Stephanie Barnard
BBC News

Two people have been taken to hospital after a car went through the wall of a house in Evesham last night.

Hereford and Worcester Fire Service said it was lucky nobody was in the kitchen at the time.

Image source, Hereford & Worcester Fire / Jon Laight

It happened on Egremont Close at about 19:45 and 15 firefighters helped free the occupants of the car before they were taken to hospital.

Image source, Hereford & Worcester Fire / Jon Laight

A new centre, bidding to develop a "bullet" train fleet for the proposed HS2 high-speed rail line, is to be opened in Birmingham., external

Image source, Hitachi Rail

Hitachi Rail says it will work with Bombardier Transportation at the new centre, based at Millennium Point in the city.

A team of 50 experts from both companies will work on the bid which will be submitted by February 2019, with the contract to design and build 54 trains to be awarded in March 2020.

The trains will also be specially designed to make them "classic compatible," so that they are able to travel on the current network, said the company.

Labour's deputy leader says he lost seven stone by cutting out sugar, fatty foods and beer.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Here are our top sport stories that we're covering this morning:

• Potters keeper Jack Butland thinks being in the Championship long term could damage his hopes of playing for England
• Port Vale's Nathan Smith has backed James Gibbons to win back his place in the first team
• Crewe's Ryan Wintle feels he and James Jones have what it takes to be an effective midfield partnership this season
• Uttoxeter swimmer Adam Peaty says he's hoping to dominate the sport for years to come

A man has been charged by police after allegedly trying to smuggle a gun from the USA to Shropshire.

Kieran Prime, 21, of Queens Flat in Oswald Road, Oswestry, appeared in court last week, accused of attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

An address in Oswestry was raided after US Homeland Security earlier discovered a parcel containing a firearm and ammunition in Newark, New Jersey.

Mr Prime was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on 5 October.

The bill to move a monument from Coventry's Cathedral area to a position between Primark and Greggs, could end up costing £500,000, according to a local history group.

Image source, Google

The city council is proposing to move the Coventry Cross, to enable development of the area to the rear of Cathedral Lanes.

Vincent Hammersley, from the Coventry Society said he understands the proposed £150,000 bill would only cover the removal and renovation of the monument.

He said there is a fear at the society that once it had been taken down it may be put into storage, and lost from the streets.

The city council has been approached for a response.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Kerry Ashdown

Winter plans for local health services have been submitted to NHS England - after last winter was branded "one of the worst on record" for Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire.

Seasonal pressures hit services hard at the start of 2018, with 278 patients facing waits of 12 hours or more at A&E in January alone.

Health bosses said they needed to do better for residents this winter.

Coventry Live

These are some of the stories making the headlines on the Coventry Live site this morning:

• Train derailment near Coventry blocks lines and kits services, external
• Sainsbury's bus crash: Tragic youngster just missed earlier bus, external
• Bananarama to headline 80s concert at the Ricoh, external

BBC Hereford and Worcester

A bowel cancer patient, who faced serious delays in his treatment at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, says he feels "lucky to be alive".

Chris Lindsay, 26, has written to Worcester MP Robin Walker calling for improvements to the NHS after his colonoscopy appointment was delayed by several weeks because the hospital was too busy.

He's now back home after having an operation to remove his cancer.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust says it is working on a "recovery plan" to stop more appointments being cancelled.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

Plans to complete a £50m care village on the site of the former Bournville College campus have been submitted.

Image source, Stride Treglown

Bournville Village Trust has lodged an application with Birmingham City Council for a health and wellbeing centre at the Bristol Road South site between Northfield and Selly Oak.

It would be the fourth and final phase of the development which has been under way since 2012, following the demolition of the college, which relocated to the former Rover site in Longbridge.

The other components of Bournville Care Village include an extra care facility, dementia and nursing home, extra care cottages as well as more than 200 car parking spaces.

Shropshire Council has confirmed its street lighting won't be fully energy-efficient LED until 2054.

The council started installing the lights four years ago, but may not be finished for another 36 years because of funding shortages.

In comparison, Telford and Wrekin will be fully LED by March.

Councillor Lee Carter is the head of economic development at Telford and Wrekin, said the savings would amount to £420,000 a year when the scheme is finished.

BBC Midlands Today

A school in Staffordshire has agreed to pay for three minibuses to transport pupils following road safety concerns for pupils walking.

Some parents say because the annual cost of the bus has tripled, their children would have to walk the three-mile route to Codsall High School, which includes a very busy stretch of road.

The school says it can only fund the minibuses until Christmas.

Staffordshire County Council has agreed to reassess the route.

Express and Star

Some of the headlining stories on the Express and Star website today are:

• Car share and lorry-only lanes considered in M6 action plan, external
• Walsall swimmers smash Channel record in memory of tragic friend, external
• Early-hours stove blaze tears through bungalow roof, external

Just 68% of parents in Birmingham were offered their first choice of secondary school, compared with a national average of 84%.

Image source, Getty Images

Research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) showed 19 or the 20 local authorities with the lowest likelihood of being offered first preference, 19 were in London with Birmingham being the other.

The analysis also found that nationally, 90% of white British parents were offered their most preferred school compared with 66% of black parents.

But the EPI said the gaps could be misleading as they failed to take into account factors like school quality or local context.

BBC News Travel

A crash has closed the M5 southbound entry slip road at J2, for Oldbury/Birmingham.

Drivers are being warned to take care on approach.

A section along the Birmingham Canal could be resurfaced under plans being considered by Sandwell Council.

The proposals are designed to improve cycling links to local train and tram stations.

Image source, Google

Under the options going before the council's cabinet next week, the canal towpath could resurfaced between Smethwick Galton Bridge and West Bromwich Street in Oldbury

A pedestrian and cycle route could also be created from Navigation Lane to Tame Bridge Parkway station along Walsall Road.

A man is due in court today charged with the murder of a man found with multiple serious injuries.

Image source, Family handout

Deniss Buzmakovs, 42, (pictured) was discovered in Beckett Street in Bilston, West Midlands, on Sunday.

Aleksejs Lusnikovs, 42, from Beckett Street, is due to appear before Walsall Magistrates' Court later.

A 34-year-old man who was arrested has been released with no further action. A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out on Thursday, police said.

Disruption caused by a derailed freight train between Birmingham New Street and Nuneaton is set to continue through this morning.

Trains are being cancelled or diverted via alternative routes.

Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

After a cool start to the day we can expect a cloudy day with some sunny spells and highs of 17C (63F).

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.