Live updates from Monday 8 October to Sunday 14 October
Click Related Stories to read news from your area
Hundreds of homes in part of Stoke-on-Trent are without water this afternoon, and one school has had to close.
The supply to houses in Bentilee and Eaton Park has been disrupted, and Eaton Park Primary School has had to close for the day as its toilets aren't working.
Image source, Getty ImagesSevern Trent says the problem has now been fixed and supplies should be returning to normal soon.
Two teenage boys charged in connection with a violent carjacking in Selly Oak have appeared before Birmingham magistrates.
A 15-year-old charged with attempted murder and six counts of robbery has been remanded in custody and will next appear before Birmingham Crown Court on 24 October.
A 17-year-old charged with six counts of robbery will appear before the same court on that date and is also being held.
Four residential homes for vulnerable children in Worcestershire are to be closed.
Staff working at the county council’s homes were being briefed this lunchtime.
Four of the six homes in Redditch, Pershore, Bromsgrove, Worcester and Malvern will close, with money being spent on keeping children out of care in the first place.
Alice Rosenthal
BBC WM
A man's been stabbed as he tried to resist being robbed on a street in Birmingham, external, police say.
West Midlands Police said the 20-year-old was on Lichfield Road, Aston, on Monday evening when three men came up to him and took his wallet. As he tried to resist, he was stabbed in the chest.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceThey say he was later discharged from hospital after treatment for minor injuries to his chest.
The force has released CCTV images of two men they want to speak to in connection with the case.
Andre Rhoden-Paul
BBC News
West Mercia Police will be expected to pay "reasonable costs" to exit its merger with Warwickshire Police, a police and crime commissioner has said.
It comes after the announcement yesterday that West Mercia would withdraw from its alliance with the neighbouring force.
West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said “We do have an arrangement where reasonable costs will be included in part of that negotiation.”
The Police Federation of England and Wales said it "opposes any divisions that are caused as a result of this breakdown".
The House of Fraser store in Leamington Spa has been saved from closure, the town's MP has said.
Matt Western said he has been talking to the store's management and landlords since it was earmarked for closure when the chain went into administration.
Image source, GoogleAround 200 jobs were thought to be at risk at the store, now owned by Sports Direct.
Allen Cook
BBC News
The M6 is going to be completely closed in Staffordshire for the second time in a month so a bridge can be finally demolished.
Time-lapse footage showing the first phase of the bridge removal
Last month, the road was shut for less than 12 hours during the operation between junctions 14 and 15.
Highways England says that was part one of removing the Creswell Home Farm bridge, which is not in use, as part of upgrades to the M6.
This weekend, it's going to shut from 20:00 on Saturday until 08:00 on Sunday, external so specialist machines can break up the rest of the bridge and take it away.
BBC News England
An ex-footballer's been praised on Twitter for putting a homeless man up in a B&B for a weekend.
Image source, PAGeoff Horsfield, 44, met the rough sleeper while returning from a hospital with his nine-year-old daughter.
In a tweet,, external the former Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion striker said "this is what my foundation & the fund raising is all about".
His gesture prompted praise from many on Twitter, with users calling him a "legend, external" and saying he was "doing some great things in Birmingham, external".
Six large steel silhouettes have been unveiled in Stoke-on-Trent , externalahead of them being displayed across the city to mark the anniversary of the end of World War One.
Image source, Stoke-on-Trent City CouncilThe city council says the silhouettes will mark 100 years since Armistice Day in 1918 and are currently on show at Stoke Town Hall.
They'll then be moved to locations in each of the city's six towns with the authority saying each silhouette has a local connection.
A unseasonably warm and dry afternoon with plenty of sunshine. A light southeasterly breeze and highs of 21C.
Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
A man is wanted by police after reportedly exposed himself to a group of teenage girls.
Image source, GoogleIt happened on Fountain Street, Leek, Staffordshire, on Sunday, officers say, and the man then walked off.
More trials of driverless pods have been taking place Coventry this week, as part of pilots dating back more than a year.
Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and TATA are testing the vehicles on the ring road and versions could be fully authorised as soon as 2021.
JLR and Ford are part of the £20m UK Autodrive project, backed by government, which is also seeing similar trials in Milton Keynes.
Coventry City Council says the vehicles could cut pollution and congestion.
If it all feels very futuristic, take a look at BBC Business's article, which suggest you might have already bought your last car.
Quote MessageIt allows us to manage pollution, congestion, because when they're all driving autonomously, you can get a decent platoon getting through traffic signals."
Sunil Budheo, Coventry City Council
Shrewsbury's Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski is calling on the Chancellor to change the way business rates are calculated, arguing they are too high.
He says they're "damaging the high street and economic growth" and are causing businesses to close.
Mr Kawczynski said Shrewsbury suffers more than many towns because of the high proportion of small, independent traders, who are unable to pay the bills.
Quote MessageThe Conservative party is meant to be the pro business, pro business-friendly party and encouraging economic growth. I believe that the business rates are too high and are having a detrimental impact."
Daniel Kawczynski, Shrewsbury and Atcham MP
The council wants to create a "successful and growing cathedral and university city."
Read More
BBC Business News
The World Cup and warm summer weather helped pub group Martson's chalk up record revenue for the year ended 29 September 2018.
Image source, Marston'sGroup turnover at the Wolverhampton-based firm jumped 15% to over £1.1bn and the firm said it expected to report underlying profit before tax of around £104m - up from £100.1m last year.
Chief executive Ralph Findlay said it had been a "transformational" year, adding: "We are meeting the demands of our customers and continue to manage the inflationary cost environment well, which gives us confidence for the future.''
BBC Sport
The Brentford manager Dean Smith is a favourite with many fans to be the next Villa manager, because he is a fan of the club, but former striker Garry Thompson says that could be a mistake.
With Thierry Henry reportedly on his way to Monaco, Smith and John Terry are among the favourites to replace Steve Bruce at Villa Park.
Image source, Getty ImagesThompson says the expectations will be high on the new manager and worries whether Smith can live up to the hopes of the fans.
Quote MessageI think Dean Smith would do a very good job, I think we need someone young, we need someone hungry. I just worry about the local link, because there is a lot of love towards Dean Smith, because he's a Villa fan. If it goes against him, because of the expectation, it's going to be messy."
Garry Thompson, Former Aston Villa striker
Allen Cook
BBC News
It's not quite what you expect when you have a loft clear out - to find potential explosives from World War Two.
But West Midlands Police says that's how these two bullets and an incendiary device dating back to the war were discovered in Solihull today., external
Image source, West Midlands PoliceThey add that the Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team's been called out to dispose of them.
A man who was high on cocaine when he crashed into a van on the M6 near Carlisle has been sent to prison for eight months.
Image source, Craig McGlassonCarlisle Crown Court heard that Thomas Jones, 23, was travelling at "something like 100mph" near Todhills when he careered into an electrician's van, shunting it into the central reservation where it rebounded into his uninsured BMW.
Jones then struggled to spell a false name he gave police.
The driver was injured, and needed physiotherapy.
Jones, from Browning Crescent in Wolverhampton, admitted driving while on drugs, perverting the course of justice, and three other motoring offences, including careless driving.
After his prison term, he'll be banned from driving for 12 months.
Here are three headlines from the Shropshire Star today:
BBC Wales News
Tomos Morgan
Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas says it's "incredibly unfortunate" that the trophy he won for the race was stolen from a cycle show in Birmingham.
It was apparently taken during the clear-up at the end of The Cycle Show at the NEC 28-30 September, after being "momentarily left unattended".
Image source, Getty ImagesPolice are investigating the theft of the trophy presented each year to the winner of cycling's most famous race.
Thomas said: "The trophy means a lot to me and to the team."
"It goes without saying that the trophy is of pretty limited value to whoever took it and hopefully [they] will have the good grace to return it."
