The Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe has added his name to a campaign to get the illegal drug Spice reclassified as a Class A drug.

Image source, Warwickshire PCC

It means people caught using the synthetic drug would be facing up to seven years in prison.

An open letter, addressed to Home Office ministers, describes the drug as is the "most severe public health issue we have faced in decades".

West Midlands Ambulance Service attended about 200 calls a month last year to people suspected of taking synthetic drugs.

Drivers using the M5 are being warned to allow extra time for their journeys from Monday as work on the Oldbury Viaduct moves on to the next phase.

Work on one carriageway, between junctions 1 and 2, is almost complete.

The entire operation to repair the road is being transferred from the southbound carriageway to the northbound.

The switching process will take about week - and it will be done gradually overnight to minimise disruption.

Work to repair the motorway is running six months behind schedule.

An average of at least one police officer a day is assaulted in the West Midlands, new figures show.

A Home Office report said that in the last year more than 500 assaults were recorded on police officers - with almost 350 resulting in an injury.

The Police Federation which represents officers across the region say it's one of their biggest worries.

BBC News Travel

A car has been left facing the wrong direction on the northbound carriageway of the M6 after a collision involving a tanker.

Two lanes are closed between J5 and J6.

Officers are continuing to question a 21-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of the murder of a mother and daughter.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Raneem Oudeh, 22, and Khaola Saleem, 49, were found stabbed to death outside their home in Solihull on Monday.

West Midlands Police said it arrested the man in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham at about 22:00 on Thursday.

Ms Oudeh's ex-partner Janbaz Tarin had been named as a suspect in the investigation.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

After a cool and misty start for some, it will be a cloudy day with some sunny spells and highs of 20C (68F).

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.

Footage shot in a carriage shows two passengers raining blows on other commuters.

French side Monaco sign Belgium international winger Nacer Chadli from Championship club West Brom for a reported £10m.

Staff at the Rotana Shisha bar say they saw Janbaz Tarin confront his ex-girlfriend.

Warwickshire's England batsman Ian Bell passes 20,000 first-class career runs with 204 at Colwyn Bay against Glamorgan.

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.

Kidderminster Shuttle

Here are some of the stories featuring on the Kidderminster Shuttle website this afternoon:

• Wyre Forest council leader welcomes new Silverwoods bus service, external
• Police staff member sacked for disclosing information to third-party, external
• Scout group set to take over derelict changing rooms, external

Allen Cook
BBC News

A health watchdog has warned hospital bosses in Shropshire it'll take urgent enforcement action if they don't take immediate steps to improve patient safety.

Image source, Google

The Care Quality Commission says it's currently inspecting the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust.

Last week, it says inspectors found several safety concerns including around patient safety in the A&E unit and patients placed in "unsuitable areas" of the hospital.

Together, the two emergency departments treat some 125,000 patients a year.

The trust says it's working hard to make changes and today has had funding confirmed to pay for a new 30-bed ward at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, so patients aren't treated in corridors this winter.

It is expected to open in January.

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

West Mercia Police says it needs to find £24m worth of savings over the next three years., external

Image source, West Mercia Police

In his annual statement, Chief Constable Anthony Bangham says savings of £7.9m are needed to balance the budget over the next year, with a further £16.4m by 2021., external

The force has already saved £67m since 2010, with the number of police officers working for the force dropping below 2,000 this summer for the first time in four years.

Charlotte A Broadbent
BBC Hereford and Worcester

The rapid growth of chicken farms in Herefordshire could be at an end, after one of the county's biggest employers announced plans to focus its operations elsewhere in the UK.

Avara Foods, formerly Cargill Meats Europe, which employs around 2,250 people in and around Hereford, has written to farmers warning them off any expansion plans.

The firm says it's not scaling back its plans for the county and contracts are not being cancelled, but there's already more poultry production in the county than is needed.

It says it will continue to support any farmers already working with them on expansion plans.

A man who helped build Coventry's ring road, and is thought to be one of the country's longest-serving local government employees, is to retire at the age of 80.

Image source, Coventry City Council

Council worker Columb McCoy is to put his feet up after a 58-year career working on the city's roads.

Since joining aged 22 in 1960, he's helped resurface over 300 miles of Coventry pavements and roads, as well as helping build parts of the M1, said the city council.

“When I started we had a horse and cart still and you had to shovel the tar off the cart by hand," he said.

"We had a tin hut with a brazier outside and there were stables for the council’s horses in Leicester Causeway."

Lancashire are left a testing victory target of 314 to beat fellow Division One strugglers Worcestershire at Southport.

Marian McNamee
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire

A number of businesses near a traveller camp in Nuneaton have shut after they said excrement and urine was found on nearby doors and walls.

A notice has been issued to the travellers on the land just off Avenue Road in the town, ordering them to leave the land within 24 hours.

The notice was issued after it was established they were having a "significant impact" on the community, said Warwickshire Police.

Traders said they came into work on Tuesday to find the mess and some of them said they would remain closed until the situation is resolved.

Coventry sign Portsmouth forward Conor Chaplin on loan until January, when the transfer will be made permanent.