The Press went along to the inaugural Acomb Open Gardens today (Sunday, May 31) and spoke to participants who were taking a break from showing ticket holders around their green spaces, as well as swapping tips.

The four-hour event sold all of its tickets with the aim of encouraging locals to experiment with their own gardens and showcase a variety of “real gardens, weeds included.”

There was an abundance of wildlife in Katherine Blaker’s front garden (Image: Kevin Glenton)

There were seed swaps, plants sales and proceeds from ticket sales are to be donated to Greater Acomb Community Forum and Acomb Explore Library.

The Fourm said this would support its volunteers’ planting work on Front Street in Acomb.

Organiser Katie Scott said the gardeners are very generous, and they want to share stories, as well as plants (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Organiser and participant Katie Scott said: “This is a group of very plant-focussed obsessives.

“Gardeners are very generous and they want to share stories, as well as plants.

“It’s not about “perfect” gardens – I keep my dandelions for guinea pig food.

“It’s an ongoing journey with nature.”

“The thing that we all have in common is that we all love Acomb.”

Katie said her cottage garden places its emphasis on perennials and roses.

Katie Scott’s cottage garden emphasises perennials and roses (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Sam Taylor and Tanya Stewart-Taylor have been tending their garden for forty years and are in there “all the time, with Sam adding that it acts as an “escape from reality.”

The space is estimated at 25 feet wide by 50 feet long (excluding the roof garden) and has space for sculptures, a biodome, a lodge, a woodland area and a potting area which is home to five frogs – Tanya said a pot per year has been added and the couple always find an excuse to add to the collection.

Steps leading to the woodland area of a garden roughly 25 feet wide by 50 feet across (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Katherine Blaker was hosting her very own garden party along with showing off her front garden, offering refreshments and cake, with those specific proceeds going to support non-profit Grow to Know, a gardening and social enterprise set up by former professional footballer Taysham Hayden-Smith.

Katherine Blaker replaced her front lawn was replaced with her own design for a gravel garden and deep, drought-tolerant planting (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Katherine replaced her front lawn with her own design and based it on a winter structure – a gravel garden with deep, drought-tolerant planting.

13 participants made up the sold-out Acomb Gardens 2026 across the same number of streets across a wide area.

Katie said proceeds after the event will be donated to the Greater Acomb Community Forum, with a portion given to Acomb Explore Library.

People were spotted enjoying the last day of May at Tynemouth Longsands beach and Cullercoats beach, with temperatures hitting a high of 20C today.

Pictures show paddleboarders out on the water as other beachgoers look on.

Other people took the good weather to do a spot of sunbathing and top up their tans while they can.

And two-year-old Finnley Daniels enjoyed an ice cream on the beach, making use of the warm weather.

The UK has experienced record temperatures this month, with the highest recorded coming at Heathrow, where temperatures reached 35C.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) put a yellow weather warning in place for the North East over the Bank Holiday weekend.

However, the good weather looks to be coming to an end, as most regions across the North East will be hit by rain next week.

In Darlington, Monday will see a grey and wet start, with rain becoming widespread across the area with heavy outbreaks possible during the afternoon and evening over western hills.

The maximum temperature will be 19C.

The Met Office said the rest of the week will see unsettled with spells of wet and windy weather with bands of rain moving through followed by brighter but showery interludes.

Temperatures will drop down to normal for the time of year.

OOH La La, Mon Ami et Marras!

‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ comes to Sunderland Empire for the best part of next month.

I loved the Baz Luhrman film but I’ve not seen the stage show. Maybe it’s time to Can Can my way to the West End of the North East and take in the wistful tail set in the sultry shadows of Montmartre and Le Sacré Coeur.

But what have the French ever done for ME? Well, I have always loved the sound of the rich, Gallic language, I’ve read EVERY Asterix adventure and j’adore la musique de Piaf et Charles Aznavour (my Dad used to call him Charles Az-No-Voice – sorry dad, you were wrong on this one; he was the French Sinatra).

I have also been learning Duolingo French since 2018 – unfortunately it doesn’t mean I can parlais French but my vocabulary is tres bonne!

So, in honour of a spectacular show coming to our region, if we may, we’ll go Francais in the column this week.

I give you the Magnifique Seven, North East, French Connections.

Un: Geordie campaigner Josephine Butler became famous all over Europe, especially in France, for making a stand against laws regulating prostitution. French feminists saw her as an icon after she visited in 1874. (Bonus connection as she was called ‘Josephine’, a name very much synonymous with French history. ‘Not tonight!’)

Deux: Crooner Sacha Distel played Newcastle Odeon in 1972. (Were you there?) Bizarre, bonus link – a Sacha Distel video played before Morrissey took to the stage at the Arena in Newcastle on the December 4, 2006.

Trois: The Tyne and Wear’s shipyards built vessels for clients all over the world, including France. There were long-standing industrial ties between North East yards and French ports like Saint-Nazaire.

