Half-term bird-themed events will be on offer for youngsters from Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

The free events are being run through the SENSE Project. A Feed the Birds Event takes place on February 16, between 1pm and 3pm at Plessey Woods; there will be bird watching at Holywell Pond Reserve on February 17, between 10.30am and 12.30pm; and on February 18, between 1pm and 3pm, at East Cramlington Local Nature Reserve, children will be able to make bird feeders and take part in feathery quizzes and challenges.

Call Laura Lowther on 0191 284 6884.

A row has blown up after a council used money intended to help jobs blackspots to fund a horse show.

Blyth Valley Labour MP Ronnie Campbell (pictured) branded the summer event 'a weekend out for toffs'.

He strongly criticised Northumberland County Council - which is in the midst of making budget cuts totalling £40m over two years - for earmarking £80,000 to stage the high-profile equestrian event.

A new bridge will be built over the River Blyth as part of an ambitious £5m "active travel" project in Northumberland's most heavily-populated area.

The bridge will carry walkers and cyclists across the river under plans to create a major new network of green travel routes, cut car use and promote healthier lifestyles.

It will be built near Humford Mill as part of a £2.3m scheme to improve walking and cycling links between the towns of Bedlington and Cramlington. The new bridge is a key element of a revised package of sustainable travel initiatives, building on £1.35m of Big Lottery funding which was allocated to Northumberland in 2007.

A drink driver who rammed a car carrying a young family off the road after texting at the wheel has been banned from the roads.

Diane Douglas, of Mayfield Avenue in Cramlington, smashed into the back of a car on the A19 on August 9 last year while on the way back home from a party in a pub.

Despite her own car being heavily damaged in the incident, the 52-year-old then drove off with smoke coming out of the bonnet.

A government minister came under fire from one of her own MPs yesterday for strongly defending the radical shake-up of town halls in Northumberland.

Rosie Winterton says she is confident that local government in Northumberland is "much better placed" under unitary status than it would have been if the old two-tier system of a county and six district councils had remained.

Her comments come in the wake of the newly-established unitary council having to make £26m in budget cuts last year and planning £20m worth of savings this year, with more pain forecast to come in 2011/12.

Members of Cramlington Community Forum are taking to Manor Walks Shopping Centre to ask local residents about their concerns.

The 'Talking about Cramlington' event will take place next Saturday, 13th February from 10am- 4pm.

People can post their views on display boards post-it' notes, covering topics such as learning, environment, health, transport, community issues and jobs.

The community forum are also looking for forum volunteers to help run the event in two-hour slots. Contact CVA Blyth Valley at info@cvabv.org.uk or 01670 353623 to let them know when you would be able to attend.

Parking fees levied on drivers visiting Northumberland towns has emerged as the hottest topic in the initial stages of a major review aimed at developing a county-wide parking strategy.

A progress report on the review reveals hundreds of people have made their views known on whether parking fees should be imposed across the whole county - rather than just in selected towns.

More than 560 people have signed three separate petitions calling for an equal policy across the board, with charges being made in all principal towns.

Families in Northumberland have been spared a 25% increase in the cost of having their garden waste collected this year following a revolt by opposition county councillors.

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.

She battled with cancer and now has a different fight on her hands.

Christine Stoker is fighting to find the crooks who ransacked her home and robbed her of £7,000.

Christine and her husband Kevin are taking the law into their own hands to trace the thugs that broke into their home in Thornley Avenue, Cramlington, and stole her children's Christmas presents and treasured jewellery.

A political row is brewing over alleged 'empire building' amid moves to set up a formal federation of new grass roots councils in south east Northumberland.

The eight parish and town councils were established last summer to boost local democracy following the abolition of Blyth Valley and Wansbeck district councils, and the creation of a single unitary authority for Northumberland.

Now it is being suggested that the councils - covering Blyth, Ashington, Newbiggin, Cramlington, Seaton Valley and Bedlington North, East and West - should form an official federation with a joint managing board.