BBC Midlands Today

The huge rise in car crime has proved to be a lucrative opportunity for a Midlands company, which produces a special bag to help stop thieves from stealing codes from keyless cars.

Disklabs' Faraday bags are designed in Tamworth and made in Telford and Birmingham - they include a special metallic lining.

When the key is put inside it can't be used to activate the car. The firm also makes wallets to protect contactless cards from being hacked.

Business is booming and grew by more than 80% last year.

A woman's been praised for her "brave and selfless actions" after she dragged an elderly man from his burning home.

Image source, Google

The house fire was reported to the fire service on Wednesday evening on Gilman Street, Stoke-on-Trent and left an upstairs bedroom completely gutted.

When fire crews arrived, they say they found the woman with the 66-year-old man outside and both were given treatment by paramedics.

The service says it thinks the man was smoking in his bedroom when it set some of the room on fire and, because of his poor mobility, he could only get downstairs before needing rescuing.

About 60 firefighters remain at the scene of a major fire in the Staffordshire Moorlands which has been burning for nearly 18 hours.

Crews were first called out at about 13:30 yesterday to a patch of land off Roach Road in Upper Hulme.

Staffordshire Fire Service said the wind picked up overnight which made the flames spread, and they've now brought back the extra crews to continue tackling it.

Yesterday evening the area was evacuated and one person was treated for smoke inhalation.

Residents nearby are being advised to keep doors and windows closed.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

After a sunny start showers will move in before becoming clearer this afternoon with more sunny spells.

Feeling cooler than of late with highs of 19C (66F).

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.

How did British medical worker Janet Parker become the world's last victim of smallpox?

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

Charlotte A Broadbent
BBC Hereford and Worcester

A teenager says he lived his cricketing dream yesterday as he was invited to Lord's to bowl against England and India internationals.

Image source, ALLSPORT/Getty Images

Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow were just some of the players that 16-year-old Alex Russell from Herefordshire got to bowl against, external, as they practised for today's second Test.

The leg-spinner plays in the county programme for Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

More than 900 people have been caught speeding in Birmingham's 20mph zones in the past 18 months, new figures show.

The lower limits are now in force on about 1,500 residential roads in the city, with another 450 to be added in November.

West Midlands Police said the worst offender was caught doing 63mph in a 20 zone.

BBC Two

Staffordshire Police is going to be featured on BBC Two tonight in a documentary covering one of its investigations into modern day slavery.

The Prosecutors is a series looking at the work of the court.

The episode tonight follows Eran Cutliffe - a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service - over nearly two years as she works on a case tackling modern day slavery.

As the case grows, she works together with Staffordshire and Avon and Somerset police to build her case and you can see the episode on BBC Two tonight from 21:00.

Crewe Chronicle

These stories are being covered by the Crewe Chronicle today:

• Community groups urged to apply for £5,000 council grants, external
• Crewe police ask public to help knit for children who are victims of crime, external
• Home scheme for Sandbach is refused, external

BBC News England

A sighting of a jellyfish in a canal has been described by experts as "very strange".

They suspect the freshwater species' presence in the Shropshire Union Canal is due to an increase in water temperatures during the summer's hot weather.

Image source, Environment Agency

The Environment Agency said the phenomenon was "not a common" occurrence.

The Craspedacusta Sowerbii species does not pose a danger to canal users.

It was spotted in an area between Middlewich and Winsford in Cheshire.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Image source, Hereford and Worcester Fire Service

Thousands of litres of water had to be used this afternoon to put out a large crop fire.

Fire crews were called to the farm in Bockleton, near Leominster, this afternoon , externaland say around 7,500 sq m of crops were ablaze.

They say a tractor and hay bales were on fire but they don't yet know what caused it.

Image source, Hereford and Worcester Fire Service

BBC Sport

Uttoxeter swimmer Adam Peaty's won his fourth gold of the European Championships this afternoon.

Image source, Getty Images

He was part of the 4x100 medley relay team for Great Britain and helped them set a new championship record in the process.

The 23-year-old has already won gold in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and 4x100m mixed medley.

Allen Cook
BBC News

The heatwave this summer has led a council to hold off on cutting the grass,, external because it's not growing fast enough.

Image source, Herefordshire Council

Herefordshire Council says it's going to keep an eye on the situation but, for now, it's decided to postpone the next scheduled cut.

Instead, it says it will plough resources into other ground maintenance such as trimming hedges (pictured).

BBC WM

The top visitor attractions across the West Midlands have been named - with the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) in Birmingham and Drayton Manor Park and Zoo proving most popular, according to Visit England.

Image source, Google

The MAC Birmingham was revealed to be the most visited free attraction for 2017 - with more than 1,130,000 visitors.

Drayton Manor took the top spot for the region's paid attractions with 1,150,000 people visiting there last year.

Alton Towers was not included in the survey, Visit England said.

Lucy McNamara
BBC Radio Stoke

A police helicopter's being used to check on the safety of members of the public as fire crews continue to battle a large fire at a Peak District beauty spot. , external

Fifty firefighters from Staffordshire and Derbyshire are now tackling the blaze on the Roaches, Upper Hulme.

Image source, Andy Frost

The fire service says beaters and hoses are being used as the fire covers around 500 sq m.

The area's been closed off to visitors and the police are checking it to make sure people have left.

Image source, Andy Frost

Bromsgrove Advertiser

These are some of the main stories on the Bromsgrove Advertiser website today:

• Trio named as 'wildlife heroes' by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, external
• Walkers come to the rescue of stuck sheep in Bromsgrove, external
• Child safety warning issued after cyclist involved in 'near miss' in Bromsgrove, external

Victoria Derbyshire

The former Stoke City, Wolves and Birmingham City winger Jermaine Pennant was known for his party lifestyle and had a reputation as a womaniser.

He spoke to Joanna Gosling about his relationship with women as a high-profile footballer, and how he is not proud of how he treated women in the past.

League One side Shrewsbury Town sign Mansfield Town striker Lee Angol for an undisclosed fee.