Quatre: In a Christmas edition of the TV show Spender starring Jimmy Nail, the Geordie detective is sent to France to escort Tommy Thornton who has been extradited to the UK.

Cinq: Sunderland Football Club have a huge link with France through current owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, the Swiss-French businessman and manager Régis Le Bris. Newcastle of course will always remember, with affection, David Ginola, for his silky skills and his silkily shampooed hair in equal measure.

Six: Durham Cathedral is a masterpiece of Norman architecture – effectively an English evolution of French Romanesque styles brought over after the conquest of 1066.

Sept: Frenchman’s Bay in South Shields, is a small coastal viewpoint set into the cliffs between South Shields and Marsden. It might not be a beach you descend to for a day by the sea, but definitely a place to stop and look out over a rocky inlet to observe the pale cliffs and the North Sea beyond.

FACTS & FOOTNOTES

l Charles Aznavour played Newcastle City Hall in April 1978. Born in Paris to Armenian immigrants, Aznavour was a master song writer and a phenomenal story teller through his music.

l Alnwick in Northumberland is twinned with Lagny-sur-Marne, a commune in the eastern outer suburbs of Paris, while Stockton on Tees is twinned with Asnières-sur-Seine, a commune in Île-de-France, northern France.

l Moulin Rouge is at the Sunderland Empire from June 5 to 27. Best of luck to Marie Nixon and the tremendous team who run this magnificent theatre, a jewel in the crown of North East entertainment. Merci mes amis!

You can email Alfie via www.AlfieJoey.com and find some of his previous Echo articles there

May was another busy month for the Cambridgeshire courts

It’s almost half way through the year and it continues to be a busy time for Cambridgeshire courts. In May, there were more criminals put behind bars in Cambridgeshire for some sickening and heinous crimes.

Amongst those who were sent to jail include a man who stabbed another man over a car park dispute and another man who lured a 14-year-old boy to his home and sexually assaulted him. Here is a look at five criminals put behind bars in May.

Jameel Ali

A man approached Jameel Ali, 24, on New Year’s Eve in 2023 at a car park in Windmill Street, Peterborough. The man asked Ali to move his car forward so another vehicle could park on the street, but the two started to argue.

Ali headbutted the man and then stabbed him in the neck. The 24-year-old ran off and police were called.

The victim was found with a wound to his neck and later taken to hospital for treatment. Ali was arrested two days after the attack. Appearing at Cambridge Crown Court on May 15, he was sentenced to six years in prison.

Ben Sharpe

Ben Sharpe, 31, was visited by police at his home in Cambridge on January 31. He had previously been convicted of having indecent images of children in 2021.

Sharpe had to hand his phone over to police for officers to examine. The 31-year-old admitted to deleting some apps from the phone before he let officers into his home.

When officers examined the phone, they found 2,188 indecent images of children were stored on the device, as well as a cloud storage app.

At Peterborough Crown Court on May 21, he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison having pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching a SHPO, three counts of making indecent photographs of children and one count each of possessing a prohibited image of a child and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Liam Ellis

Liam Ellis, 25, was spotted on CCTV acting aggressively in Cambridge city centre on February 20. At around 10.24pm, he was seen riding a electric bike in Sidney Street, when he blocked a van in the road and punched the wing mirror.

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A minute later, he started to scream in the faces of people. At 10.27pm, he rode into King Street and fell of his bike, and was approached by a group of people outside a pub. He grabbed one of the men and held a knife to his neck, before pointing it at others in the group.

He was later arrested. On May 19 at Huntingdon Crown Court, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

Darren Moore

Darren Moore, 57, started to talk to a 14-year-old boy online in early 2024 and turned the conversation sexual. Moore sent explicit photos of himself, and also described sexual acts that he wanted to perform on the victim in person.

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The 57-year-old convinced the victim to travel to his flat in Ely after school. The victim agreed and spent the evening at Moore’s flat, where he was sexually abused.

The teenager’s mum got worried when he didn’t return home. When he did return home, he told his parents what happened and the police were called.

Moore appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on May 21 and was jailed for 10 years after admitting to one count of inciting a boy aged 13-15 to engage in sexual activity, two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a boy aged 13-15, one count of grooming, and one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Robert Clark

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Robert Clark, 47, sexually assaulted a girl under 13 over a 12-month period between 2020 and 2021. The abuse came to light when the victim told her mum and it was reported to police.

Following a trial, Clark was found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child under 13 years old. He was sentenced to five and a half years in prison after appearing at Cambridge Crown Court on May 8.

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After Laura’s exclusive interview, she’s joined by Henry and Joe to discuss what Nicola Sturgeon had to say about her estranged husband Peter Murrell’s guilty plea to embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP – as well as the political and public reaction to her words.

Hear the full length interview on the previous episode of Newscast.

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Shirley Ballas has reportedly risked incurring the wrath of BBC bosses after an appearance on a Strictly Come Dancing-themed cruise trip.

