twelve months ago, Easterby clinched the major honours with Artie, who scrambled home by a
YORK'S tourist slogan is "Living with history". Perhaps this should be changed to "Ditching its history". First the Dean and Chapter decide to abandon centuries of work and dismantle the Minster Library. Now we learn that the wheels have come off the
IT is outrageous that safety measures at Bilbrough Top on the A64 have been put back several months. We had to campaign long and hard to persuade the Highways Agency of the dangers of this junction, confirmed this week as the most hazardous in North Yorkshire
WITH summer somewhere around the corner, Mercedes-Benz has unveiled prices and specifications for its latest open-topped cars. The full range of the all-new CLK-Class cabriolet goes on sale, just after the range-topping SL600 roadster. In case the sun
ASK many drivers what they think of the Perodua supermini and, if honest, they will confess they know little or nothing. However, Perodua is not a new vehicle on the block, it is just that it has not been shouting its virtues from the roof-tops. The Perodua
CITRON has unveiled its C2 three-door supermini and, even before it goes on sale later this year, reckons it is the "wild child" of the class, with its a purposeful bonnet, squared off headlamps and large wheel arches - providing room enough for 16-inch
FOR Gordon Brown's euro statement I took a seat in the Press Gallery directly above the Government front bench. The view of the whole chamber was not as good as in my usual spot, above the speaker's chair. But I didn't have the energy to climb the steps
A DEAL has been signed to make sure British firms profit from controversial plans for the "son of Star Wars". Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon signed a "memorandum of understanding" with the US Government yesterday. The pact will ensure UK industry is given
THE St John Ambulance Life Savers Appeal has taken a step forward with another generous donation from York Rotarians. The Rotary Club of York Ainsty donated £3,500 for the provision of a Falcon trolley stretcher, which will be used in the new Crusader
A BROWN Owl who has been in charge of her Brownie pack in Cawood for more than 20 years is looking for a successor to take over. Janet Buckle, 52, is leaving her 20 Brownies when she moves back to her birthplace of York, from her home in Wistowgate, Cawood
AN unusual bestseller is flying off the shelves at coastal bookshops - because visitors cannot get enough of a new £33.6 million defence scheme. Scarborough Council launched a print run of 5,000 copies of a booklet explaining all about the town's massive
THE identity of the mystery visitor who has been laying flowers on the grave of Dick Turpin can finally be revealed. Mystic Gill Dodd, 33, of King's Lynn, has been making regular trips to York from her home to visit the grave of the notorious highwayman
FARMING life heads indoors this weekend for a North Yorkshire church flower festival. Organiser Liz Heath said the flower ladies - and "flowering assistants" - of Sand Hutton and Claxton, outside York, had worked all week preparing unusual floral creations
AN EAST Yorkshire town is set to receive a major makeover. East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) and the Weighton Area Regeneration Partnership (WARP) have been granted funding for a three-year scheme to improve Market Weighton. The project will include
FORMER Cabinet Minister Frank Dobson has praised University of York students for their contribution to the local community through help they are giving in the city's schools. The York-born ex-Health Secretary was speaking at a presentations ceremony for
A LIVERPUDLIAN couple who started a love affair with York after dating and getting engaged within the city walls, have pledged to tie the knot here. John Smith, 43, brought Tracey Brady, 38, to York on their first date five years ago. After many more
LUNG patients in York are missing out on rehabilitation that could radically improve their quality of life - and could reduce unnecessary hospital admissions. The lack of funding for pulmonary rehabilitation has been highlighted by the British Lung Foundation
PEDAL power and manpower will combine next month when the Cancer Research UK Cycle For Life comes to York Racecourse. The 15-mile bike ride takes place on Sunday, July 6, to raise money to fund the charity's pioneering research into cancers which affect
AN East Yorkshire showjumper could be in the Great Britain team to go to the European Championships this summer. Scott Smith, of Barmby Moor, already among the country's best riders, has heaps of international experience under his belt and in the coming
