A North Tyne firm is in the running for two prestigious awards in recognition of its work with the unemployed.

Stancliffe Stone, which operates quarries at East and West Woodburn, has been nominated for prizes at the Jobcentre Plus Local Employment Partnership awards after a recruitment drive resulted in nine jobseekers being given trials and seven getting permanent jobs.

Stancliffe operations director Mick Connor said: "As a local employer we were very keen to give jobseekers in our community a chance to get back into work.

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.

Youngsters from across Tynedale came together to show off their soccer skills yesterday.

The first indoor tournament of the Tynedale Mini Soccer League kicked off at Hexham's Wentworth Leisure Centre, with scores of young footballers turning up to practise their moves.

Thirteen teams of under-eights battled each other throughout the day under the watchful eye of veteran soccer league organiser Ivor Grey. He said: "This is the first of three indoor tournaments which are held every year.

Talks are continuing in a bid to resolve a long-running dispute over the fees paid to the owners of independent care homes for the elderly in Northumberland.

Officials from the county council and Care Trust have been in negotiations with dozens of private sector operators for 18 months over how much they should be paid for providing residential care for elderly and disabled people.

Post office users in five Northumberland villages have received good news after a review into the proposed closures across the county.

Belsay, Gilsland, Netherton, Stannington and Rochester have all been successful after asking Post Office bosses to look again at their swathe of cuts.

Belsay has been upgraded from a hosted outreach service to a partnered outreach; Gilsland from a mobile outreach to a changed hosted outreach; Netherton from home service outreach to hosted outreach; Stannington will now be a changed hosted outreach; and Rochester is now a hosted outreach rather than a mobile outreach.

Plans to convert a remote Northumberland farmhouse into a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics and drug addicts have been rejected - against the advice of council officers.

The proposals had been lodged on behalf of the Tyneside Cyrenians charity to transform a farmhouse, two holiday cottages and farm buildings at Elishaw Farm, near Otterburn.

At a meeting of Tynedale Council's development control committee on Wednesday, the application was rejected even though the officers had recommended a conditional approval.

People living in the North Tyne valley are being encouraged to lose their bottles with the introduction of nine glass recycling 'houses' across the area - designed to encourage residents to recycle their bottles by providing easy access.

Coun Bill Grigg, pictured, chairman of the kerbside recycling task group at Tynedale Council, said: "By introducing the houses we hope to make recycling more accessible."

The areas to benefit from the scheme include Henshaw (next to Redburn Park), Bardon Mill (next to the bus stop at the Scroggwood Junction), Great Whittington (at the Village Hall), Blanchland (the sports club car park), West Crescent at Gunnerton, Colwell (Village Hall) and Catton (the car park of the Crown Inn).

The first glass recycling house has been installed at Acomb Village Hall, with the other areas 'houses' due to be installed by early February. The council is working to secure a site in Byrness Village.

Conservatives in Northumberland have proposed an alternative council budget which would see a lower tax rise introduced equally across the county.

The Tories have proposed a 3% rise in tax as a key part of their budget suggestions. The ruling Liberal Democrat group recently announced a 4.8% rise alongside service cuts.

Concerned parents are opposing plans to convert a remote Northumberland farmhouse into a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics.

The proposals had been lodged on behalf of Newcastle-based charity Tyneside Cyrenians to transform the farmhouse, two holiday cottages and farm buildings at Elishaw Farm, near Otterburn.

Yesterday the charity said their involvement in the had been thrown into doubt, though they insisted it was still going in front of the council, led by another person or group they could not identify.