Midlands Live: Breaking news and local stories

Summary

Man charged with murdering six-month-old son in Walsall
Stolen van set alight causes rail chaos
Scammers target dying woman
IPCC probes crash after car fails to stop for police
Two lorry drivers deny M1 crash death charges
West Midlands businesses "negative" over Brexit
Updates on Friday 27 October 2017
Click Related Stories for updates from your area

Live Reporting

Blues v Villa derby - plan of action to tackle disorderpublished at 08:03 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
Richard Wilford
BBC WM Sport
West Midland Police say they've been preparing for this weekend's Birmingham City v Aston Villa derby "for months".
It's hoped the 12:00 kick-off on Sunday will cut down on pre-match drinking.
Image source, Getty Images
Nearly 30,000 people are expected at St Andrews for the game.
Quote Message
Overall I have no concerns. We're starting to see less and less disorder and so the challenge is to stop those small pockets of spontaneous disorder which can pop up.
Ch Supt Steve Graham, West Midlands Police
Aston Villa fans will be kept in the stadium "for a short period of time" after the game to allow Blues fans to leave the stands first.
Ch Supt Graham adds: "It lets all the fans make sure they leave in a safe way."
October a busy month for bridge engineerspublished at 07:50 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
A vehicle hit a bridge badly affecting rail services between Coventry and Rugby this morning.
Yesterday, Network Rail revealed that more railway bridges are hit at the end of October than at any other time of the year - almost 10 a day across the country.
The organisation believes this may be explained by the clocks going back and the start of increased Christmas deliveries.
Image source, Network Rail
Railway delays expected through the morningpublished at 07:34 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
Rail passengers travelling between Rugby and Coventry should expect delays in excess of an hour after the line railway line closed.
National Rail expects disruption, external to services on London Midland and Virgin Train services to last until later this morning, 11:00.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post
More than £2k raised for pensioner whose purse was pinchedpublished at 07:33 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
Giles Latcham
BBC Midlands Today
A fundraising webpage set up for a pensioner who had her purse stolen in a Shropshire supermarket has reached almost £2,500.
The page, which was set up yesterday, raised hundreds of pounds in just a few hours.
CCTV pictures from the Aldi supermarket in Oswestry showed a man suspected of distracting the 87-year-old woman while another removed her purse from the handbag.
Police are continuing to appeal for help to find the two men.
Media caption,
CCTV footage shows the moment Aldi shopper targeted by thief
West Midlands businesses 'negative' over Brexitpublished at 07:22 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester
Image source, Getty Images
A survey of business leaders in the West Midlands has revealed that more feel "negative" about Brexit than "positive".
Research by BBC Sunday Politics West Midlands asked 700 firms how the UK's decision to leave the European Union had impacted upon their trade.
One in four companies said the referendum result had harmed their business, while one in 10 said it had improved their commercial outlook.
A dry and bright day aheadpublished at 07:14 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter
Any early mist and fog will clear through the morning.
It will be staying dry and bright through the rest of the day, with plenty of sunshine around and light winds - highs of 15C (59F).
Vehicle hits bridge causing delayspublished at 07:09 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
BBC News Travel
Rail services between Coventry and Rugby are likely to be delayed after a vehicle hit a bridge earlier this morning.
London Midland and Virgin Train services are said to be affected.
Live updates for the West Midlandspublished at 07:00 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
Stephanie Barnard
BBC News
Good morning and welcome to Friday - it's almost the weekend.
We'll bring you all the latest news, sport, weather and travel updates between now and 19:00.
We'll be bringing you live updates covering Birmingham and the Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire and south Cheshire.
If you'd like to get in touch with us today - comment or share your photos, get in touch on our BBC Midlands Facebook page, external, email us, or tweet @BBCMTD, external.
How to scare your friendspublished at 02:45 British Summer Time 27 October 2017
An actor with a degree in "scare acting" says the key to being spooky is perfecting six moves.
Read More
Two injured in car and lorry crashpublished at 22:14 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
A car fails to stop for police in Birmingham before crashing with a lorry.
Read More
Our live coverage across the daypublished at 19:00 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
Andy Giddings
BBC News
We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow.
Light show to mark start of poppy appealpublished at 18:57 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
Cascades of poppies are being projected onto the side of Telford's Southwater offices this evening, to mark the launch of this year's poppy appeal.
It's the work of multi-media artist Andy McKeown, who has previously produced Armistice Day light-displays in Shrewsbury.
Image source, Telford and Wrekin Council
Crowds are also being entertained by the Cosford Military Wives Choir and the Wellington Brass Band.
Four injured in two-car crashpublished at 18:52 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
An elderly couple have been taken to hospital, one of them in a critical condition, after a crash between two cars in Shropshire this afternoon.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said it happened at 15:10 on the A458, near the Plume of Feathers pub, between Much Wenlock and Cressage.
Image source, WMAS
A father and his daughter in the other car were flown to hospital.
The young girl had head and chest injuries and the man suffered minor cuts and bruises.
Worcester forward in England rugby squadpublished at 18:49 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
Worcester Valkyries forward Lark Davies has been named in the England ladies rugby union squad that will face Canada in a three test series in November.
The 22-year-old has three senior caps, making her debut against the USA in 2015.
Image source, Getty Images
Garden waste collections to stop over winterpublished at 18:38 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
Garden waste collections in Stoke-on-Trent are to be put on hold over the winter months.
The city council is advising residents the last collection date this year will be on Friday 1 December.
Image source, Thinkstock
Fortnightly pick-ups will resume as normal in the spring, beginning on 5 March.
Man in court on attempted murder chargepublished at 18:29 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
A man has appeared before magistrates charged with attempted murder following a serious assault in Crewe in the early hours of yesterday.
Jay Maughan, who is 37 and from Hollins Road in Oldham, has been remanded in custody after he appeared before South & East Cheshire Magistrates’ Court.
Image source, Google
His case will now be heard at Chester Crown Court.
The injured man is being treated in hospital and police say he is in a stable condition.
Weather: Colder weather is on its waypublished at 18:27 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today
It's starting to turn chilly and we could start to see some frost by the end of the week.
Media caption,
Weather forecast for the West Midlands on 26 October 2017
First shots of new air ambulance helicopter in UKpublished at 18:16 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
These are the first photos of Midland Air Ambulance's new, £7m helicopter, since it arrived in the UK.
The H145 was build by Airbus at its factory in Donauwörth, Germany, and was shipped over here earlier in the month.
Image source, Airbus
The charity says it will be larger, faster and able to stay in the air longer than its current aircraft and it is currently at Babcock Mission Critical Services at Staverton in Gloucestershire, being fitted out with all the medical equipment it needs.
Image source, Airbus
Contamination concerns for power station sitepublished at 18:07 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
It could cost £50m to decontaminate the former Ironbridge Power Station site, making parts of it unsuitable for housing, the leader of Shropshire Council has said.
Councillor Peter Nutting said there was room for 1,000 homes there, but it was more likely it would be a "mixed development" with space set aside for businesses too.
Agents acting for Uniper, the owners of the power station, and the council's own planning department have suggested the site would be a good spot for houses.
But Mr Nutting said that was open for debate and added: "Shropshire Council won't be buying it, I can tell you that for sure."
Quote Message
There's serious contamination on the site and in theory the site is worth, say £20m, but it's going to cost something like £50m to clear the contamination. So there is a big question mark over what should or shouldn't happen there."
Peter Nutting, Shropshire Council leader
A stunning skylark breakthroughpublished at 18:02 British Summer Time 26 October 2017
New thermal cameras combined with traditional ringing offer a chance to learn more about the species.
Read More