Northumberland's new super council is preparing to start spending £2.7m of Government funding on "pump priming" key sites earmarked for a major housing-led regeneration programme.

South East Northumberland was designated an official Growth Point a year ago as part of a Government initiative involving 6,300 new homes in the county by 2017.

Blyth Estuary, the Ellington/Lynemouth area, the former St George's Hospital in Morpeth, Cambois, East Ashington and south west Cramlington have been earmarked as the six areas to benefit from the programme, which aims to deliver regeneration and increased affordable housing.

A stream is three tonnes of rubbish cleaner after a volunteer effort.

Volunteers helped out with a clean up of the Seaton Burn in Dudley.

They joined North Tyneside Council's clean neighbourhood patrol officers and members of Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

Judo players from Cramlington were among the medals at a prestigious tournament.

A squad representing Battle Hill Judo Club in Wallsend travelled to the Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh to take part in the Neil Adams Classic Judo Tournament.

Battle Hill members Tonicha Brown, Tasmin Brown, Kieran Tweedy and Callum Thompson with judo legend Neil Adams

This was the first tournament hosted by the former world champion and, after attracting 300 competitors, is set to become a regular annual event.

Work will start next year on a spectacular £2.5m earth sculpture in Northumberland which aims to create a major new tourist attraction and an icon celebrating the county's coal mining heritage.

Bulldozers and excavators will take up to 12 months to shape the massive Northumberlandia landform, a naked and reclining female figure which has already been dubbed the Goddess of the North.

An artist's impression of the Northumberlandia sculpture

Built from 1.5 million tonnes of soil and clay, and measuring 400 metres in length and 34 metres in height, it will form the centrepiece of a 75-acre public park to developed at the Shotton opencast mine near Cramlington.

More than 2,000 female council workers in Northumberland are set for payouts after agreement was finally reached to settle a long-running, £50m equal pay claim.

Women county council employees such as cleaners, kitchen assistants and carers are in line for the compensation payments as a result of being underpaid for years in comparison to male colleagues who earned bonuses.

Northumberland County Council is the last local authority in the North East to settle its equal pay dispute with the GMB and Unison - and defended its case as far as an Employment Tribunal scheduled for earlier this month.

Cramlington Community Tennis Programme's under-14 girls' team is celebrating a volley good result.

The team of Bethany Williamson, Jessica Laws, Emma Wilson and Kusalta Gurung (pictured from left) won the AEGON Area Team League final, beating Cleveland outfit Yarm by four rubbers to two.

Meanwhile, after receiving several weeks of in-school coaching delivered by CCTP head coach Phil Barron, six Cramlington primary schools (Burnside, Northburn, Cragside, Hareside, Eastlea, St Peters/St Paul's) sent four girls and four boys to compete in the inter-schools tennis tournament at Cramlington Sporting Club.

East Hartford school pupils paraded the streets of Alnwick at the weekend with their prizewinning banner as part of the town's Hotspur Festival.

The festival celebrated 700 years of Alnwick connection with the Percy Family, of whom the current Duke and Duchess of Northumberland are members.

East Hartford School, which caters for primary-age children with a range of learning difficulties, is this year celebrating its 100th birthday.

Home club player Darren Smith was the surprise packet of the Northumberland Championship, leading the world No 18 amateur, Chris Paisley, at the halfway stage of the 36-hole final at Arcot Hall.

A lucky break at the eighth hole in the afternoon turned Saturday's contest in favour of Paisley, who won 3&2.

Five days earlier, Paisley triumphed in the Northumberland and Durham Open at Tyneside.

With tears in her eyes and her voice quivering with emotion, Elaine Harper appeals for the hit-and-run driver who left her twin brother for dead to come forward. Cyclist Alistair Barnett was knocked over by a black sports hatchback on Monkseaton Drive, near Sainsbury's supermarket, Whitley Bay, last Sunday.

The 51-year-old grandad-of-two suffered life-threatening head injuries and is in a serious condition at Newcastle General Hospital.

His sister, Elaine, pictured, is calling on the person responsible for the accident to hand themselves in to police.

The story of a man who went from the coalface of a Northumberland pit to running his own mine in the United States has been unraveled. Tommy Thompson left his home in Cramlington and took a ship to the USA in 1910.

He became the owner of a coal mine, ran a property and loan business, and become a banker.

Tommy Thompson in 1929

His story came to light when 35-year-old health service worker Martin Crane decided to investigate the life of his successful "American uncle".