Newcastle United boss Joe Kinnear has presented a Hexham school with a Sunshine coach.

The manager handed over the keys to the charity coaches to teachers and children from Hexham Priory School, as well as one to Hebburn Comprehensive in South Tyneside, during a club training session yesterday.

A family links with a Roman fort have been set in legal stone.

Jennifer Du Cane and her family have owned Carrawburgh Fort, between Housesteads and Chesters on Hadrian's Wall, for 100 years.

She inherited the eight acre site from her father in 1972, but had never registered it, until now. The Land Registry is campaigning to get more people to log details of the land they own.

A woman was taken to hospital after a crash on a Northumberland road.

Police and paramedics were called to the A69 two miles east of Haydon Bridge, near Hexham, around 5pm.

The crash happened between a car transporter, a Ford Fiesta and a Renault Scenic. One female driver was taken to Hexham General Hospital.

A Bardon Mill couple were among those seriously injured after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Keen travellers Mike and Diane Murphy, from Ridley, had only been in India for a day and were inside Leopold Cafe when terrorists stormed the building.

Mrs Murphy, who was shot in the foot, said she held her husband as he slipped out of consciousness after he was injured by a bullet in the ribs.

The retired teacher, 59, needed to have his spleen removed and last night was still in intensive care.

People in Northumberland are getting good adult social care, according to a new national inspection.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection has given Northumberland's adult services department a two-star rating, and says it has "excellent capacity" for improvement.

Northumbria Healthcare has recruited 13 new modern matrons to work in Hexham General hospital and some of its other hospitals.

Rosemary Stephenson, the trust's director of nursing, said: "These matrons will oversee a group of wards and departments providing leadership and giving support. This means there is a dedicated person responsible for directing nurses in every ward and department across the trust.

"These matrons will make sure we care for patients in the way they want to be cared for. They will drive up standards by considering existing practice and looking for ways to improve this."

Hadrian's Wall is set for nearly 50,000 new visitors after an ad campaign in London.

Heritage bosses last night said the publicity drive in the capital had made it the North East's most recognised attraction.

People were questioned as they emerged from Tube stations in London before and after a marketing campaign woven around the major British Museum exhibition on the Emperor Hadrian, which ran for three months until October 24.

The Northumberland Theatre Company will be bringing its latest production to Whitley Chapel, Newbrough and Slaley to as part of a big national tour.

Straw Headed Peter by award winning writer Mike Kenny is a re-telling of classic cautionary tales written Dr Heinrigh Hoffman more than 150 years ago. It features a talented cast including Stephanie Butler, Nigel Collins and Philip Oakland.

The Queen's Hall in Hexham will be hold its popular Christmas Art Sale from December 6-23.

The Art Sale includes hundred of pieces of original artwork from both professional and amateur artists from around the region. As well as visual art, there will be ceramics, glass and jewellery available to buy.

Queen's Hall Arts General Manager Annette Dickson said "The reputation of the Art Sale is growing year by year. This year we have attracted work, from nationally acclaimed artists, as well the fantastic local artists in Tynedale."

People in Northumberland are being urged to have their say on executive decision-making arrangements for the county's new super-council which takes over in April.

Consultations on the issue close on Friday so residents are being reminded to comment before it is too late.