A PRIZE-WINNING allotment has been awarded £5,000 to spend on improvements. Harlow Hill Allotments, in Harrogate, has been awarded the maximum grant from the Award for All Community Fund. On previous occasions the site - which is run by its members - has won the district's best kept allotment award and highly commended accolades.

Better off: More than 100 pensioners are better off, after a campaign by benefit services staff in Harrogate to make sure they were receiving all the help they were entitled to. They have also worked with the pension Service to introduce a shortened claim form that reduces the usual 32-page form to just three pages.

SCHOOL PRODUCTION: Tickets are on sale for the latest production by pupils at the Allertonshire School, Northallerton. Youngsters will perform The Burston Drum, by Ellen Dryden, on March 29, 30 and 31 and April 1 in the school's west hall. Tickets cost £6 for adults and £3 for concessions. They are available from the school office on (01609) 772888.

WAR TALK: Artist Ian Cale will give a talk at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate on Saturday, March 25 at 2pm. He will talk about his current exhibition, Kessel: Signs of Conflict, which is based on the aftermath of the Second World War in the former East Germany. Tickets cost £2 and can be booked by calling Elaine Laker on (01423) 556188.

LUNCHTIME RECITAL: Musicians from Ripon Cathedral Choir School will perform at the cathedral tomorrow from 1.15pm to 2pm. Admission is free.

DRIVING CHARGE: Mark William Hall, 38, from Mowbray Road, Northallerton, had his case adjourned until tomorrow. He has pleaded not guilty to crossing a double white line in a van, at Darlington Magistrates' Court yesterday.