Fun and learning have taken on a new dimension at Acklington C of E First School after it completed its new covered outdoor play area.

Reception class children now have access to sand, water, building blocks, tunnels and word walls, whatever the weather.

The canopied play area follows two years of planning and preparation by school leaders and governors.

The RNLI's lifeboats in Northumberland had more than 70 call-outs in 2008, new figures show.

The boat at the Seahouses station launched 39 times last year, while Amble went out 35 times. In addition, RNLI volunteers travelled inland to help dozens of people affected by September's floods in Morpeth.

Statistics have been released as the RNLI kicks of its annual SOS fundraising drive today.

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.

The Amble lifeboat was called out yesterday after two fishing vessels collided 12 miles offshore.

A local fishing boat collided with another boat from Fraserburgh, in Scotland, in the afternoon. HM Coastguard asked an RNLI boat already heading to Amble for an inspection to attend, but the Amble boat was launched as well to escort the damaged ship back to her home port.

The fishing boat, although damaged, was watertight enough to make her way back under her own steam. The Amble RNLI Lifeboat escorted her during the journey back to ensure safe passage until she was berthed at the quayside in Amble.

Volunteers and staff from the Northumberland Wildlife Trust have spent a day on the Coquet Island nature reserve to help with conservation projects.

Working with the RSPB, the Trust members completed a number of tasks to help ready the reserve for the successful breeding of the terns and other birds on the site.

The group spent the whole day strimming and raking up areas of long matted grass to open up some of the breeding plots.

Traveller's Rest, Choppington returned to the top of the Morpeth Sunday League table with a 5-2 win over Bedlington Northumberland Arms.

Jonathan Doyle and Paul McGlen netted for the Northumberland Arms, whilst Jonathan Young, Simon Kilpatrick and Damien Mullen with a hat-trick saw the Traveller's to the three points.

Josh Haye also bagged a hat-trick for Amble Pier 81, and proved to be the major difference as they defeated Linton and Woodhorn SC 3-0.

Declining death rates are hiding hotbeds of heart disease in the North East, according to a British Heart Foundation study.

In Alnwick, those living in the Amble East ward are nearly three times as likely to die of heart disease than those living in Alnmouth and Lesbury, just a short drive away.

Talks are continuing in a bid to resolve a long-running dispute over the fees paid to the owners of independent care homes for the elderly in Northumberland.

Officials from the county council and Care Trust have been in negotiations with dozens of private sector operators for 18 months over how much they should be paid for providing residential care for elderly and disabled people.

Drivers escaped with minor injuries after a three-car smash in Northumberland.

One of the motorists had to be cut from his car by firefighters after the accident at around 2.15pm yesterday on the A1068 near Warkworth.

A Northumbria police spokesman said: ''Two of the drivers were taken to Wansbeck General Hospital and treated for minor injuries before being released.

''The road between Shortridge Road Ends and the north end of Warkworth was closed for a short time to traffic.''

Fire crews from Amble and Alnwick dealt with the incident.