Newcastle and Northumberland stories you might have missed

Handheld detectors were used to scan the park and a huge amount of scrap metal was also removed

A student strikes gold during her first dig, an anti food-waste cafe faces closure, a cache of bombs is found under a playground, old Metro trains are scrapped and lane closures begin on a city centre motorway. Here are five stories from across Tyneside and Northumberland you might have missed this week.

Student strikes gold 90 minutes into first dig

The 9th Century object was found at an excavation in Redesdale, Northumberland

An international student discovered a piece of 9th Century gold just 90 minutes into her first archaeological excavation.

The early medieval object was found by Newcastle University student Yara Souza at a recent excavation in Redesdale, Northumberland.

It was buried close to the route of Dere Street, a major Roman road which ran between York and Edinburgh and which eventually became part of the modern-day A68.

• Read more about the rare find here

Anti food-waste cafe faces closure

Magic Hat events manager Anna Wiltshire says closure would be heartbreaking

A cafe battling food waste is set to lose its premises due to city centre redevelopment plans, bosses have claimed.

The Magic Hat says it has saved some 400 tonnes of food from going to landfill since opening in Newcastle in 2021.

But events manager Anna Wiltshire said it now faced a "heartbreaking" closure, as its base at Newcastle City Council-owned Higham House was being sold.

• Read more about the cafe set to lose its premises here

The man who found the first of 177 bombs under a playground

Steven Parkinson uncovered the first of 177 bombs in Scotts Park

For decades, generations of children have had a blast tearing round a Northumberland park and playground, all the while oblivious to a cache of World War Two bombs buried beneath them.

Steven Parkinson had just begun work in January installing new equipment at Scotts Park in Wooler, a town encircled by the rolling Cheviot Hills.

As he was digging, his eye caught something in the ground that was "a bit suspicious".

• Read more about the cache of bombs here

Old Metro trains recycled for scrap

The breakage process involves giant hydraulic grabbers and a snipping machine

Former Tyne and Wear Metro trains are being recycled for scrap, on the 45th anniversary of the opening of the network.

Nexus, which operates the system, said it was bidding a fond farewell to its decades-old "workhorses", as its new fleet was being phased in.

As part of the scrapping process the carriages are ripped open so metal, including aluminium, copper and steel, can be harvested.

• Read more about the trains being scrapped here

Lane closures begin on city centre motorway

Lane closures on the A167(M) Central Motorway are set to last 18 months

Drivers have been warned to allow extra time for their journeys as "disruptive" roadworks begin on a city centre motorway.

Daytime lane closures have started on the northbound carriageway of the A167(M) Central Motorway in Newcastle, with work expected to last 18 months.

Newcastle City Council said the works were taking place at the same time as repairs to the Tyne Bridge to reduce the total time motorists were inconvenienced.

• Read more about the lane closures here