James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

Shrewsbury Town's former physio Chris Skitt says the club should be talking to former manager Paul Hurst in their search for John Askey's replacement.

Skitt worked under Hurst when the club went within one game of promotion from League One last season, and followed him to Ipswich Town in the summer.

Fans are divided about Hurst after the way he left the club and took some Town players with him, but Skitt says Hurst's record at Shrewsbury means he's worth a conversation.

The North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson, a prominent leave campaigner and member of the European Research Group, has described the Brexit plan agreed by the cabinet last night as a deal "so bad it cannot possibly proceed".

He went on to say in a tweet, external that it failed to deliver on a number of Conservative manifesto promises, including those to leave the single market and the European Court of Justice.

The MP for the Wrekin Mark Pritchard, who campaigned to stay in the European Union, said the draft document was a "hokey cokey deal, it is in and out, in and out all over the place, it's the worst of both worlds".

He went on to say: "The prime minister said clearly and unequivocally that Brexit means Brexit. This is not Brexit, is a fake Brexit."

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

Ten major shopping areas in Birmingham are to be transformed over the coming years, it has been revealed.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Birmingham City Council says the projects are worth more than £2bn in potential investment.

A new plan passed by the authority’s cabinet on Tuesday covered the outer city areas.

The "urban centres framework" will "guide investment and development decisions" in future years, the local authority said.

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

Ludlow stages the first of two November horse race meetings today.

There will be six races, with the first starting at 13:20 and the last at 16:00.

Trainer Harry Fry has high hopes for two of his horses - Samarquand won at Wincanton on his debut run and Definitely-an-Oscar is also fancied for the opening race.

Another trainer, Evan Williams, who has a good record at Ludlow, is sending out Still Believing with his daughter Isabel in the saddle.

Councils in the West Midlands say they've been called to deal with hundreds of dirty syringes over the last three years.

Of the local authorities that responded to a BBC freedom of information request, Walsall had to deal with the greatest number of requests to remove syringes - 659 since 2016.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council had to deal with 260 requests in that period, Wolverhampton 221 and Birmingham City Council 248.

Other councils to return figures included Herefordshire Council, which dealt with 125 requests to remove needles, Warwick District Council had 176 reports to deal with and East Staffordshire Borough Council 135.

A boy is in a critical condition in hospital after a house fire in Rugby this morning.

A woman and two other children, a girl and boy, suffered less serious injuries, and were also taken to hospital.

Emergency services were called to Wentworth Road, Rugby just before 03:00.

The house suffered significant fire damage, said the ambulance service.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Joe Sweeney

Plans to build 420 new homes across a 30-acre stretch of land at Bilston’s Urban Village have been given the green light by Wolverhampton City Council.

Image source, City of Wolverhampton Council

The site borders Bilston Fire Station, the Black Country Route and the Bradley arm of the Birmingham Canal.

The development also involves the expansion and relocation of Loxdale Primary School, which is adjacent to the site.

The urban village is a key part of the wider regeneration of the city, bringing new homes, new jobs and more investment, said the city council.

A fire at a house in Rugby has closed Wentworth Road in the town.

Buses are not serving the area.

Hilda Burkitt joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Birmingham in 1907.

Birmingham Live

These are some of today's headlines on the Birmingham Live website:

• Ten shopping areas that are set to be transformed across Birmingham, external
• More than 400 people join 'vigilante group' to protect crime-hit streets, external

• The first Ghandi Peace Centre outside India opens in Black Country, external

The 20m image is made up 3,724 selfies and other photos of "inspiring" women sent in from across the UK.

A landmark that is reportedly the burial place of an infamous murderer could be moved to accommodate a new development.

Image source, Google

Mary Ball is thought to be the last person to be publicly hanged in Coventry for poisoning her husband at their home in Nuneaton in 1849.

Researchers believe she was buried beneath, or close to, the Coventry Cross replica on unconsecrated ground.

Plans for the relocation of the monument, which are set for approval, are to be discussed by city planners later today.

It's Children in Need day tomorrow and we'd love to know if you are planning anything.

Schools and workplaces are getting in on the fun and we'd love to hear your plans.

Over the last year, £63.3m of funding was awarded to charities and projects across the UK, improving the lives of an estimated 580 000 children and young people.

Bus replacement services are running between Bromsgrove, Barnt Green and Longbridge in both directions as well as Birmingham and Lichfield, due to the problem of slippery rails, said West Midlands Railway.

A large quantity of drugs and £2,000 in cash was found at a property, external by officers investigating county lines activity in Staffordshire.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The drugs, believed to be crack cocaine and heroin, were found during a search of the Uxbridge Street property.

A 23-year-old man from Birmingham and 35-year-old woman from Burton, along with a man, 43, of no fixed address, were all arrested on possession with intent to supply.

Drug dealing remains a "priority" for the force, said Staffordshire Police.

Express and Star

Some of the headlining stories on the Express and Star website today include:

• CCTV images released as police hunt Wolverhampton gunmen, external
• End of the adventure as vandalised play centre axed, external
• Nearly 2,000 people sign petition against alarm service axe, external

Rail passengers are being advised to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys as the Frankfurt Christmas market opens in Birmingham today.

Last year a record 231,000 people used New Street station on the first Saturday after the market opened.

Public transport is predicted to be busy until the market closes on 23 December.

BBC News Travel

"Slippery rails" between Birmingham New Street and Redditch are delaying services between Birmingham and Bromsgrove, said West Midlands Railway.

One Show presenter Matt Baker, and his team of six riders, are travelling through Shropshire for a second day as part of their Children in Need challenge.

Team Rickshaw went through Cleobury Mortimer, Broseley and Ironbridge yesterday.

Today the target is to ride 58 miles from Blists Hill to Chester Zoo - heading through Shawbury, Wem and Ellesmere.

Commuters at New Street station are getting their first view of a giant mosaic made up of thousands of selfies and pictures of "inspiring" women.

The 20m (65ft) portrait of suffragette Hilda Burkitt is on show at Birmingham New Street station, where she threw a stone at the prime minister's train in 1909.

Named Face of Suffrage, the artwork includes 3,724 photos from the public.