Our updates here have now finished for the day. Thank you for joining us.
Have you got any news or photos you'd like to share with us? In that case you can tweet them to @BBCNewsNE, email them, or contact us via our Facebook page.
We hope you have a lovely evening - we'll be back tomorrow from 08:00.
Darryll Donnelly, 27, was playing for Jarrow Roofing against Bishop Auckland on Tuesday when the news broke about his partner Jasmin Florence going into labour.
Darryll DonnellyCopyright: Darryll Donnelly
She eventually gave birth to a 8lb 15oz (4kg) girl called Lyla Grace with Mr Donnelly by her side.
The central defender said Lyla, their second child, was four days overdue.
Duncan DonnellyCopyright: Duncan Donnelly
Probe into seabirds found covered in oil
An investigation is under way after seabirds covered in oil were found on several North East beaches.
The RSPCA said it had so far treated more than 20 birds, including puffins and gulls, found between Amble and Redcar, some of which have died
The charity said it began receiving calls on 17 December.
RSPCACopyright: RSPCA
Inspector Jaqui Miller said: “Guillemots, puffins, razorbills and gulls have been affected.
“The first ones to come into us were of a good weight and alert, but some of the ones coming in over the past day have been less so and very sadly a couple of them have not made it.
“We don’t know what it is, or where it’s coming from, but the birds are covered in it."
Almost one in four ambulance staff in the North East took time off
work because of stress over the past year, figures show.
A Freedom of Information request from the GMB union found nationally there were 80,000 stress-related days off in 2016-17.
BBCCopyright: BBC
The figures reveal 22% of staff in the North East took time off due to stress.
The union said the figures showed ambulance workers were "overworked and underpaid" and there were insufficient resources to deal with the issue.
The North East Ambulance Service said the health and wellbeing of its staff is of the "utmost importance" and it was working hard to reduce sickness absence across the Trust.
Cleveland Police 'still uses Windows XP computers'
Leo Kelion
Technology desk editor
Cleveland Police has admitted that some of its computers are still running Windows XP - three years after Microsoft stopped providing support for the operating system.
The force said it had seven computers running XP, representing 0.36% of its total number of PCs.
PACopyright: PA
Greater Manchester Police had the largest number of XP machines at 1,518 - 20.3% of PCs.
Dr Steven Murdoch, a cyber-security expert at University College London, said: "Even if security vulnerabilities are identified in XP, Microsoft won't distribute patches in the same way it does for later releases of Windows.
"So, if the [police's] Windows XP computers are exposed to the public internet, then that would be a serious concern."
Three-hour wait for ambulance after man, 85, swallowed bleach tablets
A care home resident who died after eating bleach tablets he mistook for mints had to wait more than three hours for an ambulance, an inquest has heard.
Dementia patient Joe Serginson, 85, grabbed the tablets from a cleaners' trolley at Balmoral Court in Byker as staff dealt with a mess.
A carer told the inquest in Newcastle how she forced her fingers into his mouth to try to retrieve the chlorine tablets before dialling 999 on 1 August last year.
GoogleCopyright: Google
The inquest was told staff called five times for an ambulance, but that crews were repeatedly diverted to other cases.
When a crew did arrive they took Mr Serginson to the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary, but doctors decided he was unlikely to recover and he was kept comfortable before his death three days later.
Newcastle assistant coroner Karin Welsh was told how the ambulance service had reached the stage of "clinical escalation" earlier that day, meaning there were too many jobs for the crews available.
The inquest continues.
Durham city to get new parish council
A new parish council is to be created for Durham City.
The move follows a public consultation
earlier this year in which 66% of those who responded backed the idea.
It will be called the City of Durham
Parish Council and have 15 elected members who will represent the parishes of Elvet and Gilesgate, Neville’s Cross and Durham South.
Durham County Council carried out the consultation after
receiving a petition from local Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods calling for central areas of the city to have their own parish council.
It will come into force on 1
April, 2018, with inaugural elections taking place the following month.
Inquests have been opened and adjourned into the deaths of two people from the North East who were in a light aircraft that crashed on the Queen's Sandringham Estate.
Family photo/NCJMediaCopyright: Family photo/NCJMedia
They were flying from Menorca to Newcastle when they got into difficulty.
Senior coroner Jacqueline Lake told Norfolk Coroner's Court the plane ended up near Wolferton pumping station and both occupants, who were identified by dental records, died from multiple injuries.
A pre-inquest review into the deaths will take place in Norwich on 5 March.
Sunderland boss Grayson backs match tribute to Bradley Lowery
The teams meet later at Goodison Park, where the foundation in memory of the six-year-old from Blackhall Colliery will be promoted.
BBCCopyright: BBC
The youngster died in July after being diagnosed with a rare type of cancer when he was 18 months old.
Grayson said: "Bradley has had a massive affiliation with this football club and Everton as well.
