Express and Star

A swimming coach who developed hundreds of youngsters into competitive swimmers has died aged 66, external.

Jennifer Meierhans
BBC News Online

Alton Towers has insisted the Smiler rollercoaster is safe after a victim of last year's crash called for it to be shut.

Chanda Chauhan, from Wednesbury, said she wanted the ride closed after 30 people were trapped in the latest incident yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Alton Towers said: "All of the rides undergo extensive testing before they open to the public each day, thorough monthly checks and are also subject to independent, third party accreditation to ensure the highest levels of safety."

Follow live text and radio commentary as Somerset face Warwickshire in the County Championship.

Corinne Wheatley
BBC WM, Journalist

A fire has broken out across several areas at an abandoned school in Stoubridge. 

Three fire crews are tackling the blaze at the former Longlands School on Bowling Green Road.

Birmingham Mail

Restrictions on building skyscrapers in the centre of Birmingham could be relaxed, external in a bid to attract more development.  

A victim of the Smiler rollercoaster crash calls for the Alton Towers ride to be shut after 30 people are trapped in a new incident.

A chief executive managing Dudley hospitals will move to a trust covering Stafford's County Hospital where children's A&E services have been suspended after they were deemed "not clinically safe".

From 1 October, Paula Clark will become the new chief executive at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.

It runsNorth Staffordshire and Stafford's County hospitals. At the latter, A&E is currently closed to under-18 patients.

Ms Clark has been the chief executive at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust for the past seven years.

BBC Sport

At 18, Jack Rutter was an aspiring Premier League footballer who had spent eight years with the Birmingham City Academy.

But in 2009, just months before he was due to find out whether he would be offered a professional contract, he was punched to the ground on a night out in Gloucester.

The unprovoked assault left him with brain damage and deaf in one ear. His professional football career was over before it had begun.

Four years later, he was given a second footballing chance as the captain of the England Cerebral Palsy (CP) squad and he is now set to be ParalympicsGB's 7-a-side football captain in Rio.

Image source, ParalympicsGB

A woman is fighting for her life after the car she was travelling in was hit by another whose driver moments before had failed to pull over for police.

She was travelling with a man and two children, a 12-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy, who also suffered minor injuries, when their Toyota Corolla was hit by a Citroen C3 in Sparkbrook.

West Midlands Police said, external the driver of the C3 ran from the scene of the crash at the junction of Medlicott Road and Abbotsford Road, and was pursued by police on foot. Officers arrested a man, 34, at a nearby garage. 

He was taken to hospital with minor injuries and is currently in custody on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.

The force has referred the matter to the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, for review.

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

The BBC's learned that West Midlands Police is facing a bill of £1.5m to plan safety operations at the next three Conservative Party conferences. 

I'll have more on the Midlands Today on BBC One at 13:30.

Daniel Wainwright
Data unit - English regions

Amelia is the most popular girls name in the West Midlands while Muhammad is the most popular for boys, according to the Office for National Statistics. 

Only London had Muhammad as the most popular choice in 2014 but the new figures show the West Midlands has joined the capital in 2015 for having the most babies with that name. Oliver was most popular overall across England and Wales.

There were 649 Muhammads born in the West Midlands in 2015 compared with 622 Olivers. An alternative spelling - Mohammed - is also in the top 10.

For girls regionally, the top choice, Amelia, was the same as the overall favourite in England and Wales.

The data also shows the West Midlands to have a higher proportion of girls named Jessica than anywhere else. It ranks third for popularity in the region.

BBC Sport

It was an historic night for Solihull's Dan Evans at the US Open tennis as he went through to the third round beating German Alexander Zverev in four sets.

It's the first time since 1968 three British men have got so far. 

Image source, Getty Images

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Here is a recap of our headlines so far:

- A crime commissioner has hit out at the £1.5m bill West Midlands Police could face for the Tory party conference

- Officers at the same force have been given more time to question three terror suspects arrested in Birmingham

- And a fire that gutted a Black Country restaurant was an accident, firefighters say

A "seriously fed-up" chef has blasted customers who "take the mick" by not showing up to dinner reservations.

Royal Sutton Coldfield Observer

An elderly man had to be airlifted to hospital, external following a serious two-car collision near Sutton Coldfield.

Mikey Burrows
BBC WM Sport

Aston Villa's new technical director says the ultimate aspect of his job will be to get the club back into the Premier League. 

Former Manchester United and Everton assistant Steve Round took up the role officially yesterday.

He will have responsibility for signing and developing players.

Image source, Getty Images

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

There are three Conservative party conferences coming up in Birmingham - one at end of this month, one in 2018 and one in 2020. 

They involve a big policing operation over four days and include sniffer dogs, sometimes bomb squads and armed officers; even a so-called "ring of steel" where the area around the ICC on Broad Street is cordoned off. 

When the city has had these conferences in the past, West Midlands Police had to shoulder a little bit of this cost - the last one, in 2014, coming in at about £350,000. But the government pays the majority of the bill - about £2m - and that's how it always works. 

That's still the case but the Home Office now wants the force to pay for all of the planning of these huge operations - something that takes senior officers at least 12 months - and this bumps up our police force's share of the cost considerably.

Sarah Robertson
News Editor, BBC Radio Stoke

A woman who was hurt in a crash last year on the Smiler ride at Alton Towers says the rollercoaster should be closed down after its latest incident. 

About 30 people were stuck on the ride for a short time when it was stopped at midday yesterday, for just over four hours.

A spokeswoman said a piece of rubber "came away from one of the carriages" but "at no time were any guests at risk".

Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd admitted breaching the Health and Safety Act after an investigation found the crash in June 2015 was caused by human error.  

Chanda Chauhan, from Wednesbury, one of five people seriously injured in June 2015's Smiler crash called for it to be "closed completely".

BBC Sport

England's cricketers are 4-0 up in the ODI series with Pakistan.

Worcestershire's Moeen Ali, who grew up in Birmingham, smashed a straight six to secure a four-wicket win at Headingley last night.

Image source, Getty Images