Women won't be able to go to Oswestry's maternity unit to give birth for the next fortnight.

The unit had been closed for births and inpatients since Wednesday night, with "staff sickness" blamed.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust said it was making the move to "remove the uncertainty" after a series of similar closures at Shropshire's three rural maternity units since the start of the year.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust said the Oswestry unit would still be open for antenatal and postnatal services.

It also stressed that only 2% of births in Shropshire took place at the rural maternity units in January.

Lee Blakeman
Port Vale commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Port Vale boss Neil Aspin has told Anton Forrester to prove his worth in the first team after scoring a hat-trick for the reserves.

The 23-year-old has been out of favour and hasn't played since November.

Image source, Getty Images

Port Vale are away to Cheltenham Town tomorrow.

A relative was arrested on suspicion of murdering Jasmine Forrester who was stabbed several times.

An 11-year-old girl stabbed multiple times at a house in Wolverhampton this morning has died in hospital, police say.

The West Midlands force has named her as Jasmine Forrester.

Officers arrived at a house on Kent Road just before 01:00 and found Jasmine inside with injuries, including a serious head wound.

A 51-year-old man, whom police say is related to the youngster, has been taken to hospital for treatment for a minor injury - he remains under arrest on suspicion of murder.

The two-week Darwin Shrewsbury Festival, external is under way, with lectures, a themed park-run, a guided tour of his childhood home and exhibitions among the attractions.

But there will also be a counter-campaign this year by a Christian group which argues theories of evolution inspired by Charles Darwin's writings were wrong.

The campaigners are also accusing the festival, which marks Darwin's birth in the town 209 years ago, of being "over the top" and say his theories have been "harmful" and have "delayed scientific progress".

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

"Fortuitous" - that’s the word the West Midlands Mayor used after today’s budget meeting to describe the amount of cash brought in from business rates in the region.

The reason this is important? Well because that particular revenue will be better than expected, it means the Combined Authority’s spending plans don’t have to be changed this year.

That is despite the fact that Andy Street’s original proposals for a council tax precept of £10.80 on a Band D property were roundly stamped down – which could have left a hole in the finances.

The mayor told me today that there’s "no difficulty at all" over this first major disagreement – and that there’s been a "good collaborative process" with the leaders over the last month.

But it feels like a close call for the Mayor, and is likely to be a much bigger deal next year when a precept could be more crucial to Mr Street’s plans.

Would you wear a wristband which vibrated when you were stressed and prompted you to laugh or jump around?

That was one of the winning ideas at the Shropshire Young Thinkers Competition last night, dreamt up by 11-year-old Rose Farquharson (below, left) - her "eye-smile" app for smartwatches won in the ages 7-11 age group.

Image source, University of Chester & University Centre Shrewsbury

Ideas which won runners-up awards included MPs to represent children, compulsory compostable carrier bags, microchips in your blood which alert you if you develop a disease and bicycles with handlebars which heat up when you pedal - to keep your hands warm.

The winner in the 12-17 age group was 13-year-old Katie McPartland (above, right), who suggested that social media should be banned, to improve people's mental health.

Changes to car parking charges in Ludlow have been criticised by the town council, which said they could irreparably damage the local economy.

The new system of charges will see some fees rise to become as high as those in Shrewsbury and town councillors argued they should be on a lower scale - closer to towns like Market Drayton.

Shropshire Council introduced the changes after a period of consultation, saying it amended its plans after listening to feedback.

A woman living in a house neighbouring the property in Wolverhampton where an 11-year-old girl was stabbed this morning has described how an "injured elderly lady" had knocked on the door asking for help.

"My son answered the door. The woman was wearing a dressing gown and said the little girl had been attacked.

"We haven't heard any more about how the lady is. I don't know her first name - she asked for help and she was very upset."

Another neighbour said she had seen a girl go in and out of the house and "she was always smiling".

"It's just a terrible thing to happen."

James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

Shrewsbury Town defender Omar Beckles says he doesn't want to look back on this season and say "we nearly got promotion".

The club is second in League One, after two wins on the road, and is at home tomorrow against Plymouth - the side which shocked promotion-rivals Blackburn recently.

Image source, Getty Images

Beckles also urged the fans to get behind them, saying their support had "pushed us over the line" on a number of occasions already this season.

A dinosaur skeleton, famous for being the centrepiece display in the Natural History Museum in London, will be shown in Birmingham as part of a three-year-tour.

Nicknamed Dippy, the skeleton has not been publicly displayed outside the museum before.

The tour begins at the Dorset County Museum in Dorchester, from then it will travel to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery before being shown at museums and cathedrals in Belfast, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cardiff, Rochdale and Norwich.

The museum estimates that five million people will see the skeleton on its tour.

James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

The New Saints manager Scott Ruscoe has warned they face a tough challenge against Bangor City tonight.

They beat them 2-1 in the Welsh Premier League last month and although 12 points separate the two sides in the table, he believes it will be another close encounter.

Bangor are one of three sides separated by just one point just below TNS, looking for European qualification.

Coventry City agree a deal with rugby union side Wasps to stay at the Ricoh Arena until the end of 2018-19.

BBC Midlands Today

A former Birmingham City player is holding a charity sleep-out at St Andrews stadium tonight to highlight what he describes as the "huge" problem of homelessness in the West Midlands.

Former Blues and Albion striker Geoff Horsfield now runs a foundation helping rough sleepers by providing accommodation and distributing food, clothes and toiletries.

He says he's been shocked by the scale of the problem and the charity is working to help the hundreds of people living on the streets in Birmingham.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

It should be dry and cold tonight before rain moves in tomorrow.

There's a yellow weather warning for snow and ice from 00:05 on Sunday morning.

Construction site work is paused as administrators decide whether to sell all or part of firm.

Police say they're not treating the discovery of a man's body in Coventry as suspicious.

It was found on land next to the old sorting office on Bishop Street at around 16:00 yesterday.

The area's been cordoned off.

Police release CCTV of people they want to speak to regarding a stabbing investigation.

A drug dealer who hid more than £700,000 cash in the walls of his home has been jailed for 13 years.

Image source, National Crime Agency

Daljinder Bassi, 36, used his house on Stafford Road in Wolverhampton to cut and store large quantities of heroin and cocaine before selling it to dealers.

He was arrested by police last year as he drove along the M6 with three kilograms of heroin in his car.

Image source, National Crime Agency

The drugs recovered would have had a total estimated street value of £2.5m, said the National Crime Agency., external

Bassi admitted three counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs at a previous hearing and was jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday 2 February.

Melissa Whiteley was placed in a coma after her condition deteriorated.