Arthur Gumbley, 87, died three weeks after the raid on his home by intruders who also broke his ribs.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans for 76 new homes in Telford, for the local authority's Nuplace, external house-letting company, will go before councillors next Wednesday.

The two-, three- and four-bedroom homes will be built on an eight-acre plot in Priorslee and council officers admit in their report to members that concerns had been raised about the site being cramped and over-developed.

But the report says the housing density is not out of keeping with other developments which have been approved in the area.

Image source, PA

An objection has been received from Kiyokuni Europe Ltd, an engineering company nearby, “raising concerns that the proposal may restrict future plans to expand to a 24-hour operation”.

The Nuplace company, has promised a contribution of more than £210,000 towards primary education in the area, and an additional £100,000 for roads and children’s playing facilities.

The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke about the murder of the Birmingham teenager Hazrat Umar during a discussion on knife crime in Prime Minister's Questions today.

He said: "Perhaps she [the prime minister] could listen to Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecutor of Greater Manchester.

"Tragically, his 17-year-old relative was recently stabbed to death in Birmingham and he said this: 'when you reduce police numbers by 21,000, there isn't the intelligence any more, there isn't the neighbourhood policing any more.'"

Mr Corbyn asked if Theresa May "now regrets the cuts in police numbers and will she undertake that under this review they will be restored to the level they were formerly at?"

The prime minister replied: "It is a fact that more money is being put into the police this year, that more money is being put into the police next year."

Halesowen News

The Halesowen News is covering these stories today:

• Halesowen Town name Lee Hughes as new manager, external
• Plans for new bus and tram station for Dudley are approved, external
• Dad struck by hit and run driver seconds after strapping kids into car, external

Bin workers employed by Birmingham City Council will be going on strike again on Friday.

The Unite union said it was taking the action because there had been "no further movement since talks held between the council and Unite concluded on Monday".

Image source, Getty Images

Huge piles of rubbish littered the streets during an initial three-month strike in 2017 as people struggled to dispose of their waste.

Unite and Unison members are currently striking two days a week over payments made to non-striking bin staff at the GMB union.

Unite says it is also balloting members for further industrial action, saying the council failed to meet the terms of the agreement which ended the 2017 strikes.

Untaxed vehicles are being targeted in Birmingham today, with the city named as one of the worst places for car tax evasion.

More than 5,000 vehicles were clamped in Birmingham last year for being untaxed and more than 50,000 fines issued.

Prime Minister's Questions began this lunchtime with both Theresa May and the leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn paying tribute to Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, who died on Friday.

Lord Bhattacharyya started Warwick Manufacturing Group in 1980, which brought the university together with industry.

Image source, WMG

Theresa May described it as a "pioneering partnership between academia and industry" and said he would be "sorely missed".

Jeremy Corbyn praised Lord Bhattacharyya's role in rescuing Jaguar Land Rover and enabling its takeover byTata.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A man's been arrested on suspicion of murder, external over the death of another man on a Wolverhampton street.

Image source, Family handout

Cameron Wilkinson, 26, was found dead in Chadwick Close, Merry Hill, on Tuesday 19 February, police said.

Police say the 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail with strict conditions.

When Bear the hedgehog was found in a garden in January, he'd lost all his spines.

Staff at Cuan Wildlife centre at Much Wenlock in Shropshire believe they'd fallen out due to stress and have been nursing him back to health and giving him massages to encourage them to grow back.

Since he was taken in, Bear has doubled in weight and his spines are all starting to return.

The centre hopes to return him to his natural environment in the summer.

Maxine Howell fell ill in Mexico with insurers refusing to fully fund her £300,000 medical bill.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

Any showers that have been around today should die away as we head into tonight - here's the full forecast for the West Midlands for the rest of the night and tomorrow morning:

You can get a latest weather forecast for your area at any other time by heading to the BBC Weather website.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Dozens of arrests have been made by West Midlands Police in four days of stop and searches, which were stepped up in response to rising incidents of knife crime.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Three teenage boys have been stabbed to death in Birmingham over a period of just 12 days and there have been nearly 300 knife crimes recorded in the city so far this year.

The force says in four days officers have made 24 arrests and seized 14 weapons in 408 stop and searches carried out under Section 60 powers., external

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Sport

Coventry scrum-half Pete White could miss Friday's trip to London Scottish after picking up an injury in the weekend win over Richmond.

He was seen hobbling around on crutches after taking a blow to his leg.

Image source, Coventry Bears

Director of rugby Rowland Winter said it was probably a dead leg, rather than anything more serious and joked "he made a big meal of it and he's had lots of stick from the boys".

Alex Woolford will be suspended for the game - he's been banned for two games after a clash of heads in the win.

And the club has also announced that hooker Phil Nilsen and centre Sam Tuitupu will retire at the end of this season.

Children are being asked to name Shropshire Council's new pothole-fixing lorries

The local authority has brought in two of the Roadmaster vehicles, which use compressed air to blow water or dirt out of the hole and then fill it with hot bitumen and chippings, before adding a surface layer and rolling it flat.

Image source, Shropshire Council

Last year, people were asked to suggest names for the council's fleet of 25 gritting lorries. This competition is open to any child under the age of 16.

Entrants are being asked to email, external their ideas before 17:00 on 22 March.

The manager of Nuneaton Borough FC says he has an important meeting with potential investors next Monday.

The club, which has debts believed to be about £140,000, says it needs at least £100,000 to keep running and is looking for 10 investors to contribute £10,000 each.

Jimmy Ginnelly, who is also acting chairman of the club, said they might need to alter their plans, with some investors contributing more than others, but he was hopeful of getting at least seven or eight contributors.

HMRC issued the club with a winding up order and it is also under a transfer embargo.

The footage has been shown during the trial of the three-year-old's father.

A machinery firm says relocating its business to a Staffordshire business park will secure its future.

Image source, Google

Morris Site Machinery is going to move from Four Ashes, near Cannock, to the i54 site near Wolverhampton. , external

The engineering and manufacturing firm makes mobile lighting towers, generators and pressure washers.

Staffordshire County Council says plans have been submitted for the development.

Shropshire Star

Here are three headlines from the Shropshire Star today:

• Fresh housing 'threat' to ancient hill-fort, external
• Pride Hill work on track at last, external
• £50m plan set for approval at KK Downing's old stately home, external

The mother of a promising rapper who was stabbed to death in 2013 says the lack of progress on knife crime is a "disgrace".

Joshua Ribera was killed in Birmingham in 2013 at an event arranged in memory of a friend who also died in a knife attack.

Image source, YouTube

Joshua's mother, Alison Cope, now talks to thousands of young people every week about knife crime and told the Press Association that responses to the issue are "too slow".

It followed the deaths of three people in Birmingham in stabbings over the course of just 12 days.

She added: "Nobody is making this a priority, and it's very, very, very sad."

Ms Cope is calling for every area and city to have a coordinated response team made up of ex-gang members, survivors of knife attacks, families of victims, the police and community and family support officers.

Today, Home Secretary Sajid Javid called for knife crime to be treated "like a disease" after meeting police chiefs from the seven forces most affected by violent crime, including West Midlands Police.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

New road safety measures are going to be installed outside a Coventry school after a two-year campaign by parents and councillors.

They were concerned about what they describe the lack of a "safe" crossing outside the Manor Park primary school in Cheylesmore and it comes a month after a child was hit by a car there.

A petition with 404 signatures warned cars were speeding down Ulverscroft Road, while some parents park illegally on yellow zig-zag lines to drop off and pick up children.

The latest measures include two 20mph signs and patrols to catch drivers who park illegally.