A school is set to become the first in Northumberland to go carbon neutral.

Whitfield Church of England Voluntary Aided First School has installed a raft of renewable energy measures.

The school's new wind turbine and solar photovoltaic panels will collectively generate more than 10 megawatts of electricity a year.

Pictures of Allendale's 'public-service piano' being decorated by local artists ready for sale at an auction in Allendale Village Hall. (Read related story »).

Artists Sarah Blackett-Ord (left) and Marion Prentice

Wild animals such as the beaver and the lynx could be reintroduced to the North East under Government plans to be announced today.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn will call for a "re-wilding" of Britain at the Labour Party conference in Brighton.

The lynx (a young cub is pictured) and the beaver could be two species to benefit from the plan

Under the scheme, which is still at the review stage, large parts of the UK would be allowed to run wild in an effort to boost conservation and combat biodiversity loss.

A piano which has provided the soundtrack to one village's summer has been turned into a tuneful work of art.

For the past two months, the now well-known and much-loved piano, has been standing outside the Pebbles Gallery on Shield Street in Allendale, Northumberland, available to be played by any passer by who fancied having a tinkle.

Artist Janice English with her panel on the Allendale piano

During that time, it has been played every day, come rain or shine, with residents being treated to an impromptu setlist, which has been as varied as it has been delightful.

Volunteers who respond to an appeal to help save endangered dormice could end up striking it rich.

Northumberland Wildlife Trust is supporting the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) Great Nut Hunt.

The nationwide survey will enlist people's help to search local woodlands for signs of gnawed hazel nuts to determine the distribution status of dormice.

Bat "flats" have been created during the saving of a picturesque historic ruin.

Rowantree Stob, in the East Allen Valley near Allendale, is a scheduled ancient monument which was once a fortified property, parts of which date to the 16th Century.

Because of its proximity to an adjacent public footpath, it was considered dangerous in its present state.

Savage job losses and service cuts flagged up for Northumberland's new super council over the next four years have been described as a "worst case scenario" by a town hall leader.

Details of the potential cutbacks - which it is claimed could mean up to 3,500 redundancies and draconian service reductions - have emerged from a private briefing session involving senior county council officers and political group leaders.

They depict a gloomy scenario in which the unitary authority could find itself by 2013, and are based on predicted budget reductions totalling £80m.

Golden leaves, lingering sunsets and flocks of migrating birds are among the many reasons to visit Northumberland in autumn, and a new campaign is appealing for more tourists to come and experience the region's charms.

Northumberland Tourism and its partners are inviting everyone from near and far to celebrate the beautiful season in the North East.

Called Autumn Warmth, the campaign will focus on walking, art and landscape, as well as Northumberland's trees and forests.

Ambulance response time figures released on Friday revealed crews are struggling to reach remote locations in the region within eight-minute target times. Paul Liversidge, director of ambulance operations for North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust sets out what his crews are doing to improve the "challenging and difficult" issues.

The ambulance service is an easy target for critics who point to response times in rural areas as a perceived "failure".

Yesterday's Journal printed one of these stories from a Freedom of Information request by the Berwick Conservative parliamentary candidate Anne-Marie Trevelyan. However, the suggestion that there is a 999 rural crisis which we cannot solve couldn't be further from the truth.

Health bosses admitted last night "there is not enough money in the NHS" to solve the failure of ambulance crews to reach life-threatening call outs in time.

The stark claim come after it emerged families in rural Northumberland cannot be guaranteed that an ambulance will reach them within target response times if required in an emergency.

And ambulance crews are having to turn to volunteers as they look to close gaps in coverage in some of the most remote locations.