Meanwhile, former chairman Sir John Hall has branded the club's relegated playing staff as "useless".

BBC: Shearer holds talks with Magpies

The Grade I-listed hall, near the coastal town of Seaton Sluice, was built by Sir John Vanbrugh, and is widely regarded as one of the finest works of the English Baroque period.

BBC: Stonework amnesty at Seaton Delaval Hall

In a Westminster Hall session on 20 October 2011, a member of the parliamentary Committee on Arms Export Controls, Sir John Stanley, opened a debate on his committee's annual report.

BBC: Debate on arms export controls