Tyneside and Northumberland stories you might have missed

Lauren Laverne laughing into a BBC Radio 6 Music microphone. She has long, blonde hair and is wearing large black headphones and a red shirt.

Sunderland's Lauren Laverne will host the 2025 Mercury Prize ceremony in Newcastle

Stagecoach bus strikes have ended after workers settled a pay dispute and more funding is needed to keep the Northumberland Line on track.

Here are five stories from across Tyneside and Northumberland you might have missed this week.

Lauren Laverne to host 2025 Mercury Prize

English Teacher with their trophy for the Mercury Prize. The three men in the band are wearing black jackets, two with white button-up shirts and one with a white T-shirt with black design and collar. Second from the left, the female band member has a voluminous black Afro hairstyle and wears a red and white patterned top.PA Media

Leeds-based English Teacher claimed the prize last year, the first act from outside London to win since 2014

BBC Radio 6 Music's Lauren Laverne will host this year's Mercury Prize, which is being held in Newcastle.

The ceremony will take place at the Utilita Arena on 16 October, marking the first time the event has been held outside of London.

Alongside the awards show, the Mercury Prize Newcastle Fringe has also been announced with events taking place across the North East.

  • You can read more on this story here

'Living in fear a year after riots'

Faty Kane looks a the camera. She has very short black hair and is wearing a blue shirt, sitting in front of an orange wall.BBC/Sharuna Sagar

Faty Kane from the Angelou Centre says minoritised women still live in fear

Last summer, anti-immigration protests erupted into violence in towns and cities across the country.

A group supporting black and Asian women says many are still living in fear a year on, but their voices have not been adequately heard.

"The riots posed a threat to our safety," says Faty Kane, executive director of The Angelou Centre in Newcastle. "We just felt that we had a target on our back because of the work that we do and who we are."

  • Read more about the womens' experiences here

Extra £38m needed to finish railway

A blue and grey Northern train travelling across a railway crossing. There are red and white barriers on either side of the tracks. A yellow digger can be seen in the background, with a signal box building on the near side of the tracks.

The opening of Bedlington and Northumberland Park stations has been delayed until 2026

An extra £37.9m is required to complete the reopened Northumberland Line, the county council has said.

Next week, councillors will be asked to agree to raise the budget required to complete the project, between Ashington and Newcastle, to £336.4m

The railway line was reopened in December after being shut for 60 years.

Despite only half of the six planned stations being in operation, passenger numbers have been high.

  • Read more about the Northumberland Line here

Meanwhile... on the buses

A Stagecoach North East bus travelling along a road. The vehicle has a light blue livery and dark windows.

The settlement brings to a close a dispute running for several weeks

Bus workers have settled a pay row after voting to accept an improved offer.

About 600 Stagecoach North East drivers, cleaners and engineers in Newcastle, Sunderland and South Shields staged a day of strike action earlier in August and another was planned.

The Unite union has announced its members have accepted a revised offer, which the bus firm said would "prevent any further disruption".

  • There is more on the dispute here

New plans lodged for rejected flats

An artists impression of what the flats would look like in the Ouseburn Valley. There are several large, grey buildings with large windows among the stone and brick buildings. Xsite Architecture

New plans have been submitted for the flats on Lime Street in Newcastle's Ouseburn

Redrawn plans for a rejected housing development have been submitted.

A government planning inspector upheld Newcastle City Council's decision to refuse permission for a 57-apartment complex in the Ouseburn Valley earlier this year.

Concerns had been raised the crescent-shaped building would have a harmful impact on the conservation area and some flats would not have adequate light levels.

  • There is more on the plans here

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