Gateshead

Newcastle councillors have agreed pay rises for themselves worth a combined £20,000, despite some members saying they “don’t need the money”.

An increase in the basic annual allowance by £200 to £9,200 has been approved with overwhelming support.

Only two independent councillors from the Chapel ward opposed the move.

Marc Donnelly urged colleagues to freeze their pay for the next 12 months in light of £20m budget cuts and a council tax rise due to be rubber-stamped in the coming weeks.

Ernie Shorton said councillors were deserving of an increase but urged them to “take the high ground” and reject it.

“You don’t need the money, I don’t need the money," he said.

A report by the authority’s Independent Remuneration Panel said Newcastle councillors were paid less than those in many neighbouring areas.

BBC

Eric Richards, who chaired the panel, said the pay did not even amount to the minimum wage when considered against the hours they put in.

The authority voted in 2019 to increase councillors’ allowances for the first time in a decade.

Their new annual salary will now be £10 short of what it was before city politicians took a 5% wage cut in 2013, in response to massive budget cuts.

An “immersive” full-size replica of new Metro trains will be going on tour around the North East later this year.

It follows the announcement last week that Swiss firm Stadler was awarded the contract to build the new £362m fleet.

The fully kitted out mock-up will give passengers the chance to experience the layout of the trains, walk through a carriage, and try out the new seats.

They can then share their opinions with operator Nexus, so that any changes needed can be reported to Stadler’s factory in Switzerland.

The exact dates and locations of the roadshow events are yet to be confirmed, but they are expected to start in late summer and continue through the autumn.

Nexus

A Newcastle venue has cancelled an event featuring American evangelist Franklin Graham, following protests by gay rights campaigner

Mr Graham (pictured), the eldest son of the late preacher Billy Graham, has said he believes gay marriage is a "sin".

He was due to speak at the Utilta Arena in June but the venue operator said following talks with its partners and stakeholders the show will no longer take place.

Ste Dunn, chairman of Northern Pride, said: "Having led the call for this to be cancelled, and coordinated the support of numerous groups throughout the city, we are obviously delighted by this decision.

"We would like to thank everyone who got behind the campaign and signed our petition, to make a stand and show that anti-LGBT+ speech is not welcome in Newcastle."

BBC

Venues in Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool and Milton Keynes have already pulled out of hosting his events this summer.

In a statement last week, the preacher said: "People who say I'm 'preaching hate' have never heard me speak.

"I'm inviting everyone to come to these meetings.

"I would love for the LGBTQ community to come.

"Regardless of their faith or belief system, everyone is absolutely welcome. We're not going to speak against anybody."

Newcastle United and Leicester City are prepared to pay £15m for Brentford and Algeria winger Said Benrahma, 24, in the summer.(Sun)

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Singer-songwriter Gabrielle is to perform at Northern Pride this summer.

The multi-platinum artist, who rose to fame in 1993 with her debut single Dreams, will be headlining the Newcastle event, which runs from 17 to 19 July.

Also taking to the main stage on the Sunday is television personality Gok Wan, best known for his work on shows such as How to Look Good Naked and Gok’s Fashion Fix.

He will entertain crowds at the Town Moor with a DJ set.

Northern Pride

The full line-up for the weekend is yet to be announced, but organisers say they plan to shine a spotlight on more local performers.

There will also be collaborations with other community groups – such as Newcastle Mela – and a series of events taking place in the coming months, covering topics from sports to comedy to raising awareness of mental health.

Northern Pride

There are LGBT+ people in all walks of life and we wanted to reflect this, so we have planned a really exciting and varied programme of events over the next six months which we hope will have really wide appeal."

Les Pigg took this photo of the Knife Angel sculpture outside the Sage Gateshead.

The 27ft (8m) statue is made up of 100,000 blades handed to UK police forces.

If you want to send us photos you can tweet us, contact us via our Facebook page or email us.

LES PIGG

Teams of undercover police officers are to travel on the Tyne and Wear Metro as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

It follows a spate of incidents across North Tyneside since the turn of the year, including youths kicking out 10 windows of a carriage, which resulted in the train being taken out of service.

