Trading Standards officers in Hartlepool are urging people to remember that Christmas decorations are not toys.

They say that while toys must comply with strict safety regulations, decorations are exempt. Officers have recently found Christmas decoration figures with easily removable eyes that could be dangerous to small children. They say that the only way to tell the difference between a toy and a decoration was to look for a label which carries a CE mark on toys.

THANK YOU: Asda Thornaby would like to thank customers for helping to raise £1,200 for Children in Need. The money was raised by holding raffles, bucket collections and busking in the store. Customers also raised £48 for Barnado's when Thornaby Village School held a bucket collection in the store.

BOOKWORM BONUS: Readers at Owton Manor Library in Hartlepool are in for two Christmas treats this week. Children from Owton Manor Primary School will be singing carols tomorrow between 10.30am and 11am and on Friday Santa will visit the library during the Christmas Storytime for the under 5s between 2pm and 2.30pm.

HIGH NOTE: Billingham Choral Society and the Synthonia Male Voice Choir raised £350 for the North Tees Leukaemia Ward Fund during a concert held at Norton Methodist Church.

MUSICAL MAGIC: A Christmas concert by Middlesbrough Choral Group will be held in St Barnabas Church, St Barnabas Road, Linthorpe, on Saturday, from 7pm to 8.30pm. There is no entrance charge but all donations will go to Butterwick House Children's Hospice.

MUSIC MAN: Redcar musician Norman Evans MBE, has raised more than £700 for Sir William Turner's Almshouses, in Kirkleatham, near Redcar.

CALLED OFF: The Dickens evening planned for tonight in Guisborough has been cancelled. It was due to be held at Sunnyfield House.

TOP SALE: A Christmas tabletop sale will be held at Saltburn Community Centre, Albion Terrace, from 10am to 4pm on Saturday.