Local Democracy Reporting Service
Kerry Ashdown

Tourist numbers increased in the Potteries following Stoke-on-Trent’s bid to be named UK City of Culture bid, councillors have been told.

The attempt, which saw the area miss out on the 2021 title to Coventry, has left a positive legacy in North Staffordshire, said a council report.

The report delivered to councillors on Thursday revealed an increase in day trips and overnight stays in 2017 – in comparison to the previous year.

In total £361,000 was spent on the bid, which included a public consultation, public surveys, bid writers’ fees, the bid submission event in Hanley’s Albion Square, and a concerted marketing campaign.

Andrew Dahring was injured during a mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival in 2017.

Purple patches continuing, pink walls vanishing and a pot of gold appearing were among five EFL things you might have missed on Saturday.

The government has released £54.5m set aside for Worcester's Southern Link Road.

It announced the funding in October 2017, but had been waiting for Worcestershire Council to meet a number of conditions before giving final approval to the spending.

Image source, Worcestershire County Council

The money will be used to turn the A4440 into a dual carriageway, to cut congestion.

Work on the link road, external is already under way, with Worcestershire Council also contributing £7.5m towards the project.

Store closure plans by electric car company Tesla have raised questions over the future of its two sites in Birmingham.

Image source, Google

To help lower the price of cars, the firm plans to close showrooms and is switching to an online-only sales model.

Closing physical stores will allow the firm to cut costs by about 5%, savings it is using to reduce prices across its line-up of vehicles, chief executive Elon Musk said.

Tesla currently has 378 stores and service locations worldwide, including the two in the West Midlands, 10 in and around London and locations in Greater Manchester, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Leeds, Edinburgh and Dublin.

A spokeswoman for Tesla was unable to provide details of how the company's plans might affect its operations in the UK and Ireland.

The amount of council tax residents pay in Telford is going up by 3.2% from April.

The move was approved by councillors last night, external, along with plans to spend an extra £6m on adult social care and children's services.

The authority said the tax rise would raise £2m and add an extra 60p a week to the amount paid by the average Band B property in the borough.

There'll also be extra funding for high street regeneration, community projects, and public transport, paid for by money the authority received in a £3.6m VAT refund.

A ballot has been set up to give Stoke City supporters the chance to be at Gordon Banks's funeral on Monday.

The football club says a limited number of spaces have become available for the service at Stoke Minster and the family has said it want fans to be there.

The chance to apply, external is open until 15:00 this afternoon, with a maximum of two places for each successful applicant.

Worcester News

Here are three stories from the Worcester News today:

• Tree and fence damaged in 'senseless' act of vandalism, external
• £55m awarded to dual Worcester's Southern Link Road, external
• Worcester killer jailed for robberies, external

Storm Freya will bring strong winds which are likely to bring travel disruption to the West Midlands with possible dangerous conditions, external late Sunday into Monday.

Image source, Met Office

The yellow weather warning for wind is in place from 15:00 on Sunday until 06:00 Monday, said the Met Office.

Injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible, it said.

A freedom of information request found 161 of 192 council-run schools could contain the substance.

Marian McNamee
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire

A Warwickshire firefighter has been reunited with a USA police officer more than a year after he helped save his life during a mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Sheriff Andrew Dahring was shot when Stephen Paddock opened fire on a music festival - killing 58 people.

Tony Dumbleton, from Nuneaton (pictured seated, above) was at a nearby hotel and ran to Mr Dahring's aid.

Mr Dahring was shot twice as he and his wife ran away from the line of fire, and had been refused care by a passing ambulance when Mr Dumbleton stepped in.

The police officer previously said he was covered in blood and that Mr Dumbleton was "the first one to offer help".

The firefighter travelled to meet Mr Dahring in his home town of Santa Clarita, California.

Addressing Mr Dahring he said: "There's not one day where something hasn't popped in.. reminding me of yourself."

