Eight people were killed on the M1 shortly after Ryszard Masierak stopped his lorry in the inside lane.

Worcester News

The stories in the Worcester News today include:

• Hostel could replace closed swimming pool under secret plans, external
• Worcester News Job Fair makes welcome return this March, external
• Firefighters warn people to take extra care on roads in icy conditions, external

Plans for Shrewsbury's £12m north west link road have gone on display in the town, external, to allow people to make comments.

The proposals include a development of 750 homes and 12 hectares of land set aside for businesses.

Image source, Shropshire Council

Funding is expected to come from money distributed by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership and contributions from the developer.

After this consultation exercise, a formal planning submission will be put together, with the aim of having the road complete by 2021.

Severn Valley Railway says it is "unthinkable" to not repair the 141-year-old Falling Sands viaduct.

Graham McGarry
Crewe Alexandra commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Crewe's George Ray says being made captain on his return to first-team action after a 10-month lay-off boosted his confidence.

The central defender led the team to victory at Lincoln, which maintained the team's six-point cushion over the club second from bottom in League Two.

Image source, crewealex.net

Ray said he didn't know if he'd get the armband until the day of the game.

The snow is forecast to continue for the rest of this week and could get heavy in places by Friday.

Some parts of the West Midlands have already seen several centimetres fall and temperatures are forecast to drop as low as -7C (19F).

These scenes were filmed in Leamington, Warwickshire, earlier today.

A driver is fined after nearly knocking a cyclist off his bike in Birmingham during the morning rush hour.

Dudley News

The Dudley News has these main stories today:

• Brierley Hill firm fined after worker loses finger, external
• Rogue trader jailed after conning victims out of thousands of pounds, external
• Toys R Us collapses into administration putting Black Country jobs at risk, external

Six people in their 20s and 30s have been arrested and drugs believed to be cocaine and crack have been seized, following two raids in Leamington this morning.

Warwickshire Police says about 25 officers raided the properties in Tachbrook Road and Tachbrook Court and also seized cash.

Image source, Warwickshire Police

The force said the operation was part of an investigation into drugs coming in from Coventry and Birmingham.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A sheep and her two twin lambs have been rescued from the frozen waters of a canal in a Staffordshire village today., external

Image source, Staffordshire Fire Service

The fire service says its water rescue team got them out of the Caldon canal, near Endon.

They say they started warming them up before their farmer arrived to give them more care.

The girl, 10, has "profound" disabilities after mistakes by hospital staff during her birth.

Arriva Trains Wales says it is planning to run a reduced timetable through Herefordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire tomorrow, because it is still not sure what caused the damage to one of its trains.

Network Rail said it had been working since the early hours of the morning to see if the damage had been caused by a problem with the tracks and extra engineers had been drafted in to carry out the "urgent safety checks".

Image source, Getty Images

Arriva said the defect, thought to be a chip in a wheel of one of the carriages, was picked up during "normal checks on our trains" and was not thought to be related to the freezing temperatures.

But the company warned that the weather could have a further impact on services and advised people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

A cafe in Birmingham is offering customers a free coffee, for them to pass on to homeless people in the freezing weather.

Richard Trueman, from Yorks Bakery Cafe, on Stephenson Street, said the city had a "huge problem with homeless people" and that his customers wanted to do something to help them.

He hoped it would "break down barriers" with the homeless and added that people had also been leaving donations.

Allen Cook
BBC News

The former BBC local radio presenter Jeff Harris has died today.

The news was announced on Facebook this morning by Fab FM, external, a radio station he'd helped to launch in 2014.

Mr Harris, who worked for a number of commercial stations in the Midlands, external, including Mercia FM and Leicester Sound, also presented on BBC Derby and BBC Coventry and Warwickshire.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A house where a mother and her 13-year-old son were stabbed to death looks to have been put up for sale.

Image source, Google

Pierce and Tracey Wilkinson were killed in an attack at Rathmore Lodge on Greyhound Lane, Norton, Stourbridge, in 2017 while the boy's father, Peter, was seriously injured.

In October, homeless man Aaron Barley admitted the murders and was jailed for life.

Now, estate agents Lee Shaw Partnership have the house listed for sale on their website for £650,000., external

Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM

One of Birmingham's Labour MPs is calling for an emergency summit with health leaders and unions in the city about increasing NHS waiting times, external.

Image source, Getty Images

Liam Byrne says, through Freedom of Information requests, figures show the number of people waiting more than four hours in A&E has risen by 127% over the past four years.

He says they also show 66% more cancer patients, year-on-year, have had to wait nine weeks or longer for treatment.

The MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill says the city's NHS is in "financial crisis" but a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said, nationally, NHS funding "is at a record high".

BBC Sport

British long jumper Greg Rutherford has withdrawn from the World Indoor Championships which start on Thursday in Birmingham.

The 2012 Olympic champion won the British indoor title in Birmingham last week and competed at the Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow on Sunday.

Image source, Reuters

However, the 31-year-old wants to regain full fitness before the European Championships in Berlin in August.

A Herefordshire pub will be serving a commemorative beer tonight, to mark the life of the only Victoria Cross recipient born in the county.

Allan Leonard Lewis was 23 when he died in World War One and has no known grave.

Hero's Ale has been made in his honour by the Swan Brewery, in Leominster, and the barrels will be delivered on a hand-cart from Whitney on Wye Station to the Rhydspence Inn this evening.

Money raised from sales will go towards a new statue of Allan in Hereford.

Police investigating a fatal crash in Warwickshire on Monday are hoping people might have seen the lorry and car involved.

A woman in her 50s, from Rugby, died at the scene of the collision on Rugby Road, close to the Boat Inn at Birdingbury at about 09:20.

Image source, Google

She had been driving a Fiat Punto and the driver of the blue Volvo lorry was unhurt.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

The freezing conditions have been continuing all day but there may be worse ahead; here's our look at the weather for the next day or so.

You can also stay updated at any other time by heading to the BBC Weather website.