Latest news with #Billingham
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
'Low demand' bus route dropped after three months
An "isolated" community is to lose its first bus to a nearby town in a decade after only three months of operation. The number 68 from Port Clarence to Billingham and the University Hospital of North Tees was introduced on a trial basis in February. However operator Stagecoach announced the service will end after next week's half-term holiday because of low demand. It said it brought in just £12.58 a day and four people per trip, while running costs were in excess of £80 a day. Councillor Katie Weston, Labour member for Billingham South, said she did not blame the company but called for changes to help remote communities access public transport. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "There's a lot of kids who aren't doing anything after school because they literally can't get back, they rely on the school bus. "And people doing their shopping, going to the doctors, because Billingham is their town centre." After meetings with Stagecoach the service, which had not run for a decade, was brought back on a trial basis. "We thought we'd try and get enough people to use it, then we might be able to build on it and they might be able to put more times in place", Weston said. "The passenger numbers aren't high enough for Stagecoach to be financially viable. "It's a private company that at the very least needs to break even to run that service. "Less than half of the population of Port Clarence has access to a car, so it does leave them very isolated, socially and economically. "What they need is an actual proper regular bus service and, given the current system that we have, it's just not going to happen. A Stagecoach spokesperson said: "This trial was undertaken in good faith and at Stagecoach's commercial risk. "Unfortunately, across the first six weeks of operation, service 68 has carried an average of four people per trip, with a total revenue of £12.58 each day. "Labour costs alone for operating these trips has been around £80 per day - this is before fuel and vehicle costs are factored. "With such low demand, it was determined the trial could not be extended." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Stagecoach
BBC News
24-05-2025
- BBC News
New Port Clarence bus service dropped due to low demand
An "isolated" community is to lose its first bus to a nearby town in a decade after only three months of number 68 from Port Clarence to Billingham and the University Hospital of North Tees was introduced on a trial basis in February. However operator Stagecoach announced the service will end after next week's half-term holiday because of low demand. It said it brought in just £12.58 a day and four people per trip, while running costs were in excess of £80 a Katie Weston, Labour member for Billingham South, said she did not blame the company but called for changes to help remote communities access public transport. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "There's a lot of kids who aren't doing anything after school because they literally can't get back, they rely on the school bus. "And people doing their shopping, going to the doctors, because Billingham is their town centre." 'Financially viable' After meetings with Stagecoach the service, which had not run for a decade, was brought back on a trial basis."We thought we'd try and get enough people to use it, then we might be able to build on it and they might be able to put more times in place", Weston said."The passenger numbers aren't high enough for Stagecoach to be financially viable. "It's a private company that at the very least needs to break even to run that service."Less than half of the population of Port Clarence has access to a car, so it does leave them very isolated, socially and economically."What they need is an actual proper regular bus service and, given the current system that we have, it's just not going to happen. A Stagecoach spokesperson said: "This trial was undertaken in good faith and at Stagecoach's commercial risk."Unfortunately, across the first six weeks of operation, service 68 has carried an average of four people per trip, with a total revenue of £12.58 each day. "Labour costs alone for operating these trips has been around £80 per day - this is before fuel and vehicle costs are factored. "With such low demand, it was determined the trial could not be extended." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Every parent's worst nightmare: Fears naive young Brits partying in Thailand are being targeted by gangs and duped into becoming drug mules after two women are 'caught smuggling narcotics'
The quickfire arrests of two young British women alleged to have been hauling huge quantities of illegal drugs from Thailand have stoked fears naïve holidaymakers are being targeted by local gangs to work as drug mules. Eighteen-year-old Bella Culley, from Billingham, Teesside, was arrested in Georgia on May 11, alleged to have been caught trying to bring some £200,000 worth of cannabis and hashish into the country via the UAE after an apparent leisure trip to Thailand. Culley has yet to tell her lawyer how she came to be in possession of the narcotics. Soon after, it emerged that a British former cabin crew member, 21-year-old Charlotte May Lee, had been arrested in Sri Lanka, accused of trying to bring 46kg of cannabis into the country - again, from Thailand. The Mail revealed that Culley had told a source close to her legal case that