A charity fundraising event in Allendale has won the support of the Tesco store in Hexham.

Volunteers raising money for the new Maggie's Centre North East, which is to be built at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, are holding a fish supper at Allendale Village Hall on Saturday and Tesco has supplied fresh fish for the event.

Store manager Simon Mitchell said: "We are happy to support a very worthy cause such as Maggie's Centre North East, which will help a lot of people from the Tyne Valley. We do all we can to support local appeals - even if it is by donating fillets of fish."

Northumberland's new super council is to retain the existing county council's official logo when it takes over following local government reorganisation in April.

A working group has concluded there is merit in reviewing the 35-year-old logo to ensure it reflects the new unitary council's vision and values.

However, the need to prioritise effective service delivery from April 1 means it will be retained for the time being.

Tomorrow will see the launch of a new free newspaper for Journal readers in Northumberland.

Journal Extra will come free with The Journal every Thursday with 36 pages of news and sport from around the county in addition to The Journal's normal service.

Regular features in Journal Extra will include a nostalgia page, readers' pictures of Northumberland and a weekly focus on one of the county's schools. There will also be weekly promotions and competitions exclusively for our Northumberland readers.

An arts education centre based in a Northumberland village is set to launch a new community learning programme.

Allenheads Contemporary Arts has been running for over a decade and has became an important part of the local community.

Helen Ratcliffe, and partner Alan Smith, of Allenheads Contemporary Arts.

Now, with the help of a £8,182 lottery grant, the centre has been able to hire artist Hannah Marsden, a Newcastle University graduate, to deliver an educational programme focussing on contemporary art.

Youngsters from across Tynedale came together to show off their soccer skills at the weekend.

The first indoor tournament of the Tynedale Mini Soccer League kicked off at Hexham's Wentworth Leisure Centre, with scores of young footballers turning up to practise their moves.

Thirteen teams of under-eights battled each other throughout the day under the watchful eye of veteran soccer league organiser Ivor Grey. He said: "This is the first of three indoor tournaments which are held every year.

A missing cat was returned to its owners three years after it went astray.

The Johnson family who live in Catton village green, near Allendale, were shocked to received a phone call from Orchard House vets in Hexham after Shusha had been brought in by a member of the public - who had found the cat living in her tack room.

A quick scan for a microchip implanted in the cat's body revealed that is was in fact the long-lost Johnson family pet. Now reunited with her family, Shusha is settling back into her old ways and loves nothing more than to cuddle up to her owner Izzy, pictured.

People living in Catton and other parts of Tynedale are being encouraged to lose their bottles with the introduction of nine glass recycling 'houses' across the area - designed to encourage residents to recycle their bottles by providing easy access.

Coun Bill Grigg, pictured, chairman of the kerbside recycling task group at Tynedale Council, said: "By introducing the houses we hope to make recycling more accessible."

Conservatives in Northumberland have proposed an alternative council budget which would see a lower tax rise introduced equally across the county.

The Tories have proposed a 3% rise in tax as a key part of their budget suggestions. The ruling Liberal Democrat group recently announced a 4.8% rise alongside service cuts.

More than 260 people have been arrested, stolen property worth £18,000 recovered and drugs valued at £10,000 seized in a major police crackdown on crime in Northumberland.

Northumbria Police officers have also stopped more than 1,000 suspicious vehicles - dozens of which were seized - during the first half of a six-month operation sparked by a rise in the county's crime rate last summer.

Last night Northumberland's top cop, area commander Chf Supt Kevin Lambert, warned criminals they face a bleak winter, and pledged there will be no New Year let up in Operation Conquest.

A call has been made for urgent action to generate more renewable energy in Northumberland - after it was revealed the county is a long way short of its 2010 target for the production of green power.

A Government planning expert says the county is currently on course to achieve less than 20% of its target for generating electricity from renewable sources by next year.