A gulf War veteran's business is picking up punters as more people opt for an active holiday.

Ian Rochester, who served as an Army avionics technician during the Gulf War, originally spotted a gap in the market for a cycle hire business five years ago, when guests staying at one of his holiday cottages made enquiries.

He started Pedal Power Cycle Hire in Amble with just 10 cycles and now has more than 40 of all shapes and sizes.

A Northumberland food company which borrowed public money to safeguard its future has missed a repayment deadline.

Northumberland Foods, based at Amble, was given a £1.5m emergency loan last August to stave off closure with the recession threatening its 190 jobs.

The package included £960,000 from the Royal Bank of Scotland and £250,000 from Northumberland County Council.

Wildlife Minister Huw Irranca Davies has accepted a petition signed by more than 200,000 people demanding an end to the killing of birds of prey.

The petition is the largest ever collected by the RSPB.

According to the RSPB's most recent annual Birdcrime report, published last August, Northumberland is the third worst county in England for illegal persecution against birds of prey.

A popular guide aimed at helping older people in Northumberland get the most out of life has been published for the fourth time.

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.

School pupils carrying out work at a Northumberland nature reserve got a surprise when they received more than £150,000.

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.

Berwick United booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Ideal Stelrad Northumberland Minor Cup at Amble United's expense.

In an all-Northern Alliance clash the Borderers, third from bottom in the First Division, knocked out third-top league colleagues Amble United, who had lifted this trophy in 2007.

In an earlier league meeting between these two sides, Amble United had romped to an easy 4-0 victory - but this time they were well below par and Berwick fully deserved their 4-2 success.

Age Concern Northumberland are holding a Recruitment Fair on Friday 12 February at The Round House, Lintonville Parkway, Ashington (oppostie Lidl's).

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.

Northumberland County Council will not have to make a further £11m in "horrendous" budget cuts, the Government has said.

It was feared that around £30m worth of savings would be required to balance next year's budget but the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has allowed councillors to pay for some costs from the capital budget.

The authority had submitted four bids for capitalisation in respect of potential losses on Icelandic investments of £9.1m, for £6m in strain on the pension fund, £2.8m for enhanced redundancy and £1.4m for statutory redundancy.

A project has been launched to find out if the waters off the Northumberland coast are a secret dolphin stronghold.

The white-beaked dolphin is a little studied species which occurs around the coast of the UK and is vulnerable to the effects of global warming.

It lives in the cold waters of the northern Atlantic and its available habitat is thought to be shrinking.

Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith has won an appeal against submitting any misleading claims over his rent in the expenses scandal.

The Liberal Democrat MP was revealed to have claimed expenses for cleaning his home, laundry, a new television and kitchen equipment when the furore over expenses broke.

He was also listed as claiming around £1,200 a month in rent on average.