she had flown to the South East Asian country 'for love', but has still 'said nothing about why she had the drugs'. Lee is understood to have travelled to Thailand for her birthday in April before stopping back in the U.K. She mentioned having found a 'job on a boat', but did not tell friends she was planning to return. How and why she ended up in Colombo, Sri Lanka, allegedly with bags of vacuum-packed cannabis, remains a mystery. Relatives say she, too, had made vague comments about meeting a man in Thailand, The Sun reports. She left Bangkok Airport within hours of Culley. Jemal Janashia, a former police general in Georgia and one of the country's top drug crime experts, told the Mail that local investigators will be keen to explore 'the possibility of a link' between the two cases - and, hauntingly, 'that Thai gangs may be attempting to recruit vulnerable British travellers'. 'The fact that two young British women have taken off with large quantities of drugs from the same airport will interest investigators,' Mr Janashia told the Mail. 'They will be concerned about the possibility of a link and that Thai gangs may be attempting to recruit vulnerable British travellers.' Mr Janashia, who used to head Georgia's national bureau for combating drug trafficking, said that a police crackdown on postal drug deliveries in Thailand may have pushed 'the cartel' to seek alternative smuggling routes. 'Georgia does look like an attractive middle transit point,' he suggested, close to Europe and visa free for European travellers. Noting that Miss Culley was 18, foreign to Thailand and pregnant, and suggesting she may have been used as a pawn in a complex trafficking operation, he said that 'whoever chose her, they knew what they were doing'. He told the Mirror that he would advise Miss Culley to cooperate with the investigation and 'indicate who were the youths that she was in touch with in Thailand' - and a fixer in Georgia, if there was one. Bella was arrested at Tbilisi Airport on May 11 and found with 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish after getting a £550 Air Arabia flight from Bangkok via Sharjah. But Mr Janashia, who now teaches at the Georgian Technical University, said Miss Culley did not fit the typical profile of an international drug trafficker. It does not appear she has any previous experience in drug trafficking - something investigators will try to understand and explore in the coming weeks. Miss Lee is also a young British traveller who appeared to be visiting Thailand for leisure after reportedly going through a painful break up. The 21-year-old, who had been working on a 'booze cruise' in Thailand before her visa in the country ran out, this week strongly denied any knowledge of the £1.2million stash in her bag She told MailOnline from behind bars in Negombo Prison, where she is currently being held on reprimand: 'I had never seen them before. I didn't expect it at all when they pulled me over in the airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff.' She decided to go to the country because it was relatively nearby - only a three-hour flight away - and she had never visited there before. 'I thought while I was waiting for the visa that I'd come to Sri Lanka. 'They [the people she believed planted the drugs] were supposed to meet me here. But now I'm here - stuck in this jail.' And she added: 'I know who did it.' Both women are said to have told friends and family they were meeting a man abroad. Both women departed from the Thai capital during the Royal Ploughing Ceremony weekend. It is one of the busiest festivals of the year when airports are overloaded with tourists - a prime opportunity for gangs to try to push through mules. The story is not unique. In recent months, dozens of British nationals have been stopped at borders, accused of trying to bring huge quantities of cannabis into the country. In the space of just two weeks of last year, more than 260kg of cannabis was found in suitcases at UK airports, carried by passengers arriving from Bangkok, SCMP reports. By October 2024, British ports and airports were recording a record surge in drug seizures smuggled in from the country. The trend appears to date back to the decriminalisation of most cannabis in Thailand in 2022. Since then, there has been a correlated hike in shipments to the U.K. The Home Office took note, and a partnership between UK Border Force and Thai customs helped bring down cannabis arrivals by post by 90 per cent in the first three months of this year. Minister for Citizenship and Migration, Seema Malhotra said last month: 'By stopping these drugs at source, we're disrupting organised crime, protecting communities, and freeing Border Force to focus on other priorities.' The fear is that, now, gangs could be looking to circumvent the border crackdown by recruiting naïve young holidaymakers to move drugs across the border for them personally. Some 800 people, including as many as 50 British nationals, were 'intercepted' between October 2024 and March 2025. More than nine tonnes of cannabis have been seized, according to the Home Office. Only last month, authorities in Thailand showed off how they arrested the alleged ringleader of a drug smuggling group operating out of the country. Adel Mohammed, a British national, was accused of running a network of Brits picking up marijuana from farms on Koh Samui island, of White Lotus fame, to be moved on to the capital. Mr Mohammed was arrested on April 12 at an apartment in Bangkok, as police said they had caught nearly a dozen Brits, a Malaysian, a Dutch and a Romanian national who they believe were involved in a complex network. 