Martin Lindsay

Apr 3, 2024 | bbc.co.uk | Martin Lindsay |Calum Grewar

Councils are struggling to pay soaring repair bills for bridges which are closed or at risk of becoming dangerous, a councillor has warned. Fixing smaller bridges across the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria will cost £17m in the next year, up £2.5m from the previous 12 months. Residents told the BBC they face long detours because of ongoing closures with some resorting to using boats. The Department for Levelling Up said it was increasing funding to councils.

Mar 7, 2024 | yahoo.com | Martin Lindsay |Cumbria investigations

"Feral" gangs of masked teenagers are terrorising communities in areas of the north-east of England. The BBC has been told low level, anti-social behaviour (ASB) has escalated into serious and violent crime with one town described as “lawless". New figures revealed that 40,800 reports went unattended by police in the region last year – an average of 111 calls every day. Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness said the response was "not good enough".

Mar 7, 2024 | ca.news.yahoo.com | Martin Lindsay |Cumbria investigations

"Feral" gangs of masked teenagers are terrorising communities in areas of the north-east of England. The BBC has been told low level, anti-social behaviour (ASB) has escalated into serious and violent crime with one town described as “lawless". New figures revealed that 40,800 reports went unattended by police in the region last year – an average of 111 calls every day. Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness said the response was "not good enough".

Jan 23, 2024 | bbc.co.uk | Martin Lindsay

Clients of a law firm have said they are in a "legal nightmare" almost three years after it went out of business. McClure solicitors had tens of thousands of clients across Britain. Its collapse in 2021 meant some people with homes in trusts struggled to sell them while others spent thousands of pounds in legal costs. A former director at McClure said it was an ethical business and the Solicitors Regulation Authority said it was "looking into complaints".

Jan 16, 2024 | bbc.co.uk | Martin Lindsay

After 14-year-old Gordon Gault was killed with a machete, and with figures showing a rise in knife crime across the north-east of England, the BBC has been speaking to another teenage stabbing victim. Yazan was attacked with a "kitchen knife" by a group in Newcastle in May last year and has been left with a scar above his ankle. The teenager, originally from Syria, fled the war in his home country with his parents and arrived in the UK in 2016. A scar on his eyebrow is from a bomb explosion.