The Telford MP, Lucy Allan, has defended comments she made yesterday about rail services to and from the town.

In a Westminster Hall debate she said: "We need more carriages. We need at least one fast train per hour, missing out those little Shropshire villages, for which there is no demand at all."

But she has now clarified those comments to emphasise she doesn't want "smaller stations" like Shifnal, Bilbrook and Codsall to lose services.

Mrs Allan said: "With an extra train per hour due to come into service soon, I want to make sure it serves Telford, by providing a new fast service, rather than an additional ‘all stops,’ service per hour. It would take pressure off the existing stopping service making that more accessible to those wishing to travel to all stops."

And she added, "If you live in a major population centre you rightly expect to have better rail connectivity than if you live in a rural village or small town."

Birmingham City boss Steve Cotterill is really proud of the spirit shown by Blues in their FA Cup exit to Huddersfield Town.

More acts have been announced for the BBC's Biggest Weekend festival, which will be jointly hosted by Coventry.

Craig David, Niall Horan, Wolf Alice and percussionist Evelyn Glennie have joined the line-up alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift at the one-off event, from 25 to 28 May.

The massive event will be curated by each of the BBC's music stations: Radio 1, 2, 3, 6 Music, 1Xtra and Asian Network.

The four-day event takes place in Swansea, Perth, and Belfast, as well as Coventry's War Memorial Park (27-28 May).

Police in Thailand are continuing to hold a Worcester man arrested after the death of a woman who fell from a balcony.

Reece Vella, 25, is being held on suspicion of causing death by negligence, overstaying his visa, and theft.

Image source, Viral Press

Thai police say they are waiting for autopsy results and other evidence.

He is wanted in the UK on an outstanding bench warrant, and in 2012 was jailed for four years and nine months at Worcester Crown Court for rape and assault.

A suggestion from the Telford MP that the town needs more "express" services which don't stop at "little Shropshire villages" has provoked a lot of debate on the BBC Shropshire Facebook page., external

Kathy Perry was one of those who argued the case for the stations like Shifnal, Cosford and Albrighton, writing: "There are always people getting on and off at these smaller stations, particularly at rush hour."

But Stuart Parr saw some sense in the idea, commenting: "We need to keep the existing trains that stop at every again but we need faster and cheaper trains connecting Telford to more places."

Image source, West Midlands Railway

And Shion Lambert asked: "Plans are already in place for an extra service following the award by the government of which she is a member. Trains are being built at the moment so why make a statement when this is being addressed?"

BBC News Travel

There are delays of about 75 minutes on the M6 northbound between J1 and J3 in Warwickshire due to emergency repairs on a bridge.

Highways England says a bridge engineer is on the way to deal with the failure of an expansion joint on the bridge.

The organisation says two lanes have been closed for safety reasons and are likely to remain shut for "some time".

A reward is being offered for information on Russell Blent, who has been missing since 2016.

BBC Midlands Today

A £2.5m restoration of Stafford's Victoria Park is due to begin in September.

Work on the park, which is more than 100 years old, will include an improved aviary and horticultural learning centre.

Image source, Stafford Borough Council

The autumn start means events like the town's half marathon can still go ahead.

Stafford Borough Council says the work, which is has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is expected to take 15 months to complete.

Coventry Telegraph

These are among the headlines on the Coventry Telegraph website:

• A driver caused the death of a granddad when he carelessly overtook in dangerous weather conditions, external
• Cherished Gurkha and Signals regiments will leave Nuneaton barracks, external
• Police issue a mugshot of a man jailed for nearly 25 years for stabbing his lover's husband in a crowded pub, external

BBC Sport

Worcester Warriors wing Josh Adams has kept his place in the Wales starting line up for Saturday's Six Nations match against England.

Adams, who is the leading try scorer in the Premiership, impressed in his debut in the 34-7 win over Scotland at the weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

Hollywood star Johnny Depp and hell-raisers Alice Cooper and Aerosmith's Joe Perry are coming to Birmingham as part of a UK tour.

The trio - who together are billed as The Hollywood Vampires - will put on a show here this summer where they will be joined by The Darkness and The Damned.

Image source, Other

Depp, who has previously performed with Marilyn Manson and Willie Nelson, said of the gig: "There will be rumbling in ears and there might be blood trickling out of one ear."

Several of the group's rock star friends are to make surprise appearances during the four UK dates.

They appear at Birmingham's Genting Arena on 16 June, before heading to London's Wembley Arena on 20 June with dates in Manchester and Glasgow in between.

Lucy Allan said she "never" sees anyone using smaller stations on the Telford to Birmingham line.

A construction firm working on the new Midland Metropolitan Hospital has had to lay off staff because of the collapse of Carillion.

The Wolverhampton-based outsourcing firm went into liquidation last month leaving many construction contracts up in the air.

Josh Lee, joint founder of LARC Construction which is working on the hospital site in Smethwick, said the firm's collapse came as a surprise and because of reassurances they did not have other contracts lined up.

"We were constantly being reassured by Carillion staff and management that everything was okay, they were paying their bills on time and they'd done everything, to be fair to them, that they said they would.

"I think it came as quite a shock to the people working for Carillion themselves."

Last week hospital bosses said the collapse of the construction giant could see the cost of the already delayed £350m hospital rise.

The attacker was in a relationship with his victim's estranged wife when he stabbed his victim.

A woman in her 60s has died after been pulled from a canal at Great Haywood in Staffordshire.

Police were called to an area near Mill Lane at about 18:30 yesterday, following reports that a woman had been seen in the water.

She was found near to the junction of the Trent and Mersey canal and Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal.

Image source, Google

The woman was taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, but later died.

Staffordshire Police said a man, who's also in his 60s, is being questioned.

Police have arrested eight men after carrying out searches for drugs at the Birmingham City FA Cup match last night.

Plain clothed officers carried out the operation after receiving reports of people dealing drugs at a previous fixture.

Image source, Getty Images

Shropshire's Crown Green Bowls Association is introducing tougher rules to cut down on alcohol-related trouble at games.

Outgoing county president Mike Caddick said the problem "started to creep in a bit last year, mostly among spectators" and that it was spoiling "everybody's enjoyment".

Image source, Getty Images

The association has produced a new code of conduct which allows players to be fined, suspended or banned if they break the regulations and Mr Caddick said one person had already been banned.

An Egyptian doctor recruited by the NHS in 2016 has had an application for her three-year-old daughter to come to the UK rejected.

Cannabis with an estimated street-value of £12,000 has been found in a Telford bin cupboard.

West Mercia Police say they arrested a man for drug-production offences after the discovery in Oakengates.

Image source, West Mercia Police

Image source, West Mercia Police

Matt Sandoz
Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Stoke City's assistant manager Stuart Taylor says several fringe players are starting to impress the manager.

On Monday night the reserves beat Middlesborough with Tyrese Campbell scoring twice and Ramadan Sobhi also on target.

Image source, Getty Images

Jesé and defender Kevin Wimmer were also named in the starting 11.