Summary

  • Live updates from Monday 4 February to Sunday 10 February

  • Click Related Stories for updates from your area

Live Reporting

  1. 'Overwhelming' response to mill flood appeal

    Birmingham's famous Sarehole Mill could be producing flour again by Easter.

    Read More

  2. Holders Chelsea drawn against Arsenal

    Women's FA Cup holders Chelsea will face 14-time winners Arsenal in this season's fifth round, in a repeat of the 2018 final.

    Read More

  3. Our live coverage across the day

    We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning.

  4. Teacher denies assaulting boy, four

    Ian Webber denies a charge of assault by beating and will face trial later this month.

    Read More

  5. Memorial planned for 'lost' WW2 munitions workers' grave

    BBC Hereford and Worcester

    A church is hoping to erect a memorial to the unknown victims of a World War Two bomb.

    Graves at the church

    At least 16 people died and 27 were injured when a German plane dropped a cluster of bombs on the factory at Rotherwas, in Herefordshire.

    Many of the men and women killed in 1942 were buried in an unmarked mass grave at St Peter's Church in nearby Bullinghope and their names are still unknown.

    The congregation is now fundraising for a memorial stone to honour them and they hope it will be ready for the anniversary of their deaths in July.

    All of a sudden this plane came down, then the bomb dropped and Betty and myself, I think, were the only two that ran out of that unit and it had a direct hit and I think there were about 26 girls who were killed."

    Nancy Billings, Bomb survivor

  6. Church considers closing as repair bills mount

    BBC Radio Stoke

    A prominent church in Stoke-on-Trent may be forced to close if it's deemed to be unsafe.

    Church of St MarkGoogle

    The Church of St Mark, Shelton, is on the Heritage at Risk register and repairs were carried out to secure the ceilings in 2017.

    However, there's now scaffolding up around its tower because of fears over the stonework.

    The congregation's drawing up a grant application for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, but admit it could be several years before further repairs can be made.

    We've got scaffolding at the moment protecting the tower. There's crumbling stonework at the top of the tower but it's very expensive even just to pay the rent for the scaffolding to keep the front door open so it's got that bad that we're thinking, actually, is this tenable?"

    Reverend Sally Smith, Reverend for St Mark's Church

  7. Police order considered to tackle rising crime

    Local Democracy Reporting Service
    Tom Davis

    Serious concerns over rising gang culture and knife crime in Coventry city centre could tackled by new police powers considered by the council.

    City centreGoogle

    Insp Mark Teago admits there has been a “significant increase” in serious violent crime in the area, with knife crime having a “devastating” impact.

    More than 100 incidents involving knives have been reported in the city centre ward in the past year alone, including the fatal stabbing of Fidel Glasgow in November.

    Coventry City Council is now proposing a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to give police powers, which will be considered by councillors at a meeting on 12 February.

  8. Congestion hotspots targeted with £3.2m

    BBC Hereford and Worcester

    Three congestion hotspots in Worcester are going to have £3.2m spent on them in the next 12 months to try and improve them.

    Zebra crossing on Croft RoadGoogle

    Worcestershire County Council says work will be carried out at Croft Road by The Hive, Sidbury and St John's.

    The work will include altering a zebra crossing to a Toucan crossing and updating 40-year-old traffic signals.

  9. Staff 'could be lost' if hospitals revamp plans delayed

    BBC Shropshire

    The chief executive in charge of Shropshire's two main hospitals says any delay to a massive reorganisation plan could lead to the loss of much-needed staff.

    Artist' impression of the hospitalSATH

    Last month, clinical commissioners approved the preferred option for the Future Fit revamp of hospital services, which will see Telford's A&E downgraded to an urgent care centre.

    Shrewsbury will house the main emergency care centre in Shropshire.

    Since the decision, Telford & Wrekin Council has called for the government to intervene on the grounds the changes would be against the interests of health services in the borough.

    If we were to see something that started to creep into years then my concern would be that a lot of the doctors who have joined the trust with a commitment to see those services developed, if that commitment starts to waiver in any way, the risk is that we'll lose those people."