'They were planning to smuggle cannabis buds out of the country via Samui International Airport,' Major General Natthakorn Prapayont, Deputy Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said at the time. A month prior, Darryl Poole, from Camden, was detained at an airport, alleged to have been part of the same ring. Koh Samui, said to have ideal conditions for growing cannabis, has featured several times in newspaper headlines for the wrong reasons. On March 15, four British tourists were arrested boarding a plane on the island, allegedly found with £1.7mn worth of cannabis. Customs officers said they found eight suitcases between the four men stuffed full of vacuum-sealed bags. Antony Paul Mudd, 62, from London, Billy Daniel Harman, 36, from Newham, Philip Edward Goldstone, 63, from West Ham, and John George Canning, 34, from London were identified by police. A police spokesman said at the time: 'The suspects claimed they were hired by an employer abroad to travel to Thailand and smuggle cannabis out of the country. 'The employer arranged for travel tickets and accommodation for them, and they would receive the cannabis-packed suitcases at their hotels. 'They travelled to Koh Samui through a domestic flight from Bangkok. The alleged smugglers' were flying to Singapore with their final destination being London in England.' The case is exceptional in the suspects all being slightly older. In recent months, it has predominantly been young people - teenagers or those in their early 20s - who have been nabbed at customs with huge quantities of drugs, accused of involvement in smuggling. Police in Croatia saw an irregularity before arresting a 21-year-old roofer with 39 bags of cannabis, also neatly vacuum packed, at customs in Zagreb earlier this year. The man, who was not named, claimed to have no idea how he had ended up with 23kg of marijuana. He was revealed to have travelled from Thailand to the Croatian capital via Istanbul before sniffer dogs sounded the alarm. Often, police in Thailand intervene before the drugs leave the country. On March 4, British tourist Luziela Aaliyah Carvalho, 19, was allegedly caught with 35kg (80lbs) of marijuana while trying to board a plane at the Chiang Mai International Airport in Thailand. She was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong before taking a second flight to London on Cathay Pacific flight CX 251 before officers allegedly detected the contraband in her luggage and arrested her. National Crime Agency Branch Commander Andy Noyes suggested at the time that the arrests of 11 people accused of trying to bring drugs into the UK had been ensnared in a trafficking operation. 'The gangs behind this trafficking don't care about those who get caught – they just want their money,' he said. 'If you try to smuggle drugs into the UK, you will be arrested, and you will spend time in prison.' Experts on drug trafficking - and indeed the family of Miss Culley - believe that she, too, may have been exploited by one of the gangs during a leisure trip to Thailand. Miss Culley is said to have told legal sources that she was in love with an unknown man who now forms a central part of the police investigation. On socials, Miss Culley told the world that she did not want to have a 'boring' life and was 'hungry for success'. Online, she referred to herself as part of 'Bonnie and Clyde' and shared images of herself with wads of bank notes. But family agreed that the idea she had willingly involved herself in a complex foreign drug trafficking scheme was preposterous. 'She's not daft,' her grandfather William Culley, 80, argued. 'She's an intelligent girl. Why has she done it? Has someone dangled money in front of her? 'We are just hoping that someone can do something. She must be terrified. She's got sucked into something, somehow,' he told reporters. 'She's not an international drug trafficker. She was just going on holiday.' Later, he recalled a vague conversation he'd had with his daughter Lyanne Kennedy – Bella's mother – about how she had gone off to Thailand to meet someone called Ross or Russ. He couldn't be certain. These details are expected to be combed through in court as investigators work to unpick how an 18-year-old with her sights on becoming a nurse ended up journeying from the U.K. to Thailand to Georgia, allegedly with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cannabis. Likewise, investigators have been stumped by the arrival of a British 21-year-old former cabin crew member in Sri Lanka, allegedly carrying 46kg of cannabis in her luggage. Charlotte May Lee, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was detained in Colombo on May 12, a day after Miss Culley was stopped in Georgia. Officials from the Customs Narcotics Control Unit in the airport said they had found with Miss Lee the largest amount of Kush, a quality strain of cannabis, ever to be detected since the international hub opened. Sources close to the investigation said the 'massive consignment' is worth around 460 million Sri Lankan rupees - about £1,150,000. The drugs, which have now been seized, were allegedly found 'tightly packed in luggage' and are believed to have been intended for 'high-end local buyers'. Miss Lee has been remanded to custody while the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) investigates the case and potential legal action, according to local reporters. According to friends, Miss Lee first flew out to Thailand in April to celebrate her 21st birthday with her older sister. She then returned to Coulsdon and told friends she 'loved Thailand and wanted to work out there'. She had said that she had found 'a job on a boat' a few weeks before her arrest, but did not voice plans to return. So it came as a surprise when she started posting photos of herself partying abroad in Thailand, days before her arrest. Upon news of her arrest, friends were equally shocked. 