JORVIK, Castle Howard and the Yorkshire Air Museum are among the York and North Yorkshire attractions which could receive a tourism "Oscar". The Yorkshire Tourist Board has announced the 56 finalists who could walk away with one of the prestigious White
A MAJOR boost for recycling in York will see 80 paper recycling banks distributed throughout the city. The 80 banks are being prepared at Yorwaste in Hessay, near York, before they are put in car parks, shopping centres and community areas. The executive
MARK Hartley threw a maximum in a magical opening 14-dart York John Smith's Mixed League game for Cygnet 'B'. But from thereon it was all downhill for Hartley's side as their opponents Cygnet 'A' collected the remaining eight games. Martyn Turner attempted
NORTH Yorkshire farmer Mark Westaby is beefing up to take on some of the 'World's Strongest Men'. The 38-year-old from Healaugh, near Tadcaster, is competing in 'Samson's Giants' a muscle-man event at Pocklington later this month. He reckons he's the
After their rousing win at Oschersleben two weeks ago, Team Castrol Suzuki sidecar aces Steve Webster and Paul Woodhead are back on the campaign trail at Silverstone tomorrow looking to make up ground on title leader Klaus Klaffenbock. It's round four
A YORK transport charity has made a major move forward by becoming a limited company. The directors of York Wheels opted to make the important decision in the evolution of the charity as the charity continues to grow. "Last year we made 26,280 journeys
A DEAL has been signed to make sure British firms profit from controversial plans for the "son of Star Wars". Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon signed a "memorandum of understanding" with the US Government yesterday. The pact will ensure UK industry is given
SELBY have completed a massive coup with the appointment of dual-code Welsh international Diccon Edwards as their new coach. The much-travelled centre has an impressive CV of former clubs, having played union for Leicester, Wakefield, Newport, Leeds Tykes
GULF War veteran Terry Walker today hailed a High Court decision in favour of a soldier claiming to be a victim of Gulf War Syndrome. The court threw out a Ministry of Defence appeal against a decision by a War Pensions Appeal Tribunal that former Parachute
A 54-YEAR-OLD York man with a history of alcohol problems today won a cut in the jail term imposed for indecently assaulting two young girls. David Paul Vetters, of Coggan Close, South Bank, was jailed for five years at York Crown Court last August after
YORKSHIRE have closed their ears to those who pour scorn on the new Twenty20 Cup competition and today were putting the final touches to a strategy which they hope will see them win the final at Trent Bridge in July. A combination of wanting to restore
PAINTING the town red was given a whole new meaning when Tadcaster gave its support to the British Heart Foundation. The town, which is home to the charity's regional office, donned scarlet, cherry, vermilion and ruby yesterday to help raise funds as
THE new editor of the Evening Press says the chance to join the paper was too great an opportunity to miss. Kevin Booth, 45, right, who has been editor of the Peterborough Evening Telegraph for the past three years, will take over at York in September
THE financial crisis at York Minster could see the number of canons there reduced to two. This was revealed at the Archbishop's Council meeting last night, according to one of the Archbishop's advisers, Frank Harris ,of the Derwent Deanery. "Canon Glyn
A NORTH Yorkshire nurse dressed care home residents in nappies so she could sleep during the night shift, an inquiry heard. Ann Marie Lee, 40, allegedly curled up in an armchair and set her mobile phone alarm to wake her up just before the day nurses
A YORK charity has stepped in to help "terrified" houseboat owner John Hunt, after a court gave him three weeks to leave his River Ouse home. Mr Hunt, 59, contacted Age Concern to ask for help in finding an alternative mooring for his boat, Waterlily,
ALAN Ayckbourn's A Small Family Business had never been performed on a Yorkshire stage. Ian Brown, artistic director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, had never directed an Ayckbourn play. Now two birds have been killed with one stone: Brown's production
THE scheme to tame North Yorkshire's worst accident blackspot has been delayed for several months - because the bill is massively higher than originally expected. The Highways Agency had planned to start construction of a new flyover on the A64 at Bilbrough
York may have to wait another seven years for its next Mystery Plays. Mike Laycock reveals why a modern tradition stretching back to 1951 has bitten the dust. They date back almost 700 years to medieval York. The original York Cycle Of Mystery Plays,
