James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

Shrewsbury Town manager Paul Hurst is warning that in-form Rotherham will prove a real test this weekend.

They've won their last five games and haven't lost since the start of December.

Hurst said his old club are "on fire at the moment".

He is also refusing to concede that it's a three-horse race between Shrewsbury, Wigan and Blackburn for League One's two automatic promotion places.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

Mainly dry this afternoon but are we in for a frosty night and how will tomorrow look? Here's your forecast for the next 24 hours.

Plus, if you want an update on the latest weather forecast for your area at any other time, head to the BBC Weather website.

A High Court judge has ordered a review of Walsall Council's policy of not allowing graves at Streetly Cemetery to be decorated.

The authority won't allow anything to be laid there, saying it only allows headstones in the lawned area.

Image source, Google

Bereaved families took the case to the High Court saying some graves are walked or even driven over, because people can't see where they are.

Jessica Labhart
BBC News

The owner of a family-run toy shop says he's "sickened" after thieves "ransacked" the store in Dudley, taking around £20,000 of bikes and toys.

Dan Price, 77, says he discovered the break-in at BD Price Ltd, High Holborn, Sedgley, on Monday morning.

Image source, Dan Price

He says as well as taking around 50 bikes and toys, the thieves also caused wide-scale damage to the store.

West Midlands Police says it is believed the burglary happened between Saturday evening and Monday.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service's share of council tax is to rise by 2.75% from April., external

The increase was approved by the fire authority yesterday with the service saying it will add four pence a week to an average Band D bill in the county.

The authority says the increase was needed as it had £1m cut from its funding for 2018/19.

John Harrison
BBC News

Cheshire Police says its investigation into former Crewe Alexandra coach Barry Bennell was one of the biggest and most complicated cases in its history.

The 64-year-old has been convicted of abusing 11 boys aged eight to 15 between 1979 and 1990.

Image source, PA

Liverpool Crown Court heard boys were abused on an "industrial scale". Bennell was interviewed dozens of times by police.

Those who questioned him say he is a "cruel" and "selfish" man who failed to show "one iota" of remorse.

"The only person that matters to Barry Bennell is Barry Bennell," says Det Insp Sarah Oliver, who sat through 30 interviews with the convicted paedophile.

Read more on the background to the conviction of Bennell here on the BBC website.

BBC News Travel

A section of the A41 near Market Drayton in Shropshire has been closed because of a chemical spillage.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service says it is dealing with the incident at Bletchley.

Image source, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service

Former footballer Andy Woodward speaks outside the court where his abuser, Barry Bennell, was found guilty of 43 sex offences.

Matt Sandoz
Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City manager Paul Lambert says he doesn't expect goalkeeper Jack Butland to be affected by speculation linking him with a move elsewhere.

Image source, Twitter

Rumours on social media this week claimed Butland had handed in a transfer request, something which the player and his manager were quick to deny.

Five men transported from Romania were kept in "squalid" conditions and worked 12-hour shifts.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Image source, Staffordshire Fire Service

Firefighters had to use an aerial platform to put out a fire at a restuarant in Stafford last night., external

They were called to the Salter Street business before 21:00 and found the fire was in the chimney.

It's all square going into the home leg of Telford Tigers National Cup semi final, after a 3-3 draw away to Swindon Wildcats last night.

Tigers twice led in the match and conceded an equaliser in the final minute of the game.

Image source, Steve Brodie

The winner will face Sheffield Steeldogs in the final.

Ben Godfrey
BBC Midlands Today

Eighty jobs are to be created in Birmingham with the opening of a new export centre for a global food business., external

Image source, West Midlands Growth Company

Y International are spending £15m to make their European headquarters at the city’s Advanced Manufacturing Hub.

The company exports thousands of products to hypermarkets across the world.

A man from Telford has called 999 to tell the police his children were arguing with his wife - because they didn't want to go to school.

West Mercia Police say they took the call this morning and tweeted, external: "We will always assist if there is risk or threat or harm but cannot attend to tell your children to go to school."

James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

AFC Telford United manager Rob Edwards says it appeared his players "lost belief" in their midweek defeat to Curzon Ashton.

They are second from bottom in the National North, but a win could lift them out of the relegation zone and he said "we have to work really hard to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in".

Telford are away to 15th-placed Tamworth on Saturday.

Birmingham Mail

These are among the top stories on the Birmingham Mail's website today:

• Police patrols stepped up in Small Heath after spate of burglaries on same road, external
• Pub in Sutton Coldfield could reopen within days after mass brawl, external
• Help is on the way for homeless man living in phone box, external

A man has died after being hit by a train at Sandwell and Dudley Railway Station this morning.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said their paramedics arrived within seven minutes of being called but couldn't do anything to save him., external

Trains between Birmingham and Wolverhampton were disrupted throughout the morning.

Arriva Trains Wales tweeted to say the disruption had ended shortly after 11:00., external

Birmingham Post

The Birmingham Post is covering these stories today:

• i54 set for 100-acre expansion, external
• Middle East retail giant invests £15m in new Birmingham hub, external
• Edgbaston set to hold England and Australia Ashes 2023 Test, external

Plans for three student accommodation blocks in the centre of Shrewsbury have been revised, external, because the numbers of undergraduates going to the town's university aren't rising as quickly as expected.

The new plans, which go before Shropshire councillors today, suggest some of the space should be used for shops, offices and other businesses.

Image source, Google

The three blocks will be built on the site of the old sixth form college and the car park next to it.

Beth Shipsey's parents have challenged the government following her death.