A teenager has appeared in court charged with the murder of a Northumberland man.

Shane Gray, 19, of Winchester Road, Ashington, appeared before South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court over the death of Lee Matthewson, pictured.

Mr Matthewson suffered a fatal stab wound to his chest following a fight at a ground-floor flat in Ashington earlier this year.

Amble United came off second best in their top-of-the-table Northern Alliance First Division tussle with hosts Gateshead Rutherford, slipping into third place after losing 4-1.

Lee Common managed to cancel out Kevin Urwin's early opener for the Gateshead outfit. However, Urwin's second goal restored the home side's lead.

Amble had a brief bright spell after the changeover, but faded later on and Rutherford hot-shot Urwin helped himself to two more goals - including a penalty.

A Jake Lowes goal gave Alnwick the lead at Lowick, but the home team took a share of the points thanks to an equaliser from Andrew Burgon.

Acklington picked up their first win of the season thanks to two goals by Eric McKevitt and single strikes by Aaron Redpath, Wayne Robinson, Richard Lemon and Dell Sawes.

However, it was not all one way as Berwick United Reserves hit back with a Chris Falconer hat-trick and a Michael Robinson goal.

A conman faked learning difficulties to stage a £3,000 theft spree across Northumberland, a court heard yesterday.

Patrick Maughan - who uses more than 40 different aliases - targeted stores with a woman accomplice.

He pretended he was mentally disabled, babbling, bouncing and slapping his head as part of the convincing act.

Former engineer David Malone is a smooth operator. The manager of Real Food Works - a social enterprise based in Guidepost, Northumberland - is taking a unique approach in his quest to educate youngsters about the importance of looking after their health.

The dad-of-one from Warkworth is spreading the message of healthy living and eating after buying the region's first smoothie-maker powered by a bicycle.

He takes the 'Real Green Smoothie Machine' to events throughout the North East as part of his demonstration sessions on how to eat well.

Northumberland is the UK's worst blackspot for deaths involving fork lift trucks, new figures have shown.

The county suffers more fork lift-related fatalities per head of its population than anywhere else in the country, according to statistics from the Fork Lift Truck Association.

The Berwick area was home to the most per capita deaths from fork lift truck accidents between 2001 and 2008.

In pole position in the Northern Alliance Division One, Amble United are just ahead of Gateshead Rutherford on goal difference - and they both won again.

The Amble lads have won seven of their eight games and were happy to beat visitors Whitley Bay A 1-0.

Wideopen and District are still heading the Division Two table, three points clear of nearest rivals Amble who have a game in hand.

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.

Bedlington Terriers Reserves were on the wrong end of a heavy defeat at Rothbury in the North Northumberland League this weekend.

Four goals from Jackie Angus, three by Craig Sutton and single strikes by Stuart Foreman, Alan Brown, Michael Ord and Scott Rennison saw the home team net 11 times.

Berwick Town put in a better performance, but still lost out to Shaun McKay and Kyle Kennedy efforts for Shilbottle.

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.