    Simon Wright, Chief executive, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust

  10. Drug and alcohol service funded for ex-soldiers

    BBC Hereford and Worcester

    A charity has been given more than £30,000 to fund work with veterans in Herefordshire who are struggling with drink or drugs.

    Soldiers marchingPA

    Addaction Hereford says the money, from the Royal British Legion, will help former soldiers with the transition from a forces life to a civilian one.

    They say it'll pay for a dedicated worker who will also be able to help serving soldiers and their families.

    We want to make sure those people are having a little bit more of a bespoke, tailored service because they do have different needs to the civilian population."

    Alex Crawford, Addaction Hereford

  11. Ricketts bemoans 'Jekyll and Hyde' side

    Shrewsbury Town boss Sam Ricketts wonders why his League One strugglers are saving their best form for the FA Cup.

    Read More

  12. Industrial units get go-ahead

    Local Democracy Reporting Service
    Gurdip Thandi

    Planners have given the green light for four commercial units to be built in Walsall.

    UnitsWalsall Council

    Councillors passed the application for the development at Vigo Place in Aldridge.

    The new units, which developers say will be similar to existing industrial buildings in the vicinity, will have a total of 955 square metres floor space and 21 car parking spaces.

    Police have recommended security measures such as CCTV, secure parking facilities for bikes and mopeds and ‘anti-ram’ bollards in front of shutters to protect businesses when they are closed.

  13. Range Rover model production cancelled

    Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed a new model of Range Rover - due to go into production in Coventry - has been cancelled.

    Car workerGetty Images

    The limited-run Range Rover SV Coupe was to be built at the company's Special Vehicle Operations unit in Ryton-on-Dunsmore.

    In a statement the company said it had taken the "difficult decision" and the vehicle "will not proceed into production".

    "Instead Land Rover is focusing its resources and investment on the next generation of world-class products," it said.

  14. Teen quizzed over attack on Strictly star AJ

    Lee Thomas
    Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

    A teenager's been questioned as part of an investigation into the attack on Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Pritchard and his brother, police say.

    AJ PritchardGetty Images

    The professional dancers previously told the BBC that the attack in a nightclub in December in Nantwich left them battered and bruised.

    Cheshire Police said the 19-year-old man from Crewe was interviewed under caution.

    A 20-year-old man arrested following the incident at the Nakatcha nightclub was released in January under investigation.

  15. Call for probe into homeless deaths

    YMCA Birmingham's chief executive says the city needs to investigate deaths of rough sleepers.

    Read More

  17. Shopping street revamp restarts after delays

    BBC Shropshire

    Work to revamp Shrewsbury's main shopping street has restarted today.

    Pride HillShropshire Council

    The work on Pride Hill was meant to have finished in November, but was held up while Shropshire Council replaced the contractors following delays and complaints.

    New firm McPhillips are carrying out preparatory works from today ahead of the works officially starting next week.

    The council say the works should take three months to finish.

  18. Crime prediction software 'adopted by 14 UK police forces'

    BBC Technology

    At least 14 UK police forces have made use of crime-prediction software or plan to do so, according to Liberty.

    A police officer at a computerGetty Images

    The human rights group said it had sent a total of 90 Freedom of Information requests out last year to discover which forces used the technology.

    The 14 include Cheshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia and West Midlands forces.

    Liberty believes the programs involved can lead to biased policing strategies that unfairly focus on ethnic minorities and lower-income communities.

    And it said there had been a "severe lack of transparency" about the matter.

    Defenders of the technology say it can provide new insights into gun and knife crime, sex trafficking and other potentially life-threatening offences at a time when police budgets are under pressure.

  19. Man hurt in attack by masked gang

    Lee Thomas
    Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

    A man's needed hospital treatment after he was attacked by four masked men on a street.

    Grindley LaneGoogle

    Staffordshire Police says they were told it happened yesterday morning as the 40-year-old was walking along Grindley Lane in Meir Park, Stoke-on-Trent.

    The four demanded cash and stole the man's phone, leaving him with injuries to his face after the attack.

  20. Mings will not face retrospective action

    Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings will not face action over an incident which left Reading's Nelson Oliveira with serious facial injuries.

    Read More