Ponteland Town Council is asking Castle Morpeth Council to transfer the ownership of Ponteland's historic Pele Tower and adjacent land to it before the borough authority is abolished in April.

Children will soon have more to do once a new play area is built.

Currently Matfen only has a couple of old swings for children to use.

However, in the next few months, the children will be able to enjoy baby swings and a climbing frame at the sports ground in Matfen and the replacement of the swings in Ingoe thanks to a grant from Castle Morpeth Borough Council.

A builder has now been selected and will soon assess the area.

Ponteland mum Sue Johnson has become the 'face' of an international advertising campaign. Click play to watch the interview.

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Major roadworks taking place in Matfen could cause some disruption for the next two months.

Northumbrian Water will be carrying out work, digging up the road to replace the main water pipes for the village.

They will be putting in PVC pipes to replace the cast iron ones currently in place, which will affect the road alongside the village green up to The Oaks.

The works will start on February 9 and run through until Easter.

Her skin glows with the radiance women half her age would love - Sue Johnson really is proof over 50 doesn't mean over the hill.

Now the model mum's amazing looks have just made her the 'face' of a an international advertising campaign.

It's a far cry from her normal life at the family home in Ponteland, where Sue, 52, juggles looking after her two children, husband and holding down a pressurised job as an insurance training manager.

Ponteland residents will get the chance to view and comment on multi-million pound plans to regenerate the town centre and its shopping facilities next month.

Proposals drawn up by two separate developers to transform the Merton Way area will go on display to the public in the Memorial Hall, Darras Road for three days.

People can view the plans and talk to the developers on Thursday February 12 from 11am to 7pm, Friday 13 from 11am to 5pm and Saturday 14 from 11am to 4pm. Responses will be published in April.

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.

Work is due to start next month to replace an old boundary wall in Ponteland with a new £144,000 flood defence barrier.

Environment Agency engineers discovered during a routine inspection that the foundations of a stone wall behind the Seven Stars pub in Main Street were unstable.

Flooding in Ponteland in the year 2000.

Officers immediately installed a temporary wall of sand-filled mesh cages which helped to protect Ponteland during the September floods.

Spooky stories were in the lesson plans at a Ponteland school.

Pupils at Richard Coates Middle School, in Ponteland, were treated to an afternoon of terrifying tales when author Peter J Murray popped in for a visit.

Mr Murray has had success with his trilogy of spooky books about Mokee Joe - a 7ft-tall monster.