Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

A mainly dry and partly cloudy day, with sunny spells. Just a small risk of the odd shower in the afternoon.

Feeling warm with highs of 25C (77F)

Stephanie Barnard
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

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

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The ban is due to come into force in north-west England on 5 August, say United Utilities.

A 20-year-old Nigerian says he is "the happiest person in the world" after receiving the bike gift.

The New Saints stage an extraordinary second-leg comeback against Shkendija in their Champions League qualifier but fall agonisingly short.

The ban will affect people in north-west England, but other firms say they have no plans to follow suit.

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.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

The three-year absence of a Worcestershire hospital boss has cost the county’s acute trust well over a million pounds.

Former chief operating officer Stewart Messer has been paid more than £660,000 since May 2015, while the NHS has also had to pay £500,000 to employ five interim directors to cover him.

Mr Messer finally left in February with an exit package of £243,468, with part of that a special payment approved by HM Treasury.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has not revealed why Mr Messer became absent from work.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
David Irwin

Funding for a number of new initiatives to tackle air pollution – thought to be responsible for more than 100 deaths in Coventry each year – has been secured by the city council.

Cabinet members were today updated on schemes designed to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere.

The local authority has come under increased pressure to tackle the issue head-on after a Government report suggested that Coventry was one of 22 towns and cities in the UK forecast to exceed legal limits for nitrogen dioxide by 2020.

Councillors heard that government money is to be spent on measures to reduce the pollution on the A4600 (Ball Hill) corridor, and a further £1.5m will be used to retrofit more than 100 National Express buses with technology designed to reduce harmful emissions.

Two men have been arrested after police found a "large quantity of Class A drugs", believed to be heroin, at a property in Chasetown.

Staffordshire Police said they raided the building on Queen Street at 10:00 and also recovered cash and a knuckle duster.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The pair, one from Birmingham and the other from Burntwood, both remain in police custody.

BBC Sport Wales

Barring a miracle, The New Saints are unlikely to overcome a 5-0 first leg deficit against Macedonian champions Shkendija tonight.

But that won't be the end of the Oswestry club's European adventure this season, because they will then drop into the second qualifying round of the Europa League to play Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.

If they win that game, they will be two ties away from the Europa League group stages.

Image source, Brian Jones

Plus, the club has already earned €280,000 (£248,000) by playing in this Champions League tie and stands to collect another €260,000 (£230,000) from the Red Imps tie.

And manager Scott Ruscoe has admitted the Europa League is now their focus.

The Court of Appeal is told there is a "most pressing need for a thorough investigation".

Staffordshire Police are describing a machete attack in Stoke-on-Trent at the weekend as a "serious assault".

They say they were called to Furlong Road at about 01:30 on Sunday, to reports three men had been attacked.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

A 21-year-old man needed hospital treatment for injuries to his right arm.

More than 50 firefighters are tackling a fire in an isolated woodland area known as the Bog near the Stiperstones.

The fire is affecting five hectares of woodland.

A man who died in a collision on the M6 on Sunday has been identified as 76-year-old Douglas Michael Heath from the Penkridge area.

The crash happened on the southbound M6 between junctions 14 and 13 at around 12:30.

A man convicted of raping a severely autistic person on multiple occasions, and also making threats against the victim and their family, has had his "too low" sentenced increased.

Alex Waddoups, of Coventry, was found guilty of four counts of rape in April and sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to seven years in prison.

The 24-year-old's sentence was extended to 10 years at the Court of Appeal today, after being referred by the Solicitor General for being too lenient.

Welcoming today's judgement, the Solicitor General Robert Buckland said: "Waddoups targeted a vulnerable individual he knew he could dominate both physically and mentally."

A blueprint , externalfor increasing the number of electric car charging points in Shropshire and Herefordshire has been produced by an environmental group.

The draft strategy by Green Shropshire Xchange suggests they could be installed in retail parks, public car parks, hotels and leisure facilities and says there are grants available to finance them.

Image source, Getty Images

It is now looking for comments on its proposals, which it says are needed to bring visitors to the area.

BBC Sport

Worcestershire County Cricket Club have confirmed they expect to have Moeen Ali available for Friday's T20 match at Durham Jets.

England have released Ali to play in the game and it's anticipated he'll captain the side at Chester-le-Street.

Image source, Getty Images

Most of England's one-day team should be available to their counties after today's final one-day international against India.

Joshua Potts was jailed after his half brother and their father were sentenced over the sex abuse case.

Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

It should be a dry night with clear spells and lows of 13C (55F).