BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The new Shrewsbury Town manager Sam Ricketts says he wants to strengthen ties with local rivals AFC Telford United, if it benefits his young players.

One of his first acts has been to extend Ryan Barnett's loan with the Bucks until March, saying they are "a local side playing at a good level".

Image source, Getty Images

He spent time playing for the Bucks and remembers "a few good battles" with Shrewsbury Town during his spell there.

Ricketts has also got ties with the Telford manager Gavin Cowan, from their time together at Wolves.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Herbert Soden

A homeowner ordered to overhaul his property because it was "30 inches too tall" has said the problems were due to the foundations not being deep enough.

Asif Naseem's family home could now be demolished after the latest application was rejected by Stoke-on-Trent City Council this month.

In May, Mr Naseem and his family were told to tear down the new-build in Lightwood, Stoke-on-Trent, or spend £200,000 on a new roof.

Mr Naseem is appealing against the council's refusal to grant retrospective planning permission for his Lightwood home, saying it was built according to the plans he received permission for in 2016.

But he blames a failure to dig the foundations deep enough as the reason for the roof ridge being higher than anticipated.

Birmingham Live

The Birmingham Live website is covering these stories today:

• Businessman charged with causing death of youngster - three years after she died, external
• Birmingham to be gripped by -1C temperatures as ten inches of snow sweeps Britain, external
• 'Racist vandals' blasted as swastika signs appear in street, external

A man's due to appear in court next month, charged with causing the death of a girl who was left brain damaged after a crash in Sutton Coldfield in November 2006.

Cerys Edwards was 11 months old at the time and needed round-the-clock care until her death in October 2015, aged nine, from complications caused by an infection.

Antonio Singh Boparan, now 31, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving and the Crown Prosecution Service says he is expected to appear in court in January.

His father, Ranjit Singh Boparan, is known as "The Chicken King" after founding the 2 Sisters Food Group, which claims to produce a third of all poultry products eaten in the UK.

Princess Ann will be the guest of honour at a carol service at Hereford Cathedral today.

It is being held by the Townswomen's Guild, which has the Princess Royal as its patron.

Image source, Getty Images

The organisation, which has 24,000 members across the UK, is celebrating its 90th birthday this year.

Cheshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has defended a misconduct hearing against its chief constable, in response to claims he bullied and humiliated staff.

Yesterday, an independent panel cleared Simon Byrne (pictured) of all allegations of misconduct or gross misconduct.

Mr Byrne welcomed the decision, saying he had been "totally exonerated".

The panel said the case, which cost £350,000 in public funds, "could and should have been avoided".

PCC David Keane said after the decision that there had been "no realistic alternative" to holding the inquiry, following the claims.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Two men have been arrested this morning by police investigating last week's disorder at a derby match between Port Vale and Stoke City U21s.

On 4 December, police said a "large section" of Stoke City fans were disruptive during the Checkatrade Trophy game at Vale Park.

Fourteen arrests were made last week and the force says the two today, aged 34 and 47, both from Stoke-on-Trent, were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.

Air quality in Worcester is going to be monitored more closely, because the city has failed to meet national nitrogen dioxide targets.

City councillors decided the new air quality management area will cover the whole of Worcester, even though some parts of the city meet the targets.

Image source, Google

Local authorities are required to monitor air quality in their areas and to declare an air quality management area when national objectives are not met or unlikely to be met.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Two gangs of suspected drug dealers have been targeted by police who carried out a string of raids and arrested three men., external

Image source, West Midlands Police

The force says more than 100 officers were involved in Birmingham yesterday in searching eight sites in Alum Rock and four vehicles.

Drugs, equipment and money were found along with three machetes and a hunting knife.

Police say the three men were arrested on suspicion of drugs offences and remain in custody.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May may not survive this evening's vote of no confidence in her leadership, according to Herefordshire MP Bill Wiggin.

The challenge to Mrs May's position comes after the required 48 letters calling for a contest were delivered.

Image source, EPA

North Herefordshire's Bill Wiggin told the BBC that people had lost confidence in her as "they didn't vote (to leave the EU) to put us in a worse position than we were when we were in the EU".

Meanwhile, the Eurosceptic Conservative MP for Stone, Sir Bill Cash says he thinks there are several people who could lead his party instead of Mrs May.

He said he thought Dominic Raab, who quit last month as Brexit Secretary, was a contender as he had "demonstrated political courage".

