Sandish Shoker
BBC News

A third man has been charged with human trafficking and running a brothel as part of an investigation into an alleged prostitution ring.

Laszlo Balogh, 57, from Burton upon Trent, has been charged with conspiracy to traffic a person with a view to sexually exploiting them and controlling a brothel for the purpose of prostitution.

Two other men, Geza Horvath, 32, from Station Court, Burton, and Daniel Zemencsik, 27, of Uttoxeter New Road, Derby, have already been charged with the same offences and will appear at Derby Crown Court in May.

Image source, Google

The men were arrested when Derbyshire police raided houses in Uttoxeter New Road and Violet Street, Derby, and Station Court, Burton, last week.

Five women were found at the two Derby houses and police said they suspect they had been exploited and trafficked around the UK.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Violent crimes recorded by police forces in the West Midlands increased by 14% last year,, external compared with 2016.

In data released today by the Office for National Statistics, a total of 439,206 offences were recorded in the 12 months up to December 2017.

Image source, PA

Among the statistics there were 76 murders across the West Midlands, up 25% on 2016.

Warwickshire Police, of the four regional forces, recorded the biggest percentage rise in overall crime, 18%, and violent crime, 19%.

The biggest regional increase in sex offences, 28%, was seen by West Midlands Police, while Staffordshire Police recorded the largest percentage rise in robberies at 39%.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

The Stoke-on-Trent Live website's covering these stories this morning:

• Boarded-up drugs dens shutdown by the courts set to be transformed into house, external
• Cash-strapped council: 'We only have four staff to monitor 39 care homes', external
• Asda can open petrol station and drive-through restaurant at town centre store, external

The 31-year-old died at the scene of the crash in Kingstanding Road, Birmingham, on Wednesday evening.

BBC WM

Wolves defender Conor Coady has revealed he hopes Aston Villa can join them in the Premier League.

Image source, Getty Images

He says he thinks it would be good for the area and admits it's also a shame that Albion are likely heading for the Championship.

There hasn't been a Black Country derby for six years and Coady says it would be a fixture to relish.

Coventry Live
Coventry Live

Some of the main stories on the Coventry Live website today are:

• The shocking rise in people using food banks in Coventry, external
• Sainsbury's arsons: Police release picture of man they want to trace, external
• Nuneaton Town FC company issued with winding up petition, external

Police have released a CCTV image of a man they'd like to speak to in connection with a string of arson attacks at a Coventry supermarket.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Three fires broke out at the Sainsbury's store in Canley over a four-day period between 28 February and 3 March.

Officers believe he might hold vital information about the first attack where firelighters were ignited in an aisle.

Image source, Rob Bell

No-one was injured in the fires at the store on Fletchamstead Highway.

The BBC documentary series Ambulance, which goes behind the scenes at West Midlands Ambulance Service, returns tonight for a third series.

The popular programme shows exactly what happens when somebody dials 999.

Chris King
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

A lane's still shut on the A500 this morning in Staffordshire, on the northbound side just after the Talke Roundabout.

The ambulance services says one women is being checked over for injuries after a three-vehicle crash.

BBC Radio Stoke

More than 200 people in Staffordshire and Cheshire couldn’t afford a funeral in the last five years – or didn’t have anyone to arrange one.

Almost £250,000 has been spent on so-called "pauper funerals" in the same period.

They cost local authorities £50,000 in the last year alone – with 42 of these funerals being held in Staffordshire and Cheshire.

MPs are urging the government to do more about so-called "funeral poverty".

Anna Russell
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

The clean-up has started at a hotel in Herefordshire hit by a lorry.

John Richardson, owner of The Burton, in Kington, yesterday described the scene as "like a warzone".

Express and Star

Some of the main stories on the Express and Star website this morning include:

• Wolverhampton pub has licence revoked after violence, external
• Stray horses cost Black Country councils £140k a year, external
• Goose shot in head with crossbow bolt in Smethwick, external

BBC News Travel

Three cars are involved in a crash on the A500 northbound near Talke in Staffordshire.

One line is blocked, and there's queuing traffic in the area.

BBC News

The number of children being home-schooled has risen by about 40% over three years, the BBC has found.

Across the UK, some 48,000 children were being home-educated in 2016-17, up from about 34,000 in 2014-15, with Wolverhampton named as one of the hot spots.

Nationally, mental health issues and avoiding exclusion are two reasons parents gave for removing children from classrooms.

The government will publish new guidance on the "rights and responsibilities on home education" but councils want more monitoring powers.

Artwork created by women refugees has gone on display at the Library of Birmingham.

Called the Migration Blanket, the work has been created by women from Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Senegal and India.

It has been designed to show their struggles of integration and hopes and dreams.

Image source, Ashley Carr

The women's struggles, which they illustrated, included being imprisoned while being six-months pregnant, being a victim of a racist attack, bombing in Yemen, having no identification and having no status in the UK.

The project is led by artist Salma Zulfiqar and has been supported by the Arts Council and local MP Jess Phillips.

A man questioned by police after explosives experts were called to a street in Coventry has been bailed while investigations continue.

Last night, homes on Brookside Avenue, in the Whoberley area of the city, were evacuated for the second time in two days.

The 20-year-old was arrested on Tuesday under the Explosives Act.

A controlled disposal of a substance took place on scrap land.

Last year designers released images of how a Stone Age burial mound in Wem, Shropshire, could look.

It's now being built, using 400 tonnes of soil and a lot of stones.

Similar barrows have recently been built in Cambridgeshire and Wiltshire.

Based on prehistoric designs, the Wem structure will look like a large grass mound on the outside, but inside will feature a series of alcoves to house people's ashes, around a chamber.

Hurricanes captain Brad Shields says the chance of touring South Africa with England in June is "out of my control".

Three men have been arrested after a van failed to stop after hitting a cyclist in Rubery.

Image source, Worcester Police

The vehicle then went on to crash into the front of a pub in Catshill.

Nobody was injured, police say.

Image source, Rich Russell

A live social media broadcast, which appeared to show prison inmates smoking drugs and using mobile phones, is not surprising, said the Prison Officers' Association (POA).

The clip was shared on Wednesday via live video app, Periscope by inmates at HMP Birmingham.

Glynn Travis, Assistant Secretary of the POA said there was "no appetite from government" to block mobile phones in prisons, "so while they've got the technology they're going to use it".

G4S, which is in charge of the privately run prison, said the video was "absolutely unacceptable".