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Emergency services rushed to Wreford’s Farm in Shotton Colliery
The incident is not being treated as suspicious and will now be handed over to the coroner
A North East Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called to an incident at Shotton Colliery in County Durham on Sunday 27 April at 10.17
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last Sunday 27/4/25 a woman lost her life after a parachute incident/accident
"We dispatched one ambulance crew and one specialist paramedic to the incident."
This marks the third fatal skydiving incident in the Peterlee area in the last nine years
Sam Cornwell died when his parachute failed to open during a jump at the South West Industrial Estate last year
He had been working as a videographer for Sky-High Skydiving Peterlee at the time
died while taking part in a charity skydive at Peterlee Parachute Centre
Wreford's Farm describes itself as a "small
family run farm" which produces pork and beef
A Facebook post from the farm read: "Tragically
please join us in saying a prayer for her and her family
we ask the Lord to accept her into the kingdom of heaven and strength to her family
"We ask for our own and farms privacy for this deeply upsetting matter to be respected
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Police and colleagues from the North East Ambulance Service were called to the incident in Shotton Colliery, near Peterlee
Durham Police have said that “her death is not being treated as suspicious" and that a file will now be prepared for the coroner.
She was on the skydive with Peterlee-based Sky-High Skydiving. In a statement, the firm said: “It is with great sadness that we confirm a tragic incident took place on April 28 2025 involving a valued member of our community.”
It added: “This heartbreaking news has deeply affected all who knew her, and our thoughts are with her family and friends as they face this unimaginable loss.
“At this incredibly difficult time, we ask for privacy and compassion for those grieving.”
In a statement posted on Wreford’s Farm's facebook, where the incident took place, they said: “Tragically, last Sunday a woman lost her life after a parachute incident/accident.
“Please join us in saying a prayer for her and her family, we ask the Lord to accept her into the kingdom of heaven and strength to her family.
“We ask for our own and farm’s privacy for this deeply upsetting matter to be respected. God bless.”
Another fatality involving the same company occurred in April 2024.
Sam Cornwell died when his parachute failed to open during a jump at the South West Industrial Estate.
The 46-year-old had been working as a videographer for Sky-High Skydiving Peterlee at the time.
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behaviour and training services before being banned from keeping animals for a year after multiple dogs were found living in filthy conditions in her home
Inspectors from the RSPCA, accompanied by police, entered the 30-year-old's house in Peterlee on 3 September 2024
Some of the floors of her property at Bourne Street were not visible because of the huge amounts of faeces and rubbish.11 dogs were removed because of the squalid and unhygienic conditions they were living in
Two of the 11 dogs found inside the house were being boarded there while their owners were on holiday
and others required urgent veterinary intervention for untreated wounds
RSCPA officers had said upon entering her property
they were nearly sick because of the smell of ammonia
Critchlow was given a banning order after pleading guilty to one Animal Welfare Act offence at a hearing at Peterlee Magistrates' Court on Wednesday 2 April
Critchlow had previously agreed with the police to give the RSPCA access to see the dogs on 18 August
but she had failed to show up twice for scheduled appointments on the day
Further visits were made until Critchlow’s van was seen outside the property in September
She allowed the RSPCA inspector and the police inside and the dogs were seized on animal welfare grounds.In her written statement to the court
Inspector Rowena Proctor said: “The conditions inside were deplorable and some of the worst I have ever seen in eight years with the RSPCA.“The living room was almost beyond description with floorboards not attached and sitting on top of several feet of dirt
which all looked like it had been pushed to one side to create a walkway of some sort
"The stairs were littered in faeces which had been crushed into the carpets
presumably by the dogs and Hannah walking on it
The upstairs landing area had almost no visible floor as again
it was littered in faeces and this spread into the spare room."
