Shropshire Star

The Shropshire Star's covering these stories today:

• Superstar guitarist Mark Knopfler boosts brave Broseley four-year-old's fund, external
• Warning as decision on Shropshire A&E closure due next week, external
• Apology after Telford shopper mistakenly fined £140 for 'two-day stay', external

More than 140,000 visitors to Birmingham's Dippy on Tour dinosaur exhibition spent £4.2m in the city during its 107-day run at the city's museum and art gallery, bosses say.

Image source, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

The direct economic impact of the visitors, including 66,844 from outside the region, was almost £1.7m, said Birmingham Museums Trust.

The city was the second stop on the tour of the Natural History Museum's iconic replica diplodocus skeleton, attracting record-breaking numbers to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Dippy on Tour is on display at Ulster Museum in Belfast from 28 September.

Police teams have started a search of the River Severn, near Worcester Racecourse, for a student who went missing during freshers' week.

Image source, West Mercia Police

Thomas Jones, 18, was last seen in the early hours of Wednesday morning, said West Mercia Police.

Det Insp Tony Garner from West Mercia Police said: "Given that he was last seen close to the river, we are growing increasingly concerned for his welfare.

"This is extremely out of character for Thomas and he is new to the area, having only moved to Worcester on Sunday to commence university."

Most of the flats at the tower blocks in Rugby are now vacant, according to a report.

A former chief executive of Telford's Princess Royal Hospital says he feels for the staff working at Shropshire's main hospitals as more details come out during a review into baby deaths at maternity units.

David Sandbach said trust bosses may not have even been aware of the latest numbers until media reports yesterday.

He called on NHS Improvement to publish the latest data in full to clarify what had become a confusing and sometimes contradictory situation.

Mr Sandbach said the trust in recent times seemed to have followed the procedures in recording incidents and were not trying to evade problems, repeatedly calling for people to come forward with their concerns.

Director of Nursing Deidre Fowler has repeated that call once again.

At a council health meeting on Wednesday, before the latest news broke, Ms Fowler said recent feedback from midwives had been positive about safety and training.

Mr Sandbach meanwhile said an NHS survey of mothers at the beginning of the year had put the trust in the top four in the country, while the latest data regarding safety in the maternity units painted a "normal" picture.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
David irwin

Clearing up cases of fly-tipping on council-owned land in Solihull cost an "immense" £145,000 last year, a report has revealed., external

Image source, Sandwell Council

Figures for 2017-18 show the local authority was left with a six-figure bill for dealing with 411 incidents around the borough.

Councillors this week received an update on efforts to deal with the problem and were told that the arrival of four portable cameras had improved the situation at several notorious hot spots.

It was also revealed that a former police inspector had been seconded to a role purely to investigate fly-tipping offences.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Old homes and shops on a housing estate are being taken apart piece-by-piece, external so they can be replaced with dozens of new council homes.

Image source, Tamworth Borough Council

Tamworth Borough Council says the demolition work in the Kerria Centre's now under way and set to take about 16 weeks.

Then builders will start this autumn replacing them with 44 new houses.

The authority says work's also set to start this month on building 96 more council homes on Tinkers Green, Wilnecote, with that site already having been cleared of buildings.

Worcester News

The Worcester News is covering these stories today:

• Concerns after potentially lethal nitrous oxide cannisters found in Worcester, external
• Retired nurse barred for Worcester tip due to double-axle trailer ban, external
• Worcester headteacher 'extremely disappointed' over bus cuts, external

Hazel Morgan
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke

A man with cerebral palsy says he's lost all his independence after his wheelchair was stolen.

Jack Stokes, 21, from Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, told BBC Radio Stoke he'd only had the powered chair for just over a fortnight.

He says it was taken on Monday night when he left it unattended on Hempstalls Lane for five minutes.

Staffordshire Police says it's investigating and his family are pleading for anyone with information to come forward.

Tim Race
Producer, BBC Hereford & Worcester

Specialist equipment's being used to clear a road in Worcestershire after a tree came down during the strong winds from Storm Ali.

Worcestershire County Council says it came down yesterday on Church Lane, Martley, near to St Peter Church., external

High winds and rain are expected from 18:00 tonight, with a further weather warning for wind , externalissued from 21:00 on Sunday to 09:00 Monday.

Eric Smith
Presenter, BBC Shropshire

The musician Mark Knopfler has been revealed as the mystery backer for a campaign to fund treatment in USA for a four-year-old boy with a rare form of leukaemia.

A new treatment, which could help Zac Oliver from Broseley, in Shropshire, has recently been offered on the NHS, but he does not qualify due to strict requirements.

