MUCH like the plot of a well-loved pantomime, the search is on for the owner of a special item.
Mayor’s consort Ian Moorhouse is hoping to find the artist who created a colourful Aladdin’s Lamp for Barnard Castle Christmas tree lighting last month.
Children who attended the event were invited to create their own magical Aladdin lamps prior to the festive pantomime staged by members of the town council.
All those who too part were then invited to submit their colourful creations into a contest, for which a magical prize has been arranged.
Unfortunately, when Mr Moorhouse picked out the winner last week the artist had not provided their name. So now the hunt is on to find the winner so the prize can be handed over.
There were more than 50 lamps entered and all are now on display in the Dispensary Cafe, at The Witham, where they will remain until Saturday, January 5.
Mr Moorhouse hopes the winner will step forward before The Witham closes for the festive period to ensure the prize can be given out. To claim the prize the winner can call into the cafe.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
