Lichfield Mercury

A fallen tree on The Friary in Lichfield has forced the closure of the A51 Western Bypass, external while emergency services work to remove it from the road.

Nicola Beckford
Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

An ambulance technician is recovering after being seriously assaulted by a patient he was trying to help in West Bromwich. 

Join me for the Midlands Today at 13:30 on BBC One when I speak to Bob Burness.

Satnam Rana
BBC Midlands Today

An owl, a woodpecker and a squirrel are among favourite woodland animals which have been carved from felled trees at a park in the West Midlands. 

Sculptor Robot Cossey from Wolverhampton has been commissioned by Cannock Chase District Council to carry out the work as part of a major refurbishment of Hednesford Park. 

What's more, the council wants you to come up with names for the park's new inhabitants.  

Express and Star

Muslim children at schools in Sandwell were served ice-cream containing pork gelatin, external after a supplier sent out the wrong product.  

More than 11.5 million passengers flew from Birmingham Airport in 2016, according to figures from the airport. 

 That's an increase of 1.4 million of the numbers for the previous year., external

Image source, Birmingham Airport

A suspected crack cocaine dealer from the Black Country has been arrested in Cannock.

The 29-year-old man from West Bromwich was pulled over on Hednesford Road and police officers found what was believed to be the class A drug, the Staffordshire force said.

He has now been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Birmingham Mail

The Birmingham mum reduced to tears by Piers Morgan on live TV, external dressed up as shamed footballer Adam Johnson’s teenage victim – and tweeted the picture to his former fiance.  

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

The funeral for Jill Saward - the first rape victim in the UK to waive her right to anonymity and who became a sexual assault campaigner - will be held on Tuesday at Lichfield Cathedral, it has been announced, external.

Jill Saward, then 21, was sexually assaulted by two men in at her father's vicarage in Ealing, west London, in 1986. Her father Michael, and her boyfriend were severely beaten. She died after suffering a stroke last week. .

Those attending the funeral who wish to make donations in memory of her have been invited to select one of the following three charities with which she worked: Cambrian Coast Evangelical Trust (Nefyn Beach Mission), Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, and the Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (Merseyside).

Image source, Jill Saward

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Here is a recap of the top stories on Wednesday so far:

- Cross-city trains have been disrupted by a fallen tree on the line

- The government has been accused of "failing" a closure-threatened Druids Heath school

- A delay in paying Handsworth charity workers means they need handouts themselves

Bradford City sign Birmingham striker Alex Jones for an undisclosed fee following the end of his Port Vale loan.

BBC Sport

Leicester City winger Jeffrey Schlupp will be allowed to leave for £12m, and Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa all want the 24-year-old. (Guardian), external

Here's the latest gossip on the January transfer window.

Image source, Miguel Riopa

Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM

The government is being accused of failing a Birmingham secondary school which is set to close later this year. 

The Department for Education has agreed in principle to shut Baverstock Academy in August following financial difficulties at the school, which has been in special measures since 2014.

A four-week consultation is being launched into the proposal and the Labour MP for Selly Oak Steve McCabe told us: "We're not just going to sit back and let them get on with it.

"If it's government policy to help failing schools, they haven't done a very good job here, have they?"

Image source, Google

Wolverhampton's market is set to move across the city onto the site of a now-cleared former supermarket.

The current Market Square location is at the heart of a £55m regeneration scheme called Westside which is due to include a cinema, restaurants, bars, hotel and apartments.

Image source, Google

The council's ruling cabinet will consider a proposal next Wednesday for the market to move to the site of the former Netto store on Cleveland Street, near The Wulfrun Centre, which council bosses say will provide increased footfall.

The new site will have 48 tented stalls and 16 new cabins built there and it is anticipated the move will be finished in winter 2017/18 but not during Christmas trading.

Network Rail say their "chainsaw gang" is on site in Shenstone near Lichfield this morning to clear a tree that's come down on overhead cables.

Rail services have been disrupted this morning.

Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

We've got a real mixed bag of weather ahead of us.

We are expecting some blustery conditions today and there is warning for snow in parts of the region tomorrow.

Highs of 9C (48F).

Stephanie Barnard
BBC Local Live

It really is windy out there. The emergency services are warning people to drive with care due to the weather conditions.

Rail services on the Cross City route between Birmingham and Lichfield are being disrupted because of a tree on the line.

Bus services are accepting train tickets to help commuters.

Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM

A group of workers who help vulnerable families with food parcels in Birmingham say they are now having to rely on food parcels themselves. 

Nine members of support staff at the Lime Trees Children's Centre in Handsworth have not been paid properly since 1 November and say things are now getting desperate. 

They are employed by the charity Freshwinds and one worker, who did not wish to be named, told us they were continuing to go into work every day because they had a duty to the people they help.

Freshwinds say spending cuts in the public sector mean they've had to look elsewhere for funding and there's been a delay in getting money from a new international donor. 

They add that the fact this has happened over Christmas and New Year has only made the situation more difficult.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Welcome to Wednesday's mix of the latest news, sport, travel and weather.

Comment on our stories and share your pictures over email, tweet @bbcwm, external or visit the BBC WM Facebook page, external.

Warwickshire's footballer turned cricketer Keith Barker would seriously consider playing for the West Indies.