Bosses at Northumberland's new super council have been accused of failing to comply with an independent regulator's guidance by providing an 0845 number for people who need to contact the authority.

Bob Watson is unhappy that Northumberland County Council's new number is premium rate

Members of the public who telephone the all-purpose council - which came into being on April 1 following the switch to unitary local government - now have to use a single number, 0845 600 6400, to speak to call handlers.

People with any concerns or problems following recent changes in home to school transport arrangements in the west of Northumberland are being urged to seek help and advice from the county council.

Parents or schools with worries should contact the transport unit on (01670) 533644 or 533673.

On a good weekend for the North East sides, Blaydon secured their National Two future with an 83-33 mauling of Waterloo, Percy Park won promotion to North Two East, seeing off Bridlington 36-3 in the play-offs, and Tynedale accounted for Mounts Bay 32-14 in Cornwall to finish fourth.

Tynedale closed out their season at Mounts Bay with their third straight away win in National Two.

A Jack Harrison hat-trick did the job in the South West, while cruel luck befell Ross Samson, who tore a hamstring after 15 minutes of his last Tynedale match.

People in Northumberland suffering from the effects of the economic recession are being urged to seek help and advice from Northumberland Warm Zone's benefits officer Lisa Oxley.

Lisa, who has helped hundreds of local residents claim the state benefits they are entitled to, can be contacted on (01670) 256624.

Walkers will take a step back into their wartime babyhood this weekend.

During the Second World War Newcastle Corporation took over the Gilsland Spa Hotel in the village of Gilsland on the Cumbria-Northumberland border.

Charity walker Maureen Hart, from Haltwhistle, who was among those born at the Gilsland Spa Hotel

The aim was to provide a refuge for Tyneside mothers to give birth, safe from air raids.

Places are still available for walkers to sign up on the day for the British Heart Foundation's Hadrian's Wall Hike on Sunday.

It is hoped that more than 250 people will take part in the 10-mile hike from Walltown Crags to Housesteads and raise more than £25,000 for the charity.

People can register at Housesteads Fort visitor centre between 8.30am and 9.30am on Sunday. Entry costs £20.

Tough planning controls, limited economic options and poor quality broadband coverage have been highlighted as some of the key problems facing upland areas of the North in a major study.

They are among a number of challenges which need to be tackled if the region's high hills, fells and moorlands are to prosper in the future, according to evidence gathered by the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC).

A motorist had to be cut free from a car in a rush-hour crash in Northumberland yesterday.

The accident at around 7.30am on the A69 west of Haltwhistle caused traffic tailbacks.

The injured motorist was taken to hospital after a black Citroen Saxo and a silver Vauxhall Vectra collided. The road was reopened at 8.05am.

Tony Henderson on the historian who made history himself

George Macaulay Trevelyan won fame as arguably England's greatest and best-selling historian during the 20th Century.

But time moves on, and historians themselves become history. Yet what GM Trevelyan (GMT) championed are issues which are very much to the forefront today.

Hadrian's Wall is being thrust into the modern world thanks to Twitter. The online social networking site is being used to keep the Wall in touch with the outside world.

Hadrian's Wall Heritage want local families, tourists - and even those who have yet to experience the landmark - to get on their PCs and post their thoughts on the Wall in no more than 140 characters.

In return the organisation will be using the latest craze in social networking - championed by high profile Tweeters including Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross - to keep families up to date with a series of re-enactments planned for the May half-term holiday.