Prince Edward officially opened the new £57m venue at a gala performance in the concert hall.

A UKIP councillor and MEP has claimed an investigation into his criticism of rival politicians has cost taxpayers £1,700.

Dudley Council member Bill Etheridge sparked a row when he referred to Labour councillors in the borough as "a procession of morons and imbeciles" and "socialist do-gooder bleeding heart Communist rat bags".

In February, an investigation found he had breached the authority's code of conduct.

Mr Etheridge claimed the investigation was a politically-motivated witch hunt.

Image source, UKIP

Replying to a request for the costs of the probe, the council’s monitoring officer Mohammed Farooq revealed the independent investigator had charged £1,286.45.

Mr Etheridge claimed that, with additional council officer expenses, the final reckoning would be approximately £1,700.

Councillors will decide later this month what sanctions should be taken against Mr Etheridge.

BBC Weather

Showery outbreaks of rain will continue this afternoon, some of which will be lengthy. A few heavy bursts with a risk of thunder possible. Staying mostly cloudy. Highs of 7C.

Image source, Meteogroup

More from BBC Weather.

Hannah Richardson
BBC News education and social affairs reporter

Life began at 40 for severely learning-disabled Colleen, say her sisters, when she moved into her own home.

She is living happily in her Coventry house, 11 years after leaving unsuitable residential care, thanks to a carefully-crafted network of 24-hour care and a range of state benefits.

But due to the impending removal of the housing part of her support, known as Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI), that security has been mired in uncertainty and anxiety.

Colleen is one of 124,000 households in England who receive this particular benefit, external.

Homophobic abuse forced a Pride organisation to abandon their stall at a Warwickshire market over the weekend, it said.

Image source, Warwickshire Pride

Stratford-upon-Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi said he would be working with police after volunteers for Warwick Pride were subjected to a "shocking amount of anti-LGBT+ comments and behaviours" from members of the public at the town's market.

Image source, Nadhim Zahawi / Twitter

In a statement, the organisation said more than 100 people "walked past the stall or approached it and either tutted, gave looks of disgust or made comments".

The incidents have been reported to Warwickshire Police, it said.

Clare Lissaman
BBC News

Prayers have been said for the family of a man accused of carrying out a knife attack inside a church.

John Delahaye, 46, was due to stand trial after three men were stabbed at New Jerusalem Apostolic Church, Aston, but he was found dead last Monday.

"We are in touch with and have offered our support to his family at this difficult time," a church spokesman said.

"The thoughts and prayers of the entire church are with them."

Image source, PA

The prison's director said his death would be investigated.

Karl George, Adam Brooks and Jorge George suffered knife injuries in the attack during a service at the church on 10 September, 2017.

Mr Delahaye, of Ettington Road, Aston, was to stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court, charged with attempted murder, making threats to kill, wounding, and two counts of possessing a bladed weapon.

Jodie Looker
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Work on a new supermarket in Longton has started today.

The new Lidl store in Trentham Road will replace the existing shop on The Strand.

The build is expected to take about nine months and 20 jobs will be created when it opens.

Shropshire Star

Some of the main stories on the Shropshire Star website today are:

• Farmer knocked out victim in row over sheep rustling, external
• Drug and gambling addict stole £97,000 from pensioner, external
• Shrewsbury Town fans snapping up tickets for Wembley cup final, external

The trial of three men who are accused of prison mutiny is set to start at Birmingham Crown Court today.

Jayon Foster, 34, Hayden Mills, 23, and 29-year-old Sean Kinsella have all pleaded not guilty to a charge of prison mutiny in relation to a disturbance at HMP Birmingham in December 2016, which saw 500 prisoners let out of their cells and cost G4S, which runs the prison, £6m.

Image source, Reuters

The charge alleges the men engaged in conduct with one or more other persons "intending to further a common purpose of overthrowing lawful authority".

BBC Midlands Today

Prince Edward officially opened the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire last night.

The Earl of Wessex is a patron and last night he attended a special gala performance at the new concert hall based at Millennium Point.

It’s one of five venues and the Conservatoire's principal says he is looking forward to attracting a variety of talent.

Hussien El-Maghraby, whose operations have been criticised by other surgeons, is on YouTube.

Pensioners and disabled people fear losing homes ahead of housing costs support changes, it is claimed.

BBC Shropshire

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), set up to investigate claims against local authorities as well public and private institutions, should come to Telford, said the council leader.

It follows new newspaper claims of widespread abuse of teenage girls dating back to the 1980s.

The Labour leader of Telford & Wrekin Borough Council, Shaun Davies, told BBC Radio Shropshire the "shocking and appalling" allegations needed to be investigated.

"In the time that I've been leader we've co-operated with an Ofsted review, a Home Office review, a Department for Education review, a cross-party scrutiny review and we want to engage with the review known as the Jay inquiry."

The IICSA inquiry chairwoman Prof Alexis Jay headed the investigation into child abuse in Rotherham.

"I'll be writing to the home secretary today to bring forward that review to Telford," Mr Davies said.

The dog named Best in Show at Crufts was seemingly unphased by the protesters who disrupted coverage of the live event.

Image source, Getty Images

Two-year-old whippet bitch Tease took the top prize for owner Yvette Short, of Edinburgh.

Ms Short quickly grabbed Tease as several men ran down and cornered the protester in front of a live audience.

The crowd broke into applause as the intruder was taken away.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after two fires were started outside a pub.

The 25-year-old man, from Stoke-on-Trent, was held following blazes in Cobridge at about 01:25 on Sunday.

Staffordshire Police said the man had been arrested following reports of him kicking something on fire in the street, lighting a fire outside the Wedgwood Inn and then appearing to kick a wing mirror off a parked van.

The force said he had since been released on conditional bail.

The water regulator for England and Wales is to investigate why thousands of homes suffered water shortages in the wake of the recent cold weather.

Image source, Reuters

Homes and businesses in parts of Birmingham and Staffordshire faced days without running water after pipes burst during a thaw which followed freezing weather conditions.

Production at Jaguar Land Rover and Cadbury was temporarily halted.

Ofwat will look at how prepared water firms were and what support they subsequently offered customers.

It said at the time that companies had "fallen well short".

Telford's MP is renewing her call for an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation, external in the town after further allegations were made.

Image source, PA

Conservative Lucy Allan said she would raise the latest Sunday Mirror allegations , externalin Parliament and was urging authorities in the town to commission an independent inquiry.

The paper said it had evidence to suggest hundreds of children may have been abused in Telford over the past four decades.

Telford Council said it was working with all agencies in the borough and would leave "no stone unturned" in its investigation.

A body was found on the A45 in Meriden last night, police have confirmed.

Officers were called to the site, near to the Maxstoke Lane junction, just after 19:00.

The death is being treated as "unexplained" the force said, and they're appealing for anyone who saw a pedestrian in the area to come forward.

The road remains closed westbound.

The Sentinel

Here are some of the stories the Stoke Sentinel is looking at this morning:

• Man arrested following incident which led to Stoke-on-Trent pub being taped, external off for eight hours
• Firefighters tackling huge rubbish fire with flames , externalseen from A500
• Thief’s accomplice is still at large and ‘mocking’ police, external on Facebook

John Joyce was stabbed four times after a row about the rules broke out at a Wolverhampton pub.