Tyne Tees Berwick

The Duchess of Northumberland has officially launched almost £1 million worth of lottery funded improvements at Castle Vale and Coronation Parks in Berwick upon Tweed.

The Duchess cut ribbons in each of the parks.

The Berwick Parks Project was set up to revitalise the two parks which sit on either side of Berwick’s train station.

Police are appealing for information after a tractor was stolen in Northumberland.

The theft happened at just after 12.15am, on the Tweedside Trading Estate, in Tweedmouth, Berwick, on Sunday, July 20.

The offender entered the yard before driving away across fields with the green John Deere tractor.

A 42-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and bailed pending further enquiries.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to come forward as the investigation into the theft continues.

Scotland and British & Irish Lions rugby star Stuart Hogg has given his support to Berwick runner Guy Learmonth ahead of tonight's Men's 800m final.

Hogg and Learmonth played rugby union together as juniors for Border Reivers.

Berwick runner Guy Learmonth says competing in the Men's 800m Heats this afternoon was "amazing".

The 22-year-old, who was making his Commonwealth Games debut, finished 4th in Round One Heat One but qualified for Wednesday's Semi-Finals as fastest loser with a time of 1 minute 47.85 seconds.

Learmonth was also in the same Heat as Olympic champion and world record Holder David Rudisha. The Kenyan won the Heat with a time of 1 minute 46.89 seconds.

When asked what it was like to compete against Rudisha, Learmonth said:

Berwick's Guy Learmonth has qualified for the Semi-Finals of the Men's 800m in Glasgow.

The 22-year-old narrowly missed out on automatic qualification in Round One Heat One, coming in 4th with a time of 1:47:85. But Learmonth progresses to Wednesday night's Semi's as fastest loser.

The Commonwealth Games will be particularly special for one athlete from Northumberland.

Guy Learmonth, 22, is from Berwick but is competing for Scotland in the Men's 800m. The Games is his first major championships.

The Chancellor George Osborne said there was a "compelling argument" for improving the A1 between Newcastle and the Scottish Borders.

Campaigners have been arguing for years that the road should be made into a dual carriageway all the way along.

The Chancellor George Osborne has been tasting whisky at a 150-year-old business in Berwick-upon-Tweed, as he announced a programme of investment for rural businesses.

He chose to make the announcement at Simpson's Malt, which has invested £90m in its malting businesses over the last 30 years.

Read: Osborne dodges maths question from schoolboy

The Chancellor George Osborne is visiting Berwick to announce extra funding that he said will support business growth in the North East from 2015, especially in rural areas.

Businesses in County Durham, Gateshead and Northumberland will be able to apply for grants from two funds, worth £22.5m.

The money is a combination of government money, private sector funding and European investment.

It could pay for the development of workspaces, investment in tourist attractions and accommodation, or investment in new equipment to help small businesses grow, where they have struggled to raise money from other sources.

David Cameron has been speaking to ITV Border's Scotland Political Editor Peter MacMahon at the Scottish Conservative Party conference.

When asked whether there would be border controls between Scotland and England this was Mr Cameron's response.