Local News

Police have recovered two motorbikes which were stolen from a property in Redcar earlier this week;

MP for Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland Simon Clarke has slammed what he is describing as a "generic fob off" letter he has received from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in response to his campaign to release SSI Taskforce money for Boulby workers;

...and Police across Cleveland and Durham are taking part in a national a clampdown on drivers using their mobile phones, beginning on Monday.

Police have recovered two motorbikes which were stolen from a property in Redcar earlier this week.

The motorbikes were taken during the early hours of Tuesday from a garage on High Street West in Redcar.

One of the bikes was recovered by officers later that day after it was found abandoned in bushes on York Road in the town.

The second bike, a classic BSA Bantam was receovered from the Wilton Avenue area of Dormanstown yesterday.

Anyone with information about the thefts or those responsible is asked to contact Cleveland Police on the non-emergency number 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

MP for Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland Simon Clarke has slammed what he is describing as a "generic fob off" letter he has received from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in response to his campaign to release SSI Taskforce money for Boulby workers.

Simon raised the impact of Cleveland Potash job losses on local communities at Prime Minister's Questions last week. He asked the Prime Minister to look into whether remaining Taskforce funds can be repurposed to support workers leaving Boulby.

Mrs May said she would "look at the situation."

However, this week, the Conservative MP received a disappointing response from the Department claiming it is "not possible to extend specific retraining funds to non-SSI workers" as these are already committed.

Simon has since demanded the Minister Andrew Griffiths meets with him for emergency talks, and will travel down to London on Monday with Taskforce chair, Amanda Skelton CBE, to ask that they look at the issue again.

Police across Cleveland and Durham are taking part in a national a clampdown on drivers using their mobile phones, beginning on Monday. 

The week-long crackdown will take place ten months after the introduction of new legislation which means that drivers using a phone whilst at the wheel will receive six points on their licence and a £200 fine. 

Since the introduction of the new laws on 1st March last year, officers across Cleveland and Durham issued 454 tickets, compared to 698 tickets issued during the same period in 2016.

Research has found that being distracted by a phone while driving, regardless of whether it is being used to make calls, messages or going online can make a driver up to 25 times more likely to be involved in a collision.