Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

Make no mistake - today's High Court judgement to temporarily stop 106 binmen losing their jobs is a huge blow to Birmingham City Council.

Mr Justice Fraser couldn't have been clearer in his scathing remarks about the 'sorry saga' that led to this action that he believes both senior council officers, including interim chief executive Stella Manzie, and elected members, primarily former leader John Clancy, have acted badly.

He dismissed the council's argument that Mr Clancy had no authority to make a deal at ACAS with Unite, saying he was more than satisfied there's enough evidence of what was referred to in court as the 'Clancy Agreement' to be tested at a full trial. He also dismissed a submission by Birmingham City Council's legal team that a trial would not be in the public interest.

He did however urge all parties to come to some kind of agreement before the prospect of an expensive five-day trial in November.

With Unite empowered by a judgement that ,although temporary, (it does not yet hold the weight of a full legal decision) is clearly on their side, the onus now looks to be on the city council to concede something.

Here's BBC WM's Richie Anderson with singer Beverley Knight as he meets the cast of Birmingham Hippodrome's Cinderella which starts in December.

Hear what they say about the production on his show on Friday on BBC WM.

A full trial will take place to determine if council bosses acted unlawfully in issuing redundancy notices.

Rail commuters travelling between Birmingham and Hinckley are being warned to expect delays.

It's after British Transport Police were called to reports of a suspicious item on a train at Hinckley Station.

Officers attended the scene at around 13:30 and evacuated the train as a precaution.

The item has now been examined and found not to be suspicious.

Images are released by police as they hunt mystery man.

Birmingham Mail

A 25-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm during the operation in Eva Road, , externalWinson Green early on Wednesday.

A new exhibition opens at BBC Birmingham later this month which showcases the history and milestone moments of much-loved soap opera, The Archers.

Visitors can learn fascinating facts about the production process, which celebrities have had cameos and understand the secrets of radio sound effects.

All will be revealed on 23 September, external.

Plans have been submitted for the first phase of Wolverhampton’s £55m Westside redevelopment in the city centre.

It's hoped construction work on a multiplex cinema, 50,000 sq ft of additional leisure space, new restaurants covering 40,000 square feet, a 100-plus bed hotel, and a multi-storey car park will start in 2018.

Image source, Wolverhampton Council

New city centre homes and more retail and leisure units form part of the second phase of work which developers hope will be completed by 2022, subject to plans being approved.

Councillor John Reynolds said it was "another important step" for the city.

Some key questions and answers on the long-running refuse dispute in Birmingham

Why are the refuse workers on strike?

Workers are on strike due to a dispute over job losses. Unite claims restructuring plans threaten the jobs of more than 120 staff, while the council says plans will modernise the service and save £5m a year.

What does the strike action involve?

Workers have been on strike since 30 June and action took the form of three separate hours of stoppages a day.

Image source, Getty Images

Why is it taking so long to resolve?

Before the strike was suspended on 16 August, both sides had struggled to come to an agreement - and talks broke down.

At that time the council maintained there were no job losses as a result of the changes and said no redundancy notices had been issued.

However, following the council's decision to issue redundancy notices Unite warned that action could continue until the end of 2017.

Now the strike is suspended until a full trial, in November, determines if the redundancy notices were issued unlawfully.

Mr Justice Fraser asks both parties to reach an agreement.

Sheffield United beat Wolves 2-0, while lowly Birmingham beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 - relive the action as it happened.

Refuse workers celebrate their victory in the High Court after Mr Justice Fraser halts the city council's bid to make staff redundant.

The "dysfunction" of the Labour-run Birmingham City council over the bin dispute has "heaped unnecessary misery on residents," the Conservative leader says.

Responding to the High Court judgement blocking the council's plans to make workers redundant, Robert Alden also warned about the financial impact the dispute could have on the authority.

Conciliation service Acas said on 16 August the council had accepted the workers' case and restored the jobs of grade three workers, who are responsible for safety at the back of refuse vehicles.

Image source, Birmingham Conservative party

But a council report said the deal struck by Unite and the council was unaffordable.

Mr Alden added: "As the Judge himself said ‘neither party comes out of this sorry saga with any credit at all’, sadly whilst their reputations may take a hit it will be Birmingham residents, and potentially their children and grandchildren who will really pay the price."

The city council says it accepts the ruling and wants to offer the best refuse service possible.

"We remain committed to resolving the dispute as quickly as possible and we hope Unite will support us in doing this.".

The High Court ruling against Birmingham City Council will be a "huge relief" to refuse workers, Unite says.

The union is also repeating its calls for Stella Manzie, the authority's interim chief executive to stand down.

The long-running bin strike has been suspended after Mr Justice Fraser granted an interim injunction against the council's bid to make workers redundant.

Unite's assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “The High Court ruling leaves Birmingham council’s unfair and unjust plans in tatters.

"The council needs to reflect on how it got here and the misery it has inflicted on the people of Birmingham and its own bin workers."

Ms Manzie should stand down as she has tried to use the threat of equal pay cases to get the council to agree to downgrading some of the bin workers, he said.

Motorbikes are taking emergency fuel supplies to broken down vehicles on the M5 in Oldbury while major repair work is carried out.

The £100m project to repair and waterproof the ageing Oldbury Viaduct, between junctions 1 and 2,started in April with motorists facing delays and lane closures until 2018.

Since 1 August there have already been 17 fuel related incidents recorded.

Image source, Highways England

Alternate sides of the carriageway have been closed while the work is carried out, and the speed limit brought down to 30mph (48km/h).

This means that motorcycles can reach motorists quicker with fuel to reduce delays and traffic flowing, project manager, Alastair Warnes, said.

BBC WM's political reporter is at the High Court for today's judgement which has gone against Birmingham City Council and its bid to make workers redundant.

The strike has since been called off by Unite.

A hearing in November will decide if the council acted lawfully in issuing the redundancy notices.

Union members asked the court to grant the order against the council's bid to lose staff and change working patterns.

A High Court judge has blocked Birmingham City Council's bid to get rid of more than a hundred refuse workers.

Unite took the city council to the court to try to halt the redundancy notices to issued middle-grade refuse workers on 31 August.

A trial will now take place in November to determine if the council acted unlawfully in issuing the redundancy notices.

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Justice Fraser made his ruling after a two-day hearing at the court.

Unite says it will suspend its industrial action until the full hearing is held.

Muhammad is the most popular boys' name in the West Midlands with Amelia taking the top spot for girls.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed its annual results for England and Wales.

Oliver remains the top boys’ name for England and Wales with Olivia replacing Amelia as the most popular baby girls name.

Image source, Getty Images

Harper has seen the biggest rise in popularity for girls while Jaxon is growing among boys.

The statistics were compiled based on the exact spellings given on birth certificates.

Here's the latest form the High Court.

Andy Giddings
BBC Local Live

Eleven local authorities across the West Midlands have written a joint letter to the government, to complain that targets for reducing bed blocking are "unrealistic".

They also question NHS data that suggests delays in getting patients discharged are down to local authorities' failure to provide sufficient adult social care - they say the blame should lie with the hospitals themselves.

Image source, Thinkstock

The 11 authorities also complain that the threat from NHS England to withhold funding if they fail to meet the target for reducing delayed discharges would have a "catastrophic impact on local people".

They have asked for more time to meet the target of a 3.5% reduction and added "the way that NHS England has sought to impose unrealistic targets and threatened the withdrawal of funding" has damaged relationships which could affect future hospital redevelopment plans.