Young people are being targeting in a hard-hitting campaign to reduce the number of bonfire and firework-related injuries across Northumberland.

Fireworks injure almost 1000 children in the North of England every year, often resulting in permanent scarring or disfiguration. Now Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service is warning pupils in secondary schools about the dangers in a programme of educational visits.

Landmark locations will be seen in a new light this winter with the return of a hugely popular winter festival. Northumberland Lights - and the award-winning team behind it - are back with more bright ideas for outdoor illuminations.

From November 2 to 30, the winter festival will bathe some of the most beautiful and remote spots from Blyth to the Borders in an array of colour, in celebration of the county's contrasting architectural and natural environment.

FREE bus transport for older students is set to leave Northumberland County Council with a £500,000 bill. But councillors last night hailed the scheme to provide passes for A-level and college students as a massive success - and said it was likely to cost much less than feared.

The free pass has seen the number of teenagers using buses more than double, from 800 in July to 1,850 now. The county council took the decision to scrap fares after they rose to £360 a year under the previous Labour administration.

Amble fishermen received further support thanks to a friendly voice speaking up for them in Europe.

North East MEP Stephen Hughes has pledged to continue his campaign to protect the livelihoods of the Amble fishing fleet.

The Euro MP has met with Northumberland fishermen and said he intends to seek a review of the quota system threatening the North Sea fishing industry.

Kind-hearted people in Amble will be helping those less fortunate than themselves this Christmas.

The Samaritan's Purse organisation is working with residents who will be filling shoeboxes with toys, gifts and sweets destined for some of the poorest children in the former Soviet Union and Africa.

In many cases, these boxes will be the first Christmas presents that the children have ever received.

Felton's Glen Copeland has successfully completed his charity golf challenge -- and has the pictures to prove it.

The captain of Burgham Park Golf Club, near Felton, Northumberland, has finished off a nationwide tour to play a round at 26 courses, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.

His A to Z odyssey has taken him from Alyth in Perthshire in April down to Yeovil in Somerset. But to complete the full complement, he had to play a course beginning with Z - and travelled to Holland to find it.

A PET dog who went missing from a Northumberland beach was found alive - nearly a mile out to sea.

Fishermen plucked brave cairn terrier Freddie from the waves, just off the coast of Hauxley, Northumberland.

The dog wandered into the water after getting lost in fog while out for a walk with his owner. But instead of swimming to shore, he headed out into the North Sea.

HARBOUR bosses in Northumberland could face a £1m repair bill amid fears insurers might not pay for flood damage.

Severe storms last month left a gaping hole and a series of cracks at the port of Amble after flooding caused an increase in water pressure on the harbour wall.

A NEW occupier has arrived at the Fourways 2 office development in Amble, Northumberland, in the same week that the development picked up one of The Journal's prestigious Landmark Awards.

The new arrival, Sullivan Associates Chartered Building Surveyors, has taken space in the £1.3m scheme which only opened this September.

HOPES are rising that 200 employees at a Northumberland town's major employer will still be in work next year after its administrators said they were hopeful of selling the factory to new owners.

Cheviot Foods in Amble was placed in administration at the end of September, threatening the future of the staff at the factory which has been a mainstay of the town's economy for years.

Rising raw material and fuel costs had forced company owners to seek administration, with the administrators saying September would be a crucial month in determining if it had a long-term future.