People in the region are being urged to log on to a new website to alert them to the signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia.

Visitors to the site, at www.meningitis.org, can get tips on how to spot signs of the diseases and an explanation of the "tumbler test". More than 3,000 cases of the diseases are reported each year in the UK and the site has been set up by the Meningitis Research Foundation to help people spot for tell-tale signs early.

TIME TO RETHINK: Mental health charity Rethink is to hold a conference in the region next month, which will be attended by experts from around the country. Speakers from all fields of mental health will speak on schizophrenia, new treatments for mental health and support for carers. It will be held at Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club, Kingston Park, Newcastle, on December 13.

ON CUE: Hundreds of extra seats are being made available for the later stages of the 2002 UK Snooker Championships - due to popular demand. The final, at the Barbican Centre, York, has already sold out, but the extra tickets will allow an extra 200 people to see the game. Tickets, from £3.50 to £15.50, go on sale on Friday, at 10am. To book, call (01904) 656688.

ELDERLY MEETt: Members of the North-East Pensioners' Association are to meet Alan Campbell, secretary of the Northern Group of MPs, on Friday, November 29, at Wallsend town hall, North Tyneside. Issues on the agenda include health and transport provision in the region.

VICTIM NAMED: Police have named an 87-year-old woman who died after being knocked over while crossing Churchill Street, Wallsend, North Tyneside, as Elsie Preston, of Henley Gardens, Wallsend. The accident happened at 4.30pm on Friday.

WOMAN HURT: A woman driver was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham, after two cars collided on the Shadforth to Ludworth road, near Wheatley Hill, yesterday.

A1(M) Crash: Firefighters freed two people trapped in the wreckage after two cars collided on the A1(M), near the Bowburn interchange, County Durham, on Sunday. The casualties were taken to Durham's University Hospital.

DEPOT BLAZE: A garage building at a haulage depot in Benton Square, Holystone, North Tyneside, was badly damaged by during a fire on Saturday.