James Bovill
Staffordshire Political Reporter, BBC News

BBC Radio Stoke understands three wards at a community hospital in Newcastle-under-Lyme will reopen this winter to deal with pressure on beds at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

Community beds are where patients go to be assessed after leaving the Royal Stoke, but before going home.

Image source, Google

However, the North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group that pays for them has closed 160 across their area, saying it's cheaper and more effective to assess people at home.

The planned closure of beds at Bradwell Community Hospital were delayed last winter to deal with extreme bed blocking at the Royal Stoke.

They've been shut since April, but the trust which runs the Royal Stoke says it's discussing reopening them again during what it expects will be an exceptionally busy winter.

Ironbridge power station has been a feature of the landscape since construction in the 1960s.

Ledbury Reporter

Here are some of the stories the Ledbury Reporter is covering today:

• Labour questions MP's involvement with tax avoidance company, external
• Hundreds attend school event, external
• Twelve-year-old braves the shave, external

Allen Cook
BBC News

People using a Telford railway station are being told it could take longer to get to their train from next week., external

Image source, London Midland

London Midland says that's because work's going to start at Telford Central on a new footbridge which will include lifts to both platforms.

It says the scheme, funded by the government, is "complex" and may interrupt passengers' usual routes to get to their trains.

PC Andrew Goodwin was overheard by colleagues using racially insensitive language earlier this year.

The much-anticipated return of Peaky Blinders is now just a few days away.

Season five will arrive on our screens on 15 November.

What better way to get into the spirit of things than with a Peaky-inspired trim.

Seventy-five motorists were stopped and 50 were reported for driving offences in a week-long crackdown by Warwickshire Police using an unmarked HGV.

Officers patrolled the M40, M42 and M6 and said the elevated position of the lorry gave them "an excellent opportunity" to identify drivers committing offences including using mobile phones at the wheel.

Image source, Thinkstock

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

A stretch of the M6 in Cheshire will need resurfacing tonight, after a lorry hit the central reservation and split its fuel tank.

Three lanes are closed northbound between junctions 19 and 20, with Highways England warning , externalof significant delays into the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Image source, North West Motorway Police

Sean Fogarty
Producer, BBC Shropshire

A global engineering firm says it is scaling down its base in Shropshire, putting dozens of jobs at risk.

The decision by Transcal Engineering comes just months after the firm moved into Shrewsbury.

Image source, Transcal Engineering

The firm specialises in metal production for the rail and defence sectors and had only moved into its base in Harlescott 16 months ago, investing £100,000 in new equipment in August., external

However, it says sales have been slow and it has now decided to scale back the operation, although a small specialist team will be retained in Shrewsbury.

Some jobs will be tranferred to its Pershore base but the future for the majority of the workforce of 51 looks uncertain.

A lorry has overturned near Wem, in Shropshire, demolishing part of a bridge, West Midlands Ambulance Service has said.

Soulton Road has been closed and a man in his 50s has been taken to hospital in Shrewsbury with neck and back pain.

Image source, @MDraytonCops

Shropshire Council said the vehicle would be removed using a crane, which has now arrived on site, but this will take several hours.

A man has appeared in court charged with causing the death of a pedestrian in an alleged hit-and-run collision.

Clare McKenzie, 35, was found collapsed in the early hours of 11 November last year on Sutton New Road in Erdington, Birmingham, but was pronounced dead at the scene.

Image source, Other

Tomas Marcinkus, 29, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene, and failing to report an accident.

Magistrates in Birmingham granted Mr Marcinkus bail until a further hearing at the city's crown court next month.

There are three-hour delays on the approach to junctions 19 and 20, external of the M6 in Cheshire after the earlier jackknifed lorry and oil spill.

The motorway was shut for several hours this afternoon.

Image source, Highways England

Highways England says the whole of the southbound side has reopened, external but two lanes remain shut northbound while they try to clean-up.

The BBC has heard numerous accounts from patients at hospitals run by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS of their treatment in corridors while waiting for a bed on a ward.

At the beginning of the year a patients watchdog reported one person had died from cardiac arrest after waiting 35 hours in a corridor at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Only three months ago the health regulator also said treatment in corridors had become "standard practice" at the trust.

At the time, England's chief inspector of hospitals Prof Ted Baker said the trust needed to make "urgent improvements".

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

NHS bosses say no patients in Worcestershire will be treated in hospital corridors from the start of next month. , external

Bosses at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust made the commitment this morning.

Image source, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

That's despite latest figures showing there were more than 100 patients who spent time on corridors in the last week of October.

This morning, the trust has been discussing how prepared Worcestershire is for the coming winter and directors were told the corridor commitment depends on extra beds becoming available.

Allen Cook
BBC News

This is the reason the M6 in Cheshire's been closed for much of the afternoon, after a lorry jackknifed between junctions 19 and 20.

Highways England says it hit the central reservation and spilt oil across both carriageways, external and that's what's taking time to clear up:

Image source, Highways England

Image source, Highways England

The police force in Cheshire's been praised as "outstanding" for how it handles its budget.

Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) has released its latest efficiency report into Cheshire Police and has overall rated it , externalas "good".

It goes on to say the force has done well at putting more money into technology to make it both efficient and effective.

In response, the force says the financial performance is down to asking staff and officers how they can best save time and money., external

Wolves' teenage midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White says the quality of the Championship leaders' squad is helping him develop.

Endris Mohammed denies murdering his two children and attempting to murder his wife.

BBC WM

He's been warming up for weeks, and resting his voice where possible but today is the day.

The BBC WM Children in Need Richie-oke begins tonight!

From 19:00 tonight presenter Richie Anderson will be joined on-air by celebrities and musicians for a 24-hour singathon, all to raise money for Children in Need. Tune in tonight from 19:00.

Lee Blakeman
Port Vale commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Port Vale's new signing Chris Regis says he hasn't ruled out the team turning their season around and getting promoted.

Image source, Port Vale FC

Regis scored on his debut on Tuesday night against Crewe in the EFL Trophy, just hours after signing a short-term contract.

The Vale, who are third from bottom of League Two, go to Newport County tomorrow night.