The operation will run over a number of weeks with plain clothes officers on board trains during the day and night.

Operator Nexus said it is forced to spend £500,000 a year cleaning up after vandals.

Northumbria Police has said it plans to recruit almost 500 new officers paid for by a rise in council tax.

The force's police and crime commissioner, Kim McGuinness, has confirmed a near 2% hike in the police precept, which means some homes will pay £2.67 more a year.

Ms McGuinness said that would generate more than £1m, which will also be put towards better equipment for officers.

She said the tax hike was among the lowest in the country.

Thousands of people who drive through a double roundabout every day in Newcastle are facing months of disruption because of planned roadworks.

Work will start later this month to modify Haddricks Mill in south Gosforth and was due to be completed in the Easter school holidays.

However, it has now been confirmed the work will continue until September because of issues with contractors.

Newcastle City Council said it was doing everything possible to minimise disruption.

A rather chilly start with some mist and fog patches, but they will slowly lift, to give a dry and bright day with good spells of sunshine.

These sunny spells will turn more hazy for a time later in light winds.

Maximum temperatures should reach about 8C (46F).

BBC

A "sentimental" knife has been stolen in a burglary in Jesmond.

The address on Mitchell Avenue was targeted on 21 January by intruders who forced entry via a rear window.

Jewellery and a distinctive Kukri machete inscribed with the owner’s details were taken.

Northumbria Police said the knife holds huge sentimental value to the owner as it was gifted to him while he was in the army.

The force is now asking the person who took it to do the right thing and hand it back in to police.

Anyone with information about the burglary, which took place between 08:30 and 17:45, is also asked to contact the force.

Northumbria Police

A Chinese student at Newcastle University says feels discriminated against after being mocked amid the the panic around the coronavirus outbreak.

Elizabeth and her friend were walking near Eldon Square on Saturday at 16:00 when a group of teenagers, which she described as being "high school age", started screaming when they saw them.

"I didn't really know what happened, but later I realised maybe they take us as evil or the people who are already affected by the virus", she said.

Elizabeth asked the group why they screamed and what she had done to them, but says the group didn't say anything and instead stepped back from her.

"I feel humiliated", she told BBC Newcastle.

North East police forces are encouraging anyone who's been a victim to come forward.

Durham Constabulary and Northumbria Police say they've not had any obvious rises in hate crime

Newcastle City Council

Newcastle's Grainger Market has been named Britain’s Favourite Market in The National Association of British Markets Authorities annual awards.

It has been given the title after an online vote and a visit by a mystery shopper, who gave it full marks for customer service.

The market was built in 1835 and has more than 100 stalls.

Councillor Ged Bell said he was "absolutely delighted" that Grainger Market won.

“To be crowned Britain’s Favourite Market 2020 demonstrates to the nation what everyone in Newcastle already knows", he added.

Newcastle's Grainger Market has been named Britain’s Favourite Market in The National Association of British Markets Authorities annual awards.

It has been given the title after an online vote and a visit by a mystery shopper, who gave it full marks for customer service.

The market was built in 1835 and has more than 100 stalls.

Councillor Ged Bell said he was "absolutely delighted" that Grainger Market won.

“To be crowned Britain’s Favourite Market 2020 demonstrates to the nation what everyone in Newcastle already knows", he added.

"The Grainger Market is the jewel in our city’s crown".

Newcastle City Council

A row of rundown houses in North Tyneside are being turned in to new affordable homes after being bought by the council.

The properties, on Charlotte Street in Wallsend, had been vandalised and were left uninhabitable after much of the interiors were ripped out.

It comes as the council now has new powers to charge a higher council tax premium to discourage landlords who let their properties fall into disrepair.

Police searching for an 87-year-old man who has been missing since Sunday believe he is in the Amble area of Northumberland.

Albert Gray has not been head from since leaving his house in Wideopen on Sunday morning.

Northumbria Police is increasingly concerned for his welfare.

It said it received a report he was seen getting off a bus at about 13:00 in Amble and heading towards the marina.

