That's all from BBC Local Live today. We'll be back from 08:00 on Friday. Alistair Lambton sent us this picture of the waves crashing on the beach at Saltburn.

Image source, Alistair Lambton

You can send your pictures by email to northeast.locallive@bbc.co.uk or tweet @BBCNewsNE, external and we may feature them on tomorrow.

The Stage

Actor Sir Ian McKellen has backed plans for a £1.5m refurbishment of the People's Theatre in Newcastle, external.

Image source, AP

Stuart Whincup
BBC Look North

Seven veterans' organisations are planning to boycott Hartlepool's Bombardment centenary commemoration after the council ditched plans for a military parade.

That's the claim from the chairman of the town's combined ex-service association who says the snub has caused ''great anger".

The council says next month's ceremony is about remembering the loss of civilian life in the attack, not military life. I'll have more on this story on BBC Look North at 18:30 on BBC One.

Hannah Bayman
BBC Weather presenter

It will remain windy overnight with occasional outbreaks of rain moving through the region. The rain may become heavy in places around dawn, becoming more persistent from the southwest.

Minimum temperature: 9C (48F). Check the forecast near you.

Luke Walton
Political Reporter

The combined authority in Teesside will not be a super council - it won't for example collect refuse, run libraries or schools.

What it will do is allow local authorities to work more closely on attracting investment and responsibility from central Government.

Some argue councils in the Tees Valley would better off joining the existing combined authority that covers the rest of the North East - but civic leaders in the area insist it needs its own voice.

Jonathan Swingler
BBC Tees

We have a bit of a crisis at BBC Tees. There's a packet of crisps wedged in vending machine. My colleague Elaine has her trainers on though.

A man who killed his girlfriend has been given a life sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Gemma Finnigan, 24, was found at a house in Church View, Boldon, South Tyneside, in September 2013. She had been strangled and stabbed. At Newcastle Crown Court, Daniel Johnson admitted the offence on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Image source, Northumbria Police

Johnson, 33, must serve at least 20 years before he can be considered for parole. He was initially charged with murder but the prosecution accepted his admission of the lesser charge.

Colin Briggs
BBC Look North

Stuart Middleton, 15, from Northumberland, is one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming an F1 racing driver.

The teenager from Ashington has won a scholarship with the Ginetta Junior Championship team. It gives aspiring racing drivers the chance to take their first steps on the ladder into top level motorsport.

Stuart, who suffers from a mild form of Aspergers Syndrome, competed against nearly 60 other youngsters to win his place.

Northern Echo
Newspaper

Tributes have been paid to Stockton's very own British cycle manufacturing legend, Jack Taylor, who has passed away aged 96, external.

A teaching assistant accused of having sex with a pupil told police she sent him a picture of herself in her underwear, a court has heard.

Helen Louise Turnbull, 35, said to detectives she may have told the 16-year-old she loved him in drunken messages, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Image source, PA

The literacy assistant, from Haswell, County Durham, told officers the boy cheered her up when she felt "low". But she denied the relationship went any further than kissing.

A police watchdog investigation is under way after a man was injured in a collision with a bus after being released from custody, external.

The 38-year-old was seriously injured in the incident at about 06:00 at Togston East Farm Cottage, in Hadston, Northumberland. He is "critical" in Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Northumbria Police say he'd been arrested at 16:40 on Wednesday and because of that they've referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Five Teesside councils have announced plans for a combined authority. Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton and Darlington councils believe a new body could boost job-creation and investment.

Middlesbrough Labour MP Andy McDonald says it will allow the area to bid for extra money and power from government.

Critics argue the councils should, instead, join the combined authority covering the rest of the North East set up in April.

A Newcastle United fans' group calling for the removal of manager Alan Pardew says its stance has not been altered by the team's recent resurgence.

A 2-0 win at West Brom on Sunday was Newcastle's fifth in a row in all competitions, and moved the Magpies up to eighth in the Premier League. But prior to that Newcastle had won just five games in the whole of 2014.

"A good run of results will not alter our position. Our stance remains the same," the sackpardew.com group said. "While stability is often offered as a reason to keep him in post, it is self evident that his very presence and the manner in which he gets his results creates an instability.

Image source, Getty Images

"He is not a unifying figure that the club's fans can ever stand behind."

Train drivers employed by Northern Rail have voted "overwhelmingly" for strike action in a row over pay.

Trade union Aslef said its members voted by more than four to one in favour of industrial action, in an 82% turnout. Strikes have been called for 21 and 27 November.

Operator Northern Rail says it is "disappointed" by the vote for strike action as it has made "a very good pay offer of 2.7% in 2014".

Danny Savage
North of England Correspondent, BBC News

When a grown man tells you he would have killed himself if he could have during his time at Medomsley, you know that any legal case won't make a huge difference to many of their daily lives.

Things went badly wrong behind the high security fences on a County Durham hilltop decades ago. Unspeakable things were done to some of those young men - often there for things you would never be jailed for today.

After locking away those painful memories for so long they are now speaking out hoping for justice.

The top local headlines at 16:00 include:

• BBC Tees: A senior officer at Cleveland Police has told BBC Tees that they're constantly learning and updating how they investigate potential paedophiles.

• BBC Newcastle: Jon Harle and Anne Leuchars have a round-up of the day's news.

Francesca Williams
BBC News

It's been confirmed that 915 former inmates of a youth detention centre have now come forward to say they were physically or sexually abused at Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett in the 1970s and 1980s.

Durham Police is investigating historic claims a paedophile ring operated at the centre. More than £1m has been paid out in out-of-court settlements to victims.

The investigation was triggered after former prison officer Neville Husband (pictured) was jailed in 2003 for abusing five youths. After being released from prison, he died from natural causes in 2010.

His former colleague Leslie Johnson, a storeman, was jailed for six years in 2005 for sexual offences. He has also since died. One detainee claims that boys asked other inmates to break their legs in order to be moved elsewhere and escape being abused by staff.

Francesca Williams
BBC News

Det Supt Paul Goundry, who is leading the investigation into abuse at a former County Durham detention centre, said the force would be contacting "a number" of other former employees.

"There is still a huge amount of work which has to be done and we are in close contact with the Crown Prosecution Service, who ultimately will decide if there are grounds to charge individuals with criminal offences," he said.

The four prison officers, who worked at Medomsley at different times between the 1970s and 1980s, have been voluntarily interviewed by detectives but not arrested.

Francesca Williams
BBC News

Four former wardens at a youth detention centre have been interviewed by police.

Durham Police is investigating claims a paedophile ring operated at Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett. More than 900 former inmates have come forward to say they were sexually or physically abused there in the 1970s and 1980s.

Det Supt Paul Goundry, who is leading the operation, said the force would be contacting "a number" of other former employees.

Ever wondered where your Children in Need donations go? The charity currently funds 78 projects in the North East and 11 projects in North Cumbria to a combined value of £4,235,280.

Here's a report on how your donations change lives in Hartlepool., external

The 2014 appeal show will be shown from 19:30 on Friday on BBC One.