内容摘要：In the case of teachers, this would be above the latest 3.2% consumer price inflation forecast

In the case of teachers, this would be above the latest 3.2% consumer price inflation forecast

Morpurgo is one of UK's best-known children's authors, writing more than150 books and serving as Children's Laureate.Shafak's most recent novel, There Are Rivers in the Sky, is the story of three lives – in Victorian London, 2014 Turkey and 2018 London – connected by a single drop of water.

Two disused phone boxes are to be transformed into writing hubs as part of a creative community project.Writer and artist Kim Squirrell hopes to reopen the two red kiosks in Bridport, Dorset, to create a place for people to put pen to paper.Ms Squirrell and poet Lisa Wilson are hosting information sessions outside the boxes, sharing their plans for the Writing Box and gathering ideas.

Participants at the first event on Friday were given postcards to write to loved ones, and cards were also distributed around the town.The kiosks, outside Bridport's post office, have been locked since being decommissioned, but a sign in the window says they can be adopted for £1.

Ms Squirrell said: "I just got this idea in my head, because they are right outside the post office, and I thought, 'what if that was a little writing space?'

"There's room for somebody to stand up in there so we'd make a little desk and there would be pens and pencils.A train sculpture which has become the target of vandals is to be renovated.

The Brick Train was unveiled in 1997 as a tribute to Darlington's proud railway heritage, but vandalism and fly-tipping has seen its condition deteriorate.The town's Labour MP Lola McEvoy is working with Darlington Borough Council to improve the site, near Morton Park, after recent public concerns.

"To see it in such poor condition was heartbreaking – but I'm thrilled to see great progress now being made to restore it in time for such a significant moment in our town's history," the MP said.Renovation work to improve the Brick Train will take place over the summer in time for the 200th bicentenary celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in September.