'I couldn't believe it. She's a hard worker and a grafter,' one said. 'We are shocked. I am in total shock. She's a nice girl.' 'There were no red flags or anything,' another said. Again, it is unclear why Miss Lee decided to return to Thailand. Again, it is unknown why the 21-year-old suddenly found herself in Sri Lanka. Mr Janashia suggested that Thai gangs may be explicitly targeting British backpackers, making them carry drugs across borders to get around a crackdown on mail-order shipments organised on the dark web. Older headlines make note of British nationals arrested trying to bring heroin into the country from Thailand. Today, most of the heroin imported into the UK is thought to originate from Afghanistan, often trafficked via the Balkans. But the decriminalisation of cannabis in Thailand appears to have created new opportunity for gangs to harness tourists to smuggle narcotics around the world once more. The policy shift has taken some of the power away from these gangs, and efforts to stop postal orders of drugs has cut off their lifeblood. But a disturbing pattern of young Brits found at airports with huge quantities of drugs suggests a sinister movement still fighting back against threat of extinction.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- BBC News
Billingham residents 'attacked' by crows as they tried to save bird
A community has described how they were "viciously attacked" by two crows while trying save a baby bird that had fallen from its living around Rievaulx Avenue in Billingham, Teesside, first spotted the chick on Tuesday morning and began to put out food, with children also laying jumpers to keep it of those who helped said "anybody walking past the nest" was running the risk of being chased by the adults, as they tried to defend the young bird, which has since RSPB said during breeding season, crows will attack when there is "a threat towards their chicks" and warned people to keep their distance. One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "Any time somebody approached the baby the big ones would viciously attack them."I saw them chase one man the whole way down the street and he wasn't even doing anything."A lot of people have been trying to feed it. Some school kids put out jumpers to keep it warm." Another resident, who tried to look after the young bird, said she was "devastated" to find out it had died."It is just so sad, I didn't see it this morning and I did worry," she said."Hopefully they have other babies and they don't just have one at a time."An RSPB spokesperson warned members of the public to "keep a distance from any nests during breeding season"."Crows only tend to attack humans when they get near to their nests during the breeding season," they said."[They] usually keep to themselves and will only attack when they feel threatened themselves, or a threat towards their chicks." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- BBC News
Bella May Culley not an 'adequate adult', new lawyer says
A British teenager held in prison in Georgia on suspicion of drug offences has been described as "not far from childhood" by her new Culley, 18, from Billingham on Teesside, has had the first meeting with her new family-appointed lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia, who said he had to explain to her where she was is being detained for 55 days before trial while the prosecution investigates where the 12kg (26lbs) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lbs) of hashish found in a travel bag came from, and whether she was planning on handing it over to someone Salakaia said Miss Culley was in "good health" but he would not describe her as an adequate adult. The lawyer, who does not speak English and specialises in juvenile law, has been communicating with his client using a first meeting lasted two hours in prison number 5, near the town of Salakaia said his client was in good health, did not have any complaints about the place of detention and was ready to defend herself in asked whether he would describe Miss Culley as an adequate adult, his answer was "no".He said he had the impression she was "not far from childhood". During their meeting, the 18-year-old was also giving evidence to Georgian investigators. Miss Culley asked for advice about what to say and on some questions she chose to remain the previous pre-trial hearing on 13 May, Miss Culley told the court she was Police said officers had seized marijuana and the narcotic drug hashish in a travel bag at Tbilisi International BBC understands Ms Culley arrived in Tbilisi on a flight from Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, on 10 May . The BBC has been told the British Embassy has advised the teenager's family not to speak to the Culley was charged by Georgian police with illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics.A spokesperson said the arrest was the result of a joint operation between multiple departments and, if she was found guilty, Miss Culley could face up to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