Stoke-on-Trent Live

Here are a few of the early headlines on the Stoke-on-Trent Live website:

• Boy turned away from grotto because Father Christmas visit was not pre-booked, external
• Care home ordered to improve after staff delayed reporting potential abuse, external
• District councillor ‘lied’ about council tax payments, external

People are being invited to share their experiences of maternity services in Shropshire to help develop future care.

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Maternity Voices Partnership is hosting the event today which starts at 10:00 at the Park Lane centre, Telford.

It's part of the national NHS programme known, external as Better Births.

It comes as a government-ordered review is being carried out into the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust into alleged maternity failings between 1998 and 2017.

A street in Birmingham has been named as the fastest for broadband internet, according to an annual survey.

The study said Abdon Avenue in Birmingham offered speeds that are nearly 1,900 times faster than the slowest area.

For the sake of comparison, those figures suggest it would take users five minutes 42 seconds to download all five episodes of Sir David Attenborough's Dynasties series in high definition in Abdon Avenue, but more than seven days in Greenmeadows Park, Gloucestershire.

The research was carried out by the price comparison service uSwitch, which said it was based on more than 279,000 real-world speed tests by members of the public.

BBC Sport

Jess Varnish has told an employment tribunal that British Cycling coaches would "listen through the door" during training camps as an example of the body's "extreme control" over cyclists.

The 28-year-old from Bromsgrove, a former European team sprint champion, is suing for wrongful dismissal and sexual discrimination after being dropped by GB in 2016.

The tribunal in Manchester will decide whether she was an employee of both British Cycling and UK Sport. Varnish says British Cycling's control over her made it akin to her employer.

The former world silver medallist told the hearing she went away on training camps as a 15-year-old and coaches would "listen through the [hotel] door to see if you were still awake".

Should it be ruled that Varnish was an employee, the parties involved will reconvene for a second tribunal in 2019.

The hearing is expected to last until 17 December.

BBC Sport

Walsall will take on Bolton in the third-round of the FA Cup in January after a second-half goal from Liam Kinsella won their second-round replay at Sunderland.

Image source, Getty Images

The 22-year-old fired in at the start of the second half in a game in which the visitors had the better of the few clear-cut chances created.

It ends the Black Cats' 16-game unbeaten run, their previous defeat having come at Burton on 15 September.

Birmingham New Street has once again named the busiest station in Britain outside of London, according to government figures.

New Street, in sixth place overall, saw 43.7 million passengers in 2017-18, according to the Office of Rail and Road.

That's more than one million extra compared with 2016-17 (42.3 million).

This year London Waterloo was once again the busiest station, with 94.3 million passengers.

Redcar British Steel station in Yorkshire was the quietest, with only 40 passengers in the whole of 2017-18.

The country could have a new prime minister by the middle of January, according to the Shropshire Conservative MP Owen Paterson.

This morning, Tory MPs triggered a vote of no confidence in Theresa May's leadership which will take place this evening.

Image source, EPA

If she loses, there would then be a Conservative leadership contest in which she could not stand.

Mr Paterson was one of the Conservative MPs to write a letter which triggered the vote.

He's told the BBC today that Mrs May had lost his support because of mistakes and her lack of progress in getting a deal agreed.

The Home Secretary Sajid Javid has tweeted , externalhis "full support" for the prime minister Theresa May, as it's been announced today that she will face a vote of no confidence in her leadership later on Wednesday.

Image source, EPA

The challenge to Mrs May's position comes after the required 48 letters calling for a contest were delivered.

Mr Javid, who's also MP for Bromsgrove, said the vote was the "last thing" the country needed and Mrs May was the "best person to ensure we leave EU on 29 March".

Fellow Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi, who represents Stratford-on-Avon, also tweeted , externalhis support this morning, adding "we do not need further instability and division".

Express and Star

Here are a few of the early headlines on the Express and Star website this morning:

• High life with millionaire ended in tragedy, external
• Group set for talks over Rugeley Power Station 2,000-home development, external
• Plea to help find Stourbridge man who went missing in Spain, external

BBC Midlands Today

Thousands of people have signed a petition , externalcalling on Birmingham City Council to reverse proposed cuts to its cultural budget for 2019.

The cash-strapped local authority plans to reduce the money it gives in grants to arts and cultural organisations by a third, to save just over £1m., external

Cultural groups say the move will have an impact on the city's economy and reputation.

The council says it'll work with the various organisations affected to try and help them become self-sufficient "where possible".