Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

We'll be bringing you the latest news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands and south Cheshire between now and 19:00.

You can get in touch with the team by visiting our BBC Midlands Facebook page, external, emailing us, or tweeting @BBCMTD, external.

The paramedics at the forefront of life and death in BBC One's Ambulance.

Join us again from 07:00 on Thursday.

A delegation of Coventry head teachers has travelled to Westminster today, to ask ministers to increase funding for schools in the city.

They say the new National Funding Formula will mean a cut in real terms, which will result in teachers losing their jobs and larger class sizes.

The government says the new funding programme means an extra £1.3bn for education across England.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

Plans to allow nearly 29,000 homes to be built in Shropshire over the next 20 years have been criticised by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

It said house building of this scale would be "unacceptable" and the Shropshire Council proposals would not provide homes in the areas where they were most needed.

Image source, PA

And the CPRE said the way the authority had come up with this proposed target was "highly questionable", adding, "there is not the evidence to support the figure".

CCTV shows a man deliberately setting it alight, destroying it in a matter of minutes.

The prime minister has offered her condolences to the family of a Stoke-on-Trent man who died while waiting to hear the outcome of an appeal against a cut to his disability benefits.

The Labour MP for Stoke Central, Gareth Snell, told the Commons that Jeffrey Ellwell, from Bentilee, was assessed wrongly.

CCTV shows a man deliberately setting it alight, destroying it in a matter of minutes.

Worcester coach Carl Hogg says Saturday's European visitors Brive will be just as keen to kickstart their own poor season.

Suzanna Bull, a doctor, was working at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

BBC Sport

Stoke City forward Xherdan Shaqiri has adjusted to the physical demands of the Premier League, the club's assistant manager Mark Bowen has said.

Shaqiri has had numerous injuries in the past, which have hampered his Stoke career.

Image source, Getty Images

Bowen said he mostly suffered from calf strains and thigh strains this season, but he appeared to be over them now.

Riyah Collins
BBC News

The Warwickshire town has been rated the happiest place to live in the UK, but what do statistics know?

I've been speaking to the people of Royal Leamington Spa today to find out just how happy they are, and what it is about the spa town which makes it such a joyous place to live.

Overall the people I spoke to weren't surprised to be living in the happiest place, citing the friendly nature of residents and sense of community.

Image source, bbc

Hannah Antrobus, 27, born and bred in Warwickshire, says strangers in the town have been known to pay for her parking when she doesn't have the right change.

It was a sentiment shared by Neil Jones, although he told me couldn't afford to live in Leamington Spa, where house prices are £20,000 more than the national average.

"The rent's high, the house prices are high, so to afford a place I had to move back to Birmingham," he says.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

The odd shower is possible this evening, but overnight it will stay dry with clear spells and lighter winds.

It will turn chilly for many, with some patchy mist and fog possible - lows of 6C (43F).

Another councillor in Solihull has been suspended from the Conservative group after retweeting anti-Muslim content.

An official complaint over retweets by Cllr Margaret Bassett about Islam and refugees is being investigated.

She said she was trying to 'stimulate debate' but added she was the victim of a "witch hunt".

Image source, Solihull Council

The leader of Solihull council, and the Conservative group, Bob Sleigh told a full council meeting last night he has taken appropriate action.

Cllr Jeff Potts was suspended recently from Solihull Council's religious education committee, over a similar allegation.

Steve Hermon
Journalist, BBC WM

Hundreds of needles were left discarded on the streets of the West Midlands in the past year, according to the police and crime commissioner.

A campaign is being launched to highlight the issue of discarded needles by David Jamieson, who says the impact of drugs costs services in the region up to £1.4bn every year.

His report reveals 701 needles were left on our streets in the last year, but in reality that figure is believed to be much higher.

BBC Midlands

Leamington Spa is apparently the best place to live in Britain.

You've been having your say on the BBC Midlands Facebook page, though one thing is for sure - you've all commented on how expensive it is to live there.

Carly McCalla writes: , external"Beautiful town and I had the pleasure of living there for 6 months but couldn't afford to stay there unfortunately."

Image source, Facebook

Marion 'Maz' Burke adds:, external "Top place to live - if you are lucky enough to be able to afford to live there. Just ask the developers of all the student lets that have spung up over the past few years."

Marsha Henry, external: "Erm. .... lived here all my life , everything that was nice about it has nearly all gone."

Adam Steiner, external: "But really really high rents - so perhaps it lacks equality of quality of life?"

Join the conversation on the BBC Midlands Facebook page., external

BBC WM Sport

It'll be an emotional evening at Perry Barr as long-time promoter Tony Mole bids farewell the sport.

The identity of the Birmingham Brummies new promoter will also be revealed as a team of guests take on a Coventry Bees squad.

Mole was the man who brought the Brummies back on track in 2007, 21 years on from their previous incarnation.

Drivers will no longer be able to stop on some main roads in Stoke-on-Trent from next week.

Double red lines are being painted on stretches of Marsh Street, Trinity Street, York Street and Eturia Road, and stopping on them for any reason will incur a fine of up to £70.

Image source, Google

Stoke-on-Trent City Council says the red routes in Hanley are designed to reduce congestion and improve safety, and they'll be enforced from Monday.

Attempts are being made to trace the descendants of a Worcestershire soldier who was wounded at Passchendaele in 1917.

The Warndon Library Community Group says Pte Walter Joseph Cottrill from the 1/8 Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, enlisted in 1916 and died of pneumonia while receiving treatment for his injuries in Southampton.

Image source, Warndon Library

The group also has some information about his parents and his wife, but are hoping to find out more and are appealing for help.

It said there will also be a short memorial ceremony at Astwood Cemetery on 20 October to remember Pte Cottrill, on the 100th anniversary of his death, and living relatives will be welcome to attend.

Nearly 200 jobs are saved at Just for Pets after it was bought up by Pedigree Wholesale.