Allen Cook
BBC News

The rate of rough sleeping in Warwick has been described as "scandalous" by the town's MP.

Figures recorded by the government, external suggested there were 21 people counted or estimated to be bedding down outdoors there in 2017, compared to 18 the year before.

When the statistics are divided up per 1,000 households, external, Warwick has the highest rate of homelessness in the West Midlands at 0.34% - a situation Matt Western MP lamented on Twitter, external.

The government says it's investing £1bn to tackle rough sleeping.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Almost 300 people a night have been sleeping rough on streets in the West Midlands, external, according to data.

Image source, PA

Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government, external show nearly half the councils in the region reported a rise in rough sleeping in 2017.

The West Midlands total for the year was 295 people - up on 289 in 2016 and 182 in 2010.

The areas showing the biggest rises include Dudley, East Staffordshire, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Rugby.

Birmingham had the highest number of rough sleepers, with an estimated 57 people in 2017, followed by Warwick with 21 and Walsall with 20.

Crewe Alexandra re-sign striker Shaun Miller from League Two rivals Carlisle United on loan until the end of the season.

Rough sleeping reaches record levels, moving beyond the big cities to towns where it seems shocking and out of place.

The West Midlands police and crime commissioner said a rise in crime figures revealed today highlighted the "short-sighted approach of the government by continuing to apply real-terms cuts to police forces’ funding".

David Jamieson spoke after it emerged the West Midlands region had seen a 14% increase - the same as the average across England and Wales.

He said officers were "facing ever greater demands from an increasing threat of terror, levels of cyber-crime and a rise in the number of reported sex offences".

Mr Jamieson oversees the individual West Midlands force which also saw a 14% increase. He said it had "lost £145 million from central government since 2010", adding "despite being a highly efficient force, we have still lost 2,000 officers since 2010, meaning we are having to do more with fewer resources".

Wing Josh Bassett signs a new "long-term" contract with Premiership club Wasps.

Allen Cook
BBC News

The number of violent crimes, sex offences and robberies recorded by police across the West Midlands region rose over the past year, data shows. , external

House burglaries and theft also increased in the 12 months to September 2017 compared to the previous 12-month period, the Office for National Statistics said. In all, 431,170 crimes were recorded (excluding fraud) - a 14% jump.

Warwickshire Police saw the biggest increase out of our local police forces, its total recorded crime rising 23%. The West Midlands force saw a 14% rise - the same as the national average - with 13% rises in both Staffordshire and West Mercia.

Image source, PA

Across the region, the crime with the biggest leap in numbers was domestic burglary, up 41% to 28,359 offences.

The Prime Minister has said she was "appalled" by reports of sexual harassment at a men-only Presidents Club charity event.

Stratford-on-Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi has been criticised for his attendance and, asked whether he should have gone, Mrs May said she "understood" he'd left early.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she said: "What worries me is that it's not just that event it's about what it says about this wider issue in society, it's about attitudes towards women.

"I thought that sort of approach to women - that objectification of women - was something we were leaving behind."

BBC 6 Music

The Bluedot festival, external - a heady mix of science and music at Jodrell Bank Observatory - has announced its headliners this year.

Image source, Bluedot

The Chemical Brothers, The Flaming Lips and Future Islands will top the bill at the festival between 19 and 22 July.

There will also be a special Blue Planet in Concert show by the Halle Orchestra on the opening night.

Tom from the Chemical Brothers, who formed while studying at the University of Manchester two decades ago, has been speaking to BBC 6 Music about their plans for the show and a new album.

Aston Villa sign Manchester United's England Under-21 defender Axel Tuanzebe on loan for the rest of the season.

Facebook

You've been having your say over news that a mother has been banned from a Stoke-on-Trent school after disagreeing with its drinks ban policy.

Bernadette Finnegan, 48, was sent a text message from Abbey Hulton Primary School saying she could no longer be on its grounds.

The school has banned soft drinks from lunchboxes and Miss Finnegan says children have been told to pour juice down the sink. She has asked "what is wrong with a bit of zero sugar juice added to water"?

Image source, Bernadette Finnegan

On the BBC Midlands Facebook page, Joy M Harding posted, external: "Can’t see what’s wrong with sugar-free flavoured water. Lots of children won’t drink tap water so surely it’s better for them to have some hydration than none at all?"

Charlotte Elizabeth Bailey agreed, external: "I have had this argument with nursery and school over the years. My daughter won’t drink water, never has, so surely sugar-free squash, hugely diluted with water is better than dehydration!?"

Dave Crathorne wrote, external: "If parents encouraged children to drink water from an early age you wouldn’t have these issues."

And Lisa Roberts added, external: "My children only have water in their bottles because anything else causes tooth decay and other drinks should only be for treats!"

A teenage girl was seriously hurt when she was stabbed in the neck in Burton-upon-Trent.

A 19-year-old man from Burton has been charged with attempted murder after an attack on a 16-year-old girl in the grounds of All Saints Church in the town on Monday night.

Police said Claudiu Lucien Vacaru is due to appear before Cannock magistrates later, also accused of threats to kill and possession of a knife in a public place.

Image source, Google

Andy Giddings
BBC News

Aston Villa have been joining in the social media fun after Leeds United unveiled their controversial new club crest.

Leeds said they would review the switch after receiving criticism over the design.

Villa pointed out it was similar to the one used in the computer game Pro Evolution Soccer, which had to use alternative names and logos for teams because it didn't have the licence to use the real ones.

Police couldn't resist a giggle either, tweeting this 90s flashback earlier. All together now...

Taxi driver Ishfaq Hussain died when his taxi crashed into a tree in Telford in August 2017.

PM says she accepts Nadhim Zahawi left the scandal-hit dinner early, but was "appalled" at the event.

Two men have been charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a taxi driver in Telford last summer.

Ishfaq Hussain died when his taxi hit a tree on Ironbridge Road, in Madeley, on 7 August. He was 52.

West Mercia Police said Brandon Dowen, 19, from Telford, and 32-year-old John Cox from Wolverhampton, were charged on Wednesday and bailed to appear before Telford Magistrates Court on Monday.

Two women, aged 38 and 18, who were also arrested, have been released with no further action being taken against them, the force said.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

A goat refused to leave the body of its friend that it guarded "for days", says the RSPCA which rescued the abandoned animal.

Officers were called to Basford in Cheshire on Monday when a Network Rail worker spotted the two goats under a viaduct, with one standing over the body of the other.

Image source, RSPCA

The RSPCA said the surviving goat was "extremely distressed by it all" and four workers were needed to move him.

He was unhurt and placed with a herd on a smallholding, the charity added.

Police says the suspect and the victim are believed to be known to each other.

Insurers have said they will pay more than £30m to businesses owed money by the collapsed Wolverhampton construction giant Carillion.

Image source, PA

Sums ranging from £5,000 to several million pounds are being paid to firms which had insurance policies against bad debts.

However, most of Carillion's suppliers risk getting little or nothing back, as only a minority of firms had the cover.

Carillion went under last week with £1.5bn debt, leaving its 30,000 suppliers facing an uncertain future.