BBC Shropshire

Weekly checks are to be carried out at Shropshire's two main hospitals because of concerns about the maternity and accident and emergency units.

The Care Quality Commission said it had been forced to take "urgent action to protect people" following two unannounced inspections in August, with a further one in September.

Inspectors raised concerns about foetal monitoring and the treatment and recognition of sepsis.

The Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals trust says it has taken "immediate action" to address those concerns and changes have been introduced.

Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM

Calls to a helpline from people battling gambling addictions in the West Midlands have risen by more than 70% over five years.

New figures from the National Gambling Helpline show it took 1,421 calls from the region in 2017-18, up from 842 in 2013-14.

A charity set up by relatives of gamblers who took their own lives said more needed to be done to highlight the dangers and regulate the industry.

The Gambling Commission said it was working with the industry to protect those at risk of harm.

Across the country, Professor Jim Orford, from Gambling Watch UK, says there about 500,000 people with a gambling problem and another one million starting to exhibit the signs of a gambling problem.

Express and Star

From the Express and Star:

• Taxi driver stabbed by boy, 14, over £5 fare, external
• Stafford homeless shelter shops project are ‘backwards step’, external
• Amazon recruiting 2,500 seasonal workers for Rugeley warehouse, external

Allen Cook
BBC News

Aston Villa suffered their first defeat under new boss Dean Smith (pictured) as Norwich City beat them 2-1 last night in the Championship.

Image source, PA

In the same league, Joe Allen gave Stoke City a late draw away at Sheffield United while Birmingham City beat Reading 2-1.

In League One, Coventry City moved within a point of the play-offs by beating Bradford 4-2, Walsall were thumped 3-0 by Southend United, Burton Albion drew at Portsmouth and Shrewsbury won against Barnsley.

Finally, in League Two, both Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra drew.

BBC News England

Hundreds of parents in the West Midlands are applying to delay their child's first year of school because they were born in the summer.

Image source, Getty Images

The numbers vary from council to council but across across the region in 2018 the figure was 44% higher than last year.

There were 502 applications to defer reception classes for kids due to start school between 2017 and 2019 in the region.

But the success rates varied considerably across England with Shropshire and Cheshire East for example having a 0% rejection rate but some areas turning down more than 50%.

Campaigners would like to see a change in the law and stop what they call a postcode lottery and ensure all children who wait to start school at age five don't risk missing reception class.

BBC News England

Some of the women who've submitted their photos towards a project to form a giant mosaic of a suffragette have been sharing their stories behind their pictures.

Image source, The People's Picture

Thousands of images will go into the work which will be exhibited at Birmingham New Street station to mark 100 years since British women won the vote.

The women include an illustrator with a tattoo of activist Emmeline Pankhurst and a mother who worked as a nurse in Stoke-on-Trent after coming to the UK from Jamaica.

You can read those stories and more here on the BBC website.

BBC Midlands Today

The effort to cut plastic waste across the world is boosting demand for ceramics from Stoke-on-Trent, a pottery firm's claiming.

Wade Ceramics says it is expanding and making a variety of ware including carafes, bottles and jugs.

The company says it's seeing increased interest in what it makes as a result of the demand to reduce the use of plastics.

Products will be made in a new facility at the old Aynsley factory in Longton in the city.

Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

Starting off dry today with sunny spells - here's the rest of the weather forecast for Wednesday in the West Midlands:

If you want to get a latest forecast for your area at any other time, head to the BBC Weather website.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

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.

The stories behind the Face of Suffrage artwork.

Shrewsbury secure a third League One win of the season by beating Barnsley 3-1.

Stevenage are left to rue a catalogue of missed chances as they were held to a goalless draw by Port Vale in League Two.

Bottom-half pair Yeovil Town and Crewe play out a draw as Alex Fisher cancels out Jordan Bowery's opener for Alexandra.

Coventry City stretch their winning run to four matches with a well-deserved victory at Bradford City.

A Harry Bunn brace helps Southend see off Walsall 3-0 at Roots Hall.

Matt Clarke rescues a point for League One leaders Portsmouth in an eventful score draw against Burton Albion.

A Jordan Rhodes double sees Norwich City beat Aston Villa and consign new boss Dean Smith to his first defeat.

Joe Allen's late free-kick gives Stoke City a point at Sheffield United, who miss the chance to go top of the Championship.

Emma Doney was turned away from a care event due to a no under 18 policy, event organisers said.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with live updates on the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow.