Campaigners are hoping plans for new hospital services in Northumberland will see more pressure put on the Government to dual the A1.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust wants to build a new emergency care hospital, upgrade North Tyneside and Wansbeck general hospitals and rebuild Haltwhistle community hospital and Berwick Infirmary.

Now, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Berwick and the town's public governor on the trust's board, has called for the A1 to be improved to allow people quicker access to the proposed new hospitals.

After a packed summer of family events around Northumberland, the final weekend of the summer holidays is beckoning, with another busy programme across the county.

The event likely to attract the biggest crowd is the Glendale Show (pictured), now in its 117th year, featuring a host of rural attractions and stalls. Spectacular carriage driving and falconry displays and a Ready Steady Cook style cooking competition are some of the highlights of the event on Bank Holiday Monday.

In the bottom corner of the county on the same day, Blanchland & Hunstanworth Show (see link below) will be taking place, and two days before on Saturday Bellingham will also be welcoming visitors to its Show to take part and watch various traditional competitions.

A new look for Northumberland online is being fronted by TV presenter Wendy Gibson.

The BBC personality features in a video on Northumberland Tourism's relaunched website, offering potential visitors to the region a virtual tour of some of its highlights.

Among the sites explored from spectacular aerial views are Hadrian's Wall, Bamburgh Castle, Berwick, and Lindisfarne.

A major review of local government boundaries in Northumberland is entering its second phase.

The Boundary Committee for England has started a second round of public consultation on future arrangements for the county's new unitary council.

The main purpose of the review is to ensure "electoral equality" following the restructuring of local government last year.

Kirknewton held its show and sheepdog trials at the weekend.

The dog trials took place from 8am, with a £50 prize and trophies available for the dog and owner who were quickest at getting the sheep into the enclosure. There was also a prize for the best novice dog, and about 30 dogs took part.

Meanwhile the show brought together many different craftspeople, including stick makers, furniture makers, Doddington Dairy, a person who makes furniture for dolls houses and a knitter who makes jackets.

Grey squirrels will be extinct in Northumberland by the end of next year, campaigners say.

A week of action by the Red Squirrel Protection Partnership invited people all over the county to report their sightings of greys.

The RSPP has trapped and shot more than 23,000 grey squirrels in the last two-and-a-half years, as part of a drive to protect native red squirrels.

The controversial cull has divided opinion, but those behind it say if it had not taken place the native red squirrel would already have died out.

Visitors to a Northumberland show will be able to enjoy a coconut shy with a difference.
Glendale Show near Wooler is set to attract a crowd of around 15,000 people on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31.

And in an attraction organised by Sunny Hill Eggs of Belford, visitors will be invited to knock cartoon chickens off their perches with mini-rugby balls.

The balls are the kind the chickens at Sunny Hill play with on a daily basis.

A rugby star and one of the region's most renowned food producers are going head to head in a Ready Steady Cook style competition.

Former Scottish international and Newcastle Falcon Peter Walton will be pitting his wits against Margaret-Ann Maxwell of Doddington Dairy Cheese in the contest at Glendale Show near Wooler on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31.

Margaret-Ann Maxwell of Doddington Dairy Cheese

The challenge has been issued by show organiser the Glendale Agricultural Society and the sponsor of its demonstration kitchen, the Northumberland National Park Authority.

A decision on whether a new specialist emergency care hospital in Northumberland will get the go ahead will be made today. Health correspondent Helen Rae takes a look at the proposals.

Contentious plans to develop hospital services in the North East have caused much discussion in recent months. Today it is time for a decision.

Over the past three months there has been a far-reaching public consultation on proposals to build a new specialist emergency care hospital for those living in Northumberland and North Tyneside.

Hundreds of home care workers in Northumberland have been told they are under threat of redundancy as part of the latest changes to council-provided services for elderly and disabled people in the county.

Letters have been sent out to about 350 county council-employed home carers telling them they are deemed to be 'at risk' of redundancy with immediate effect.

The unitary authority is believed to be seeking up to 160 redundancies in its in-house home care service and is carrying out a major trawl for volunteers.