Mr Dahring, said the incident had made him think about his own mortality and that "you've got to make the best" of our short time on earth.

Rotherham, Wigan, Coventry, Queens Park Rangers, Portsmouth and Bristol City are recognised for their community work.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

Accident and Emergency units in Worcestershire have been told to reduce overcrowding and speed up ambulance handovers, after a visit by inspectors.

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust has been in special measures since December 2015.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited both the Worcestershire Royal, external and Alexandra Hospitals, external on 14 January and said it found departments at both hospitals were overcrowded, ambulance handover times were too long, and patients weren't being assessed and treated quickly enough.

The CQC also said it found an excessive number of patients being cared for in corridors, and described the situation as "clearly unacceptable".

Patients being treated in corridors has been a long-running problem at the Worcestershire Royal hospital, despite being repeatedly raised by inspectors and pledges from hospital bosses to eradicate the practice

In a statement, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said it had since taken action to improve waiting times and ambulance handover times but recognises it has to do more to address its issues, including the routine use of corridors for treatment.

Inspectors, however, find staff were caring and compassionate, and were told by patients they were treated kindly.

Birmingham Live

Some of today's Birmingham Live headlines are:

• Crisis-hit Birmingham Prison put on 'lockdown', external
• Parking row sparks 'intimidation, threats and vandalism', external
• Armed cops swoop on man cowering in shower , external

An area of Church Stretton in Shropshire was cordoned off last night after firefighters, police and ambulance crews were called to reports a patient had come into contact with an unknown chemical.

A bag containing an unknown substance was reportedly thrown into the Bucks Head pub on the high street at about 20:00.

Emergency services attended after reports two people started to feel unwell.

The substance was later identified by the fire service as not harmful to humans.

Two people were assessed at the scene, said the ambulance service, but didn't suffer any injuries.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Dare

More than 80% of council-run schools in Birmingham could contain asbestos, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information Request (FoI) to Birmingham City Council revealed that 161 schools of the 192 schools it is responsible for have the potential to contain asbestos.

But council bosses said that was the case for any building constructed before the year 2000.

The material was banned in 1999 but it was regularly used in construction until this date, including for some schools built between the 1950s and 1980s.

The Health and Safety Executive says that, if properly managed, asbestos presents a “very low risk” to people in school buildings.

Responding to the figures, shadow cabinet member for Education, Councillor Ken Wood, said there was no need for "undue concern".

“The important thing is that the council, or the responsible academy trust are carrying out regular checks and that particular care is taken during any works that are carried out," he said.

Academies and other schools not maintained by the city council were not included in the figures.

BBC News Travel

Emergency pothole repairs have closed one lane of the link road from the M6 on to the M5 south in the West Midlands.

There's queuing traffic in the area, said Highways England.

A temporary lockdown at troubled HMP Birmingham is not in response to a particular incident, the government has revealed.

Inmates have been confined to their cells during a "pre-planned, intelligence-led search", it said.

The government took over from security service G4S last summer over the prison's "appalling" conditions.

It is understood the search has been going on at least two days but the MoJ would not confirm when it started or how long it would last.

A secure training centre near Rugby has been criticised as a report finds children in custody in England and Wales are being exposed to "harrowing incidents" of physical and sexual abuse.

There were 1,070 reported incidents of abuse between 2009-2017 - many more than previously thought, said the The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Image source, Google

It found recent examples of abuse, including an incident at Rainsbrook secure training centre, near Rugby.

Members of staff there allegedly allowed two young people to go into a bedroom together, knowing that one of the young people was going abuse the other.

Justice Minister Edward Argar said the details in the report were shocking.

He said the government recognised the need for reform to ensure the safety, welfare and rehabilitation of young people are prioritised.

Express and Star

Here are some of the early headlines on the Express & Star website:

• Wolverhampton Civic halls reopening delayed to 2021, external
• Fatal bus collision prompts coroner's warning, external
• Revenge porn mainly being carried out by women, external