Summary

  • Updates for Tuesday 22 March 2016

  • More news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 on Wednesday

  1. Latest: Flight disruption following Brussels explosions; 'crush' injuries for man whose van fell on him; council flats controversypublished at 12:19 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Alex Homer
    BBC Local Live

    Here is a recap of the stories we have been covering in the past few hours:

    - A flight from Birmingham Airport to Brussels has been cancelled following explosions in the Belgian city's airport and metro system

    - A man suffered "crush" injuries when his van fell on him as he changed a rear tyre

    - Some council tenants say plans to remove age restrictions on up to 60 blocks of Wolverhampton flats could see elderly people blighted by anti-social behaviour

  2. Football: Saddlers striker hopes to secure Wales spot at Euros this summerpublished at 11:58 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Mikey Burrows
    BBC WM Sport

    Walsall striker Tom Bradshaw has joined up with the Wales squad hoping to earn himself a place at this summer's European Championship. 

    The Saddlers striker could feature in the friendlies with Northern Ireland and Ukraine this week and he says he is determined to learn from his opportunity.

    Tom BradshawImage source, Getty Images
  3. Headteacher of flagship academy trust seeks assistance following notice to improve financial managementpublished at 11:34 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    The headteacher of the Perry Beeches Academy Trust in Birmingham will no longer be in charge of the commercial side of the schools. 

    It's after the trust was given financial notice to improve by the government.

    Liam Nolan

    Liam Nolan will carry on as headteacher but is looking for a business leader to work alongside him. 

    There are five schools in the trust - which is due to become seven - and one of them, Perry Beeches III, went into special measures last year.

  4. Type-2 Diabetes: At-risk people offered lifestyle help in Birmingham and Dudleypublished at 11:17 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Nick Triggle
    Health Correspondent

    A programme which aims to stop thousands of adults from developing type-2 diabetes - a largely preventable disease - is being expanded to Birmingham and Dudley. 

    It's already been tried in seven areas and will now be expanded to take in 27, covering half of England. 

    Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said the NHS would help people at risk change their unhealthy lifestyles.

    Overweight person has their waist measuredImage source, Science Photo Library
  5. Brussels explosions: West Midlands MEP's 'thoughts and prayers' with those affectedpublished at 10:53 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    UKIP West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge, who is currently in Brussels, said: “My thoughts and prayers are with those who were caught in these awful incidents.

    “Whoever is responsible for these acts of terror and brutality must be brought to swift and effective justice using the maximum force at the security services’ disposal.”

    Bill Etheridge MEP
  6. Plans to remove age restrictions on council flats 'could cause anti-social behaviour'published at 10:42 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Rob Mayor
    Black Country Political Reporter, BBC WM

    Some council tenants in Wolverhampton say that plans to remove age restrictions on more than 60 blocks of flats in the city could see elderly people blighted by anti-social behaviour. 

    Council housing makes up around a quarter of homes in the city but at the moment 10% of it is reserved for people aged over 30, 40 or 50. 

    With 7,000 people on the waiting list, councillors say those rules need to be scrapped, but Anne Guest from the Wolverhampton Federation of Tenants Associations says it could cause big problems.  

  7. Man suffers 'crush' injuries after a van fell on him as he changed a tyrepublished at 10:25 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    A man has suffered "crush" injuries after a jack collapsed while he was changing the rear wheel of a van near Wolverhampton, according to West Midlands Ambulance Service.

    The 48-year-old was underneath the back of the van near the junction of Ball Lane and the A449 at Coven when it collapsed at about 17:00 on Monday. 

    Witnesses helped raise the van, reset the jack and free the man which a spokesman said "undoubtedly helped reduce the level of injury" as the man was trapped for "a matter of minutes".

    He was airlifted to New Cross Hospital with back and chest injuries.

  8. Watch: Latest weather forecast for the West Midlandspublished at 10:01 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Charlie Slater
    BBC Weather presenter

    A decent day in store for us. There will be some brightness for some first thing but there's plenty of intermittent cloud too.

    Highs of 10C (50F). Find out how it is due to look later.

    Media caption,

    Latest weather for the West Midlands

  9. Brussels-bound flight from Birmingham is cancelledpublished at 09:45 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    The flight due to leave for Brussels from Birmingham Airport at 10:20 has been cancelled, according to its website, external.

  10. Mondelez disputes 'one-sided' Dispatches programme which accused it of betraying Cadbury's heritagepublished at 09:33 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    The owner of Birmingham chocolate maker Cadbury has been accused of betraying its heritage and breaking promises in a Channel 4 documentary broadcast last night. 

    Dispatches said that despite the pledges by the company's new American owners to keep making Dairy Milk in the UK when they took over in 2010, the company now made several Dairy Milk products in a recently-expanded factory in Poland - where workers were paid just £2.35 an hour.

    A Mondelez spokesperson said the programme was "one-sided and misleading" and did a "great disservice to the thousands of hardworking [Cadbury] colleagues in the UK".

    Cadbury factoryImage source, AP

    The firm added:"Mondelez has invested £200m in the UK, including £75m investment in Bournville which has secured the factory as the home of Cadbury for generations to come."

  11. Meeting over Birmingham flights bound for Brussels after airport and metro blastspublished at 09:12 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Two flights are due to depart Birmingham Airport for Brussels today - one at 10:20 and another at 14:10.

    It is understood a meeting is currently taking place to determine whether those flights will happen. 

    A series of attacks has struck Brussels airport and the metro system, causing fatalities according to the latest information from Belgian media.  

  12. Latest: Man's van fell on him as he changed tyre and controversy over lifting age limits on council flat tenantspublished at 08:45 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Alex Homer
    BBC Local Live

    Here are the top stories on Tuesday so far:

    - A man suffered "crush" injuries when his van fell on him as he changed a rear tyre

    - Some council tenants say plans to remove age restrictions on up to 60 blocks of Wolverhampton flats could see elderly people blighted by anti-social behaviour

    - A programme aiming to prevent adults developing type-2 diabetes is being rolled out to Birmingham and Dudley

  13. Travel: M6 and M54 delayspublished at 08:22 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    BBC Travel

    One lane is blocked and there is heavy traffic on the M6 southbound at J10 for Wolverhampton because of a breakdown, drivers are warned.

    One lane is also closed and there is very slow traffic on the M54 in both directions between J2 for Wolverhampton and J3 for Albrighton because of a breakdown, a fuel spillage and barrier repairs.

  14. Football: Garde speculation continues but review of Villa carries on regardlesspublished at 08:08 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Mikey Burrows
    BBC WM Sport

    Speculation is continuing over Remi Garde's future at Aston Villa.

    The Villa boss has apparently spent the last few days back home in France after his side's loss at Swansea, their sixth defeat in a row, left them 12 points from safety with seven games to play. 

    Whatever happens with Garde, the man leading Villa's new football board has told us his review of the club will continue. Former FA chairman David Bernstein said he would leave no stone unturned.

    Remi GardeImage source, Getty Images
  15. Good morning from Local Live for Birmingham and the Black Countrypublished at 08:00 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Alex Homer
    BBC Local Live

    I'm back with the usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather updates.

    If you see a story you think we should be covering or have pictures of the region you want to showcase, email us, tweet @bbcwm, external or reach us on the BBC WM Facebook page, external.