BBC Midlands Today

The chairman of the Prison Officers Association, says the governor of a jail where six staff were injured in a disturbance, has refused to allow him in.

Instead Mark Fairhurst held a meeting with his members outside. He claimed he'd been refused access to the high-security Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire.

Image source, Getty Images

The authorities say he was only prevented from visiting the part of the jail where trouble broke out on Sunday.

Steve Hermon
Journalist, BBC WM

Thierry Henry and John Terry are among those in the running for the vacant Villa job.

Henry is currently assistant manager to Roberto Martinez at Belgium, but was linked with the job in the summer, while Terry spent last season playing at Villa.

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford's former Walsall boss Dean Smith is the current bookies favourite and Shaktar Donetsk boss and Jorge Mendes client Paolo Fonseca has emerged as another contender.

Five people have been arrested following the death of a 68-year-old woman who was hit by a taxi as she tried to get into her car in Smethwick last night.

West Midlands Police says it appears a Mercedes car "collided with" the taxi while overtaking it.

The force went on to say the driver of the taxi remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation, but the Mercedes stopped further up Waterloo Road before driving off.

The five men, who are aged between 20 and 30 were detained a short time later and arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Image source, @rizwan_jalil

BBC Shropshire

The Conservative MP for Telford, Lucy Allan, says she excluded the Labour leader of Telford and Wrekin Council from a meeting about the local hospital because "he was not prepared to cooperate with the spirit of the meeting".

She went on to say the meeting with hospital managers to discuss the pending overnight closure of the local A&E department would be "a more productive meeting without him".

Councillor Davies tweeted , externalto say "Communities across Telford and Wrekin will not understand or forgive their MP and Snr Conservative Cllrs blocking me and cabinet members for simply asking the meeting is open to the public".

She said other cabinet members initially "did not accept the invitation or respond to various reminders" but had now said they would attend.

Some people in Bewdley are complaining that work to repair the town's bridge over the River Severn remains unfinished, five months after it was damaged.

The bridge was put on Historic England's at risk register when a car hit it in April.

Image source, Google

Concrete blocks and plastic barriers have been installed by Worcestershire County Council, and it originally said the work would be finished by the end of September, but today said it hasn't been able to get the right stone to match.

BBC Sport

Port Vale's Luke Joyce thinks the team have what it takes to push for the play-off places this season.

Their loss to the MK Dons on Tuesday was their first defeat in five, and Joyce says they are capable of bouncing back and going on another unbeaten run.

Image source, Getty Images

Joyce also said the division is very tight at the moment, with just three points separating Vale in 16th place and Stevenage in 7th.

Birmingham Live

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

• Aston man charged with terrorism offences after allegedly planning trip to Syria, external
• Thieves attack security guard and escape with two TVs, external
• Girl seriously injured in collision outside nursery, external

A Peaky Blinders event in Digbeth, Birmingham at the weekend has been branded by some as "awful," "disappointing" and "terrible".

Some of those who bought tickets for the unofficial Peaky Blinders Live event are now demanding their money back after complaining about huge queues and underwhelming attractions.

Gemma Blaza set up a Facebook group specifically calling for refunds for the event and to date it has attracted 153 members.

She said the "majority" of those said they were worried about their "safety and security".

"It was not what was advertised, and people want their refund," she said.

The event organiser Peaky Blinders Festival Ltd, which is not connected to the BBC TV show, issued a statement saying the majority of the 2,500 people who attended had a good time, with one couple even getting engaged.

The firm also said it had on-site paramedics and "an ample amount of security".

Tom Edwards
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

A convicted rapist who’s on the run after fleeing the dock at Worcester Crown Court has been jailed for seven and half years.

Bradley Tout, who is 20 and from Durham Road in Ronkswood, was sentenced in his absence today.

It follows the rape of a 16-year-old at County Hall in Worcester back in December 2016 and fellow-defendant Kullin Odedra, who’s 28 and also from Worcester, was also found guilty and was jailed for 11-and-half years for three counts of rape and one of attempted rape.

The 22-year-old men are due to appear in court charged with intending to of commit terrorism acts.

The Environment Agency says 300 homes will get better protection as a result of the new Broadway flood defences.

Spokesman Dave Throup explained: "Its scenic location at the foot of the Cotswold escarpment means heavy rainfall runs off very quickly causing flooding. Our new defences will help intercept and store it before it reaches homes."

Image source, Dave Throup

Image source, Dave Throup

The defences, which are being completed today, will be able to hold back up to 135,000 cubic metres of water during floods.

BBC Midlands Today

BBC Midlands Today journalist Satnam Rana is supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month by producing a series of films to mark her cancer journey.

She is now in remission after being diagnosed more than a year ago.

In the latest episode, also featuring on the BBC Midlands Facebook page, she looks at the impact the cancer diagnosis and treatment had on her family.

All-rounder Aaron Thomason and wicketkeeper Alex Mellor sign new contracts with Warwickshire.

Thieves have used a digger to steal a cash machine from the McColl's Store on the Bromyard bypass in the early hours of this morning.

West Mercia Police believes they then escaped in a pickup and a dark estate car after removing the machine from the wall at the Hatton Park store at 02:15.

Image source, Google

Madni Ahmed denies murdering Riasat Bi and a charge of attempting to murder an 18-year-old man.

Travelodge will open a new £8m hotel close to Coventry's Ricoh Arena, it has announced.

Image source, Google

It will be one of 10 new hotels built close to conference and event venues in a £100m expansion programme, the company said.

The announcement was made at the opening of Telford Travelodge, at the town's International Centre.

The company currently has one hotel in Coventry which is "booked out as soon as event dates are released," said the company.

Two men have been charged with terrorism offences, after allegedly preparing for terrorist acts, said West Midlands Police.

Safwaan Mansur, 22, of Hampton Road Aston and Hanzalah Patel, also 22, of Frederick Road, Leicester are due before Westminster Magistrates' Court today.

Coventry Live

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

• Car erupts into flames in Nuneaton, external
• Headliner announced for Christmas lights switch-on, external
• Incredible views from top of Coventry's tallest building, external

The Labour leader of Telford and Wrekin Council, Shaun Davies, says he and his cabinet members have been excluded from a meeting to discuss a proposed accident and emergency closure.

The meeting was called by the Conservative MP for Telford, Lucy Allan and is due to involve local politicians and hospital managers.

Campaigners who have been calling for road safety improvements in a Herefordshire village are finally seeing a pedestrian crossing installed.

The people in Much Birch have been demanding something like this for a quarter of a century and over the past three years, five people are believed to have died on the A49 through the village.

Image source, Google

Highways England has now agreed to install the crossing.