That's it for Local Live for Thursday. Join us from 08:00 on Friday for more news, sport, travel and weather updates.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Aston Villa have released a new club crest for the 2016-17 season in a bid to make it "more effective in the digital age."

The club are currently without a manager, after the sacking of Remy Garde, and sit bottom of the Premier League.

Aston Villa Supporters Trust patron Jonny Gould reacted to the club's new badge on Phil Williams's show on 5Live last night.

Louise Brierley
Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

Scientists say legal highs are being smuggled into prisons in letters to inmates.

Bio-chemists at Sandwell Hospital have analysed correspondence from five jails in the Midlands.

They found sheets of paper soaked with psychoactive substances.

It is thought that once inside the prison they can change hands for hundreds of pounds.

Mary Rhodes
Presenter, BBC Midlands Today

West Midlands Ambulance Service is in talks to help colleagues in the East Midlands who are struggling financially and have some of the worst response times in the country.

We will have the latest on that story and more on how legal highs are being snuck into Midlands prisons, and an unlikely tourist attraction for those visiting Birmingham.

Join us for the Midlands Today on BBC One at 18:30.

Sara Thornton
BBC Weather

A mix of sunshine and showers. Lows of 6C (43F).

Find out more about tonight, tomorrow and the weekend.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Here is a recap of the top stories on Thursday:

- A Birmingham house explosion was caused by accident as a naked flame came into contact with gas vapours, say investigators

- A serving constable made a 999 call about a fake terrorist plot to kidnap another West Midlands Police officer, a court has been told

- Three rail firms have been shortlisted to take over the West Midlands franchise

Walsall Advertiser

Here's today's front page - vulnerable, in-need Walsall youngsters are having to be turned away by the YMCA due to a surge in applicants and a lack of volunteers, external.

Image source, Walsall Advertiser

Emma Thomas
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke

Here are some of the scenes from the memorial to organ donors unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum, external this morning.

Caroline Gall
BBC News Online

Three rail firms have been shortlisted to run the West Midlands franchise, the Department for Transport (Dft) says. 

Govia, which owns London Midland, currently has the contract which is due to expire in 2017.

West Midlands Trains Ltd, a subsidiary of Dutch-owned Abellio Transport Group, and Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation are also bidding for the franchise. 

London Midland's contract was extended by the government in 2013, despite criticism for record delays to its services.

The company was forced to offer a £7m package of compensation to season ticket holders affected by the disruption.

Get excited - the third series of Peaky Blinders, chronicling the lives of 1920s Birmingham gangsters, is back in May on BBC Two. 

BBC Sport

Injury-hit Wolves have suffered a new blow with the loss of Michal Zyro for potentially up to a year with multiple knee ligament damage.

The Poland international has been ruled out "for a considerable time" following a late challenge on his left knee by MK Dons defender Antony Kay in Tuesday's 2-1 away win in Buckinghamshire.

Following an initial scan, the 23-year-old forward is now facing surgery.

Image source, PA

The cause of the explosion which blew the roof off a Birmingham house yesterday and left a man with serious burns has been revealed by expert investigators.

They said the cause of the blast on Wiggin Street was "accidental ignition of gas vapours due to a naked flame".

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

A 999 call about an alleged plot by a man with links to so-called Islamic State to abduct a police officer was made by a serving constable, a court has heard. 

The prosecution claims that in the "malicious" call to his employer, West Midlands Police, Pc Amar Tasaddiq Hussain (pictured left), referred to the kidnapper as "Irfan the terrorist".

The force went into "overdrive" following the call on December 8 2014, putting a series of measures in place, including having armed response teams on high alert. The call was later determined to be a hoax. 

The officer, 29, who is suspended from duty, was charged along with 26-year-old Adil Bashir and Muhammad Ali Sheikh, 31, both of Birmingham, with two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. All three deny the charges. The trial continues.

We can announce there will be a red carpet, cinema screening of Peaky Blinders ahead of the launch of its third series on BBC Two. 

The event will be at the Everyman Cinema in the Mailbox, Birmingham, on Wednesday 4 May. Members of the cast including Cillian Murphy (Tommy Shelby), Paul Anderson (Arthur Shelby) and Packy Lee (Johnny Dogs) will attend as well as the show’s producers and writer/creator, Birmingham-born Steven Knight.

Fans are encouraged to get into the spirit of the series by dressing up for the occasion in flat caps and other 1920s attire. Details of how to register for tickets to the screening will be coming soon to the BBC Shows and Tours website.  

BBC Sport

European Under-23 champion Amy Livesey will make her senior European Championships debut later this month.

The 22-year-old, Walsall-based judoka is part of a 13-strong Great Britain team competing in Russia from 21-24 April.

Livesey and Danny Williams are the only team members who did not compete in last year's European Games.

Average waiting times for mental health treatment for eating disorders in England can vary from 20 days to 180 depending on the trust, figures show.

Data from 41 of the 55 mental health trusts collected by BBC Breakfast also found that 1,576 people have waited 18 weeks to see a specialist since 2012, 742 waited 26 weeks and 99 a year. 

Image source, Science Photo Library

Eating disorder charity Beat said early intervention was critical. Some of the shortest waiting times are in Dudley.

The Department of Health said it was working to cut waiting times.

Royal Sutton Coldfield Observer

Police have released images, external of a woman they want to trace in connection with an assault on a young mother on a bus in Erdington.

Image source, Royal Sutton Coldfield Observer

Jay Freeman
BBC Sport Online

What does it take to get a cricket pitch ready for a summer of cricket? 

BBC Sport spoke to head groundsmen at Warwickshire's Edgbaston, an international Test cricket ground, ahead of the first ball of the new County Championship.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

Giles Latcham
BBC Midlands Today

Legal high chemicals have been found impregnated in letters written to inmates at HMP Birmingham, scientific tests have revealed.

A "number of letters" were first determined to be suspicious by prison sniffer dogs, which had been trained to recognise current legal highs, said Prof Jonathan Berg, head of clinical biochemistry and pathology director at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust.

Find out more about what is in legal highs.

Michele Paduano
Health correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

I've learnt that two ambulance services have held talks about a possible merger.

Troubled East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is struggling financially and has some of the worst response times in England. 

It is thought the trust's non-executive directors want to merge with West Midlands Ambulance Service.