He is 5ft 10in, medium build, with short grey hair and is thought to be wearing a flat cap, black jacket and beige trousers and shoes.

NORTHUMBRIA POLICE

Lille's 20-year-old France midfielder Boubakary Soumare rejected a large January offer from Newcastle in the hope of sealing a move to Liverpool or Manchester United in the summer window. (Le10sport - in French)

It has also also been reported Soumare turned down Newcastle because he wasn't impressed with the club's training facilities after he was shown them in a video phone call. (Mail)

ALLSPORT/Getty Images

Two North East universities are to be hit by industrial action.

The University and College Union says the University of Durham and Newcastle University will be affected by 14 days of strike action in February and March.

The action will start on 20 February and will escalate each week, culminating with a week-long walkout from March 9 to March 13.

The strikes are over pay, working conditions and rising pension costs.

There'll be a few scattered showers early on, along with fresh to strong north-westerly winds.

As the day goes on it will then become dry with increasing sunny spells and the gusty winds will gradually ease.

Maximum temperatures should reach about 10C (50F).

BBC

Flights from Newcastle International Airport to Munich in Germany have begun today.

Airport officials believe the new service to be the most significant since Emirates Airways began using it.

The new flights are being operated by German state airline Lufthansa, which is the second largest airline in Europe.

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Two people remain under observation at a specialist treatment centre in Newcastle after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.

More than 240 calls have been made to a dedicated helpline in York after a student at the city's university was confirmed as having the disease.

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The University of York set up a call centre after confirming one of the first two confirmed UK cases of the virus was a student.

Both people are still being treated at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Meanwhile a plane carrying 11 Britons landed back from China yesterday.

Chris Hill from Sunderland, who moved to Wuhan in 2008, went against government advice to remain in the city, to be with his Chinese family.

He told BBC Newcastle the city, which remains in lockdown, is doing its best to get on with life.

A few hundred people walked down Newcastle's Northumberland Street to Monument as part of a vigil tonight.

The symbolic nature of today, the fact Boris Johnson brought the Cabinet to Sunderland has emphasised the centrality of the North East in this whole debate.

And that won't go away because although we are leaving the European Union there is still to be settled our future trading relationship with our biggest trading partner in the region, the European Union.

There will be pressure from businesses like Nissan to have as close a relationship as almost we have now to make it as easy as possible for them to sell their cars, pressure perhaps from Conservative MPS in the region that if we are leaving a club we don't like being members of we shouldn't necessarily stick with the rules afterwards.

Boris Johnson's biggest challenge is to prove these people at the vigil wrong, that Brexit will not be an historic blunder that will leave us lagging behind, that it can be coupled with an opportunity to make life better and make us wealthier in places like the North East and Cumbria.

BBC

A group of men who squirted a corrosive substance into the faces of two men are being sought by police.

The victims, who were approached outside the Cowgate and Blakelaw Royal British Legion Club in Newcastle, suffered eye and facial injuries.

It is not know what substance was used by the offenders, who then fled the scene in a car.

Anyone with information about the attack on Wednesday night is asked to contact Northumbria Police.

Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central, has been speaking after the first cases of the coronavirus were diagnosed in the UK, with two people from the same family being treated in the city.

She said:

Newcastle's RVI is a national centre for the isolation and treatment of infectious diseases which works to the highest standards.

I have spoken with them and I have been assured that Newcastle residents have no danger of infection from these two patients now that they have been isolated, or in their journey to Newcastle.

I wish them the very best for a speedy recovery. I understand that NHS England are working to identify those who may have been exposed elsewhere.

Anyone who thinks they may have been exposed or has symptoms should dial 111."

It's not uncommon to see people in Newcastle, particularly students, wearing face masks, but after the announcement today that the first two UK cases of coronavirus are being treated at the RVI, these images have a particular resonance.

The two patients are currently being treated by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in its specialist Airborne High Consequences Infectious Disease Centre (HCID).

It is understood that they travelled to the UK from China in recent days, had previously been staying at a hotel in Yorkshire.

Getty Images

Getty Images

Anyone who has been in contact with the two patients being treated in Newcastle for coronavirus should self-isolate for 14 days, Public Health England (PHE) has said.