His family are now trying to raise £500,000 in seven weeks for treatment in Philadelphia and this week said the mystery backer had helped them reach £80,000.

Mark Knopfler is the former lead guitarist and singer with the band Dire Straits and Zac's parents say they hope to personally thank him soon.

Worcestershire have been awarded a civic reception for their achievement in winning the T20 Blast at Edgbaston on Saturday night.

It will take place at the Guildhall, Worcester on Thursday, 27 September.

Image source, Getty Images

The T20 trophy will be on public display from 15:00 onwards. The civic reception for invited guests will take place upstairs - but the downstairs will remain open for supporters to mingle with players.

Worcestershire may still be involved in County Championship action that day, which is the scheduled final day of their final game, at home to Yorkshire at New Road.

Warwickshire fast bowler Olly Stone may have a double cause for celebration over the next couple of days.

If the Bears avoid defeat by Sussex, they will be promoted back to Division One of the County Championship at the first attempt and that comes on the back of Stone yesterday being called up by England for the first time - for the ODI squad for Sri Lanka next month.

Image source, Getty Images

“I found out after we'd finished warming up," the former England Under-19s captain told BBC WM. "The chairman of selectors Ed Smith rang me, which was a nice feeling,

"England's one-day team have been very good so it's going to be hard to break into the team. But it's a dream come true for me. I'm looking forward to going out there and showing what I can do."

Stone, who was out for a year with a knee injury following his move to Edgbaston from Northants in 2016, is now fully fit and bowling fast, having taken 36 Championship wickets this season - and 12 at an average of 28.17 and an economy rate of 5.65 in eight One-Day Cup matches.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Stephen Topping

Millions of pounds is going to be spent overhauling 21 "deteriorating" fire stations in Cheshire.

Image source, Google

The fire authority's agreed to use £8.5m on bringing them up to scratch, including ones in Congleton and Nantwich.

They reckon the work will be finished in 2024.

At the same meeting, the authority also agreed to replace the existing fire station in Crewe with a new, joint facility with Cheshire Police.

Coventry Live

These are some of today's main stories on the Coventry Live website:

• Victim found with 'serious stab injuries' in Hillfields street, external
• Slaves beaten and fed dry pasta in 'brutal' treatment by sick family, external
• Judge's sympathy for man who used cannabis to numb pain, external

BBC Shropshire

A health campaigner has called for the boss of Shropshire's main hospitals to step down following the latest news that a review into baby deaths and serious injuries is now looking at more than 100 cases.

The review, triggered last year by then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, is looking at historical cases and has been widened in recent weeks.

Yesterday the Care Quality Commission confirmed it had also taken urgent enforcement action against maternity units run by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, following a recent inspection.

Image source, Tasha Turner

Gil George, from Defend Our NHS, said there was a "crisis of leadership and a crisis of funding".

She said the senior leadership team had "lost their focus on patient care" and there was a culture of "ignoring problems".

Chief Executive Simon Wright has been approached for an interview, but has yet to respond.

In a statement yesterday, the hospital trust said it "remains committed to providing the best care possible for our patients and continues to engage fully with the CQC during our current, ongoing inspection."

Director of Nursing Deidre Fowler said she understood how the numbers "may cause concern or anxiety" for parents-to-be and urged those with concerns to come forward.

BBC News Travel

A lane's being kept shut on the M5 for resurfacing work after the earlier vehicle fire.

Highways England says the blaze has been tackled at J5 near Droitwich and the closure's on the northbound side., external

Image source, Highways England

Storm Bronagh will replace Storm Ali in bringing gales and torrential rain across the West Midlands.

High winds and rain are expected from 18:00 tonight, with a further weather warning for wind , externalissued from 21:00 on Sunday to 09:00 Monday, said the Met Office.

An assistant head teacher, who attempted to seduce a 13-year-old girl over the internet as well as encouraging children to send him explicit images, has been jailed.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Andrew Shelton, of Fieldhouse Lane, Halesowen, was found to have 93 indecent images on his computer and mobile phone, along with evidence he'd tried to coerce children to send inappropriate images.

The 52-year-old was jailed for two years and eight months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting eight charges, including attempted sexual communication with a child.

Rob Grace from West Midlands Police said: "He was a role model for young people as a teacher but away from the classroom he preyed on them for his own gratification".

None of the charges related to his role, he said.

Aston Villa striker, Ross McCormack, who's joined Central Coast Mariners on a loan deal, could become team-mates with Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt.

Image source, Getty Images

Bolt, 31, played in a pre-season friendly last month and is understood to still be on trial at the Mariners.

McCormack, 32, cost Villa £12m when they signed him from Fulham in August 2016, but scored just three goals in 20 league appearances.