"I think it's a fine gesture that has been greated positively by everyone.
"So, hopefully everybody will see a game that is worthy of what is on the shirts."
The game kicks off at 19:45.
BBCCopyright: BBC
Theft of late presenter's bike 'mindless'
BBC Tees
www.bbc.co.uk/BBCTees
The theft of a bike used by the late BBC Tees presenter Alistair Brownlee in a host of charity treks has been described as a "mindless act".
Mr Brownlee, 56, was known as the Voice of the Boro after commentating on Middlesbrough FC for more than 30 years. He also presented a number of other shows on the station.
Janet Coates, 66, was found to have three times the typical dose of the Clozapine drug in her blood when she died in November 2016. A coroner has now called for action to be taken by a mental health trust to prevent a repeat.
Mystery Sunderland player sitting on £1m lotto ticket
A lottery player in Sunderland has not yet claimed a £1m prize, according to National Lottery officials.
The Lotto Millionaire Raffle ticket was purchased in the city on 6 September and had the winning code NAVY 1295 4706.
The ticket holder has until 5 March next year to claim the cash.
Live Reporting
All times stated are UK
Get involved
Darryll DonnellyCopyright: Darryll Donnelly 
Duncan DonnellyCopyright: Duncan Donnelly 
RSPCACopyright: RSPCA 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
PACopyright: PA 
GoogleCopyright: Google 
Family photo/NCJMediaCopyright: Family photo/NCJMedia 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
Neal BullockCopyright: Neal Bullock 
CamelotCopyright: Camelot 
GEOGRAPH/RICHARD WEBBCopyright: GEOGRAPH/RICHARD WEBB
Latest PostOur live coverage across the day
Our updates here have now finished for the day. Thank you for joining us.
Have you got any news or photos you'd like to share with us? In that case you can tweet them to @BBCNewsNE, email them, or contact us via our Facebook page.
We hope you have a lovely evening - we'll be back tomorrow from 08:00.
'Multiple injuries' killed crash pair
Nigel Dodds and Val Barnes were flying from Menorca to Newcastle when the plane got into difficulty.
Read moreOnions ponders future beyond 2017
Video content
Football captain subbed off to go to birth
A football captain was subbed off 30 minutes into a match so he could go to the birth of his daughter.
Darryll Donnelly, 27, was playing for Jarrow Roofing against Bishop Auckland on Tuesday when the news broke about his partner Jasmin Florence going into labour.
She eventually gave birth to a 8lb 15oz (4kg) girl called Lyla Grace with Mr Donnelly by her side.
The central defender said Lyla, their second child, was four days overdue.
Probe into seabirds found covered in oil
An investigation is under way after seabirds covered in oil were found on several North East beaches.
The RSPCA said it had so far treated more than 20 birds, including puffins and gulls, found between Amble and Redcar, some of which have died
The charity said it began receiving calls on 17 December.
Inspector Jaqui Miller said: “Guillemots, puffins, razorbills and gulls have been affected.
“The first ones to come into us were of a good weight and alert, but some of the ones coming in over the past day have been less so and very sadly a couple of them have not made it.
“We don’t know what it is, or where it’s coming from, but the birds are covered in it."
Stately home fraudster must pay £100,500
The 61-year-old will face a further 18 months in jail if the sum is not settled within three months.
Read moreStress affecting one in four ambulance staff
Stephanie Finnon
BBC Newcastle
Almost one in four ambulance staff in the North East took time off work because of stress over the past year, figures show.
A Freedom of Information request from the GMB union found nationally there were 80,000 stress-related days off in 2016-17.
The figures reveal 22% of staff in the North East took time off due to stress.
The union said the figures showed ambulance workers were "overworked and underpaid" and there were insufficient resources to deal with the issue.
The North East Ambulance Service said the health and wellbeing of its staff is of the "utmost importance" and it was working hard to reduce sickness absence across the Trust.
Fans banned after Sheffield United brawl
Violence flared after a game at the Riverside Stadium in August.
Read moreCleveland Police 'still uses Windows XP computers'
Leo Kelion
Technology desk editor
Cleveland Police has admitted that some of its computers are still running Windows XP - three years after Microsoft stopped providing support for the operating system.
The figure was disclosed as part of a Freedom of Information request.
The force said it had seven computers running XP, representing 0.36% of its total number of PCs.
Greater Manchester Police had the largest number of XP machines at 1,518 - 20.3% of PCs.
Dr Steven Murdoch, a cyber-security expert at University College London, said: "Even if security vulnerabilities are identified in XP, Microsoft won't distribute patches in the same way it does for later releases of Windows.
"So, if the [police's] Windows XP computers are exposed to the public internet, then that would be a serious concern."
Lorry death grandfather was 'much loved'
Terry Miskell, 82, died in hospital three days after being hit by a lorry near Beamish Museum.