It has been claimed that the 65-year-old head judge was paid over £10,000 to host the seven-day voyage from Southampton to Norway.

During the Virtuosa trip, which is run by MSC Cruises, elements of the Strictly live shows are said to have been so faithfully recreated that passengers felt they could have been watching an instalment of the BBC show.

The cruise, which priced packages from £599 per person, reportedly advertised that Ballas would be ‘bringing Strictly glamour’ to the luxury liner, which set off on the high seas earlier this month.

During the voyage, Ballas was introduced while the Strictly theme tune played, which the Daily Mail has claimed was not approved or licensed by the BBC.

Ballas also presided over a dance competition and scored contestants with paddles, much like she does for her job on the BBC show. She was also said to have worn a diamante suit which was made for Strictly. 

One passenger told the publication: ‘It was like watching an episode of Strictly, there were so many similarities.’

The dance legend reportedly delivered critiques on footwork and timing, while other activities on offer to passengers included a dance masterclass, which was described as a replication of the rehearsals in the lead-up to the Strictly live shows.

Ballas’s appearance duties on the cruise are also said to have included a storytelling Q+A with behind-the-scenes tidbits from Strictly and a meet-and-greet.

In the cruise marketing materials, the voyage was billed as a ‘Strictly-style holiday’ and promised to deliver Ballas’s ‘energy, style and sparkle’ at sea.

However, the appearance might have been in breach of the BBC’s strict editorial guidelines, which state that promotional work involving licence fee-funded talent must not ‘imitate, suggest a reference or connection to or pass off BBC content’.

This includes ‘replicating any editorial elements of a programme’ and must not ‘suggest BBC endorsement’. 

Such rules landed DIY SOS star Nick Knowles in hot water in 2021, when he appeared in a Shreddies advert dressed as a builder. This was deemed by the BBC to have been a breach of contract. 

License fee-funded talent must also declare any commercial interests which are connected with programmes that they present.

A BBC spokesperson told Metro: ‘We have clear guidelines around an individual’s commercial activities while working with the BBC, and they are regularly reminded of these guidelines.’

Ballas is set to return this autumn as head judge, despite causing fears among fans that she might be exiting amid a new spin-off show she is judging with her son Mark for Dancing on Ice.

Metro contacted Shirley Ballas’s representative for comment on this story.

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If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

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“When officers came back to their car, someone was in the driver’s seat and drove the car directly at an officer who fired his weapon at him”

An officer fired his weapon at a man who was driving a stolen police car toward him moments before he was hit by the vehicle, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable has said.

Police have launched an attempted murder investigation following the incident which took place at around 4.45am on Sunday, May 31, in the Model Farm estate in Downpatrick.

It is reported that a vehicle failed to stop for officers in Fountain Street and was then located in the Ballymote Walk area where a man was seen running away towards Colmcille Road and chased by police. When officers came back to their car, they say someone was in the driver’s seat and drove the car directly at an officer who fired his weapon at him. The officer was then hit by the vehicle and suffered serious injuries.

The police car was later abandoned with a 27-year-old being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody at this time.

Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said: “At approximately 4.45am this morning, Sunday 31st May, a vehicle failed to stop for police in the Fountain Street area – it was later located in the Ballymote Walk area.

“Officers observed a man running from the vehicle and a foot pursuit ensued towards the Colmcille Road. As officers returned to their police car, someone was in the driver’s seat – driving erratically and directly towards an officer. The officer discharged one round from his firearm.

“The officer was struck by the vehicle – causing serious injuries. The vehicle was subsequently abandoned a short time later. The suspect made off from the scene.

“Urgent medical treatment was provided at the scene by police colleagues, who were also supported by members of the local community. The officer was taken to hospital by colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service for treatment to his injuries believed to be serious, but thankfully not life-threatening at this time.

“As part of our enquiries, a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody at this time.”

The police vehicle, officer’s weapon and ammunition have all been recovered and removed for forensic examination.

Assistant Chief Constable Jones continued: “As is standard procedure when a police firearm is drawn, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has been informed – and their enquiries are ongoing.

“Officers put themselves on the front line to help keep people safe – they do not deserve to be assaulted for simply doing their job, and today’s incident is a stark reminder of the dangers they face.

“Our thoughts are with the officer as he receives ongoing medical treatment today for his injuries in hospital. And we will continue to support him and his family.

“This would have been a terrifying experience for the officer and also his colleagues – with the clear potential to cause life-changing or even fatal injuries. Actions were taken this morning in defence of life to protect himself and fellow officers.

“Detectives from our Serious Crime branch have now launched an attempted murder investigation – with their enquiries continuing at pace.

“We would ask anyone who has information, or who has CCTV, dash-cam or other footage of what happened to contact police on 101 quoting reference number 317 31/05/26. A report can also be made online via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport.

“Alternatively, information can be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.”

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