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The UK’s most prestigious cycle race will make a spectacular return to the North East this year.
It has been confirmed today that two bids to bring the world’s top cyclists back to the region in September have been successful.
The third leg of the Tour of Britain will be staged across a picturesque route through Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle - including a dramatic city centre finish.
Then stage four of the race will start on the Gateshead Quayside the following day as part of a route that will also pass the world famous Angel of the North.
Hosting a double bill of the country's premier professional cycling race is a major coup for the region's leaders.
North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll said: “This is great news - I’m really looking forward to the Tour of Britain coming to the North of Tyne.
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Disgruntled parents have not been given a choice on a potential move from a three-tier to a two-tier educational system in a Northumberland town, an MP has warned.
Northumberland County Council has agreed to carry out a consultation on Whitley Memorial CE First School and Bedlington West End First School extending their age ranges from September 2020.
The Bedlington Partnership is predominantly a two-tier system of primaries and secondaries, while these two first schools and Meadowdale [Middle] Academy remain as a three-tier set-up.
Bedlington Academy and St Benet Biscop Catholic Academy will only accept Year 7 pupils from September 2020, and Meadowdale is now consulting on becoming a primary from this September.
These circumstances could see the complete abandonment of the three-tier system, and Ian Lavery, MP for Wansbeck, says parents have been "denied the opportunity" to oppose the potential move.
Mr Lavery said: “We all understand the pressures that have been placed on all schools due to central Government cuts with those in Bedlington losing more than £1m in real terms from their budgets since 2015.
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One person has been rushed to hospital after flames ripped through the roof of a Northumberland home.
Emergency services were scrambled to the scene of the house fire on Rowlington Terrace, Ashington , on Wednesday evening.
Neighbours gathered in the street with one onlooker suggesting flames stretched 20ft into the sky.
Michael Watson, 69, said: "It was my neighbour who come along and told me the house was on fire.
"The flames were 20ft at least. There was a lot of people out in the street.
"This is the quietest area in the world, a lovely place to live.
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Northumberland County Council's bid for a new caravan and camping site at Druridge Bay Country Park has been given the green light.
The proposals, for a plot to the south of Ladyburn Lake, were approved by eight votes to two by the North Northumberland Local Area Council this week.
The scheme had attracted 35 objections from residents - and three letters of support - while East Chevington Parish Council was opposed to what it described as 'simply commercialisation of public land', but no objectors spoke against the application at Tuesday's (May 21) meeting.
The planning officer's report said that camping provision was specifically included in the provision when the park was created in 1983, before opening to the public three years later.
It adds that the area in question continues to be used for camping to this day, but 'due to the modern popularity of caravans/camper-vans, the current set-aside area is no longer considered fit for purpose.'
Coun Jeff Watson said: "It's quite obvious that the area we are talking about is already used for this purpose at various times.
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Newcastle’s two universities have taken two of the top three slots in a national table ranking businesses started by its graduates.
The city’s reputation as a breeding ground for budding entrepreneurs has been boosted after Northumbria University topped the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey (HEBCIS) for the third year running, while Newcastle University was ranked third.
The survey said businesses started by Northumbria University start-ups had a combined turnover of £81.5m, while Newcastle’s were worth £40.3m. They were separated only by Edinburgh University, with Northumbria maintaining top spot from last year and Newcastle moving up from fifth.
Graduates from the two universities have started award-winning businesses that include Noveltea, which turned down investment from Dragons’ Den and then made four times as much through crowdfunding, and the Teashed, whose MD Jules Quinn was named on Forbes’ list of top European young entrepreneurs.
Lucy Winskell, pro vice-chancellor for employability and partnerships at Northumbria, said: “Northumbria has now been ranked the top university in the UK for graduate start-ups for five out of the past six years, which is an exceptional achievement.
“We are extremely proud of our entrepreneurial students and graduates and the significant contribution their businesses are making to employment and economic growth.
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Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain Jamie's Italian has appointed administrators, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk.
The business said it had appointed KPMG to oversee the process, with a more detailed announcement expected later on Tuesday.
Mr Oliver said: "I am deeply saddened by this outcome and would like to thank all of the staff and our suppliers who have put their hearts and souls into this business for over a decade. I appreciate how difficult this is for everyone affected.
"I would also like to thank all the customers who have enjoyed and supported us over the last decade, it's been a real pleasure serving you.
"We launched Jamie's Italian in 2008 with the intention of positively disrupting mid-market dining in the UK high street, with great value and much higher quality ingredients, best-in-class animal welfare standards and an amazing team who shared my passion for great food and service. And we did exactly that."
It follows a hunt for a new investor in the brand, with a number of private equity firms touted as mulling bids for a stake in the business.
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A Northumberland hardware store which has served generations of families in Bedlington Station for almost 100 years is closing its doors this month.
Joan Muter, 84, is reluctantly shutting up shop at R & L Keenleysides shop after working in the same store for more than six decades to enjoy a well-earned retirement.
The store first started out as a small hardware shop launched by Bob Keenleyside.
Morris Muter, Mrs Muter’s late husband, started helping out Mr Keenleyside with joinery work for his customers in the late 1950s and, once their family were of school age, Mrs Muter also helped out on Saturdays.
In 1965 the couple took over the store from Mr Keenleyside.
While her husband took care of the timber side of the business, Mrs Muter learned first-hand how to run a business, doing the accounts and looking after customers.
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Teenagers have been 'dispersed' from a Northumberland town plagued by youth disorder.
For several months, locals have been reporting trouble with groups of young people congregating in the parks and public spaces of Bedlington.
On social media, reports have been shared of people tipping over bins, setting small fires, throwing stones and smashing panels in bus shelters.
In February, Northumbria Police said some of the problems were caused by children as young as 12 and as old as 19 congregating in Bedlington from nearby towns, and pledged "robust" action for those who refused to heed their warnings.
Friday May 17 saw another surge in the bad behaviour, with Northumbria Police's Neighbourhood Policing Team dispersing "over 60 youths" in the from the area.
Police said this was done "in relation to anti-social behaviour", and that those involved were believed to be from various areas including Bedlington, Newbiggin, Ashington, Blyth, Morpeth and Cramlington.
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A man has been charged with a number of driving offences following a head-on collision in Northumberland which left three people seriously injured.
Police, paramedics and firefighters were called to the A1068 Fisher Lane between Seaton Burn and Cramlington at 10pm on Friday after a collision between a silver Vauxhall Vectra and a black Audi A1.
Three fire crews from  Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service and a specialist fire unit helped to release one person from their vehicle.
Three people – two women and a man – were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Police have now confirmed a 25-year-old man was subsequently arrested and has been charged with a number of driving offences, including causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

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Contentious plans for a caravan and camping site at Druridge Bay Country Park, which have sparked a number of objections, are being recommended for approval.
Northumberland County Council's proposals for a plot to the south of Ladyburn Lake are supported by planners, with councillors advised to follow suit at next Tuesday's North Northumberland Local Area Council.
The development would provide stone-surfaced access tracks and 20 caravan/camper-van pitches with electrical hook-up points and nearby water standpipes. Seven grass tent pitches would also be available.
A waste-water cassette wash-out facility would be provided nearby, as well as a small modular building with facilities for washing dishes.
It would operate for a maximum of seven months of the year, between the beginning of April and the end of October.
Druridge Bay Country Park was created in 1983 following the restoration and reclamation of an opencast mine, before opening to the public in 1986.
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