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Parents are being urged by Middlesbrough Council to choose the schools they would prefer their children to attend before the cut-off point.

The national deadline for parents to return their Secondary School Preference forms is Saturday.

More than 1,900 preference information packs were originally sent out in September to Year 6 pupils living in Middlesbrough, but more than 200 remain outstanding despite recent reminders being sent out by the School Admissions Service.

If preference forms are returned after the closing date, they will not be considered until all the "on-time'" applications have been processed, a spokesman said.

Where preference forms are not returned at all, children will be allocated places by the council at a school with places remaining after all the other applications have been processed.

Cleveland Police have issued an urgent appeal to trace missing Scott Holmes.

Class A drugs and an air rifle have been seized in Stockton, Cleveland Police says.

Four men have been arrested after a car later found to contain drugs and a knife passed a police safety camera van in North Yorkshire being driven at 110mph, police say.

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

The Mercedes was stopped on the A64 near Tadcaster on Sunday afternoon and a search of the vehicle revealed a quantity of what is believed to be cannabis and a knife, officers say.

Four men, aged 19 to 39, from County Durham, were arrested in connection with drug dealing offences, including the driver who was also arrested on suspicion of drug-driving.

One of the men was also arrested on suspicion of having a bladed weapon.

The men were released under investigation pending further inquiries, according to North Yorkshire Police.

This evening and tonight will see clear periods.

It will be mainly dry but one or two showers may drift in from the west at times.

Feeling quite chilly with a brisk west to south-westerly wind developing and temperatures overnight falling to 7C (44F)

You can follow the latest forecast, for where you live, by searching for your location here

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People have been warned to be on their guard following a rise in hoax calls relating to Covid-19.

Durham County Council says people should beware when callers ask for card details over the telephone, and not assume that all calls are genuine.

A former deputy headteacher at a primary school in Middlesbrough has been handed a suspended prison sentence for possessing indecent images and videos of children.

Richard Swinnerton had admitted three charges, during an appearance at Teesside Crown Court in September.

He had previously resigned his post at the school and none of the charges related to his time there.

The court was told that the now 31-year-old, from Coulby Newham, had suffered a "tragic fall from grace" and his reputation as a teacher was now in tatters.

The judge sentenced him to ten months, suspended for two years, and he was ordered to sign the sex offender register, and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

National Crime AgencyCopyright: National Crime Agency

A number of political leaders from the North East say they will "resist any attempt" by the government to impose tier three - very high alert, coronavirus lockdown measures.

Northumberland, Newcastle, Sunderland, North and South Tyneside, Gateshead and County Durham council areas are currently in tier two - high alert.

Council chiefs and business figures say infection rates are levelling off.

Last Thursday, an email from the Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick's private secretary said there "may shortly be a need" to impose stricter controls in the region.

This afternoon will be mainly cloudy and chilly with further rain for a time.

The rain will ease later on, giving way to clear periods by this evening.

Feeling chillier with temperatures of 8C (46F).

This evening and tonight will be mainly dry but one or two showers may drift in from the west at times.

And you can follow the latest BBC Weather forecast, by searching for your location, here

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Two men have been arrested on suspicion of drugs offences after they were found reportedly moving cannabis farming equipment into a property in North Ormesby.

Officers on patrol spotted the pair moving items from a van into an address on Beaumont Road on Monday evening.

It is believed the property was being prepared for a future cannabis farm.

The men, aged 28 and 30, are being questioned on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of cannabis and abstracting electricity.

Cleveland PoliceCopyright: Cleveland Police

Sgt John Sproson, from Cleveland Police, said: “Local residents in the North Ormesby area have told us that they are concerned about drugs activity and we are patrolling the area to tackle the issue.

"Yesterday, officers were in the right place at the right time."

A mobile testing centre in Thornaby was "well used" on the day it was set up, the town's mayor has said.

The facility, in the Cramworth Street Car Park, behind Five Lamps, will be available for pre-booked test on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Latest figures show Thornaby South recorded 42 new covid cases in the seven days up to October 20 – giving it a rate of 795.5 cases per 100,000 people, with Stockton's borough-wide rate for the week up to October 23 standing at 413.5 per 100,000.

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Councillors had been calling for testing centres in both Thornaby and Billingham, on top of the seven-day Dairy car park one in Stockton.

Thornaby mayor Councillor Steve Walmsley said the Thornaby site was in an “ideal spot” and well used on Monday.

He added: "All we want is for people in Thornaby, who we represent, to have somewhere to go.”

Red lighting is set to be projected on a number of landmarks across County Durham to mark Remembrance Sunday next month.

These locations will be lit up from 8-11 November:

• Durham Town Hall
• Bishop Auckland Town Hall
• County Hall (there will also be a large poppy projected on to the front of building)
• Butter Market, Barnard Castle
• Cenotaph and Poppy Fence, The Green, Seaham
• War Memorial, Market Place, Chester-le-Street