THE North-East skyline will be lit up with beacons to herald the jubilee.

A string of 135 beacons will be lit in sequence from the north of Scotland to London on Monday.

Four of the Anchor Chain of Beacons will be set alight in the region.

The venture has been the responsibility of the Junior Organisation of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Head of the North-East junior committee, Liz McLoughlin, has been devoting her spare time to the venture.

Miss McLoughlin, a surveyor for Newcastle City Council, said: "We could not have done this without the help and co-operation of the landowners, farmers, local councils, and especially the Army Cadet Force, which is providing the muscle-power in Northumberland, Durham and Cleveland to build the beacons."

Three of the beacons, at Deadwater Fell near Kielder Village, Northumberland, Moat Law, north of Matfen, Northumberland, and Horseshoe Hill, Blanchland, near the Derwent Reservoir, are being built as traditional bonfires and need 25 tonnes of timber each.

The fourth beacon, at Captain Cook's Monument, Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, is being built in a metal brazier provided by the parish council.

Lighting the beacons will have to be a private affair because to make it a public event would mean paying for medical cover, accident insurance and marshalling, which the volunteers could not afford.

The first bonfire will be lit at 9.30pm in the northern most isles of Scotland and beacons will be lit in sequence.