A Birmingham MP says today's announcement of 4,500 Jaguar Land Rover job cuts is "heart-breaking".

Jess Phillips, Labour member for Birmingham Yardley, said the company had been a "great employer" and a "lifeline to the car industry in the UK".

The chair of Coventry and Warwickshire's Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) said Jaguar Land Rover's move to shed 4,500 jobs was a "painful decision to safeguard their long-term future".

JLR has two sites in Coventry and several more across the West Midlands.

Jonathan Browning said he hoped the nature of the cuts would have a "limited effect on the supply chain across our area, but obviously will be damaging individually and will be felt locally".

Most of the cuts are thought to be to office roles.

The chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce said it was "vital that partners across the region come together to do all we can to work with the company, individuals affected and the supply chain".

Louise Bennett added: “It must be remembered however that Jaguar Land Rover continues to invest extensively in and outside the region, while our wider economy remains strong.”

Jaguar Land Rover says it plans a voluntary redundancy scheme, to help manage the latest round of job cuts.

Image source, JLR

Unite, the country's largest manufacturing union, said it would be pressing the car maker to safeguard its members' jobs.

"Britain's car workers have been caught in the crosshairs of the government's botched handling of Brexit, mounting economic uncertainty and ministers' demonisation of diesel, which along with the threat of a no deal Brexit, is damaging consumer confidence," Unite national officer Des Quinn said.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

Jaguar Land Rover has been saying for more than a year that Brexit uncertainty would eventually take its toll on the perception of the UK as a stable and competitive base for global manufacturing.

In July last year, the company said it needed more certainty around Brexit in order to continue investing in its UK operations and warned that a no-deal Brexit would cost the company more than £1.2bn in profit each year.

If, as expected, the UK bears the brunt, or the entirety, of JLR's global cost-cutting, JLR may well say it tried to warn us.

Another massive flashing red light is a collapse in sales in its biggest market - China.

And JLR is also one of the most heavily exposed car makers to continuing consumer confusion about the wisdom of buying a diesel car in the aftermath of the VW emissions scandal.

Ninety percent of its vehicles are diesel-powered, although it has been investing in new electric and hybrid vehicles.

Two West Midlands MPs who have Jaguar Land Rover workers in their constituencies say the company's difficulties have been compounded by the continuing uncertainty over Brexit.

Image source, Getty Images /UK Parliament

Dame Caroline Spelman, Conservative MP for Meriden, and Jack Dromey, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, said today's announcement of 4,500 job losses was down to falling sales in China as well as changing consumer attitudes to diesel vehicles.

Earlier this week, a letter organised by the pair was sent to the Prime Minister, urging her to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

A joint-statement from the MPs said "it becomes clearer that if we crashed out of the EU without a deal, announcements like today's would become widespread and would be devastating for British manufacturing".

Sean Fitzgerald was shot as he ran from the back of a house in Coventry, an inquest is told.

More than 30 firefighters fought a blaze at a timber merchants in Kidderminster overnight.

It is thought the fire at M&M Timber in Clows Top broke out in the early hours of this morning.

Image source, Hereford and Worcester Fire Service

A spokesperson said neither the main production line or stockyard was affected, and the factory was operating as normal, with customer supply unaffected.

A statement added there could be two to three weeks of reduced output, however, while contingency plans were implemented.

Ben Russell
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

Most of the 4,500 "global" job losses announced by Jaguar Land Rover an hour ago will be in office roles as the company wants to simplify its management structure.

In Coventry, there are about 6,000 people employed at JLR's Whitley headquarters and another 9,500 at its Gaydon facility.

The BBC understands there will be losses at both sites, of around equal numbers.

Departments expected to be affected are global expansion, public relations and finance.

It's understood the expansion plans at the Whitley site will still go ahead.

Express and Star

Express and Star headlines today include:

• Network Packaging factory unit destroyed in huge Wolverhampton fire, external

• Prolific offender locked up after Walsall home burglary, external

Work has begun today to take down part of the Coventry Cross statue where a publicly-hanged murderer is reportedly buried.

It is moving from the rear of Holy Trinity Church in the city centre to Ironmonger Row, to allow redevelopment to take place.

The landmark is thought by some to be the resting place of Mary Ball who was the last person to be publicly hanged in Coventry - she poisoned her husband at their home in Nuneaton in 1849.

