PRACTICAL help for job-seekers will be on offer later this week as Gateshead Borough Council's sixth Local Employment Fair gets under way.

More than 40 local and national employers will be represented at the Swallow Hotel on Friday. The event, which runs from 10am to 4pm, is free and open to anyone looking for work. Among the employers attending will be: AA Insurance, BT, GO North East, Costco, Dickinson Dees, Fenwicks, the North Eastern Co-Op, Mecca Bingo, Renew, and the Army Careers Service.

SHOP EXPLOSION: Fire-fighters were called to Topshop, Burley Way, Felling, Gateshead, just before 8pm on Saturday to a report of a gas explosion. Severe damage was caused to a wall and window of the two-storey terraced property. The shop owner was taken to hospital with severe burns to his hands and legs.

STUDENT WINNER: A student strutted his stuff in a Pop Idol-style contest to be named overall winner. Nathan Kiely, 20, a Durham University student, performed the Spandau Ballet hit, Gold, to win the event staged by the nightclub DH1, of North Road, Durham. Mr Keily won £300, a year's supply of alco-pop WKD, and a session in a recording studio.

FOOD FAIR: One of the biggest food festivals in the North-East will be held at Baltic Square, Gateshead Quays, at the Easter weekend, March 30 and 31. More than 40 speciality food and drink producers will join forces with leading regional bodies for the first Northumbria Food Festival. The majority of stallholders are regulars at farmers' markets in the region.

COUNSELLING LECTURE: The 19th Hartop Lecture, by Dr Colin Feltham, of Sheffield Hallam University, called Counselling as Sanctuary, will take place in the Holgate Centre, Grey College, Durham, on May 8 at 5.30pm. Everyone is welcome. Admission is free.

AWARDS PRESENTED: Schools have been rewarded for their work in tackling smoking by receiving Tyne and Wear Smoke-Free School Awards. They were presented to 38 schools by Dr Gill Sanders, director of public health for Gateshead and South Tyneside, and Iain Miller, chairman of Northern ASH, at the Quality Hotel, Boldon.

CANDIDATE CHOICE: The Citizens for an Independent Mayor group will adopt its official candidate for the North Tyneside mayoral elections at the Berkeley Tavern, Marine Avenue, Whitley Bay, on March 26, at 7pm. The public is welcome to attend. For more details, ring Alan Pond on 0191-252 2473.

CENTRE EXPANSION: Gateshead Borough Council has granted planning permission for Gateshead College's Computer Learning Centre at Blaydon Precinct to expand into a vacant adjoining unit. Ward councillor Malcolm Brain said: "There is widespread concern about vacancies in the precinct, and the expansion of the computer centre is very welcome."

SPECIAL AWARDS: More than 100 young people from Gateshead received Duke of Edinburgh Awards from Newcastle United footballer Alan Shearer and the Mayor of Gateshead, Councillor Joseph Hattam, at Gateshead Civic Centre.

ART EXHIBITION: An exhibition of oil paintings by Ron Prenelle, depicting the collieries of Easington district, will go on show at The Long Gallery, Seaton Holme, Hall Walks, Easington Village, from March 25 to April 21. Admission to the exhibition is free