Local Democracy Reporting Service
David Lawrence

Plans for a new Shakespeare-themed restaurant in the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon moved a step closer this week after councillors agreed to spend nearly £200,000 to part-fund the project.

Image source, Google

The £1.2m scheme would also see improved security in Henley Street – the site of Shakespeare’s birthplace – and improved seating, lighting and signposting out in the street.

The restaurant, called Will’s Kitchen would be housed in Shakespeare Birthplace Trust-owned Henley Street premises, directly opposite the birthplace.

A report to this week’s cabinet meeting of Stratford District Council said the plans had been drawn up following criticism from some visitors to the town.

More than 40 firefighters worked through the night to tackle a fire at a thatched property in Droitwich, Worcestershire.

Image source, Hereford & Worcester Fire Service

Fire spread to the ground and first floor and destroyed the whole of the roof space, said Hereford and Worcester Fire Service.

Crews were initially called shortly after 17:30 on Wednesday.

Image source, Hereford & Worcester Fire Service

Fresh crews were brought in this morning to relieve those that had worked all night, with firefighters still at the site damping down.

There were no casualties, it said.

The result of a ballot that could lead to more bin strikes in Birmingham is expected later today.

Unite says members in the city have been denied a council payment made to GMB members who did not walk out in the long-running dispute last year.

If members vote to take action, strikes could begin on 28 December.

The 2017 strikes lasted for three months and saw uncollected waste pile up on city streets and the then-council leader forced out.

Opposition councillors have previously said the effect of strikes cost the council £10m

Birmingham City council has previously said it made a payment to the GMB, after the union initiated legal proceedings against it for a failure to consult claim, and denied the payments were made for not going on strike.

Engineers have been working through the night to repair a burst water main that closed part of Hagley Road in Birmingham yesterday.

The carriageway was flooded after the main burst on Wednesday night, causing chaos on the roads on Thursday.

Image source, Severn Trent

Commuters reported being stranded on Hagley Road for over an hour, while thousands of people in the area were left without water or with low pressure for several hours.

Those supplies started to come back on at lunchtime yesterday

Severn Trent said engineers were forced to dig by hand at one stage last night "due to assets belonging to other utilities in the area".

Image source, Severn Trent

There are sill lane restrictions on the Hagley Road past the repair site after the Plough and Harrow traffic lights.

The road is expected to open fully on Saturday after work to resurface the carriageway.

Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

After a cold morning it will be a dry day with some sunshine and highs of 4C (39F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Friday.

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

A mother and toddler group invites local pensioners to its Christmas party.

The families of three people with learning difficulties tell the BBC all their teeth were taken out.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols denied suppressing information about the son of author JRR Tolkien.

Aston Villa "reassign" under-23s manager Kevin MacDonald from his role amid allegations of bullying by a former player.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

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

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans for a new mosque in Worcester have been approved.

The building on Stanley Road will have space for 800 worshippers as well as apartments and a sports centre and be open seven days a week.

Image source, One Ltd Media

Concerns were raised over congestion and parking but city councillors were told most visitors to the mosque would do so on foot and the number of cars would not necessarily increase.

The development is expected to cost around £5m.

West Mercia's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has welcomed the news his force will get an extra £2.3m next year.

That means its funding rises to £122.4m and Conservative John Campion said: “It’s clear that Sajid Javid has listened to and delivered for the communities of West Mercia.”

Image source, Getty Images

Staffordshire PCC Matthew Ellis said the extra money would be "really welcome".

But Labour's PCC for the West Midlands force, David Jamieson, said their increase in funding from £444.1m to £460m wasn't enough and accused the government of "shifting the burden of police funding onto local council tax payers".

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is planning to introduce red routes across more parts of the city.

It means no vehicles will be able to stop on those roads, or drivers could face a fine of £70.

Image source, Google

The local authority trialled the scheme in Hanley earlier in the year, and now wants to introduce the zones to five more major roads in the city, including Waterloo Road in Burslem and Victoria Road in Fenton (pictured above).

The council though has scrapped plans to bring them in to four other routes.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

It will be a clear cold night with some patchy cloud and lows of -3C (27F).

A van driver is arrested after a 72-year-old man dies in a two-vehicle collision.

Birmingham Live

These are some of the Birmingham Live headlines today:

• Hagley Road burst water main sparks 'utter carnage', external
• Birmingham food bank crisis - how to donate, external
• Man jailed for stashing sawn-off shotgun in BMW, external

A new £5m replacement will be built for a Herefordshire primary school.

The decision was made by councillors today, with a report saying the existing buildings at Peterchurch Primary are in a poor condition with a leaking roof and inefficient heating system.

Image source, Google

There are 136 pupils in the school, 31 more than the building's capacity, and the school, parish council and nearby Fairfield High School are all supporting the plans to rebuild the school on the existing site.

A woman’s been taken to hospital with potentially serious injuries after a two car crash in Worcestershire this afternoon.

It happened just before 13:00 at the junction of Broome Lane and the A450 at Broome near Stourbridge.

The woman was trapped in her car for around half an hour while ambulance staff worked with firefighters to free her.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Port Vale manager Neil Aspin says he's not going to talk about the possible signing of Glenavon midfielder Mark Sykes.

Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton told the BBC a deal had been agreed between the clubs and an offer had been made to Sykes, but the Northern Ireland under-21 player has yet to agree terms.

Image source, Getty Images

Hibernian, Hearts, Oxford United and Blackburn Rovers have all been linked with Sykes, who has scored three goals in 19 appearances for Glenavon this season and also scored for the international Under-21 team in their Euro qualifier 1-0 win over Slovakia in October.