'A Thornaby in my side!' Sep 4 2001(Evening Gazzete )

A bizarre row has erupted between the leader of Stockton Council and one of the town's MPs over the reputation and good name of Thornaby.
Stockton South's Labour MP Dari Taylor fears Thornaby has fallen victim to an image problem as far as the council is concerned.
So she has accused Stockton Council of an "astonishing" assault on Thornaby's identity.
And she says the council is willing to insult and outrage Thornaby residents "for no good reason".
For a start, claims Mrs Taylor, are proposals to drop Thornaby from the Village School title.
But on top that are the plans to move and rebuild Stockton and Billingham College at Thornaby without any reference to Thornaby in its new name.
To the MP it all smacks just too much of recent attempts to rename Thornaby Railway Station as Stockton South.
Then proposals put to Railtrack by Northern Spirit were quietly shelved when it became apparent that the people of Thornaby were not amused.
Thornaby people, she says, are proud of their community and its institutions, which promote high education standards.
She went on: "It is so disappointing to hear that these institutions and those who run them do not appreciate the role they play in the community.
"It leaves the residents of Thornaby feeling they have to repeatedly fight off attacks on their identity."
But it is Stockton Borough Council at which she directs most of her attack, accusing it of being willing to cause outrage and insult the town.
But Council leader Bob Gibson reckons Mrs Taylor has simply got hold of the wrong end of the stick.
For he insists the decision to change the school's name has not come from the council.
"The school simply told us that it wishes to revert to its original name, which it used until five years ago," he explained. Cllr Gibson stressed that the school name was strictly a matter for the governors, most of whom live in Thornaby.
"I understand the school has been continually confused with two other nearby schools and under these circumstances has decided to revert to its original name," he added.
Meanwhile, Margaret Armstrong, principal of Stockton and Billingham College, also fears the MP has jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Mrs Armstrong said no decision had yet been made about the college's new name.
When it was decided to relocate to the Teesdale site it was given a "working name" of Riverside, but the final name had still to be chosen.
That, she added, would be taken after consultations with the local community.