A plan to create the UK’s largest owl sanctuary in the Black Country has been abandoned after years of negotiations.

The World Owl Trust had been in talks with Dudley Council about using part of the Himley Hall estate for a visitor and education centre to house almost 200 owls.

But the charity has pulled out citing "irreconcilable differences".

A quad biker suffered serious injuries after his vehicle left the road, ending up 20ft (6m) down a steep embankment in Rowley Regis, Sandwell.

Emergency workers used rope rescue techniques to lift the man to safety, on Moor Lane, near to Rowley Regis hospital, said the ambulance service. , external

The man, in his 60s, was taken to hospital after the incident which happened shortly before 17:00 yesterday.

The 14-week consultation into plans to reorganise hospital services in Shropshire has reached its half-way stage and so far 1,050 people have responded to the survey - that's an average of about 21 a day.

A Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust meeting this afternoon was also told that 3,400 people had visited the website for the Future Fit review, since the consultation started.

The board meeting was told there would be a review to look at the data so far, to see which groups have been getting involved.

There have been four consultation roadshows so far, plus pop-up events and other meetings - the consultation is due to end on 4 September.

The proposal being recommended would involve moving emergency care and specialist women and children's services from Telford to Shrewsbury, with planned care moving in the opposite direction.

BBC Midlands Today

Poundland has removed kitchen knives from sale in all of its West Midlands stores from today, in response to community concerns regarding knife crime.

Bosses at the discount chain, based in Willenhall, have already stopped selling knives at stores in London and plan to ban them nationwide by the end of the year.

The firm said over the last four years it had only sold knives in sealed plastic packaging and stocked them in aisles monitored by CCTV.

However, it said the ban was being introduced "after thoughtful reflection about concerns raised by both communities and colleagues".

Poundland said it had prioritised the West Midlands after a recent Home Office report revealed it experienced the biggest increase in knife crime of any part of the country outside London.

Firefighters in Staffordshire are currently at two sites in Cannock Chase, tackling forest fires.

Image source, Staffordshire Fire

About 15 firefighters have been at Shoal Hill Common since 01:30, tackling a fire affecting an area about 30m x 100m.

They were also called to an area close to Brindley Heath Road, in Hednesford shortly after 06:00 today.

Earlier this week, Staffordshire Fire Service revealed it had dealt with 42 fires in the open in just the first four days of July.

Birmingham Live

Some of the stories making the headlines on the Birmingham Live website this morning include:

• Man beaten unconscious by thugs in chilling New Street attack, external
• Men from feuding families banned over massive fight, external
• Pensioner barred from new Legoland - because she had no kids with her, external

Marian McNamee
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

A Coventry councillor is calling on the city's university to take more responsibility over the problem of rubbish fly-tipped by students.

Residents living in close proximity to houses let to students have been telling BBC Coventry and Warwickshire their streets are being turned into "dumping grounds" when students leave.

Councillor Jayne Innes says she will be pushing for the university "to be the first point of contact when there's a problem".

"They need to be making the first approach to the students that are causing these types of problems," she said.

Earlier this week, residents in part of Birmingham highlighted a similar problem, calling for degrees to be withheld from those responsible until rubbish was cleared (pictured below).

Image source, West Midlands Fire

The director of Wasps netball team says this weekend's superleague final is another important chance to grow the profile of the sport.

Image source, Wasps

The Coventry-based team will be defending the title they won last season when they take on Lougborough Lightning at the Copper Box in London tomorrow.

Netball has seen a rapid growth in popularity since England's gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in April.

The heatwave has sparked up to 500 extra emergency calls a day to West Midlands Ambulance Service.

The ambulance service said it was receiving a lot of calls about children getting sunstroke and people drinking too much alcohol in the sun and becoming dehydrated.

Steve Wheaton, Strategic Director said the service had also seen a "huge" increase in calls from the elderly.

"They're not drinking enough during the day, and then at night they're trying to get out of bed, they're dehydrated, they're confused and they're falling," he said.

A statue of England and Manchester United legend Duncan Edwards is going to be revamped ahead of England's World Cup quarter-final this weekend.

Image source, Dudley Borough Council

He was born in Dudley and played 18 times for his country before dying in the Munich air disaster.

Dudley Borough Council says a specialist will tomorrow use wax and heat to restore the white of his England shirt on the bronze statue in the town centre., external

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

We can expect long spells of sunshine today, with just patchy cloud, and highs of 29C (84F).

BBC News Travel

A shed load of car parts has closed one lane of the A46 at Longbridge Island in Warwickshire.

Drivers are being told to expect delays in the area.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Friday.

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

England all-rounder Ben Stokes hits 90 on his return from a hamstring tear, but cannot prevent Durham from losing in the T20 Blast at Yorkshire.

Crews have been battling several blazes in the Staffordshire Moorlands since Saturday.

The pair were Lydia Gifford and Nina Busch and how they died is still unknown, police say.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 on Friday, but keep an eye out here for more updates before then.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

An American football player from Birmingham has complained the noise from a nightclub near his home has been causing him sleepless nights and threatening his place in the Great Britain team.

Thomas Levick was giving evidence at a Birmingham City Council meeting, which was reviewing the licence of the De Oriole club in Hockley.

The 29-year-old said he and other neighbours had complained about the noise and raised the issue with club-goers spotted urinating and defecating in the street, and shouting and screaming.

Image source, Google

Representing the club, barrister Sara Clover said the venue had been there eight years, enjoying a "harmonious" relationship with residents for the most part.

At the hearing, the local authority imposed a number of new conditions on the club's licence, including a requirement that it closed at 02:00 between Thursday and Saturday, and midnight on Sundays.

We have a winner in the NHS Great British Generation Game challenge at Oswestry's orthopaedic hospital.

Former Bake Off contestant Diana Beard challenged staff to recreate her NHS-themed cake (pictured below).

The event is part of celebrations to mark 70 years of the NHS and the winners were Louis McDonald and Mr Kumar (pictured below).

Allen Cook
BBC News

Image source, Warwickshire Fire Service

People in Warwickshire are being warned not to have fires in their gardens in the hot weather, external.

It's after the county's fire service said it was called to Bearley, near Stratford-upon-Avon, last night to a large blaze which, external "had the potential to get out of control".

Image source, Warwickshire Fire Service