The government has been accused of playing "Russian roulette" with tens of thousands of jobs following a warning from car giant Jaguar Land Rover over the impact of a hard Brexit.

Image source, Getty

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said: "Tens of thousands of decent jobs" are being put at risk by a government "that places its survival, indulging narrow, extremist views, above the well-being of the people of this country".

"This is simply not acceptable," he said.

"So I say this to the Tory party, our jobs are not yours to play Russian roulette with. Drop your red lines and secure a decent deal, one that is to the benefit of the working people of this country.

"And if you cannot agree to put people before your ideology then move over and let a party that will get on with it."

BBC Business News

Online estate agent Purplebricks has reported a pre-tax loss of £26.1m for the year to April, up from a loss of £6m the year before.

The losses at the Solihull-based firm were partly due to increased marketing costs that more than doubled.

Image source, Purplebricks

Purplebricks launched its business in the US last September after it expanded into Australia in 2016, and has since moved into the Canadian market.

The company reported operating losses in both the US and Australia, with only the UK reporting a profit.

Coventry Live
Coventry Live

These are some of the headlining stories on the Coventry Live website today:

• Jaguar Land Rover issues warning, external over need for "greater certainty" on Brexit
• Red Arrow jet arrives in city centre ahead of RAF 100 event, external
• Buses to replace trains on major Coventry line starting this weekend, external

A motorcyclist suffered serious injuries after his bike was involved in a crash with a car in Coventry last night.

Paramedics arrived at the scene, on Almond Tree Avenue, to find the man partly under the car, said the ambulance service., external

The two people in the car were uninjured in the incident, which happened at about 20:40.

BBC News Travel

There are delays of over an hour on the M6 southbound in the West Midlands after a two-car crash between J6, A38(M) and J5, A452.

Traffic was briefly held to move the vehicles, said Highways England.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) may be Indian-owned, but its brand and - as the company puts it - its heart and soul is in the UK.

The Coventry carmaker employs 40,000 people directly and 260,000 work in its supply chain.

Image source, Getty Images

JLR insiders say £80bn worth of future investment in the UK over the next five years "could be lost".

The intervention of such a major employer - which in many ways is rightly perceived as more British than the likes of BMW, Airbus and Nissan - will heap more pressure on the government ahead of a crunch meeting of government ministers on Friday.

At this meeting, business hopes the government will finally settle on its own preferred version of the UK's future economic relationship with its largest market.

These photos show the upper Teme in north Herefordshire has all but disappeared in large sections due to the heatwave.

The Environment Agency has been rescuing fish from sections of the river for more than a week, but now it's clear only the dried up riverbed remains in areas.

Image source, Environment Agency

So far more than 500 salmon and trout fish have been rescued. Dave Throup from the Environment Agency said staff would be back looking for fish again today.

Image source, Dave Throup

This was the same scene a little over a week ago (pictured below), when levels were worryingly low, but considerably better than today.

Image source, Dave Throup

Birmingham Live

Some of the main stories on the Birmingham Live site this morning include:

• Firefighters at second Rubery quarry fire in a fortnight, external
• Parents at crisis-hit school 'having to buy stationary for pupils', external
• Shisha lounge ordered to close following shooting

A major extension of Worcester - with 1,400 homes and 1,540 student flats - has been given planning permission to the west of the city, between Lower Broadheath and St John's.

Image source, Bloor Homes

Two developments, put forward by Bloor Homes and the University of Worcester, were approved by Malvern Hills District Council last night., external

BBC Midlands Today

The West Midlands is bucking the national trend on empty homes.

Despite the housing shortage, numbers rose nationally this year for the first time in a decade.

But in our region, totals fell to about 20,000 - in part due to councils threatening to, or carrying out, enforcement action.

Stratford-on-Avon district saw one of the biggest drops - but still has homes worth £1m lying empty.

BBC Midlands Today

Three people have been arrested by police investigating a series of frauds in which elderly and vulnerable victims have been conned out of tens of thousands of pounds.

Officers raided two properties in east Birmingham following a long-running investigation into a so-called "courier fraud" in which criminals posed as bank staff, pretending money's been stolen from customers' accounts.

Police say the "callous" crime was on the increase.

BBC Business News

Jaguar Land Rover has warned that a "bad" Brexit deal would hit its profits and threaten its £80bn investment plans.

Image source, Getty Images

The Coventry carmaker, owned by India's Tata Motors, said its "heart and soul is in the UK".

But it said that without frictionless trade its UK investment plans would be in "jeopardy".

The warning came as Downing Street set out detail of a possible post-Brexit customs arrangement.

Five men have been arrested after a high-speed chase in Fazeley, Staffordshire yesterday.

The pursuit ended when a suspected stolen VW Golf was involved in a crash on Lichfield Street.

The occupants made off on foot, but were found with the help of the dog support unit and the air service, police said. , external

The five, aged between 17 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of theft.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

After a cloudy start it will be a dry, sunny day with highs of 26C (79F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

Grace Cooper, 104, worked at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, when the NHS was first formed.

Notts Outlaws begin their T20 Blast title defence with an eight-wicket loss to Birmingham Bears.

Families of the 21 victims of the 1974 pub bombings call on NI parties to help find the truth.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust is hoping a new piece of equipment will lure more urological surgeons to the county.

It is looking at spending £500,000 on a robotic arm to assist with operations, with chief executive Simon Wright saying it combines the "talent of the surgeon along with the precision that a robot can give you".

Image source, SATH

Mr Wright said there was a national shortage of urological cancer surgeons at the moment, but that the new tool would make it more attractive for them to come and work in Shrewsbury and Telford.