A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged following three hoax bomb calls on Tuesday night.

A police spokesman said a call was made to police at 7pm saying there was a bomb on the platform at the Meadow Well Metro station, in North Shields, North Tyneside. Two similar calls were made in the next hour, and a search found nothing. The teenager will appear at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

EDDIE WEDS: A former champion motorbike racer is to wed the Thai air force pilot who swept him off his feet. Eddie Johnson, 66, was 125cc Scottish champion in 1963 and top North-East of England rider in 1966 and 1967. He is set to travel to Bangkok to marry high-flying Noparat, 46, in November. Mr Johnson, of Tynemouth, North Tyneside, and his bride-to-be, a wing commander with the Thai air force, will marry in a private ceremony at a Buddhist temple before celebrating with family and friends. The pair met while Eddie and his motorbike champion son, Martin, were on a world trip.

EGYPTIAN LIFE: An extensive collection of artefacts feature in an exhibition looking at daily life for the average Ancient Egyptian, at Durham's Oriental Museum. The display, Life, Prosperity and Health!, was staged in the summer last year, and is being repeated at the Elvet Hill museum until December 22.

DRINK AID: Drinkers at the recent Durham Beer Festival raised £429 for the city's St Cuthbert's Hospice. The hospice, at Merryoaks, thanked festival organisers, the Durham branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, for staging a collection during the event, held at Durham Students Union's Dunelm House building, in New Elvet.

ALBUM REVAMPED: The CD The Best of Lindisfarne, featuring some of the veteran North-East band's best-loved songs from the early 1970s, has been reissued by EMI/Virgin with four extra tracks, which include Dingly Dell, the title track of the group's third album, and two unreleased tracks from the 1980s.

NEW OWNERS: Seaham Docks, in County Durham, have been bought by the Plymouth-based Victoria Group in a multi-million pound deal. The company said it planned to develop the port's business, particularly to increase trade with ports on the Baltic Sea.

HOUSE RAID: Police sealed off Rawdon Avenue, in the Tang Hall area of York, yesterday to raid a house in connection with alleged drug offences. A firearm was also believed to be on the property. The building was searched by a team of officers but no drugs or firearms were found.

PUBLIC TALK: Buddhist monk Kelsang Wangyal will give a talk in the region on teachings based on the bestselling book The New Meditation Handbook, by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Mr Wangyal, a disciple of the author, will be at Ottakar's, Darlington, at 7pm on Tuesday.

ROYAL VISIT: The Prince of Wales will attend this year's Nidderdale Show, on Monday, September 22, at Bewerley Park, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire. Guests of honour will be Sir Kenneth Morrison and his wife, Lady Morrison.