Staffordshire Live

Here are some of the headlines appearing on the Staffordshire Live website this afternoon:

• A50 set to shut for a whole weekend in Uttoxeter, external
• Cat charity desperately needs help after saving life of kitten 'dumped in a skip', external
• Major works planned near M6 to create thousands of jobs and West Coast Main Line link, external

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

More than a dozen new plots for travellers have been approved at a site in the Nechells area of Birmingham, prompting demands for assurances from council bosses over cracking down on illegal encampments in Birmingham.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The planning committee gave its blessing to convert a NHS staff car park into a legal transit site at a meeting on Thursday.

The land at the corner of Proctor Street and Rupert Street will accommodate 15 vehicles.

In August, the committee granted permission for four pitches on a former car park at Aston Brook Street East in Nechells.

The meeting heard that securing an injunction to move illegal encampments was a separate injunction process.

Birmingham has been alive with the sound of BBC Music Day.

The workplace choirs of Birmingham have been singing at venues across the city, and joined forces at New Street Station meeting the BBC singers off the train for a performance on the concourse.

You can follow live updates on the BBC's Music Day here.

Birmingham Live

Some of the headlining stories on the Birmingham Live website today are:

• Two arrested over attack on woman outside city church, external
• This is when Centenary Square will open - and it's a huge blow, external
• Devo deal moves step closer council urged to press ahead, external

Newsround

Why do we get wrinkles in water?

Well, BBC Newsround's been asked that as its Big Question today by Francesca from Studley, Warwickshire.

So the team have decided to find out and the answer's all down to evolution apparently, as you'll find out in our video:

Vicky Norton
BBC Radio Stoke

A stretch of the A50 in Staffordshire is closing tonight so a bridge can be demolished over the weekend., external

Image source, Staffordshire County Council

The county council's shutting the road between Blythe Bridge and Uttoxeter from 20:00 BST until 05:30 on Monday.

It's so that the bridge, which originally carried the A522 above the A50, can be removed, after it was replaced by a new bridge nearby.

BBC News Travel

Just one lane is now shut on the southbound side of the M40, after the entire motorway was shut after a crash and a fire in Warwickshire.

The northbound side reopened earlier this evening between J13 and J14 and Highways England says there's now just one lane shut southbound from the M42 to J15., external

The northbound side remains shut though between J15 and J16.

Vicky Norton
BBC Radio Stoke

A man who died after being hit by a lorry on the M6 in Staffordshire has been named.

Image source, Google

Police say Tarlok Singh had parked on the hard-shoulder of the northbound carriageway, between junction 15 and Keele Services, on Thursday morning, external.

Ambulance crews arrived to find him seriously injured. The 41-year-old, from the West Midlands, was pronounced dead a short time later.

BBC Weather

A dry evening with mainly clear skies overnight. There could be some patches of mist and fog forming so expect another chilly night with a frost likely to form in places.

More from BBC Weather

A wood processing mill where four workers died in an explosion has been fined for exposing staff to asbestos.

Three men and a woman died in 2015 at Wood Treatment Ltd in Cheshire when the four-storey building collapsed.

The Health and Safety Executive said after the blast staff removed cladding in 2016 without being told about the asbestos, although the firm was aware.

The company was fined £2,000 at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court and must pay £3,000 costs.

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

It will remain dry through tonight, with mainly clear skies, with some patches of mist and fog with lows of 1C (34F ).

Workers removed cladding without being told it contained asbestos, safety inspectors said.

Allen Cook
BBC News

All lanes have reopened on part of the northbound side of the M40 after it closed following a lorry crash.

A man died in a three-lorry crash on the route in Warwickshire, an hour after another lorry caught fire on the opposite carriageway.

Image source, Highways England

This afternoon, Highways England says the lorry has been recovered on the northbound side between J13 and J14 , externaland all lanes have reopened after resurfacing work.

But the northbound side remains shut though between J15 and J16.

They say two lanes are still shut for repair work on the southbound side between the M42 and J15., external

James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

Supporters of Worcester City Football club have won their battle to get planning permission for a new stadium.

The city council had refused permission last year for the 4,000-seater ground near Perdiswell Sports Centre, following opposition from Green and Conservative councillors.

Then, earlier this year, proposals for an alternative site at Parsonage Way were scrapped.

But today, a planning inspector's allowed an appeal over the plans for Perdiswell., external

Allen Cook
BBC News

The family of Thomas Jones have been told a body's been found, police say, external, although formal identification has yet to take place.

The University of Worcester student, from Bromsgrove, hasn't been heard from since the early hours of Wednesday 19 September.

Image source, Family handout

He had only been in Worcester for a week before going missing.

Earlier in the week, West Mercia Police said officers believed the 18-year-old had crossed the Sabrina footbridge, near to Worcester Racecourse.

They haven't revealed exactly where the body was found today.

A Birmingham school is sending pupils home early on a Friday to save money.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Police searching for the missing 18-year-old student Thomas Jones say they've found a body.

West Mercia Police says the discovery was made in the River Severn in Worcester today., external

The body has not yet been formally identified.

A Paralympian says the app will "empower disabled people to travel without any fear".

A venue where the Specials singer Neville Staple's grandson was fatally stabbed has been ordered to close as a nightclub.

Fidel Glasgow, 21, died in hospital after the stabbing outside Club M in Croft Road, Coventry, earlier this month.

Coventry City Council's Licensing and Regulatory Committee said at a meeting today the club would have its current licence revoked, but a change of use for the premises has been agreed.

Patricia Hetherington, chair of the committee said the building would now be used for "mini golf, street food and entertainment".

Despite being granted a licence to open until 02:30 "there won't be any music at the venue" she said, "so should attract a different clientele".

The Court of Appeal ruled suspects should not be included at new inquests for the victims.