Children as young as 12 could be hit with new Knife Crime Prevention Orders in an effort to tackle rising violence.

Knife possession rose by almost a third in five years, the latest figures show, with the West Midlands recording the highest number of knife offences outside London.

Knife Crime Prevention Orders would impose sanctions, including bans on using social media to stir up trouble.

The House of Lords is being asked to approve the proposals as part of the government's Offensive Weapons Bills.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings is understood to be on his way to Aston Villa for a medical.

Image source, Getty Images

Mings, 25, was being chased by a number of Championship clubs but the central defender has chosen Villa, and the chance to work with former England skipper John Terry, who is part of manager Dean Smith's coaching staff.

It is likely to be a loan deal for the former Ipswich man, who joined Bournemouth for £8m in 2015.

Mings' arrival is not expected to be the end of Villa's deadline day activity, with Smith also keen to bolster his midfield options.

Two students banned from the University of Warwick for 10 years for their involvement in a group chat that threatened rape will be allowed to return later this year, it has emerged.

Image source, Getty

One woman who was targeted said she felt "terrified at the prospect of having these boys in my seminars".

Several of those in the chat encouraged others to rape specific students.

The university said it had reduced the length of their bans to one year after they appealed.

In a letter, seen by the BBC, a university official apologised to the women for not informing them of the appeal's outcome sooner - citing "my delayed summer break".

Severn Trent is one of only three water companies to pass the latest review by regulator Ofwat.

The Coventry-based company along with South West Water and United Utilities have been given the go-ahead by Ofwat , externalon their plans which will result in them cutting water bills by up to £70.

All firms had to submit plans to cut bills for millions of consumers over the 2020-25 period, while reducing leaks and helping vulnerable customers

Severn Trent has pledged to cut customers' bills by an average of £18 a year in real terms by the 2024-25 financial year as part of its business plan.

New technology that could help stop potholes from forming is to be be tested across the West Midlands.

Government funding worth almost £23m will be used to research and trial new road surfaces and technologies., external

Tests will be carried out in Staffordshire, Solihull and Birmingham and if successful they could be adopted in other parts of the country.

Temperatures in Pershore, Worcestershire, dropped to -7.5C (18.5F) at 07:00 this morning, as the UK experienced the coldest night of winter so far.

A Met Office warning for ice and fog, external remains in place across the West Midlands until 11:00 this morning, with a further warning for snow and ice in place from 13:00 today until 21:00 on Friday.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

Early freezing fog will slowly lift to leave some sunshine later with top temperatures of 4C (39F).

BBC News Travel

Rail replacement buses are running between Longbridge, Redditch and Bromsgrove due to signalling problems near Erdington.

Buses are also running between Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield, said Network Rail.

Tickets can be used on National Express services, it said.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

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

Meet the professional chefs changing the way people think about women in the kitchen.

Councillor Roger Lawrence said he would remain as a ward councillor until May 2020.

The mother of one victim called Simon Smith "pure evil" and said the news came as a "massive shock".

Andy Giddings
BBC News

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

Allen Cook
BBC News

Six people have been arrested by police investigating benefit fraud, external which they say could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Image source, West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police says it had been tipped off that several bogus companies were set up to produce fake wage slips and other documents.

The six were arrested yesterday morning at three homes in Handsworth and Perry Barr and released under investigation.

Five of them, three men and two women, were arrested for conspiracy to defraud while the sixth, a woman, was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

The Leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council, Roger Lawrence, says he plans to step down after 36 years as a councillor.

He has been the leader of the authority for 15 of those years and says he will step aside to "make way for fresh leadership" after the council elections on 2 May.

Image source, Wolverhampton City Council

Mr Lawrence plans to stay on as a councillor until 2020 and added "I feel the time is right for new thinking, energy and focus and a longer-term commitment that I am unable to make."

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

A YouTuber's visit to Birmingham which sparked city centre gridlock has exposed the city centre’s vulnerability to a terror attack, it's been claimed.

Image source, Getty Images

James Charles' appearance on Saturday at the Bullring saw 8,000 fans turnout and part of the area brought to a standstill.

It emerged afterwards that the city council wasn't aware of the visit and it would have planned for a major event if it had known in advance.

Speaking at the authority's Audit Committee meeting, Liberal Democrat Paul Tilsley said that, if there had been an emergency, the city would have been left in a "very precarious position".

Labour councillor Lisa Trickett added: "If a YouTuber who is good at make-up can grind our city to a halt then there is a lack of communication between resilience planners."

People will get up to four hours free parking in Herefordshire Council car parks one Saturday next month.

The authority says it will apply to all of them apart from the car park on Friar Street and will start at 10:00.

The council says the aim is to help independent businesses which can't afford their own car parks for customers.

Matt Sandoz
Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Stoke City's new signing Danny Batth says he's joined the side to win promotion to the Premier League, however long it takes.

Image source, Stoke City

The 28-year-old, who was on loan at Middlesbrough, completed a three-and-a-half-year deal yesterday.

He joins Stoke with the club currently 15th in the Championship, eight points off the play-off places.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Thirteen new streets in Lichfield are going to be named after local men who served and died in World War One and World War Two., external

Image source, Lichfield District Council

The city council wants to use their surnames for the streets of a new housing estate off Limburg Avenue.

It's now put their names on its website as it says it wants to try to trace relatives to let them know of the plans.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

It's set to be cold but mainly fine this afternoon with sunny spells - here's how tonight and tomorrow's weather is looking:

To get a latest forecast for your area at any other time, head to the BBC Weather website.