Thousands of people who put their names to petitions opposing the potential closure of day care centres in Northumberland have been sent official council letters - questioning whether they had the right information when they signed.

The letters - signed by a senior member of the Liberal Democrat administration at County Hall - have gone out to almost 2,500 people who signed petitions calling for the seven county council-run centres for the elderly and disabled to remain open.

Yesterday they were branded insulting, unnecessary and a waste of taxpayers' money by some of those who have received them.

The Sunshine Fund charity is holding a triathlon in Ponteland later this summer.

The event consists of a 400m indoor pool swim, followed by a 20km cycle and ending with a 5km run. It takes place on August 16, starting from Ponteland Leisure Centre.

Anyone wanting to take part in the event - which costs £20 or £30 for a team of three - should contact emma.jamieson@ncjmedia.co.uk or (0191) 201-6090.

Town councillors in Ponteland are calling for a second public meeting to be held on plans which could result in the closure of the town's county council-run day care centre for elderly and disabled people.

They say a previous meeting was not well attended by local people, but had been poorly advertised.

The town council doesn't support the potential closure of the day centre, and wants to know more about what would replace it.

Children are being sought to play the role of Munchkins in Ponteland Repertory Society's production of the Wizard of Oz, which starts in the Memorial Hall on November 23.

Youngsters need to be able to sing and dance, and be 4ft 8ins tall or under. Informal workshops/auditions will be held in the Memorial Hall at 2.30pm on Sunday August 23.

Auditions for the role of Dorothy will be held at 1pm the same day. More details from show director, Katie Howes, on 07504 577369.

A controversial bid to site a phone mast near Hadrian's Wall at Heddon has been revived.

Mobile phone giant Telefonica O2 has appealed against Northumberland County Council's decision to reject its proposal for a 27.5 metre lattice mast at Heddon on the Wall - 800 metres north of Hadrian's Wall and within the official setting of what is a World Heritage Site.

The company's planning application was refused by the council's West area planning committee in May, following a site visit, with members saying the company had not considered other less obtrusive sites.

Pupils from a Ponteland school have been making the most of the last week of term by enjoying a day at the coast.

The youngsters from Richard Coates CofE Middle School went on a field trip to St Mary's Island, in Whitley Bay. The aim of the day was for the class of 10-year-olds to visit the rockpools and explore the sealife on the shore.

Some of the youngsters were lucky enough to find starfish, while others had close-encounters with nipping crabs.

The discovery of a 50-year-old film capped a remarkable reunion for a group of former Kirkley Hall students and may now lead to national TV documentary about the classmates' lives.

Members of the class of 1957-58 were stunned to see their teenage selves on the 35-minute colour cine film that had been hidden away in a box of artefacts at the Northumberland College campus.

Former classmates on the general agriculture course Frank Mattinson, 72, from Bellingham, and Geoff Arlidge, 69, who now lives in Essex, found the film among archive material that lab technician Anne Owen had pulled out of the vaults.

Creative writers were rewarded last night as the winners of a competition held by English Heritage were announced at Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens.

Kirsty Ferry, 38, from Blaydon, was named the overall winner, for her short story entitled 'Enchantment'.

She was picked by a panel of three judges - award-winning children's author David Almond , Judith King, curator of contemporary art at English Heritage, and Natalie Sullivan, marketing executive for English Heritage's North territory.

Residents, businesses and organisations across Northumberland are being asked to have their say on a major review which will shape future car parking policy in the county.

County council bosses are undertaking the review in a bid to devise suitable management arrangements for all of the car parks that it owns or manages.

The exercise will also help county councillors decide whether to leave car parking free in Blyth Valley and Wansbeck, or introduce charges similar to those currently facing motorists in towns such as Berwick, Alnwick, Hexham and Morpeth.

Soldiers from the Northumberland will take up their clubs in aid of Help for Heroes this week.

The 39th Regiment Royal Artillery, the Northumberland-based Welsh Gunners, will play a charity golf match at the Matfen Hall Golf Club tomorrow.

Operations in Afghanistan are never far from the minds of soldiers and families in the Welsh Gunners as at least one of their batteries is deployed there with their Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.

The Charity Golf Day will see players playing alongside local celebrities for a vast array of prizes all of which have been donated by international and local businesses.

Prizes range from golf equipment to cinema and Disney on Ice tickets and vouchers to play at 14 other golf clubs across the region.