Read moreThree-hour wait for ambulance after man, 85, swallowed bleach tablets
A care home resident who died after eating bleach tablets he mistook for mints had to wait more than three hours for an ambulance, an inquest has heard.
Dementia patient Joe Serginson, 85, grabbed the tablets from a cleaners' trolley at Balmoral Court in Byker as staff dealt with a mess.
A carer told the inquest in Newcastle how she forced her fingers into his mouth to try to retrieve the chlorine tablets before dialling 999 on 1 August last year.
The inquest was told staff called five times for an ambulance, but that crews were repeatedly diverted to other cases.
When a crew did arrive they took Mr Serginson to the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary, but doctors decided he was unlikely to recover and he was kept comfortable before his death three days later.
Newcastle assistant coroner Karin Welsh was told how the ambulance service had reached the stage of "clinical escalation" earlier that day, meaning there were too many jobs for the crews available.
The inquest continues.
Durham city to get new parish council
A new parish council is to be created for Durham City.
The move follows a public consultation earlier this year in which 66% of those who responded backed the idea.
It will be called the City of Durham Parish Council and have 15 elected members who will represent the parishes of Elvet and Gilesgate, Neville’s Cross and Durham South.
Durham County Council carried out the consultation after receiving a petition from local Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods calling for central areas of the city to have their own parish council.
It will come into force on 1 April, 2018, with inaugural elections taking place the following month.
Brighton sign Krul on one-year contract
Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul ends his 12-year association with Newcastle and signs a one-year deal with Brighton.
Read moreInquests open into Sandringham plane crash pair
BBC Newcastle
Inquests have been opened and adjourned into the deaths of two people from the North East who were in a light aircraft that crashed on the Queen's Sandringham Estate.
Pilot Nigel Dodds, 58 and friend Val Barnes, both from Gateshead, were killed when the plane came down near Wolferton on 11 September.
They were flying from Menorca to Newcastle when they got into difficulty.
Senior coroner Jacqueline Lake told Norfolk Coroner's Court the plane ended up near Wolferton pumping station and both occupants, who were identified by dental records, died from multiple injuries.
A pre-inquest review into the deaths will take place in Norwich on 5 March.
Sunderland boss Grayson backs match tribute to Bradley Lowery
Sunderland manager Simon Grayson has described the decision by the Black Cats and Everton to sport the Bradley Lowery Foundation logo in their EFL Cup clash as a "fine gesture".
The teams meet later at Goodison Park, where the foundation in memory of the six-year-old from Blackhall Colliery will be promoted.
The youngster died in July after being diagnosed with a rare type of cancer when he was 18 months old.
Grayson said: "Bradley has had a massive affiliation with this football club and Everton as well.
"I think it's a fine gesture that has been greated positively by everyone.
"So, hopefully everybody will see a game that is worthy of what is on the shirts."
The game kicks off at 19:45.
Theft of late presenter's bike 'mindless'
BBC Tees
www.bbc.co.uk/BBCTees
The theft of a bike used by the late BBC Tees presenter Alistair Brownlee in a host of charity treks has been described as a "mindless act".
Mr Brownlee, 56, was known as the Voice of the Boro after commentating on Middlesbrough FC for more than 30 years. He also presented a number of other shows on the station.
He died last year from cancer.
Friends and family have appealed for the return of the Felt hybrid, which was taken from the Linthorpe area of Middlesbrough.
Neil Bullock, who joined Mr Brownlee on one of his fundraising rides, said: "This is just a mindless, senseless act.
"When I heard about this it was like a knife to the heart. It has great sentimental value to Ali's family.
"Someone will know, someone will be bragging and someone will definitely be trying to offload it.
"If we can make it too hot to handle then all well and good."
Health trust told to take action after mum dies from fatal levels of anti-psychotic drug
The Gazette
Newspaper
A mum died from a toxic level of prescribed anti-psychotic medication, an inquest has heard.
Janet Coates, 66, was found to have three times the typical dose of the Clozapine drug in her blood when she died in November 2016. A coroner has now called for action to be taken by a mental health trust to prevent a repeat.
Mystery Sunderland player sitting on £1m lotto ticket
A lottery player in Sunderland has not yet claimed a £1m prize, according to National Lottery officials.
The Lotto Millionaire Raffle ticket was purchased in the city on 6 September and had the winning code NAVY 1295 4706.
The ticket holder has until 5 March next year to claim the cash.
Mystery as birds found in oily substance
Some birds have died after being found covered in the substance along a 75-mile stretch of coast.
Read moreTees Valley man's remains found in Scottish forest
BBC News Scotland
Human remains found in a Scottish forest have been identified as a 26-year-old man who was orginally from the Tees Valley.
The body was found by members of the public in the Devilla Forest, near Kincardine, (pictured) on 3 September.
The man, who lived in Dunfermline, was last seen on 17 August wearing outdoor clothing.
His death remains unexplained and his family have asked for his identity not to be revealed.