Ashes-winning Test ace Steve Harmison, his cricketing brother Ben, World Cup-winning footballer Jack Charlton and top golfer Kenneth Ferrie are all fighting for the town to remain as a breeding ground for sporting heroes of the future.

Steve (right) and Ben Harmison chat to Pat Mullen of Stakeford

They are all supporting a community-based campaign aimed at ensuring the town does not lose its only sports and leisure centre to the threat of council budget cuts.

Blyth Valley Labour MP Ronnie Campbell (pictured) branded the summer event 'a weekend out for toffs'.

He strongly criticised Northumberland County Council - which is in the midst of making budget cuts totalling £40m over two years - for earmarking £80,000 to stage the high-profile equestrian event.

They are being were urged to ignore celebrity chefs and keep the invasive American signal crayfish off the menu.

An American 'signal' crayfish, right, and a native British crayfish

The River Wansbeck in Northumberland is one of the last strongholds of native white-clawed crayfish in England.

A 6ft mural of the 1970s comic book character Cerebus the Aardvark had brightened up a bridge near Blyth for nearly three decades until its disappearance last weekend.

Despite its popularity, Northumberland County Council blitzed the colourful design as part of a crackdown on graffiti.

Aluminium company Rio Tinto Alcan has donated £2,500 to the meals on wheels scheme in Ashington which provides around 15 local pensioners with a hot lunch each day.

The cash from the company, which operates a 600-job smelter at Lynemouth, has gone to the Ashington Joint Welfare Scheme, which manages the town's Hirst Welfare Centre.

A progress report on the review reveals hundreds of people have made their views known on whether parking fees should be imposed across the whole county - rather than just in selected towns.

More than 560 people have signed three separate petitions calling for an equal policy across the board, with charges being made in all principal towns.

Previous issues of the Golden Guide have gone down so well with the over-50s that there was a waiting list for the latest 5,000-copy print run.

The free booklet, which is produced by community information specialists Clever Clogs Publishing in partnership with Age Concern Northumberland, the county council and care trust, has also been given a new design.

Students from Ashington Community High School went along to Hauxley nature reserve with Alex Lister, Northumberland Wildlife Trust's estates officer - but they got a lot more than they bargained for on the trip.

From left: Chay Park, Tony Hall (Ashington Community High School), James Short, Shaun Smith, Judie McCourt (PPL), Alex Lister (Northumberland Wildlife Trust), Sam Alderson, Jamie Skelsey and David Brack

People's Postcode Lottery street prize presenter Judie McCourt had donned her union jack wellies and travelled to the reserve to present a huge cheque to Alex - who gladly received it on behalf of the wildlife charity.

Professors Ju-Young Sung and Jin-Young Kim from the Kyongbuk Science University visited Northumberland College to learn about the UK's National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) system, in order to develop a similar system in Korea.

The exchange project, known as Passport to NVQs, is part of the Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education to secure the UK's position as a leader in international education.

The Korean duo are tourism specialists and were partnered with the college because of its expertise in that area.

Officers from the neighbourhood policing team joined forces with emergency service personnel for the event at the Asda store.

The thefts occurred at two sheds in the Garden City Villas and Alexandra Road areas of Ashington between 7pm on Saturday and 9.30am on Sunday.

Two BMX style bicycles were taken from the first shed in Garden City Villas and two bicycles and a Karcher pressure washer were taken from the second in Alexandra Road.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police in Ashington on 0345 604 3043 ext 69191 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

We are running two presentations at 11.30am and 1.30pm, followed by the opportunity to discuss, with our experienced staff, the job vacancies and career prospects in further detail.

For further information on our Recruitment Fair and our other opportunities available or for an application pack call the HR & Training Team on 0845 140 00 88.

The choir meets for rehearsals every Thursday at 7.30pm in Ashington High School.

Anyone interested in joining is welcome to come along, or can make contact with the choir by calling Bob Brind on 01670 790169.

The shopping and housing scheme planned for Ashington town centre - proposed by London-based property company Terrace Hill - has been in the pipeline for almost three years.

It was intended to form the second phase of a £60m redevelopment, following the completion of a new £25m Asda superstore on the site of the former Portland Park football ground.

Now the stalled Terrace Hill element of the masterplan looks to be doomed, after the company told county council planning officials it will not be pursuing the project in the current economic climate.

More than 800 vulnerable pensioners across the county use the scheme, which allows them concessionary travel in taxis because they are unable to use other forms of public transport.

They use council-issued vouchers, tokens or passes to pay for taxi trips to the shops, GP and hospital appointments or to visit relatives and friends.