A golf club has been fined £1,600 for using tractors fuelled by red diesel.

The vehicles are used at clubs throughout the country but problems arose at Prudhoe Golf Club because the local course is divided by a stretch of main road.

Inspectors from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) carried out an unplanned visit to the club, pointing out that no one using a public highway could fill up with the rebated fuel unless they work in food production.

Young gymnasts from Northumberland got a taste of international competition when they took on their contemporaries on the continent.

Girls and coaches from Tynedale Gymnastics Club travelled to Mitry Mory in Paris to take part in the second International Gymnastics Tournament.

The gymnasts, aged seven to 15, worked on the asymmetric bars, the floor, beam and vault and competed against six clubs from the Paris region.

Girls from Tynedale Gymnastics Club were given a lift after a Northumberland-based company gave them £250 towards new equipment.

The club, which operates at Prudhoe WestWorld and Wentworth Leisure Centre in Hexham, caters for more than 400 boys and girls aged between 18 months and 18 years old.

Paul Armstrong from SCA Hygiene in Prudhoe and the Tynedale Gymnastics Club squad, pictured with head coach Gayle Crowell

The donation from SCA Hygiene Products in Prudhoe has helped the club to purchase new floor mats to create a 12mx12m area for the young gymnasts to train on.

Voluntary and community groups in Northumberland have been warned they are facing a reduction in funding for their work - because of the recession and tough budget savings required by the county council.

However, County Hall bosses have reassured the sector that a funding package of £1.3m will still be available next year. Budget proposals recommend more money for charities directly supporting those people worst affected by the recession.

These will include services such as credit unions and the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

A ten-year-old Northumberland gymnast has shown her stamina after cycling 100 miles in just over two days to raise money for her club.

Kate Rogers, from Newton, near Corbridge, took on the coast to coast route after finding out her gymnastics club needed money for new equipment.

Her little legs lasted the distance and she did the 100 miles in two and a half days and two overnight stops at Gilsland and at home in Newton.

A mobile information service for blind and partially-sighted people is visiting Morpeth later this month.

Action for Blind People's mobile Sight Loss service is packed with the latest aids, equipment and specialist advice.

It has been invited to Northumberland by the County Blind Association.

A new music group for babies and toddlers is starting in Wylam next month.

Musical Minis, which aims to introduce young children to music and percussion in a fun and relaxed environment, is for children aged from 6 months to four years.

The classes will take place in the Methodist Church Centre every Friday at 10am, starting on Friday 6th November. Phone Debbie on 0191 3887748 or contact debbie@musicalminis.co.uk for more details.

Radio lovers in Northumberland will soon be able to have shares in a cutting-edge new media concept in the county.

Volunteers are launching a new project where Northumbrians can buy shares in the community group.

As reported in Journal Extra in August, former members of Tynedale FM decided to set up their own multimedia group to attract film and TV crews.

Cultivating a full-size allotment is hard work - as gardener Joan Russell well knows.

So she set out to cater for growers who were older or less mobile but still wanted to garden.

For 25 years Joan, pictured, has been a member of Prudhoe Gardeners' Association in Northumberland, which for the last 75 years has managed 100 allotment plots on four sites for the town council.

Tynedale could become a top filming venue for movie and TV crews in the future. This is part of the ambitious plan of a group that wants to promote the area and make the most of its burgeoning arts scene.

Members of Tynedale FM want to expand the currently closed district radio station and are looking into many possibilities to promote the area, including an arts magazine.

They have even discussed cutting-edge technology to keep locals engaged with what is going on in their part of Northumberland, including getting the radio through the mobile and having podcasts for people to download.