A NATURE fanatic who stole hundreds of wildlife books worth thousands of pounds from libraries and a shop was yesterday given a 12-month supervision order.
Alan Hunter Birchall, 43, of Storey Crescent, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, was also ordered by Alnwick magistrates to pay £200 costs and £23 compensation towards the cost of a book he stole which was not recovered.
AFTER an indifferent start, Northumberland athletes had a very successful time on the second and last day of the English Schools Track and Field Championships at Gateshead International Stadium - taking four gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
Laura Weightman from Duchess's High School in Alnwick started the run, with an excellent tactical victory in the senior girls' 1,500m, proving too strong for her rivals in the final 80m.
Niall Flannery (Royal Grammar) - like Weightman the intermediate champion in 2007 - took the senior boys' 400m hurdles title.
A RALLYING call was issued yesterday in town halls across the North East for councils to help fill the void left by post office closures.
A motion put forward at a meeting last night in Alnwick for the authority to step in will be followed by others in Durham and Newcastle today after the full list of the region's 81 branches either being closed or downgraded was published.
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Journal Extra, Northumberland's free weekly, is inside copies of The Journal across the county every Thursday, and can also be picked up from these locations around Alnwick »
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