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".

Plants sales are blooming despite the recession.

Sales at Cramlington's Azure Garden Centre, part of Azure Charitable Enterprises, have gone up in recent months, with customers spending more on plants and items for gardens.

The centre has seen a 60% increase on last year. Star performers are outdoor plants which are up 178%, with sales of garden furniture and barbecues also performing well.

Managers at the garden centre put the sales figures down to people deciding to stay at home this summer rather than travelling further afield, with people making the decision to concentrate on improving their gardens to take advantage of the predicted good summer.

A surprise guest shocked staff when he swooped in on a cat and dog shelter.

Percival, believed to be a blue cinnamon Indian ring-neck parakeet, is being cared for at Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter after being rescued from the Cramlington area.

The shelter takes in more than 3,000 animals every year but they are usually dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.

A mum who teaches babies to express themselves has won national praise.

Julia Maugham, a Tiny Talk Baby Signing teacher in Cramlington, has been voted The Most Outstanding Activity/Class Leader in a prestigious national competition.

Julia, who began teaching her classes in September 2007, impressed the judges with "her passionate enthusiasm for the people who attend her classes, both adults and children".

More meetings are to be held in Northumberland to allow people to have their say on £200m proposals for new and improved hospitals in the county.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust has drawn up plans for a new specialist emergency care centre near Cramlington, plus improvements to Wansbeck General and the rebuilding of community hospitals in Berwick and Haltwhistle.

But the changes would see the closure of emergency departments at Wansbeck and Hexham General, moves which have caused some concern with patients.

Finance chiefs at Northumberland's cash-strapped super council are trying to recover almost £9m in unpaid council tax inherited from the county's former district authorities.

The huge debt has been revealed following the abolition of Berwick, Alnwick, Castle Morpeth, Tynedale, Wansbeck and Blyth Valley councils on April 1 - and their replacement by the all-purpose unitary council.

Police have issued an e-fit of a man they want to question over an attempted burglary.

Police say a man matching this description attempted a distraction burglary in Cramlington.

The man is said to have knocked on the door of a house in the town claiming to be fixing next door's boiler.