2 Sisters plant in Smethwick could shut
Chocolate factory gets £75m makeover
Wolves boss named manager of the month
Updates from Friday 7 April 2017
B31 Voices
For the last couple of weeks, bin collections – refuse, recycling and green waste alike – have been missed in their hundreds. Some have been collected the next day but some have been left for several. , external
Chris Blakemore
BBC WM
A former BBC producer who has helped campaign for a blue plaque to be placed on the former site of Pebble Mill in Birmingham says it's a "marvelous thing".
Quote MessageIt's been so complicated because there are all these rules and regulations about what you can display and where a blue plaque can be placed. The blue plaque is honour to Pebble Mill's contribution to broadcasting.
Steve Weddle, |Former BBC producer and editor
Image source, bbcSurrey 239-2 v Warwickshire - Tea
Mark Church
BBC Radio London commentator
A better session from Warwickshire with the ball but Surrey are still in a fine position. Rory Burns fell to Keith Barker for 71 breaking an opening stand of 154 with Mark Stoneman.
Stoneman dominated the afternoon and moved to a century on his Surrey debut with his 17th boundary. Rikki Clarke bowled an excellent spell from the Pavilion End and Warwickshire were rewarded with the wicket of Scott Borthwick for 23, caught by Clarke off Hannon-Dalby.
Kumar Sangakkara joined Stoneman just before tea and Surrey will look to push on during the final session. Warwickshire may still wish they had given themselves the chance to bat first.
BBC Sport
Hall green's Dan Evans hasn't played on clay in two years - today he's facing Jeremy Chardy in the Davis Cup qualifier.
Follow live updates on BBC Sport.
Quote Message"I didn't need to play on it over the past two years, so I stuck to my favoured surface. It's not a matter of avoiding it. I still have to be aggressive. I have to get forward and make the other guy move."
Dan Evans, Tennis player
Midland Metro tram services to Birmingham city centre will be affected by engineering works over Easter.
Image source, West Midlands Combined AuthorityTrams will terminate at Bull Street between Good Friday and Easter Monday and will not call at Corporation Street and Grand Central.
Services will operate at the usual frequency but with "some slight changes" to departure times, Transport for West Midlands, external (TFWM) said.
On Easter Monday there will be an enhanced Sunday service, with trams every 10 minutes.
The usual timetable will resume on Tuesday, 18 April.
A man in his 20s is being questioned by police on suspicion of murder after a man was found dead on a pathway leading from the Soho Benson Road tram stop in Birmingham.
Anthony Banting, 57, was repeatedly stabbed after getting off a tram alone at about 16:30 last Friday.
Police at the time said the victim did not know his attacker and that there was no clear motive.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 57-year-old man was stabbed at a tram stop in Birmingham.
Anthony Banting, from Sparkhill, was found dead on a pathway leading from the Soho Benson Road tram stop in the Winson Green area a week ago.
Punters at an Erdington pub have told how they discovered, external their favourite pub had closed "without warning."
BBC News Travel
A vehicle has hit a rail bridge, disrupting trains between Stafford and Wolverhampton, external , London Midland says
The train operator says it's happened on Showell Road, north of Wolverhampton.
Image source, GooglePaul Lambert led his team to three successive wins in March and lifted them out of relegation.
Image source, EFLQuote MessageFirst and foremost, I’ve got to thank the players, they’re the ones that actually play the games and get results and they’ve come through a little sticky patch and the form has been excellent. I’m really delighted for everybody at the club. At this moment we’re six unbeaten, with five wins so we have to keep climbing the table as far as we can.
Paul Lambert, Wolves boss
Pebble Mill - for decades the home of BBC broadcasting both nationally and across the West Midlands.
A blue plaque is to be put up on the Birmingham site once it's been redeveloped.
The site is now the home of a new dental hospital after the old building was bulldozed in 2005.
It was the home of some of the country's favourite programmes - including Pebble Mill at One, Top Gear and The Archers.
Here's what one of the studios looked like behind the scenes in 1995 with Alan Titchmarsh. That's Dudley Moore on the piano.
An appeal to find the family of a recently deceased Walsall man has been launched. , external
Surrey 133-0 v Warwickshire - Lunch
Mark Church
BBC Radio London commentator
Surrey will be delighted with the opening session of 2017...Warwickshire will wonder whether they should have asked for the coin to go up.
Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman have played immaculately. Both have played some handsome shots on either side of the wicket and have taken full advantage of the conditions.
Stoneman was the first to fifty, quickly followed by Burns but Ian Bell must be worried. Neither batsman has looked in too much difficulty and Warwickshire will be hoping something happens after the lunch break or this could be a very long opening day of the season for them.
Drivers are being warned to expect severe delays on the M5 northbound after a crash involving two vans.
One lanes is closed.
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The Campbell family created their own video to help women who have experienced domestic violence.
It was originally aimed at Afro-Caribbean women but the film has also helped those of all backgrounds to seek help.
The Birmingham-based family made the video which highlights a positive end to encourage more women to speak out.
Have you got new ways of using social media to tell a good story?
If so, you might be interested in this.
An opportunity to become a digital apprentice for the BBC in the West Midlands has opened.
Meet one of the BBC apprentices who is working in Berkshire about his experience...
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Applications to apply for t his year's digital journalism apprenticeship close on 18 April.
Wolves boss Paul Lambert thanked his players, external after being named the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month for March.
Image source, Getty ImagesSurrey 43-0 v Warwickshire
Mark Church
BBC Radio London commentator
Image source, Getty ImagesA solid start from Mark Stoneman and Rory Burns for Surrey. Both have been tested by Keith Barker and Chris Wright but runs have started to flow from the bats of the Surrey opening pair.
Burns has played a couple of lovely shots off the back foot but there is enough there to keep the bowlers interested.
Under sunny skies, The Bears take to the field at The Oval.
Warwickshire won the toss and have put Surrey in to bat.
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Cricket's County Championship is underway - with Warwickshire travelling to Surrey.
The four day match began at 11:00 - and we'll have full coverage from The Oval - online via BBC Sport.
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The Bears will be without Ian Westwood and Boyd Rankin due to foot and back injuries respectively.
