Hospitals in Worcestershire had to divert ambulances on a daily basis last week, new figures show.

Image source, PA

Across England, hospitals had to close their doors to ambulances 38 times during the first full week of January, according to the latest weekly figures about how the NHS is coping with winter pressures.

Hospitals in South Warwickshire, Stockport and York were also among those affected.

NHS England warned that with temperatures set to drop, it was important for people to use the 111 number as the first port of call for non-emergencies.

An action group fits nesting boxes in Staffordshire to help increase the barn own population.

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

AFC Telford United is asking its fans what colour the kit should be next season.

The club tweeted to say it was "finding it extremely difficult in finding ‘off the shelf’ kits" in the white, navy and red colours they were using this season.

Image source, Tim Roberts

It has asked fans if they'd like to return to the traditional colours of black and white

Local Democracy Reporting Service
George Makin

A new primary school has been given the go-ahead by planning chiefs in Smethwick.

Councillors granted final permission for the £4.6m education centre on Waterloo Road at a meeting of Sandwell Council’s planning committee on Wednesday.

It will be built by Shireland Collegiate Academy, which is already constructing a secondary school in West Bromwich.

The school is expected to be open by September with an initial intake of 150 year seven pupils. it is hoped eventually it will provide places for 446 nursery and junior school pupils.

Outline permission has been granted for 800 new homes at Newland, on the outsikirts of Malvern.

Opponents of the proposals raised concerns about the amount of traffic the development will generate.

Image source, Google

But the deputy leader of Malvern Hills District Council, Melanie Baker, said there would be improvements to roads in the area.

A jury has convicted two men of taking part in a prison mutiny at HMP Hewell in July last year, and they will be sentenced with 11 others who had previously admitted their involvement.

The CPS says Birmingham Crown Court was told a large group of prisoners disobeyed instructions to return to their cells and attacked prison officers and property, causing £53,000 worth of damage.

It took seven hours to bring the disorder under control.

Image source, Google

The two men were convicted today were Timothy Murphy, 24, and Matthew Armstrong, 28.

The 11 who pleaded guilty were: Christopher Edwards, 32, Grant Samed, 32, Kieran Ballard, 29, Shay Taylor, 23, Calvin Gill, 23, Rumia Delgado, 31, Keiko Marshall, 23, Thomas Rogers, 25, Liam Fields, 30, Sam Brown, 33, and Zac Dillon, 25.

They will be sentenced at a later date.

Buildings owned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council will be stocked with free tampons and sanitary pads.

Three more people have been arrested after the Operation Horizon drug raids, external last week.

The raids were aimed to disrupting the supply of heroin and cocaine that has led to a number of deaths in Barrow over the past year.

Two other people appeared before Barrow magistrates yesterday charged with drug supply offences, and were remanded to Preston Crown Court on 7 February.

Detectives say they have now arrested 32 people after the operation, in which properties in Barrow, London and Coventry were raided.

A man's been arrested after reports of someone being seen with a machete earlier

Officers, some of them armed, were called out to a pub on the high street in Sandbach, Cheshire, at 11:00.

Image source, Cheshire Police

The officers then went to a house on Belmont Avenue in the town and arrested a 32-year-old on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon.

A machete was found at the property.

Crews were called out to this car earlier after it set alight.

Image source, WFRS

Image source, WFRS

The car somehow caught fire on Shipston Road in Stratford-upon-Avon shortly after 09:15.

The driver acted in the "safest manner", the fire service tweeted, external, by getting out of the car, dialling 999 and staying a safe distance away while waiting for us to arrive".

This e-fit image of a woman Staffordshire Police want to talk to about a burglary has been attracting a lot of comments on their Facebook page, external - mainly from people comparing her appearance to E.T.

The force has now replied to say "Thank you for all the interest and shares, we can confirm E.T was at home and no fictional soap characters are potential suspects – We hope the engagement created means we identify the offender quickly."

Image source, Staffordshire Police

One reader quickly replied to say they hoped she was allowed to make a phone call if she is found.

A bus company boss has stood by a decision to cut a number of routes around Warwickshire, reduce the frequency of others and to get rid of certain tickets.

Image source, Stagecoach

Phil Medlicott, managing director of Stagecoach Midlands, was speaking at a Warwickshire County Council meeting on Wednesday.

Stagecoach is introducing changes to rural routes around Leamington, Nuneaton, and Rugby, external saying they don't have enough passengers to make them viable.

The council has stepped in to fund some non-statutory services, external in the area.

While he offered some hope to councillors who asked for a weekly child’s ticket to be re-introduced, there was disappointment for those calling for buses to return to places left without public transport.

“I do recognise that the local authority does not have the funding to cover all of the gaps," he said, "but clearly I am not the ‘socially necessary’ supplier of public transport – I am the supplier of a commercial network.”

Hereford Times

Some headlines from the Hereford Times:

• Plans for up 100 homes near Hereford, external
• Bishop blasts 'poisonous' Brexit, external
• Five-year-olds to vote on Herefordshire's official flag, external

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Gurdip Thandi

...while council investi-gator. (Sorry)

An application to house a dangerous wild animal, in this case a species of crocodile, has been made.

Image source, Getty Images

The unnamed applicant, from Walsall, will have go to through stringent checks to have a chance of being issued a licence to be able to keep a spectacled caiman.

The reptile is usually found living in low wetland areas in Central or South America and the males can grow to more than 2m (6.5ft) long.

Councillor Garry Perry said: "From what I understand, owning a crocodile is not that straight forward and no mean feat for an amateur."

A chief executive in charge of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has been appointed.

Ian Reid, formerly the chief financial officer for the 2014 games in Glasgow, has been acting CEO since May.

"I'm determined that we will deliver an event that the city, the region and the whole country can be proud of and I'm committed to continuing to work closely with all of our partners to achieve this aim," he said.

Birmingham 2022 will feature competitions over 11 days in venues across the city and beyond.

Image source, Google/Birmingham City Council

Leamington Observer

Some of the Leamington Observer headlines:

• MPs must avoid 'messy and disorderly Brexit', say business leaders, external
• Elderly patients to receive care in state-of-the-art beds, external
• Former brickworks site could be set for 100 homes, external

Plans have been put forward to expand capacity at Herefordshire and Worcestershire’s energy to waste plant at Hartlebury.

The £165m incinerator, run by Mercia Waste Management, has been operating since 2017.

Image source, Mercia Waste Management

Subject to planning permission it could soon take in more waste from across the area.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Port Vale manager Neil Aspin says he won't use unhappy home fans as an excuse for their poor results.

They have failed to win last six home league matches, but Aspin says he remembers playing in front of big crowds and that when you're on the pitch it doesn't affect you.

Image source, Getty Images

He also asked why the players should feel under more pressure playing in front of their own fans than thousands of opposition fans who are all against them.

The body of Amy Griffiths was discovered with head and throat injuries at her home.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

Here are some headlines from the Stoke-on-Trent Live website:

• Heavy snow forecast early next week, external
• Owner 'too tall house' to be served with enforcement notice, external
• Free tampons at 180 publicly-owned buildings, external