Some researchers suspect she lived a life of fear due to her husband's behaviour.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced it will shed 4,500 jobs as part of a plan to cut costs by £2.5bn.

BBC Business understands the substantial majority will be in the UK.

JLR says the cuts will be made to its "global workforce" and are in addition to the 1,500 people who left the business last year.

BBC Business reported earlier that management, marketing and administrative roles were expected to be hardest hit, with some production staff also potentially affected.

Announcing the job losses, JLR also highlighted "further investment" in the West Midlands, with Electric Drive Units to be produced at Wolverhampton Engine Manufacturing Centre and a new Battery Assembly Centre to be established at Hams Hall, north Warwickshire.

From 2020, all new Jaguar Land Rover vehicles are set to be electrified.

Four children were among the 27 suspected migrants found in the back of a lorry on the M6 near Stoke-on-Trent yesterday.

They are being supported by social workers. Their ages are not yet known, but all four are under 18.

The 27 - none of whom needed hospital treatment - were discovered when police stopped the vehicle.

Staffordshire County Council said last year 200 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were found travelling on the M6 corridor through the county and added they were usually "very hungry, tired and unkempt after being in a lorry for a long time, and frightened and anxious".

A lorry driver, 42, has been arrested on suspicion of "facilitating the illegal entry" of people into the UK.

BBC Weather Watchers

BBC Weather Watcher Videoman has shared this incredible photo showing the mist hanging over farmland near Leek this morning.

We love the chimney smoke adding to the effect.

Image source, Videoman

We've also seen fantastic photos from Weather Watchers in Sutton Coldfield and Lydbury North in Shropshire.

Image source, Ken M

Image source, Suttonwalker

Man City's 9-0 demolition of Burton Albion last night was impressive, but they didn't quite manage double figures - and that gave Shrewsbury Town the chance to do a bit of bragging.

They were the last side to score 10 or more in English competition - an 11-2 FA Cup win in 1995.

Perhaps City could offer Shrewsbury advice on clean sheets, then?

Coventry Live

From Coventry Live:

• Jaguar Land Rover reportedly set to axe 5,000 jobs, external
• Stabbed teenager released from hospital, external
• Witness describes panic as Daniel Kennell was stabbed to death, external

A businessman who helped buy Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in 2008 has blamed the worldwide economic situation for the company having to cut costs.

Thousands of job losses are set to be announced by JLR this afternoon.

Image source, University of Warwick

Lord Kumar Bhattacharryya, chairman of Warwick Manufacturing Group, still advises the organisation and says the long-term outlook for the company remains strong.

Here's BBC Business' view on the global context.

A senior government minister has urged MPs across Parliament to work together to prevent the "disaster" of a no-deal Brexit, saying it wouldn't be in the interests of companies including Jaguar Land Rover, which is set to announce thousands of job cuts later.

"JLR - a stellar company with a first-class workforce - have always been clear that their success depends on exports, including to the rest of the European Union, (for) which tariffs would be disastrous," Greg Clark told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He said: "They are one of the prime examples of a brilliant 'just-in-time' manufacturing process in which you can save money on warehousing and inventory - that helps them be competitive.

"Given the difficulties they are going through, to add further costs and further disruption from a no-deal Brexit, it is clear why they have been so clear that this would be against their interests."

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to announce later it is cutting up to 5,000 jobs from its 40,000-strong UK workforce.

A few moments ago, we brought you views from a JLR site in Wolverhampton; one of several the company has across the West Midlands.

But what do workers' families think? Here's the view from Michelle Stones whose husband Steve has worked at JLR for 36 years...

She told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire: "We've been through this a number of times now.

"This comes and goes every... five to ten years, so we're quite used to it.

"I think it's why... JLR and the big companies now only take on contractors rather than permanent staff, because they know at some stage they're going to get a lull."

But BBC Business highlights how the latest issues come in the new, uncharted context of Brexit.

BBC News Travel

A rolling closure will be carried out today to assist with the movement of an abnormal load on the M5 through the West Midlands.

It will start at M5 at the M6 junction to J2 for Oldbury, says Highways England.

Image source, Highways England

The jury in the trial of cricketer Alex Hepburn has been sent out to consider its verdicts.

The former Worcestershire all-rounder denies two counts of rape.

Image source, Ben Birchall/PA