Jobs will be created if multi-million pound plans are approved for a new timber development in Northumberland.

Hexham-based Egger announced last night it intended to create the timber processing facility on land east of its plant.

It follows a £110m investment two years ago which saw its rural site transformed into the most advanced particleboard plant in Europe.The Austrian-owned company revealed its latest plans to The Journal last night which would take a year to complete if given the green light.

Hexham rower Matthew Wells has won a bronze medal at the Olympics.

Rowing with fellow Durham University graduate Stephen Rowbotham, the former Queen Elizabeth High School pupil secured third place in the double sculls final, after missing out on silver by an agonising five one hundredths of a second.

PLANS for a controversial Northumberland caravan park have been withdrawn at the last minute.

Residents in the hamlet of Lowgate, near Hexham, had opposed a scheme to add space for 32 new caravans to the existing site.

At the centre of the row is a 26-year-old planning permission that says the extension can take place, but which locals say should be considered out of date.

There were plenty of smiling faces at Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham, where the overall pass rate cleared 98%, with 57% of all grades being A or B.

A JUNIOR football club has won its battle for a new home after clinching a near- £500,000 grant. Hexham Football Club, pictured, has been working with Tynedale Council to secure funding for new pitches and a changing pavilion at Dukeshouse Wood, on the outskirts of the town, which will eventually cater for 250 youngsters.

And now, having clinched the £463,815 grant from the Football Foundation, work on the £810,000 project can finally begin.

A van driver killed yesterday in a smash on a Northumberland road has been named by police.

Christopher Dobson, 27, of Low Gate, Hexham, was driving towards his home town on the A69 when he crashed into a lorry moving in the opposite direction at Bardon Mill at around 10am.

Police closed the road for five hours to allow for an investigation.

THE venues for this season's major men's Journal golf events, De Vere Slaley Hall and Hexham, go head-to-head this evening in the fixture which will decide the Hadrian League title.

The last round of matches has thrown up a dramatic showdown expected to attract a sizeable gallery (tee-off 5.30pm).

Slaley Hall, who will host The Journal Champion of Champions tournament on Sunday September 14, have a one-point lead at the top of the table.

THE mother of a boy who suffers from a severe form of asthma has given her backing to a Journal-backed appeal to raise funds for a new childhood respiratory unit in the North East.

Beverley Robson says her 10-year-old son John, pictured, will be one of many children to benefit from the Puffin Appeal, which is aiming to raise £2m for a department at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.