A man has been arrested following a police chase in Stoke-on-Trent this morning.

Staffordshire Police said their officers were pursuing what they believed to be a stolen BMW at around 02:30 and managed to stop the car on the A519 at Hanchurch.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The force said a 20-year-old man from Stoke-on-Trent was arrested on suspicion of aggravated vehicle taking, failure to stop and dangerous driving, and he remains in custody while inquiries continue.

Raids in Barrow-in-Furness, Coventry and London follow big rise in drugs deaths in Barrow in early 2018.

BBC Cumbria

Ten people have been charged with offences after a nationwide crackdown on a County Lines drugs supply operation.

Cumbria Police said they carried out raids in Barrow, Coventry and London this week with 22 people arrested.

Temporary Ch Supt Rob O’Connor said: “This operation has been around 10 months in the planning and was put in place following the 14 drugs deaths seen in Barrow from December 2017 onwards.

“The arrests over the last couple of days have seen Class A drugs seized with a street value of several thousands of pounds, as well as several thousands of pounds of cash also recovered.

“I make no apologies for the fact that my officers over the last two days have forced entry to the homes of suspects and given them a rude awakening by dragging them out of their beds at six in the morning. People who deal drugs bring misery to others lives, and sadly we have seen too many people in South Cumbria die due to drug misuse - too many people become victims of crime committed by addicts who break into people’s houses and cars to feed their addictions."

BBC Sport

Coventry Blaze have signed the former Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabres netminder Mike Hackett for the remainder of the season.

The 28-year-old, who played 26 times in the NHL, will replace Miroslav Kopriva, who is returning home to the Czech Republic.

Image source, Ezra Shaw

Hackett had been without a team after playing in the Slovakian league last season and will make his debut against Guildford Flames on Saturday.

Bob Miller has been restoring his 1936 Austin 7 Nippy since he was 17.

Brown bears are to return to Dudley Zoo after visitors voted to bring them back.

Up to four European brown bears could arrive at the zoo as part of its £250,000 project to reinstate them, zoo officials said, while the facility is also to extend its current 'Bear Ravine' enclosure to one and a half acres.

The zoo last housed brown bears in the 1980s.

Image source, Getty Images

Zoo director Derek Grove, said: “I’m delighted this has proved the winning project, as not only are we returning a popular species to the zoo but we’ll be bringing the Bear Ravine back into use."

A house fire which claimed the life of a Tamworth woman at the weekend was "most likely" caused by a tea light candle left burning near a bed, fire investigators have concluded.

The 55-year-old died from her injuries in hospital after the fire on Parkfield Close on Sunday.

Gemma Farr hid phones and drugs in her underwear for an inmate to sell to fellow prisoners.

West Midland Safari Park has new owners, after being bought by the French Looping Group, external for an undisclosed amount of money.

The park called it an "exciting development" and said more information about the takeover would come out later this year.

Image source, West Midland Safari Park

The Looping Group already owns 15 amusement parks across Britain, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Germany.

Laurent Bruloy, the CEO of Looping, said they would be "developing the park into an even more exciting family destination, with our support and new feature investments".

Local Democracy Reporting Service

An underestimation of Telford's population is costing the area more than £1m a year in lost government funding, Telford and Wrekin Council believes.

The authority says the Office for National Statistics is out by around 4,000 people, but councillors were told by council officers that attempts to get the number corrected had "fallen on deaf ears".

Image source, Google

Finance and HR assistant director Ken Clarke told a meeting: "We should reinvigorate our efforts to lobby the ONS. We need to make sure the population estimate is as right as possible.”

But he explained the underestimation was most likely caused by the ONS using a "national methodology" which doesn't work for "fast-growing areas like Telford and Wrekin".

Coventry Live

Some of the top stories on the CoventryLive website today are:

• Motorway closed after pedestrian dies in collision , external
• Travellers take over car park at Nuneaton's biggest leisure centre, external
• Woman will stand trial over alleged pub attack on Coventry mum, external

The northbound carriageway of the M42 between junctions 10 and 11 was closed, but has now reopened.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
By Joe Sweeney

Supermarket giant Aldi is facing a rejection of its plans to expand its Goldthorn Hill outlet in Wolverhampton.

The company had hoped to alter its existing car park and further expand into neighbouring residential land which would result in the demolition of two houses.

However, since the plans were submitted to City of Wolverhampton Council, objections were raised by residents, transport bosses and environmental campaigners.

Image source, Getty Images

A spokesman for the city council said the expansion would be "detrimental to the character" of the area and would mean "an increase in traffic at an already busy location with a history of accidents".

The council's planning committee will consider the application next week, although members have recommended its refusal.

Jalalabad Association, based in Hereford and Worcester, failed to submit accounts, a regulator says.

Stoke City confirm the appointment of Luton Town boss as their new manager, following Gary Rowett's sacking on Tuesday.

Birmingham Live

Here are the headlines from Birmingham Live today:

• Woman's 'torture' living above rowdy Costcutter in Birmingham, external

• Horrific injuries victim wants you to see after bottle thrown at her eye in Moseley bar fight, external
• Watch: Hero workers chase off Mercedes carjackers from petrol forecourt with broomsticks, external

BBC Sport

Stoke City have moved quickly to replace Gary Rowett, who they sacked yesterday, and the man they've chosen is relatively inexperienced but has made an impressive start to his managerial career.

Nathan Jones took charge of Luton Town in January 2016 and led them to promotion from League Two last season. He leaves them second in League One.

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City will be the second managerial job for the 45-year-old, who has played for Luton, Southend, Brighton and Badajoz in Spain.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Telford's accident and emergency department is still having performance problems, the head of the Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group has said.

The A&E came close to closing overnight last year, because of staff shortages and, along with the A&E in Shrewsbury, it has struggled to see patients within the target-times set out by the government in recent years.

David Evans told a health panel meeting the A&E was having "patient processing problems" and it is in "almost daily, in escalation calls with NHS England and NHS Improvement.”

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was placed in special measures in November last year.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Port Vale midfielder Luke Hannant says reaching Wembley in the EFL Trophy would be "a massive achievement if we can get there".

He scored the winning penalty in last night's win over Shrewsbury Town and calls the competition "a great opportunity for lower league teams".

Image source, Getty Images

Hannant also says it's important to take their form in the cup competition into the league, where they have been struggling recently.

Shropshire Star

Here are three stories from the Shropshire Star today:

• Serious crash closes A41 at Whitchurch, external
• Inquest opens on worker trapped in machine, external
• Veteran Gus could return to hunger strike, external