Prof Sharon Peacock from PHE said if people develop any symptoms they are advised to call 111 or their GP.

She added that while staff are currently working to trace people who have been in contact with the pair, they do not currently have "any idea" of how high that number might be.

So to recap today's news: A specialist outbreak investigation team has been formed to trace anyone who has been in contact with two patients being treated in Newcastle after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Witty confirmed the first two cases of the virus in the UK had been transported to the infectious disease unit at Newcastle's RVI hospital.

The outbreak team will now find anyone who has been on contact with the pair to prevent the illness spreading.

Prof Whitty gave a few more details:

• The two patients are from the same family and are being treated at a specialist infectious disease centre in Newcastle
• Cases were reported overnight and transported to Newcastle
• He won’t reveal their gender or nationality or when they came into the UK
• The people they have come into contact with are being traced
• He believes the mortality rate from the new strain coronavirus is low at 2% - less than Sars at 10% and Ebola at 70%
• He is very confident in the ability of the NHS to manage the situation

He said: "The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread.

"We have been preparing for UK cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately."

Chris Witty

The chief medical officer for England has said the NHS is prepared for the coronavirus after two people being treated in Newcastle were confirmed as the first UK cases.

Prof Chris Whitty said: "The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread.

"We have been preparing for UK cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately," he added.

Prof Whitty said the UK was working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the international community as the outbreak in China develops "to ensure we are ready for all eventualities".

Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, said the possibility of further spread was "minimal" because the cases were caught early.

A specialist outbreak investigation team has been formed to trace anyone who has been in contact with the two patients in Newcastle diagnosed with coronavirus.

This morning the Chief Medical Officer Chris Witty confirmed the first two cases of the virus in the UK had been transported to the infectious disease unit at Newcastle's RVI hospital.

The outbreak team will now find anyone who has been on contact with the pair to prevent the illness spreading.

Chris Witty

This is not a surprise and is a moment the country has been preparing for.

The response now will be two-fold.

The first is to treat the patients while preventing any spread of the virus.

This is something specialist centres in the NHS have plenty of experience of - including when caring for patients that caught Ebola during the outbreak in west Africa in 2014.

The second is a massive feat of detective work to find out who these patients may have passed the virus on to.

Last night, doctors in Germany confirmed cases there had spread before people even developed symptoms.

Effective "contact tracing" is how the virus can be contained.

There is still much we do not know about these cases, but the situation in the UK is completely different to China where there are nearly 10,000 cases and the authorities are still trying to get on top of the outbreak.

A number of events are taking place around the country to mark the UK leaving the European Union after almost half a century.

Boris Johnson is assembling his government for a special cabinet meeting in Sunderland later - it was the first city to declare for leave in the 2016 referendum.

There will be various celebrations around the region, and landmarks in Sunderland and Newcastle will be lit up in red, white and blue.

Groups opposed to Brexit will be holding vigils at locations including Newcastle City Centre and next to the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough.

PA Media

Whether you voted leave or remain, this is a momentous date in our nation's history and it is only right that we mark it."

A collision involving three vehicles in Blaydon, with one reportedly on its side, could lead to traffic delays.

Ten people have been arrested and cannabis with a street value of £1m has been seized in a series of police raids across the North East.

Five homes and one industrial-sized cannabis farm were raided across Dunston and Swalwell last week, with police seizing more than 3,000 plants and £3,000 in cash.

A total of six men were arrested – four of which were discovered inside the industrial unit on Haugh Lane, Ryton, along with 1,680 plants.

A further three men and a woman were also arrested yesterday following raids in Newcastle City Centre, Byker and the East Denton area.

The arrested people, aged between 20 and 40, are from Vietnam, Poland and Lithuania. They have been released while investigations continue.

Northumbria Police

A sculpture made of 100,000 will go on display outside the Sage Gateshead later.

The Knife Angel has been built to raise awareness of the impact of knife crime.

It is made from knives which have been handed into police forces across England and Wales.

It was installed in Middlesbrough last summer and has been touring the country since.

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