BBC Local Live: North East England

Well, that's all from us for another day.

You can catch up with the latest news tonight on BBC Tees, BBC Newcastle, Look North and online.

Get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, or via email at northeast.locallive@bbc.co.uk.

We'll be back tomorrow from 08:00 and hope to see you then.

Menacing seagulls are causing such havoc in Britain that vigilantes are arming themselves with guns and launching their own culls, an MP has said.

Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan said locals have been "wandering the streets" of the town to kill the birds.

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Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate, she said: "In Berwick-upon-Tweed, my constituency, we are plagued with the seagull problem, to the point that last summer someone took it upon themselves to institute their own cull, which, while appreciated in some quarters, brought the risk that people are having to take the law into their own hands to deal with these really difficult and aggressive birds. 

"Which means there are people wandering the streets of Berwick with firearms who really shouldn't be doing so."

Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has responded to a call for the area's police force to be scrapped.

As we told you earlier, Ben Houchen, the Conservative candidate for the role of Tees Valley mayor, says it should be scrapped because it has "lost all credibility".

However, PCC Barry Coppinger, who has responsibility for policing, is against abolition or a merger with other areas - arguing it would take control away from the Teesside conurbation and its surrounding villages.

He said: "I recognise the seriousness of the mistakes that were made in the past, but to scrap an entire police force because of the actions of a tiny number of officers makes no sense."

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Newcastle United have confirmed season ticket prices for next season will be frozen - regardless of whether the club wins promotion to the Premier League.

The Magpies returned to the top of the Championship at the weekend thanks to a 1-0 over Derby County, with Matt Ritchie on the scoresheet.

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The club said it will be in touch with supporters on long-term price freeze deals later this week to confirm their price schedule for the 2017/18 season and those on one-year and half-season deals will be able to renew at the current one-year price later in the season.  

The man accused of murdering Northumberland-born children's author Helen Bailey sent a barrage of texts while she was missing, begging her to return or contact the police, a court has heard.

Ian Stewart, 56, began sending messages to his fiancee's phone a week after her disappearance in April 2016, St Albans Crown Court heard.

Her body was found three months later in a cesspit at the home they shared in Royston, Hertfordshire.

The prosecution alleges Mr Stewart murdered the Electra Brown writer for her money. She was worth more than £3.3m at the time of her death, the court heard. Mr Stewart denies her murder.

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A park in South Tyneside needs some pals to be in with a chance of a £2.45m revamp.

North Marine Park, in South Shields, has already been given a grant of £194,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, but needs to drum up more volunteers for the extra cash to restore the Victorian park back to its former grandeur.

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A trusted worker pocketed thousands of pounds from a Newcastle travel agent after only being in the job for a few months. Ffion Kidd was an employee at Thomson, on Northumberland Street, when she stole the money over an 18-day period.

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The Conservative candidate for the role of Tees Valley mayor is calling for Cleveland Police to be abolished because he claims it has lost all credibility.

The force has been rocked by several scandals in recent years and only last week was found to have acted unlawfully in monitoring the phones of two of its former officers.

The new mayor will not be responsible for policing as that is the job of the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner. But Ben Houchen says if he becomes mayor he will set up an independent commission to decide what the new structure of Cleveland Police should be.

There are three other candidates standing - Sue Jeffrey for Labour, John Tennant for UKIP and and John Tait for the North East Party. Voting takes place on 4 May.

If you're looking for a new job and have an interest in the great outdoors, then perhaps this is the role for you - the National Trust is looking for a new ranger to work on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast.

There is no running water and storms can leave rangers "marooned" on the islands for weeks at a time.

Don't flap, but today is the last day to apply!

A wealthy businessman behind the Greggs bakery chain has gone on trial accused of sex offences against boys.

Colin Gregg, 75, from Gosforth in Newcastle, is alleged to have indecently assaulted boys aged between 10 and 14 over three decades from 1963.

Today, a jury at Leeds Crown Court was told Gregg - a former teacher and charity worker - "exploited his position in society to perpetrate abuse". He denies the charges.

Hartlepool has one of the highest rates of couch potatoes in the country according to a national survey.

New figures published by Sport England, which is part of the Department of Health, show that over a quarter of adults in town do less than 30 minutes of exercise a week.

Police say they are checking CCTV footage after a woman was "glassed" in a Newcastle bar.

The 29-year-old needed stitches after suffering a wound to her forehead and nose in Livello, at Side, at about 23:00 on Saturday.

The victim was with her partner and friends when a row broke out after a drink was spilled.  

Her attacker was white, in her late 20s or early 30s and about 5ft 5in (1.65m). She had long, straight dark hair, dark clothing and was wearing "quite a lot of make-up", officers said.

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The birthplace of one of the region's railway engineering giants has been closed to visitors.

George Stephenson's cottage at Wylam, in the Tyne Valley, has been shut by its owners, the National Trust.

It's been open to the public for nearly 70 years, but local historians say it's been closed without consultation. The trust says it's a "temporary measure".

We'll have more on this in Look North on BBC1 at 18:30. 

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Industry leaders on Teesside say carbon capture and storage will be a fraction of the cost of other carbon-cutting technologies.

In a new report, the Teesside Collective says the scheme would transform the area's economy and would be central to the UK's industrial strategy.

Carbon capture and storage would take harmful CO2 emissions and store them in rocks under the North Sea. That would save local firms huge sums of money in green taxes, they claim.

Now the Teesside Collective has issued a report on the price of the programme. It claims it would cost just under £60 for every tonne of carbon dioxide reduced. That's about half of what it costs to reduce CO2 emissions in new nuclear energy and less than a third of the cost in offshore wind technology.

It's urging the Government to adopt carbon capture and storage if it's to meet its carbon reduction obligations.

Sunderland manager David Moyes has sent scouts to watch 21-year-old Southampton striker Sam Gallagher twice in one week.  

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The youngster is spending the season on loan at Blackburn and has impressed in the second tier, netting 11 goals so far for Owen Coyle’s side.