Walsall have signed Scunthorpe left-back Scott Laird on loan until January after the Saddlers sold fellow left-back Rico Henry to Brentford, managed by Walsall's former manager Dean Smith.

Image source, Empics

Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM

A police officer has been hit by an off-road motorcycle in Tamworth. 

The officer sustained head, arm and leg injuries in the crash on Hockley Road at around 18:00 last night. 

He was taken to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield and a motorcycle has been seized.

Officers are urging people with information to contact them. A 19-year-old man has been arrested.

Wolves made their 12th summer signing by bringing in Monaco winger Ivan Cavaleiro on a five-year contract for a reported club-record deal of more than £6.5m.

The club have also re-signed former defender Richard Stearman on a season-long loan deal from Fulham.

Image source, EPA

Ranjit Singh Power, who ran the Park Hall Hotel in Wolverhampton, was last seen at an airport in Amritsar on 8 May 2015. He was reported missing when he did not contact his family for a week.  

His best friend and business partner, Baldev Singh Deol, also of Wolverhampton, has now been named by police as a suspect in his murder.

Image source, Interpol

In October, a body found in a river and returned to the UK by Punjab police was initially thought to be that of Mr Power but DNA and dental analysis ruled out a match.

Taxi driver Sukhdev Singh, who was arrested in the Punjab last May, remains in custody after confessing to murder.

Express and Star

Only three cots were available for very sick new-born children on one day at hospitals run by Black Country health trusts, new NHS figures have revealed, external.

Chris Blakemore
BBC WM

Homeowners on a Walsall estate are angry about council plans to extend work on a nearby quarry by another nine years. 

Residents say work at the site - which is currently being used for landfill - makes their area of Shelfield smell of rubbish and gas, and that houses are contaminated by dust and flies. 

The phased filling and restoration of Highfields South Quarry was supposed to be finished this year - but the council is set to approve plans for it to carry on until 2025.   

A total of 88 people have signed a petition in protest but site workers Cory Environmental says the extra time is needed, and once work is completed, the nature reserve planned there will be more accessible.  

Chris Osborne
BBC Sport

West Bromwich Albion signed full-back Allan Nyom from fellow Premier League side Watford for an undisclosed fee yesterday, as well as free agent, Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu on a two-year deal.

Image source, PA

Stourbridge News

Hickory's bosses have vowed to rebuild their popular business, external after a devastating fire burnt the Wall Heath restaurant to the ground.  

A 14-year-old girl landed face first going over a water ski jump in Dudley and has been treated for a back injury by ambulance staff.

The fall happened at the Dudley Watersports Centre in Highbridge Road, Netherton, at about 15:00 on Wednesday.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said, external staff at the centre had helped the girl to the water's edge before she was given pain relief and taken to Russells Hall Hospital.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Here are the latest headlines on Thursday:

- The best friend of a Wolverhampton hotelier who went missing in India has been named by police as a suspect in his murder

- A teenager 'fell face first' on a Dudley water ski jump

- Plans to extend work at a 'smelly' quarry is causing a stink among residents

The best friend of a UK businessman who went missing in India has been named by police as a suspect in his murder.

Hotelier Ranjit Singh Power, from Wolverhampton, disappeared while on a business trip to the Punjab last year. Local police are yet to find a body but believe him to have been murdered - a charge to which a taxi driver in India admitted.

But officers there want to arrest his business partner, Baldev Singh Deol, also of Wolverhampton, who is thought to be in the UK.

Mr Power's family say they want justice and answers about his final days. In October, his daughter said a body returned to the UK by Punjab police was not her father's.

Image source, family photo

Charlie Slater
BBC Weather presenter

Plenty of blue sky and sunshine around.

Highs of 21C (70F)>

Find out more.

BBC Travel

One lane is closed and there's queuing traffic on the M42 southbound between J4 for Shirley and J3a for the M40 because of debris on the road, drivers are warned.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

We're back with more news, sport, travel and weather updates on Thursday.

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Bolton sign Peterborough goalkeeper Ben Alnwick, plus Sammy Ameobi, James Henry, Tom Thorpe and Keshi Anderson on loan.

Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu joins West Bromwich Albion on a two-year deal with an option for a further year.

Coventry City sign Newcastle United full-back Jamie Sterry and West Brom striker Andre Wright on loan until January.

Cardiff City sign veteran England striker Rickie Lambert from West Bromwich Albion on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

Wigan Athletic sign Cardiff's Adam Le Fondre, Wolves winger Nathan Byrne and Bolton's Kaiyne Woolery.

Stevenage sign forwards Tyler Walker and Harry McKirdy on loan and Peterborough's Kgosi Ntlhe on undisclosed terms.