There will be no football on council-owned pitches in Wolverhampton this weekend, because of concerns they might get damaged.

The City of Wolverhampton Council says they've become water-logged by all the melting snow and it wants to protect them from further harm.

Image source, City of Wolverhampton Council

A former policeman who took his disabled cousin's inheritance was jailed for three and a half years.

Simon Bramhall admits marking his initials on the livers of two transplant patients.

Allen Cook
BBC News

More police patrols have been carried out today around a Warwickshire village , externalafter reports of people setting dogs on hares.

Image source, Warwickshire Police

Warwickshire Police says it's had several sightings of hare coursing in the Wellesbourne area.

The force says if people do spot the activity, they should "stay a safe distance away".

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Sport

Coventry Bears will celebrate Coventry winning the UK City of Culture title for 2021 by hosting rugby league giants Leeds Rhinos next year.

The match at the Butts Park Arena in January will also celebrate the Bears' 20th anniversary.

Image source, Getty Images

It's a big tie as Leeds Rhinos are the current Super League Champions.

Shropshire Star

Here are some of the headlines from the Shropshire Star website:

• Most Shropshire schools go back, external as thaw sets in
• Two camper vans catch fire, external
• £18m plan to revamp Shropshire Council’s Shirehall HQ, external

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

The temperatures have risen slightly compared with earlier in the week but there's still icy conditions ahead - here's the forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

You can also get the latest forecasts for your part of the West Midlands at any time from the BBC Weather website.

Ummarayiat Mirza and his wife Madihah Taheer were sentenced to 16 years and 10 years respectively.

A 48-year-old man arrested on suspicion of stabbing a West Midlands police officer yesterday has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, the force has said.

The 36-year-old officer who was attacked, in Erdington, Birmingham, is said to be making good progress in hospital, after undergoing surgery.

The suspect has now been moved to a secure hospital and will be assessed by mental health professionals.

Land Rover Defender owners are being warned to keep an eye on their vehicles after a spate of thefts.

Six of the out-of-production vehicles have been stolen in the last month, from homes in Newport, Market Drayton, Shifnal and Bridgnorth.

Image source, Jaguar Land Rover

West Mercia Police says they are often stolen to order by organised criminal gangs and that parts, including bonnets, doors and headlights are also sometimes taken.

Earlier this year NFU Mutual warned that thefts had risen since the 4x4 went out of production and that vehicles were often broken down and exported.

BBC Weather Watchers

One of the BBC Weather Watchers has shared this amazing photo of a fox in the snow near Coventry earlier.

And below you can see the icy river at Old Hill.

Image source, Kingfisher Whisperer

Image source, Colin

The 36-year-old officer was attacked during an attempt to arrest a suspect in Birmingham.

Since the start of the cold weather at the end of last week, engineers from Western Power Distribution had to deal with 609 incidents across the West Midlands - involving tens of thousands of homes and businesses losing electricity.

The company says all those who lost power as a result of the severe weather had their supply restored within 48 hours and the vast majority had power restored much quicker than that.

Image source, Peter Steggles

It also said all snow-related power cuts in the West Midlands region were resolved by yesterday afternoon.

There are still some homes without power, but the company says those aren't cold weather related.

Gavin Kermack
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

Work to refurbish fire-damaged grade II listed buildings in the centre of Hereford will finally start in the new year.

The site dates back to the 15th Century and has been boarded up since the blaze in 2010 gutted them and damaged Booth Hall behind.

Now, with planning consent given by Herefordshire Counci, externall, developer Elevate Property says it's going to build 18 flats and two ground-floor retail units., external

Image source, Elevate Property Group

BBC Sport

Crewe Alexandra's FA Cup second-round replay against Blackburn Rovers will be played tonight after adverse weather conditions postponed it by 24 hours.

Image source, Getty Images

The initial tie on 3 December finished 3-3, with Rovers relinquishing a 3-0 lead at Ewood Park and being reduced to nine men during the second half.

The winner of the replay will host Championship club Hull City in round three.

Women who don't want to travel to Shrewsbury or Telford to give birth in the future have been told there will be enough midwives to cope with home births.

Proposals being discussed by health commissioners this morning could mean the maternity units in Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Oswestry will no longer offer birthing facilities for women.

Staff would be concentrated at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital instead.

Shropshire's Clinical Commissioning Group heard this morning that talks had also started with hospitals over the border, to offer women the chance to go there to give birth.

And "maternity support workers" will be brought in to work with women in their communities, the meeting was told.

Martin Winch
BBC News

Four masked men armed with knives have robbed a supermarket in Leamington Spa., external

Image source, Google

They went into the Tesco Express store on Cubbington Road last night and threatened staff, Warwickshire Police says.

Officers say they tried to get into the safe and, when they couldn't, took cash from the tills before making off in a 4x4 vehicle.

The former police officer who admitted having indecent images of children as young as two "would have known" that he was fuelling the child porn industry, the NSPCC has said.

The charity also said that 34-year-old PC James Duffield from Solihull was "looking at the worst kind of child abuse imagery".

And the NSPCC repeated its call for tech companies and law enforcement agencies to do more to remove this sort of material from the internet.

Extra rubbish collectors are being drafted into Telford so bin collections can get back on track after the snow and ice.

People are being asked to put out their rubbish as normal and it will be collected as soon as it's safe for lorries to get down all the roads.

Image source, Telford and Wrekin Council

Telford and Wrekin Council says it is also refilling salt bins around the town and hopes to have all 670 restocked by the end of the day.

Port Vale manager Neil Aspin says that his side's two red cards were a big factor in their FA Cup exit at Yeovil.