James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

Paul Hurst has addressed a problem position by signing Derby County left-back Max Lowe on loan.

Shrewsbury Town have been playing Omar Beckles there, out of position, following the season-ending injury to Junior Brown.

Image source, Shrewsbury Town

And Lowe comes with high expectations after winning Derby's Young Player of the Year award after an impressive first season at Pride Park.

He will wear the number three shirt for Shrewsbury.

The men are charged after the hauls were found in a car on the A74(M) and in a south of Scotland village.

There are a number of Environment Agency flood alerts, external remaining in the West Midlands, with river levels expected to peak tomorrow.

They affect the rivers Tern, Perry and Severn in Shropshire, the Severn and Avon in Worcestershire and the Lugg in Herefordshire.

Image source, Environment Agency

Coventry Observer

Some of the main stories on the Coventry Observer website this week are:

• Cancer-battling Blaze fan 'Coach Kev' granted a lifetime wish, external
• Coventry singer looking to assemble special choir for Royal Wedding, external
• Coventry University graduate named African of the Year , external

Image source, Coventry Observer

A pair of armed robbers who were caught when they tried to check into a hotel with 12 bin bags full of stolen cigarettes, cash and spirits have been jailed.

Gavin Milgate and Scott Stretton, both 34 and from Stafford, had both pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing a bladed weapon, following a raid on the Tesco Express on Stone Road in the town on 4 October last year.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Milgate was jailed for five years and three months and Stretton for six years.

Stretton's offence included five months for an attempted burglary in the town in August.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Staffordshire Police said they had taken cash and goods worth more than £17,000 and had tried to hide some of the stolen money in suitcases buried in the undergrowth.

Staff at the hotel called the police and they were arrested when they returned.

Shrewsbury Town sign Derby County left-back Max Lowe on loan for the rest of the season.

Former healthcare assistant Sandra Davis says triple killer Theodore Johnson played the system.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Four teenagers have been arrested after police stopped a car in Hanley and found knives and drugs inside.

The vehicle was stopped on Lichfield Street at 19:55 and officers discovered a lock knife, kitchen knife and a small quantity of cannabis.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

A 19-year-old and a 16-year-old from Trent Vale were detained on suspicion of having a knife in a public place and being involved in drug supply, and have been released under investigation.

Two other 16-year-olds were released without further action.

There's been a fall in the number of people using Telford's ice rink and Telford and Wrekin Council says it needs to bring in more money.

The authority said it made a profit last year, but was £113,000 off its target.

Image source, Steve Brodie

The council spent £4m improving the rink five years ago, replacing the ice pad, building a soft play area for children and making a number of other alterations to the layout.

A brutal killer of three women is unlikely ever to leave prison after admitting beating a former girlfriend over the head with a hammer and throttling her with a dressing gown cord.

Theodore Johnson, 64, admitted murdering Angela Best after she met another man, and today was told he would serve at least 26 years behind bars.

Image source, Express and Star

He was previously convicted of the manslaughter of his first wife Yvonne Johnson in Wolverhampton (pictured) and mother to his two sons in 1981.

In 1993 he admitted the manslaughter of his then partner Yvonne Bennett.

He was sent to a secure mental health unit and conditionally discharged from secure accommodation in 1997.

Hereford Times

Here are three of the headlines from the Hereford Times website today:

• Christmas lights vandals return to say sorry, external
• Boy in hospital after being hit by car, external
• Children assaulted by runner, external

Andrew Macrae was caught placing a bag with a camera between a woman's legs on a station platform.

A 300-year-old tree has fallen down in Stoke-on-Trent, blocking the road and causing a car crash.

Three people needed checking over by paramedics, but none were seriously hurt.

The 25m (82ft) high oak came down at about 10:00 on Whitmore Road in Trentham.

Serial killer Theodore Johnson, 64, who met his third victim while on day release from a secure mental hospital has been jailed at the Old Bailey for a minimum of 26 years.

He'd previously been found guilty of killing his wife by throwing her off a Wolverhampton balcony in 1981, and of strangling another former partner in 1993.

A Birmingham restaurant's refusal to stop serving food on wooden plates has landed it with a £50,000 fine after a case was brought by the city council.

Ibrahim's Grill and Steak House, on Warwick Road in Acocks Green, admitted health and safety breaches and were fined at Birmingham Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The council said its environmental health team was first called in to investigate after an alleged food poisoning outbreak affecting 14 people, and subsequently served improvement notices requiring them to change the wooden platters.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

On a return visit in December 2016, the council said the team found that while food handling had improved, the wooden plates were still being used.

The council said "wooden plates could pose a risk of food poisoning to anyone eating from them", and the owners had been given "sound advice which they chose to ignore".

Police are appealing for information after an assault on two children in Hereford.

West Mercia Police says it has received reports that a jogger knocked down a child on Holme Lacy Road on Wednesday at 16:00.

After an argument, he then assaulted two youngsters.

Image source, Google Maps

Police are interested in speaking to anyone who saw what happened.

The jogger is said to be a white man, between 35 to 50 years old, with a slim to average build and a grey or white moustache.

He is said to be between 5ft 4in to 5ft 9in tall and was wearing a neon cap and neon vest under a dark jacket, possibly with purple marks on the sleeves.

He also had on dark tracksuit bottoms, and possibly a snood which covered his chin.

Penny Ashmore, 19, was resuscitated by her father after her heart stopped four times in one night.

Sophie Madden
BBC News

Officers have been given an extra 32 hours to question a man arrested on suspicion of the murder of Julie Fox.

The 51-year-old, who suffered from cerebral palsy, was well known in Worcester, police said. She was found dead at her bungalow on Carnforth Drive on 27 December.

Image source, West Mercia Police

The 43-year-old suspect from Worcester was arrested on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, police were granted an initial 36-hour extension to question him and that's now been extended further.

A man arrested after a fatal crash on the M42 this morning has been released under investigation.

The 37-year-old was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs after the crash between junctions 9 and 10, in which two women died.

Warwickshire Police said the next of kin had been informed.

Waste crews will be working over the weekend in Birmingham to catch up on recent missed collections, the city council said., external

It apologised for the inconvenience of recent missed waste collections and reassured residents it was doing everything it could to get things back to normal.

Crews will be out on Saturday and Sunday to places that have had "whole road" missed collections it said.