Travelling criminals who use the cover of darkness to prey on rural areas of Northumberland have been warned that police are on their trail.

Poachers, burglars and other lawbreakers who commit crimes in the countryside are being urged to take heed of a recent successful operation by Northumbria Police, which netted five offenders in Tynedale.

Hexham-based police officers were carrying out patrols in the Colwell village area when they caught the men with lurcher dogs and lamping equipment on land where they didn't have the required permission to be.

Below is a sneak preview of how tourism bosses believe Northumberland's identity could be portrayed in the future.

It follows an announcement from Northumberland Tourism that it plans to "present a new face to the world" in 2010.

As part of a re-focussing of advertising and promotion the travel chiefs are aiming to lure more big-spending holidaymakers to the area.

A leaked report has laid bare the full extent of a £16m package of cuts being drawn up by council bosses in Northumberland.

Details of Northumberland County Council's draft budget for 2010/11 will go to the Liberal Democrat controlled authority's executive later this month, with the anticipated savings coming in at £15.772m.

The document proposes a series of cuts across all council departments, with areas worst affected set to include highways, adult care, youth services, libraries, leisure centres, public transport and refuse collection.

Around 600 more posts are set to be axed at Northumberland County Council as embattled town hall bosses seek a further round of budget cuts of up to £30m next year.

County leaders will meet later this month to examine a number of "financial scenarios" aimed at achieving the massive savings without having to slash front line services, bring in a big council tax hike or make large-scale compulsory redundancies.

Yesterday it emerged that the scale of the cuts required will mean between 400 and 600 posts being axed from the 8,500-strong workforce - on top of the 800 which were shed this year.

Allendale could appear on national TV as it bids for up to £400,000 of lottery money for an eco-friendly market garden.

The Sustainable Allendale project is the North East's only runner in the Big Lottery Fund's Village SOS programme, to inspire UK rural revival.

The aim is to fund six rural villages to develop business ventures that will breathe new life into their areas, create new jobs and improve local peoples lives.

Allendale schoolchildren are having a ball if their sporting achievements are anything to go by.

Pupils at Allendale Middle School are taking advantage of plenty of extra-curricular activities.

A lot of attention is on sport and the children appreciate it, with 83% of them getting involved with the different activities. They have achieved successes too, with teams coming high up in the final rankings of county championships.

Thousands of staff across Northumberland will find out on Friday what impact massive council cuts will have on their jobs.

County bosses looking to make savings worth more than £30m a year will order heads of department to call in staff on Friday and explain the difficult choices about to be made.

Thousands of staff will be emailed a request to consider taking voluntary redundancy as part of jobs cuts which are expected to see hundreds of staff leave.

Heavy downpours caused commuter problems today for motorists as rain flooded roads.

Thousands of drivers were stuck in traffic jams as roads were either closed or reduced to one lane after torrential rain overnight.

The main roads across the region, including the A1 and A69, were gridlocked as workers tried to get into work.

Three venues in Allendale will be taking part in this year's Christmas Art Tour.

The festive tour is organised by Network Artists and takes place in twenty different places around the region, running on weekends until Christmas.

Art lovers and Christmas present seekers will have the chance to look around at artists' work, often in beautiful surroundings, while enjoying a friendly seasonal welcome from the artists themselves.

A great new feature has been added to The Journal's Northumberland websites that will help small businesses in the area to get themselves noticed.

In keeping with the interactive community feel of Journal's 22 websites covering the county, businesses can now create their own adverts quickly and easily.

With the new self-serve advertising feature, known as Addiply, businesses looking to advertise to a specific geographical audience can do so in a matter of minutes.