A man was thrown from his vehicle in a crash in Cramlington yesterday.

The driver was on High Pit Road in the town when he crashed shortly after 12.30pm.

He was taken to Wansbeck General Hospital for treatment for serious chest and hip injuries.

The first ever official switch-on of the Christmas lights in Cramlington will take place this Sunday.

The fun at the ceremony will include music from The Smokin' Barrels and Cramlington Learning Village choir. The lights will be switched on by the Mayor of Cramlington, Mr Brian Pickering.

The whole family is welcome at the free event, which will be at Cramlington Village Square at 5pm on 29th November. In the event of bad weather the entertainment will be at the Village Club.

Children are being offered the chance to have breakfast with Father Christmas at Café Azure in Station Road, Cramlington, at 9am on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets for the events, which include breakfast and a gift from Santa, cost £5.99.

To book call (01670) 733 762 or visit www.cafe-azure.co.uk.

With only one home win to their credit so far, Cramlington Town did well to restrict Northern Alliance third-placed visitors Heaton Stannington to a 2-2 draw.

Finishes for Gary Yates and Iain Irvin in the 14th and 17th minutes had Heaton apparently coasting, but the Town's Jordan Watson trimmed their lead on the stroke of half-time.

On the hour mark, Danny Long restored parity for the home side.

Top British tennis officials have been enlisted to boost plans to develop the game in Cramington.

Members of the Lawn Tennis Association visited Cramlington Tennis Club's Cramlington Park base to see what is being achieved there and to hear ideas for future development.

The club's aim is to gain the site's long-term lease from Northumberland County Council.

Families can give the gift of a greener lifestyle this Christmas.

Northumberland Warm Zone is offering people the chance to buy loft or cavity wall insulation as a present for a family member or friend.

For the basic cost of £129 the Warm Zone team will arrange for a voucher and card to be sent to them.

A leaked report has laid bare the full extent of a £16m package of cuts being drawn up by council bosses in Northumberland.

Details of Northumberland County Council's draft budget for 2010/11 will go to the Liberal Democrat controlled authority's executive later this month, with the anticipated savings coming in at £15.772m.

The document proposes a series of cuts across all council departments, with areas worst affected set to include highways, adult care, youth services, libraries, leisure centres, public transport and refuse collection.

A manufacturing company that makes bearings for the oil, gas and power markets expects to double its turnover to £20m within five years as it expand its operations to the Far East.

Cramlington-based Osborne Engineering Ltd (OEL) has just acquired small health and safety training company Apix Consulting, adding its fourth department to the business and is now looking to purchase other firms as part of its aggressive expansion plans.

The firm, which was launched in 1984, employs 150 staff between its main manufacturing facilities in Cramlington and Leicestershire and plans to create 40 jobs next year after investing £1m into the business last year.

Around 600 more posts are set to be axed at Northumberland County Council as embattled town hall bosses seek a further round of budget cuts of up to £30m next year.

County leaders will meet later this month to examine a number of "financial scenarios" aimed at achieving the massive savings without having to slash front line services, bring in a big council tax hike or make large-scale compulsory redundancies.

Yesterday it emerged that the scale of the cuts required will mean between 400 and 600 posts being axed from the 8,500-strong workforce - on top of the 800 which were shed this year.

Two Northumberland women have come up with a 'cheeky' way of raising money for a cancer charity.

Natalia Sassetti, 21, of Stakeford, and Carly Luther, 20, of Cramlington, both hair stylists at Saks Hairdressing in Morpeth, have produced a 'nude' calendar in support of Cancer Research UK's breast cancer awareness and fundraising campaign Join the fight for women survival.

Businesswomen of Morpeth who have produced a 'nude' calendar in support of Cancer Research UK- Natalia Sassetti, 21, of Stakeford holds the calendar

The friends enlisted the help of female employees from other local businesses in Morpeth to bare all for the calendar - a different business for each month.