St Mary's Lighthouse up for rent
North Tyneside Council is offering a lease to those prepared to invest in the landmark - and the more creative the idea, the better.
Video shows future of Mars
A new video installation on Tyneside shows what Mars may look like in 200 years time when it has become a junkyard of abandoned spacecraft.
Sexual assault victim speaks of attack
Stephanie Hewson, from North Tyneside, was the victim of a violent sexual assault in Whitley Bay in 2009.
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Lighthouse could be under new management
A private company could take over managing the visitor centre and lighthouse, on the tidal St Mary's Island, near Whitley Bay.
The visitor centre and lighthouse are currently run by North Tyneside council.
If this plan goes ahead then the council would still own the site and offer it on a five year lease.
Search continues for missing man
Police looking for missing man Colin Morton from Whitley Bay are today continuing their searches.
House to house enquiries are taking place in the area in the hope people may have information which will help officers trace Mr Morton, who has not been seen since Christmas Eve.
Officers are still appealing for a man seen walking into the sea on December 24 to get in touch.
Mr Morton is around 5ft 10 inches tall, with grey balding hair.
He was wearing a grey hooded top, navy blue bottoms and a grey v-neck t-shirt when he was last seen.
– Superintendent Peter Farrell"As time goes on we're becoming increasingly concerned for the welfare of Mr Morton.
It's possible he walked from the town centre towards the seafront and we want to hear from anyone who may have seen Mr Morton taking this route.
Searches have been taking place throughout Whitley Bay and surrounding areas since he went missing and these are continuing today."
Anyone who has seen Mr Morton or who has any information about his whereabouts is asked to contact police on 101 ext 69191.
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Missing man lost his job days before disappearance
Police are continuing to search for a former building society executive who went missing after being sacked.
It has emerged that Colin Morton from Whitley Bay had lost his job after an administrative error.
Five days later, on Christmas Eve, he failed to return home.
Police want to trace a man who was seen walking into the sea that morning, close to the town's Rendezvous Cafe.
Police continue search for missing Tyneside man
Police are continuing to appeal for information in their search for Colin Morton.
The 52-year-old was last seen on Christmas Eve at around 9 o'clock when he left his home in Whitley Bay.
Superintendent Peter Farrell, of Northumbria Police said: "This is out of character for Colin. He's a 52-year-old local man who's in a long-term relationship, and he's very much missed by his partner."
Anyone who may have seen Colin is asked to contact Northumbria Police on 101.
Renewed appeal after possible sighting of Colin Morton
Northumbria Police are urging a man seen walking into the sea to get in touch as part of the search for missing man Colin Morton from Whitley Bay.
The man was spotted between 10am and 10.30am on Christmas Eve, walking into the sea near the area of the Rendezvous Cafe in Whitley Bay.
He was wearing either boxer shorts or swimming shorts.
"We need to establish whether this was someone walking into the sea for a dip so we can eliminate this possible sighting from our enquiries.
Therefore we are appealing for this swimmer to contact police immediately."
- Superintendent Peter Farrell
Colin is described as around 5ft 10 inches tall, with grey balding hair.
He was wearing a grey hooded top, navy blue bottoms and black top when he went missing.
*"We are continuing to appeal to the public to help us find Mr Morton. *
*We know that he has recently been suffering from depression and we're becoming increasingly concerned that his family have not heard from him since he called his partner on Christmas Eve. *
*We believe that Mr Morton may have gone for a walk on the beach after phoning his partner, so we urgently need to establish whether the man seen walking into the sea is Mr Morton. *
*If you are that man, or you know who he is, I would ask you to contact police immediately." *
- Superintendent Farrell
Anyone who has seen Mr Morton or who has any information about his whereabouts is asked to contact police on 101 ext 69191.
Partner's appeal to public to find missing Colin Morton
Police are continuing to appeal for the public's help to trace a missing Whitley Bay man.
52-year-old Colin Morton was last seen by his partner on Christmas Eve morning when he left the house to go to the doctor's and to run a few errands in the town centre.
He has not made any contact with her since ten o'clock that morning.
Mr Morton’s partner Liz Callighan has appealed for him to get in touch.
– Liz Callighan“I just want to tell you that I love you and I need to know that you are safe.
Please can you get in touch with someone to let me know you are safe and well?”
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Growing concern for missing Whitley Bay man
Police are becoming increasingly concerned about the whereabouts of a missing man from Whitley Bay.
52-year-old Colin Morton was last seen by his partner when he left his home address just before 9 o'clock on Christmas Eve morning to attend a doctor's appointment at a surgery in Whitley Bay.
Mr Morton walked through Whitley Bay Metro station, using the footbridge heading in the direction of Whitley Bay and attended his appointment at the surgery.
He then left the surgery in Whitley Road around quarter past 9 before going to a bank in the town centre.
Mr Morton called his partner just before ten o'clock, but has not made any contact since.
Anyone who may have seen Mr Morton is being encouraged to contact Northumbria Police.
Tyneside artist misses out on Turner Prize
An artist from Tyneside who was one of the final four in the Turner Prize narrowly missed out on clinching the title last night.
Paul Noble, originally from Whitley Bay, was shortlisted for the prize with Luke Fowler, Elizabeth Price and Spartacus Chetwynd.
The artist spent his childhood at Whitley Bay High School before going on to do an arts foundation course at Sunderland Poly, then studying for three years at Humberside College of Higher Education.
Mr Noble, who had been shortlisted for his fantasy pencil drawings, lost out to Elizabeth Price - whose work went on display at the Baltic gallery in Gateshead.
The winning artwork, entitled "Here", was a trilogy of videos as installation artwork originally shown at the North East gallery in 2011.
Shimmer Festival to light up seaside town
A seaside town has taken on an enchanted feel as an illuminations festival gets underway. Whitley Bay in North Tyneside is staging 'Shimmer', a digital arts festival introduced last year as a build-up to Bonfire Night, bathing buildings in waves of light.
An animated film called ‘Diversión' forms the centrepiece of the event, lighting up the town's Spanish City dome in vibrant colours.The Waves leisure pool and the Panama Dip skate park are hosting light-based works by cutting-edge artists.
The festival, which has a £50,000 budget, will draw to a close with a fireworks display held on Sunday evening.
– Kevin Wallace, North Tyneside Council"The council had never commissioned anything like that before, but when they saw how fantastic it was they thought we’ve got to do it again.“One of the reasons the festival was so successful last year was that people really responded to the work."
Amateur astronomers head to Whitley Bay
Amateur astronomers are being invited to a stargazing event at St Mary's Lighthouse, in Whitley Bay tonight.
North Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Astronomical Society are hosting the autumn sky watching night on October 13. It's hoped people will see Jupiter rising and the Andromeda Galaxy through powerful telescopes.
The free event starts at 6.30pm and runs until 11pm. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
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