WATCH: Your latest Newcastle news headlines for Thursday December 2

Visitors to Newcastle’s Christmas markets have been “strongly advised” to wear a mask. 

People are being urged to take precautions when heading to the city centre to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Masks are now mandatory in various other settings due to the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the demolition of the Tyne Tunnel’s toll booths has begun, after the crossing moved to a new cashless system. 

The new ‘open road tolling’ scheme means that drivers must pay for their journeys via a pre-paid account with tunnel operator TT2.

The booths will all be gone by next spring.

And a new £18m fund to help create more green jobs in the region has been described as potentially a “real game-changer” in the fight against climate change. The fund is intended to support small to medium scale ideas like community energy schemes and create jobs in green technology.