Express and Star

Express and Star headlines:

• Man, 50, charged with murder of pensioner in Smethwick, external
• Plans for 51 homes on former scrapyard, external
• Brutal bully broke cancer survivor’s arm, external

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Alex Moore

A respite unit for people with learning disabilities could be shut down because of rising costs and fewer people using it.

Oak House in Shrewsbury, would cost £400,000 to refurbish and £350,000-a-year to run, a council report says., external

No new patients have sought respite at the site in six years and it costs the unit £58,000 per year per patient.

The report, which Shropshire county councillors will examine on 3 December, says if Oak House is shut the funds from the closure would be put back into community services.

A cyclist has been killed in a crash with a lorry in Wolverhampton.

Image source, Google

The accident happened at the junction of Hickman Avenue and Culwick Street near East Park on Monday afternoon.

The cyclist was confirmed dead at the scene, the ambulance service said.

Alexandra Hospital has written to 141 patients over suspected contact with the infected employee.

Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

After a dry start rain will move in and become heavy at times with highs of 6C (43F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Tuesday.

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.

Seamstress and pattern cutter Nyheke Lambert says she had to move from Birmingham to London to make her business work.

We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for more updates before then.

Allen Cook
BBC News

An elderly man has suffered serious injuries in a "vicious and unprovoked" attack by a stranger., external

Image source, Google

Cheshire Police said the 71-year-old was with his wife on West Street, Crewe, on Saturday morning when they noticed a man following them.

They asked him to stop when they got to Derby Docks at which point, officers said, he assaulted the victim, leaving him with injuries to his face which needed hospital treatment.

The victim is yet to be formally identified but is believed by police to be 70.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Gurdip Thandi

Plans to breathe new life into a disused Brownhills shopping centre could be finally approved.

Image source, Walsall Council

Walsall Council’s planning committee is set to discuss a proposal to demolish part of Ravens Court Shopping Centre and build two large retail units and a gym in its place.

A 29-space car park will also be built on site.

The centre has lain empty for a number of years causing concern as the site became a magnet for fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A Coventry MP has called for a joint effort to fight knife crime following the fatal stabbing of a teenage boy.

Jaydon James, 16, died in hospital after being hurt in the Wood End area of the city on Saturday.

Colleen Fletcher, MP for Coventry North East, called it a "senseless act", adding that a whole community was in shock.

She said she was concerned at rising levels of knife crime in the city and called for a collective approach to tackle it.

There were 284 incidents of knife crime in Coventry up to 12 November this year, according to West Midlands Police.

BBC Sport

Undefeated British heavyweight Nathan Gorman has been described as a "big hairy baby" by his next opponent Alex Leapai

Image source, Getty Images

Gorman, 22, from Nantwich, Cheshire, takes on the Samoa-born Australian at Manchester Arena on 22 December.

The bout represents a step up in class for the Briton, who is the cousin of former world champion Tyson Fury.

"Nathan is just a baby in the game," said Leapai, 39. "I'm coming to burst the bubble of the latest hype job.

"A lot of these British heavyweights are overhyped without really beating anyone. He looks like a big hairy baby to be honest.

"I'll be coming over to put this baby to sleep."

Kate Tebby
Journalist, BBC Shropshire

A man has been found dead, just days after he was robbed in his own home., external

Image source, Google

Three men claiming to be undercover police officers got into the 74-year-old's house on Fitzalan Close, Whittington, near Oswestry, on Tuesday night.

He was threatened and his money stolen.

The man was treated in hospital and discharged the next day.

Officers say they were told he'd been found dead on Friday.

They don't yet know if his death is linked to the robbery, so they're currently treating it as unexplained.

About two-thirds of the people who responded to a consultation on plans for a reorganisation of Shropshire's hospitals disagreed with centralising emergency care in Shrewsbury., external

However, the independent specialists who've been through the responses say most of the respondents were from the Telford and Wrekin area, where the other A&E unit could face being downgraded.

Image source, SaTH

Future Fit was launched in 2013 to overhaul services at Shropshire's Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal hospitals.

Last year, local health bosses agreed a preferred option that would see emergency care and women and children's services located in Shrewsbury.

Under that option, Telford's Princess Royal site would become the centre for planned care.

Following the consultation, which saw thousands of responses, health bosses say the findings will be considered and a final decision made early next year., external

A woman had three strokes before medics diagnosed an underlying heart problem, a court has heard.

Jodie Looker
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

An elderly woman was dragged to the floor as a man tried to steal her bag.

The 73-year-old was on High Lane, Stoke-on-Trent, on Saturday morning when police say the man came up from behind her and grabbed her bag., external

Image source, Staffordshire Police

She was dragged to the ground and the bag strap snapped, allowing the robber to make off with it.

Officers have released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in connection with the robbery.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Conservative MPs are continuing to divide over whether Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal delivers on the country's referendum result.

The terms of her plan were approved over the weekend by EU leaders and Mrs May is now trying to persuade politicians here to back it.

Many oppose it, including the MP for North Shropshire, Owen Paterson, who tweeted this morning to call it, external "unacceptable", saying it "failed to deliver (the) referendum result".

But Robin Walker, Worcester's MP and a Brexit minister, claimed it does deliver on the referendum.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

The impact of Brexit on Birmingham will be "so huge" that the people must be given a second chance to vote on it, the city council’s deputy leader has argued.

Councillor Brigid Jones chaired the independent Brexit Commission which has just published it’s 92-page analysis , externalon what effect leaving the European Union will likely have on the second city and the West Midlands.

The report outlines numerous key areas of 'exposure' with particular concerns for the car manufacturing and aerospace industries, social care workers and EU funding for the region.

Council departments are now being briefed on the analysis in preparation for Britain leaving the EU at the end of March.

The West Midlands Police officers are due in court on Tuesday to face misconduct allegations.