Further RSPCA officers arrived to help transport the dogs to a local veterinary practice
Seven of them were given a body condition score of two out of nine
on a scale where one is emaciated and nine is obese.The vet who examined them said six of the group had clear signs of dermatitis with hair loss and reddening
had multiple sores on his body and the pads of his feet
the vet who examined the dogs said: “After viewing the images of the living conditions they were found in
it is my opinion that they were unhygienic
This environment was not suitable for a dog to be kept in."
During the investigation the RSPCA was told Critchlow ran a business called UpDog Walking
Training & Behaviour and also fostered dogs
a whippet and two malinois - belonged to Critchlow
were being home boarded by her while their owners were on holiday
The court was told that Critchlow was effectively living at the house at the time and had poor mental health
She had no previous convictions and had worked for 10 years looking after dogs at a private kennels before setting up her business.Her solicitor said that if she was disqualified for any period of time she would go out of business and therefore a ban would be disproportionate to the offence
was also fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £250 and an £80 victim surcharge
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Everflow chief executivePeterlee-based Everflow has announced its financial figures for 2024
the UK’s leading multi-utility provider for businesses
drove double figure revenue growth in 2024 and saw the business further diversify its service offering by entering the Telecommunications market
Revenues increased by 21% to over £186 million while its EBITDA surged 572% from 2023 to £5 million
Demonstrating the strength of Everflow’s customer-centric approach
up from 94,431 in 2024 to 110,411 in 2025 and maintained healthy customer retention rates of approximately 98%
As the UK’s fastest growing water supplier and the first to go carbon neutral
Everflow continued to gain market share in the sector
overtaking two incumbent suppliers for the first time to become the 5th largest water supplier
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A WOMAN has died after a horror skydiving accident at a UK farm
Emergency services were called to Wreford's Farm, in County Durham
which operates from the nearby Peterlee Airfield
They said: “It is with great sadness that we confirm a tragic incident took place on April 28
involving a valued member of our community
“This heartbreaking news has deeply affected all who knew her
and our thoughts are with her family and friends as they face this unimaginable loss
we ask for privacy and compassion for those grieving.”
A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary added: “A woman has sadly died following a skydiving incident near Peterlee.
a woman in her thirties was pronounced dead at the scene
Her death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will now be prepared for the coroner.”
A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We were called to an incident at Shotton Colliery in County Durham on Sunday 27 April at 10:17
“We dispatched one ambulance crew and one specialist paramedic to the incident."
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will relocate to a new purpose-built 3,745 square foot building on Passfield Way Retail Park
The move will see the practice change its name to White Oak Vets
The new site will allow the practice to increase the number of clients it serves and expand the range of clinical services it offers
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After provisionally the warmest May Day on record in the UK
higher than average temperatures will subside over the weekend
Environment Agency
Updated: 11:35 (UTC+1) on Tue 6 May 2025
Some high level cloud turning the sunshine hazy at times
Staying dry with some lengthy clear skies overnight
Turning chilly with a touch of grass frost in places
with variable amounts of cloud and sunny spells on Wednesday
Fine and settled weather conditions are expected to continue with variable cloud and bright or sunny spells throughout
Dry across the vast majority of the UK with clear or sunny spells but also some patchy cloud
Cloud will likely thicken across the far north and northwest during the weekend with some outbreaks of rain for a time
There is also a small risk of some heavy showers in the far south or southwest
high pressure will be dominant across the UK
This will bring predominantly fine and dry weather for the majority of places
Temperatures are likely to be slightly above normal for the time of year
although there is a chance of some cold nights
Fairly typical weather for the time of year is most likely through this period
fine and dry weather is more likely to dominate although this will be interspersed with occasional spells of rain and showers
with a risk of heavy rain and thunderstorms in places
temperatures will most likely be near to or slightly above average
A County Durham firm has won a contract to produce electric batteries for a newly developed flying car
Alexander Battery Technologies in Peterlee will make the batteries for the Jetson which can travel at over 60 miles per hour
Special lightweight batteries were developed by the company for the flying car which can make journeys of up to 15 minutes