Youngsters aged between four and 13, all from Tynedale, planted saplings on the banks of the River Derwent to celebrate the important role trees play in our natural environment.

Don Coe, Northumbrian Water leisure operations manager for waterside parks & fisheries (foreground) with Tony Richards, SCA Hygiene factory & site manager at Prudhoe (standing) with Ben Pentland, aged six and his fellow tree planters

The session was organised by Northumbrian Water, owner and operator of the Derwent Reservoir and Velvet toilet tissue, which is made locally by SCA Hygiene Products Prudhoe Mill.

It was planned to put up the annual charge for the service from £20 to £25 in March - to bring in an extra £60,000 and help the county council achieve tough budget savings.

Now the saving will have to be found elsewhere after Conservative and Labour councillors joined forces to defeat the move at a meeting in County Hall on Wednesday.

Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service has been given outline planning permission for a new facility on land beside Prudhoe West First School.

The decision means the fire service could be given £23m Government funding for the development and similar schemes at Hexham and Haltwhistle.

Three cars had their wing mirrors damaged in Adderlane Road.

Police arrested two youths over the incidents, which happened between 10.30pm on Friday January 29 and 9am on Saturday January 30.

They are aged 16 and 15 and were released on police bail pending further enquires.

Anyone with information contact police on 03456 043 043 ext 69191 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

As commuters made their way to work along the A69 between Hexham and Newcastle, cars skidded out of control.

Drivers watched in horror as four cars slid into embankments and one even overturned.

No-one received serious injuries and the road was closed for a period of time. It started at 7.54am when a Land Rover slid off the road near Wylam. Police then received a flurry of reports from panicking drivers of a Vauxhall Corsa, a Fiat Punto and a Toyota Yaris.

All three had also skidded on black ice in separate accidents.

Designs for the Tynedale Creative and Media Skills Centre - next to Prudhoe Community High School - have gone on public display.

The centre will house state-of-the-art media production facilities in a leading edge building shared across the Tynedale Virtual College - a partnership of the four high schools in the area along with Northumberland College, Dilston College and Hexham Priory School.

Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service has submitted an application for a new facility on land beside Prudhoe West First School. County councillors are recommended to approve the plan at a meeting on Tuesday.

But school governors say they knew nothing about the proposals until presented with a leaflet at a recent meeting, despite the fact the field is often used by pupils. They had been working on plans to create a play and learning area on the field, with £2,000 having already been invested to train staff.

More than 800 vulnerable pensioners across the county use the scheme, which allows them concessionary travel in taxis because they are unable to use other forms of public transport.

They use council-issued vouchers, tokens or passes to pay for taxi trips to the shops, GP and hospital appointments or to visit relatives and friends.

The Original Factory Shop, in Prudhoe, will be making a difference to St Matthew's Nursery, also in Prudhoe, throughout this year.

A programme of fundraising activities is planned, and store staff are looking to raise a minimum of £500, with the fun kicking off with special launch this weekend.

Store manager Lisa Clark said: "This weekend, customers will have the chance to join in the fun in store to help us raise as much money as we can for this worthy cause."

Roy Dixon, who founded the Northumberland-based Mercy Trucks, is about to set off on a 5,896-mile journey by road, air and sea to assist in the aftermath of the natural disaster earlier this month that has brought the country to its knees.

Mercy Trucks' Roy Dixon with some of the badly-needed medical supplies he is taking to Haiti

The Ovingham charity regularly runs relief projects in Asia and Africa, where Mr Dixon and his team renovate a run-down lorry and take supplies to help impoverished communities. Once there, the truck is converted into a medical and dental clinic where local people can be treated.

Members of the Tyneside and Northumberland branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) voted the Boathouse Inn at Wylam as their favourite pub in south west Northumberland.

The Tap and Spile in Morpeth, the John Bull Inn in Alnwick and the Bacchus in Newcastle were the respective choices from south east Northumberland, north Northumberland and Tyneside.

It involves county council community wardens, Northumbria Police officers and Northumberland fire and rescue service personnel visiting farms and other remote rural locations in the Tynedale area on a regular basis.

The relaunched Farmwatch campaign also includes partners from the county's west area local multi-agency problem solving group (LMAPS).

Michelle N'Jie, 28, of Cheviot View, Prudhoe, married in November 2004 but failed to notify the authorities and continued to claim and receive the benefits of a single parent until October 2007.

She pocketed income support, housing and council tax benefits totaling in excess of £28,000, despite living with her husband Solomon N'Jie and having two children together.

However, the chairman of Thompson's of Prudhoe believes the steps it has taken in 2009 will stand it in good stead for another challenging year.

And John Thompson, pictured, the Prudhoe-based son of company founder Bill Thompson, believes maintaining a close eye on the economy's ongoing difficulties will be the key to the company's success.

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.