BBC Midlands Today

Students at Hereford and Ludlow College are being asked today to become stem cell donors to help save a boy with leukaemia.

Image source, Family Handout

Five-year-old Oscar Saxelby-Lee, from Worcester, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia after he became unwell over Christmas.

Last week, his family said he was now responding to chemotherapy, meaning a stem cell transplant is possible.

He has been told he requires such a transplant within three months of chemotherapy otherwise his chances of survival will "severely diminish".

Today, a family friend is encouraging 16 to 30-year-olds to register with the Anthony Nolan Trust and give a mouth swab at the college to see if they are possible donors.

Two men have been arrested over the kidnap of a man after he was involved in a crash in Warwick., external

Image source, Google

Police said the victim was in a Chevrolet Cruze which was involved in a minor collision on Monday afternoon on Shakespeare Avenue.

He was then attacked by two men from the other vehicle, a Vauxhall Corsa, with a third man turning up to march the man to a cash machine to withdraw money.

The victim was then forced into the Corsa and driven to another cash machine in Market Place while the first men stole tools from his car.

Police said they later spotted the Vauxhall and arrested a 24-year-old man from Stratford-upon-Avon on suspicion of kidnap.

A 25-year-old man from Leamington Spa was arrested yesterday on suspicion of robbery.

BBC Midlands Today

The funeral of two boys who were killed in a crash in Wolverhampton is due to be held later., external

Image source, West Midlands Police

Sanjay Singh, 10, and Pawanveer Singh, 23 months, were in a BMW with their mother when it was in collision with an Audi S3 earlier this month.

West Midlands Police said the car, being driven by the boys' mother, was turning right from Birmingham New Road into Lawnswood Avenue when it was struck.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and released pending further investigation.

A sum of £116,000 from Public Health England (PHE) is set to help families affected by alcohol abuse.

City of Wolverhampton Council, which secured the cash, says it will go towards creating a hub at alcohol treatment centre "Recovery Near You", which is based at the Thornhurst building on Connaught Road.

Councillor Hazel Malcolm, cabinet member for public health and wellbeing, says she hopes the funding will help improve recovery rates.

Wolverhampton is one of 23 projects nationally to receive a share of PHE's £6m capital fund.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

A dry start to Wednesday for the West Midlands - here's how the rest of today's weather is looking:

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

BBC News England

The visit of Dippy the Diplodocus helped boost visitor numbers to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery by more than a third last year.

Image source, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

The figures, from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva), show the venue welcomed 832,000 people in 2018 - up 38% on the previous year.

The replica dinosaur skeleton was in Birmingham for five months as part of its three-year tour from the Natural History Museum.

Express and Star

From the Express and Star:

• Tata Steel to cut 65 jobs at Wednesfield plant amid losses, external
• Drivers facing fines if caught using extended bus lane, external
• Bowling alley site plans revealed six years after devastating fire, external

BBC Entertainment and Arts

Musicians have paid tribute to singer Roger Charlery, known as Ranking Roger, who has died aged 56.

Image source, Getty Images

The Birmingham-born star, best known as a vocalist with The Beat, died at home on Tuesday, surrounded by family, a statement on the band's website , externalsaid.

Charlery suffered a stroke last summer and was reported to have been diagnosed with two brain tumours and lung cancer in recent months.

Tweeting , externalcondolences, songwriter Billy Bragg said: "Rest easy, Rude Boy."

Pauline Black, who fronted two-tone Coventry band the Selecter, posted a short excerpt from Hamlet, which read: "Goodnight sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

Allen Cook
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

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.

National League promotion hopefuls Solihull are denied all three points by a late Idris Kanu equaliser at Boreham Wood.

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.

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

It should be a dry night with clear spells and highs of 5C (41F).

The owner of a golf complex has been recognised for his services to the sport by England Golf Awards.

Ian Bonser, who has run 3 Hammers near Wolverhampton for the past 33 years, said: "I have made it my life’s work to make golf fun, affordable and friendly and I am incredibly proud that England Golf has recognised the success we have had.

"Golf is a fantastic sport, which I have played since I was 11 years old, which is why I am so intent on giving as many people as possible the chance to play."

Image source, England Golf

Leyton Orient win 3-1 on aggregate at Telford to book an FA Trophy final on 19 May against AFC Fylde, who won at Stockport.

Alice Cutter denies being a member of the far-right group National Action after it was banned.

Two men have been charged over a robbery bid at a cigarette warehouse in Cheshire.

Assailants threatened security staff in the incident on Weston Road, Crewe, on Sunday night, but left empty-handed.

A 64-year-old man from Coventry and a 57-year-old of no fixed address were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.

Shropshire Star

Some of the Shropshire Star headlines today are:

• Telford council claims strong and robust case over hospital plans, external
• 140 jobs set to be lost with closure of Telford's HMRC office, external
• Teenage boys hurl rocks to break into disused Telford building, external

Martin Winch
BBC News

Work has started on a church building for a congregation that's been in temporary accommodation since 2011.

Coventry churchgoers who've been worshipping in a nearby primary school and then a temporary building are hoping the new church will be ready by September.

The congregation at St Catherine's in Acorn Street was forced out when the building's upkeep became too expensive.

Reverend Buff Forbes-Stone said funding for the development of churches in deprived areas had made the building possible.

Hanzalah Patel, 22, from Leicester, told a court that he thought getting into Syria would be a "walk in the park."

A man has suffered head injuries in a "violent" car-jacking.

Up to seven men attacked the victim, knocking him to the floor with a weapon before stealing his car, West Midlands Police said.

It happened on Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, at about 20:30 GMT on Monday.

The injured man, said to be in his 40s, was taken to hospital.

His attackers drove from the scene, in his Mercedes, at speed, police said.

The force has released CCTV images of people it would like to trace in connection with its investigation.

Image source, West Midlands Police