Communities Secretary and Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid says attitudes toward social housing tenants must change.

He said: "For far too long their voices fell on deaf ears.

"If nothing else, let the legacy of Grenfell be that such voices will never ever be ignored again."

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

It's felt much fresher today, with highs of 22C (72F).

And it's going to stay that way for the next few days.

One of the most significant finds in the show's 40-year history has been valued at a museum.

Sprinkler systems are to be fitted to Birmingham City Council’s residential tower blocks following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, the local authority says.

Leader John Clancy said the council would as a matter of urgency look at its 213 blocks to assess what work needed to be undertaken to reassure tenants their homes were safe.

Cllr Clancy said he was prepared to find up to an estimated £31m to retro-fit safety measures - and he wants the government to help foot the bill.

He said "the cost of doing this for all local authorities with tower blocks is certain to be substantial and beyond the means of austerity-hit councils to afford in a timely fashion.

“The Government should accept this is a national emergency that fully justifies establishing a fund to allow councils to fit sprinkler systems as a matter of urgency."

League One side Walsall sign Crewe Alexandra defender Jon Guthrie on a two-year contract.

Police have said there will be "additional measures" across the West Midlands for extra security surrounding Eid celebrations this weekend.

Measures will include specialist officers, including firearms officers, on patrol at key locations.

Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Boycott said: "These additional measures continue and are to reassure people worried by the recent events and not in response to any local threat."

Image source, West Midlands Police

Ben Sidwell
BBC Midlands Today

Three bidders have been shortlisted to operate the HS2 high-speed railway between London and Birmingham.

Image source, PA

The rival groups include a Chinese company and the state-owned rail operators in Italy and France, as well as British firms.

They're bidding for the west coast franchise, which will include HS2 services.

The rail minister Paul Maynard said it's "full steam ahead" on the project which he described as "very much on target" adding "I don't see any cause or reason for delay".

The singer is not the first oversize, celebrity-themed cake to be tackled by its baker.

Illegal cigarettes worth £7,500 have been seized from six Birmingham shops by Trading Standards officers - with some found hidden in boxes of biscuits.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

They were also found hidden behind false walls and light fittings, and under counters.

Cllr Barbara Dring, chair of the city council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said: “Those involved in dealing in illegal tobacco may be encouraging people, including children, to smoke by providing a cheap source.

"This activity also brings crime into our neighbourhoods, which is why it is important we tackle this as it also impacts on businesses that are trading legally."

Alfred Barlow was returning from a pilgrimage to Normandy when he realised he no longer had them.

Strike action planned by refuse workers in Birmingham is 'regrettable' but changes to the waste collection service will be made, the city council says.

In a statement released earlier today, the Unite union revealed the city was set for a series of bin strikes - including a six-hour one next Friday - amid, it said, council plans to axe 122 jobs which amounted to roughly a fifth of the "collection squad".

Unite also said that the job losses were the result of an authority overspend rather than a means to offset pressures driven by budget cuts - a specific charge put to the council by the BBC.

A council statement issued this afternoon and attributed to Jacqui Kennedy, the authority's corporate director for place, said: “We regret that disputes have been registered by four unions and that action to disrupt our refuse collection services is planned by UNITE.

“We want to get round the table with the unions. But our priority must be Birmingham residents and businesses.

“The current working arrangements are not cost-effective and do not provide citizens with a good service. We know we have to change that, and are determined to do so.”

South African spinner Simon Harmer takes 8-36 for a match haul of 14 wickets as Essex beat Warwickshire by an innings.

BBC WM

A new report is suggesting that five West Midlands hospital trusts have higher than expected rates of stillbirths and neonatal death.

Birmingham Women's, Royal Wolverhampton, Sandwell and West Birmingham, the Dudley group and Worcester Acute trusts are highighted by researchers as having higher than expected still births and mortality rates up to 28 days after birth in 2015.

NHS England says it's focusing on four key areas tackling stillbirth.

A woodpecker that was trapped in discarded fishing line over a Wolverhampton canal is due to be released back into the wild by the RSPCA today.

You can see its predicament here...

The bird was treated at a rescue centre in Shropshire after a barbed hook got stuck in its wing.

Fran Hill, from the rescue centre, said the woodpecker arrived "incredibly stressed" after the ordeal and said it had been "very, very lucky".

The RSPCA will take the woodpecker back to the canal where it was found later today, with the release to be followed by BBC Midlands Today at 18:30 on BBC One.

Listen to BBC local radio commentary as Warwickshire host Lancashire in County Championship division one.

Tributes have been paid to 15-year-old Spencer Hurst whose body was recovered from a lake in Walsall on Tuesday after swimming with friends.

Image source, Facebook

Pastor Steve Kirk from Coalpool Community Church said: "He was a nice young man, very popular.

"Boxing, keen on sport, out and about with his mates, the life and soul of the party."

Spencer died after getting into difficulty at Ryders Hayes Mere.

BBC Midlands Today

Parents have praised teachers for their quick response when shots from a car were fired at a cyclist outside a primary school in Birmingham.

St Edmunds in Springfield went into lock-down after the incident which sent the cyclist running into the site for cover.

Special correspondent Peter Wilson will have more at 13:30 on BBC One.

Two women and a man have been remanded in custody accused of a string of robberies.

BBC WM

A mother of a pupil at St Edmunds Primary School in Springfield, Birmingham, has described the "scary" moment a driver shot at a cyclist outside the site yesterday afternoon.

"I was walking to school to pick up my daughter and I saw the car, it was a white car, and the figure of a man.

"He shot twice. We just ran to the school, to the office, and after we just don’t know what happened. It’s really really scary."

West Midlands Police is at the school today at opening and closing times to reassure staff and pupils.

Three people have been charged following a string of robberies, including a raid with knives at a post office in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

Image source, Google

Molly Evans, 19, of Larch Walk, Yardley; Rene Cardin, 19, of Cowles Croft, Yardley; and her elder brother Tyrone Cardin, 21, of William Booth Lane, Birmingham, were remanded into custody following an appearance before magistrates.

They are all accused of four counts of robbery, one count of burglary, one count of assault and one count of theft.

They are due to appear before Birmingham Crown Court on 19 July.