BBC Midlands Today

A study by the University of Birmingham has found teaching children about species' cultural heritage could help with conservation.

Pupils were divided into groups and presented with facts about magpies.

They were given either cultural, scientific or both lots of information about the birds.

The survey results showed students who were told about cultural heritage regarded it as a reason to protect magpies.

Joanne Malin
BBC Midlands Today

A decision is to be made today on a request for access over public land in Malvern.

The Malvern Hills Trust, external is responsible for land which encircles a privately owned field on Guarlford Road.

An application has been made for an 'easement', or right of access into the field which is earmarked for potential development.

Insurance firm Ageas says it will do all it can to support "our people in securing alternative roles" after announcing the closure of its Stoke-on-Trent office.

Image source, Google

About 350 people are set to lose their jobs. The call centre in Trentham Lakes is to close, as part of Ageas's reorganisation of its six sites in England.

Staff were informed on Monday the branch would close in June 2020.

Ageas said the decision was down to a reduction in customers wanting to buy insurance over the phone.

Chief executive officer Andy Watson said: "We will do all we can to support our people in securing alternative roles and are working with a number of organisations including local businesses."

Police have released an image of a man they want to speak to over an attack in which a woman was raped at a flat in Birmingham city centre.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Between midnight and 00:55 GMT on Friday, a 32-year-old woman was left with serious injuries after she was sexually assaulted at the property in Essex Street.

Det Insp Dave Sproson, from West Midlands Police, external's Public Protection Unit, said: "A comprehensive investigation is under way to identify the person responsible for this very serious attack.

"I would urge anyone who recognises the man or anyone who might have seen or heard something suspicious to get in touch."

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

Any early mist will lift, leaving a mostly cloudy day with the small chance of a light shower. However, one or two bright or sunny interludes may develop. A mild day. Highs of 12C (54F).

Andrew Dawkins
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Tuesday.

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 , externaland Facebook, external.

A young former drug dealer tells the BBC what, out of fear of being attacked, he keeps under his coat.

Inquests into the 1974 bombings hear one pub could have been evacuated in under eight minutes.

Mark Goodreid broke his cheekbone, lost teeth and has had a plate put into the roof of his mouth.

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.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Andrew Morris

A team looking after country parks, heritage sites and rights of way in Shropshire is facing a £100,000 budget cut and redundancies.

The Shropshire Council Outdoor Partnerships Team is facing the cut due to the withdrawal of public health funding.

A Shropshire Council committee was told that's despite them bringing £500,000 of income into the county last year.

The cut will see staff asked to apply for voluntary redundancy while the Shropshire Wild Teams, which help volunteers take part in landscape management projects, will be ended.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
David Irwin

A mobile phone mast is being investigated by council chiefs over claims it is in breach of planning permission – because its cabinets are allegedly 20 cm too tall.

Residents claim that cabinets being installed alongside the mast in Yardley Wood Road, plans for which have already attracted criticism, are taller than they should be.

The application had previously been refused by Solihull’s planning committee, amid several hundred objections and concerns about equipment cluttering the verge, but permission was granted on appeal last autumn by the Planning Inspectorate.

A Solihull Council spokesman said: “We have visited the site and identified an apparent variance of around 200mm from the approved height of the cabinets. This figure is subject to further verification.

“The matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation and we are contacting the company to ask for an explanation.”

A spokesman for Cornerstone, which plans and builds base stations for Vodafone and Telefonica (O2), said: “[We] endeavour to ensure that all our developments are built in accordance with the relevant requirements.

“We await any comments from the local planning authority regarding the development at Yardley Wood Road, Solihull.”

Allen Cook
BBC News

The news that children's services at Stoke-on-Trent City Council have been rated as "inadequate"by Ofsted, external is just the latest critical report into children's services in the West Midlands.

Image source, Getty Images

Across the region, just three out of 14 councils are currently rated as good after full inspections - Shropshire, Staffordshire and Wolverhampton.

Sandell and Worcestershire are also, like Stoke-on-Trent, rated inadequate.

All the other authorities are either rated as "requires improvement" or "requires improvement to be good".

Kidderminster Shuttle

A few of the stories making the headlines on the Kidderminster Shuttle website:

• River levels continue to rise, external
• Free rides compensation for Kidderminster Diamond Bus users, external
• School gets new minibus, external

Marian McNamee
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

The sculpture, dedicated to the victims of knife crime, arrived in Coventry last week.

Created by Alfie Bradley at the British Ironworks Centre near Oswestry, it features 100,000 knives handed in to police or seized by officers.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Kerry Ashdown

Thousands of pounds is going to be spent on improvements to canals and a park in Staffordshire.

Cannock Chase councillors have approved spending £8,300 on tackling parking issures at Ravenhill Park, Rugeley.

They also agreed to spend £13,766 on towpath and access improvements on the Brereton stretch of the Trent and Mersey Canal.

While £10,000 has been given to a group looking at restoring the Lichfield and Haterton Canal.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

Work on a new link road in Herefordshire's going to start later this year after the government approved a series of compulsory purchase orders to buy the land needed to build it., external

Herefordshire Council says Hereford's southern link road will be built from the A49 to the A465 and link to the B4349 Clehonger Road.

The local authority's constructing the route to try to cut congestion on existing routes and provide access to the Hereford Enterprise Zone.

Ageas says it will close its Stoke-on-Trent office in June 2020, with the loss of 350 jobs.

Children performing a Bollywood dance inspired by Romeo and Juliet have marked the start of the annual Shakespeare week celebrations.

The children from Blakesley Hall Primary School could be seen at Birmingham's Moor Street station.

More than 12,000 primary schools have signed up to explore the playwright's language and stories.

Hereford Times

The headlines today on the Hereford Times website include:

• Worker found living in pantry with 'prison-like' windows, external
• £50,000 to be spent on library refurbishment, external
• Compulsory purchase orders confirmed for Hereford's southern link road, external