Smaller communities should be thinking ahead to the day when they can generate all their own power, energy expert Dr Barbara Sexon believes.

Dr Sexon runs the Thropton Energy consultancy in the Northumberland village of the same name, near Rothbury.

She studied for a PhD 25 years ago on the potential of small scale wind turbines in the days before wind farms of considerably larger machines became the hot potato they are today.

A presentation on plans to revamp the region's hospitals takes place in Northumberland next week.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is proposing a new specialist emergency care hospital near Cramlington for people living in Northumberland and North Tyneside, improvements to Wansbeck and North Tyneside general hospitals and rebuilding community hospitals in Berwick and Haltwhistle.

A presentation on the plans takes place at a meeting of Warkworth Parish Council on Thursday, June 4 at 6.30pm in the Memorial Hall on Castle Street.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of Class A drugs were seized in a year-long crackdown by police vying to rid rural Northumberland communities of drug barons.

The Journal can today reveal the scale of the drug problem that plagues the county's isolated countryside, with a massive haul of drugs confiscated by police specialists.

Earlier this year a top judge said drug dealing gangs were targeting rural villages in sophisticated cannabis production operations.

Bosses at Northumberland's new super council are being recommended to stick with its controversial 0845 single telephone number.

County hall chiefs have been urged by campaigners both locally and nationally to change the 0845 6006400 number, which has been provided since April 1 for all people who need to contact the unitary authority.

A teenage motorist caused a crash which killed his best friend because of inexperience and naivety as a driver.

Thomas Walsh had called at two garages to pump up a flat tyre on the Fiat Brava he bought just a week earlier, but both had been closed.

He was later seen by a neighbour attempting to inflate the tyre with a hand pump, before he and James Buckham went for a drive.

Rubbish police could confiscate bins if householders fill them with the wrong items.

Northumberland County Council hopes to crack down on contamination in recycling wheelie bins using hard-line tactics.

Householders who repeatedly ignore warnings to stop throwing waste food, nappies or dirty items into the bin which is supposed to be for dry, clean, recyclable materials, will have their bin confiscated.

A Northumberland MP last night emerged at a leading candidate to clean up Westminster.

Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith put himself in contention to become Commons Speaker after Michael Martin quit over the Westminster expenses crisis.

The respected Liberal Democrat said it was a "crucial" time for Parliament and was ready to lead reform, declaring to voters: "This is your Parliament, we have got to make it work for you."

Amateur photographers with stunning pictures of the countryside are being sought by a mountain rescue team for a new calendar.

Northumberland Mountain Rescue Team have teamed up with Goodyear Tyres and hope to produce a 2010 calendar featuring 12 of the country's most scenic views including one from Northumberland.

Entries should be emailed to photography@htpr.co.uk. The deadline for entries is the 30th September, and details can be found at www.mygoodyear.co.uk.

The Duchess of Northumberland has made history by becoming the first woman to be given a centuries-old role as the county's official representative of the Crown.

The Duchess, Jane Percy, has been appointed by the Queen as the new Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, a ceremonial post which dates back to the reign of King Henry VIII.

She succeeds Sir John Riddell, who gave up the post when he reached his 75th birthday in January, after serving as Lord Lieutenant for almost a decade.

A section of the High Street in Wooler will be closed next week for work to reduce flooding in the area.

It will be closed between the Burnhouse Road and Glendale Road junctions from Tuesday
until Thursday with traffic diverted along Glendale Road.

The roadworks are necessary because a section of sewer is being improved.