The mystery saboteur is being urged to stop after hundreds of pins were picked off a popular route.

Hereford Cathedral Choir will be travelling to France next week to take part in services and events commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

The choir will sing at several services, including the Royal British Legion Commemoration Service at Bayeux Cathedral.

The service will be attended by veterans, their families and dignitaries. Bayeux was the first town to be liberated by the Allied forces.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Shropshire Council is working to reduce the number of empty houses in the county, with more than 1,700 unoccupied at the last count.

A report to a committee explained measures ranged from financial incentives and advice for owners to compulsory purchase orders or enforced sales in some instances.

Karen Collier, the regulatory services operations manager at the authority, said it was important the numbers were managed because empty properties could "attract vandalism, anti-social behaviour and be detrimental to an area".

Shrewsbury Town striker Lenell John-Lewis signs a new six-month contract as he recovers from his January knee operation.

BBC Weather Watchers

Some of the West Midlands' wildlife for you now, care of our local BBC Weather Watchers who snap photos of the region as well as updating us on the weather where they are.

These three are from users Peter Bear Lowe in Birmingham, Muffin the Mule in Walsall and Mollies Meadow in Redditch, Worcestershire:

Image source, Peter Bear Lowe

Image source, Muffin The Mule

Image source, Mollies Meadow

A maternity unit that was shut for about six months last year for repairs and refurbishment is going to close for a further six months for more works.

The Midwife Led Unit at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital closed when part of the roof collapsed. It re-opened after a £500,000 re-fit in December.

Now the trust running the site says it needs to upgrade to meet fire regulations and fix a number of issues caused by the building's age.

Women who were booked to give birth there will be transferred to other hospitals, including the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, starting from 10 June.

BBC Sport

Surrey's Gareth Batty took eight wickets including a hat-trick before Warwickshire declared on 166-9, setting a victory target of 272.

They were career-best figures for the 41-year-old spinner, who finished with 8-64.

Image source, Getty Images

Worcestershire meanwhile need another 267 runs if they're going to beat Middlesex on the final day of their county championship match at New Road. They have eight wickets remaining.

Allen Cook
BBC News

An appeal's being made to try to find a D-Day veteran's family so his ashes can be scattered eight years after his death.

Sandwell Borough Council said George Mills (pictured, right) died in 2011 but had no known relatives surviving him so his ashes were kept at the care home where he'd been living., external

Image source, Sandwell Borough Council

Born in Wales in 1923, Mr Mills was one of the first men ashore on Sword Beach during the D-Day landings and lost an eye after being wounded in Normandy.

The council said he then settled in Tipton after marrying his wife and worked as a postman before his death in 2011.

The local authority and the Royal British Legion hope any surviving relatives come forward so they can hold a ceremony in his honour and scatter his ashes at a future date.

A Birmingham man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping and trafficking a 15-year-old Telford girl.

Ghamer Sulayman, who is 23 and from Mercia Drive, Kings Heath, had been found guilty of one count of rape and two of human trafficking by a jury at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

Image source, West Mercia Police

Sulayman was found not guilty of one other count of human trafficking.

A potential police recruit who was rejected because he was white, heterosexual and male is given a job.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Birmingham's Sea Life Centre was evacuated this morning after a fire broke out in a fridge.

West Midlands Fire Service was called just after 11:00 but said the blaze was out when they arrived and the fridge was moved to a safer area.

They said people were allowed back in before midday and no animals or visitors were hurt.

Carl Scott had been charged with murdering 26-year-old Jayde Hall in Stoke-on-Trent.

Shropshire Star

From the Shropshire Star today:

• Number of A&E nurses set to almost double, external
• Shropshire horse trainer to close business, external
• Ludlow MP backs Jeremy Hunt for Tory leadership, external

Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow says the promoted club must stay calm in the transfer market this summer.

BBC News UK

As Birmingham gets the UK's first 5G network from today, some farmers in the West Midlands will wonder what the fuss is about.

In the city, it is only available to EE customers prepared to buy a new phone and pay £54 a month for access.

But a rural 5G trial - part funded by the UK government - has been under way for a few months already, designed to make the case for investment in areas without lots of customers.

5G Rural First is being delivered by a consortium of more than 30 partners, including tech companies, universities and the BBC.

In Shropshire, researchers have been running what's known as a hands-free hectare, with a drone and a tractor operating autonomously using data sent over 5G to farm a field.

Read more about the scheme here on the BBC website.

West Bromwich Albion expect to have a new boss in place by the time their first-team squad returns for pre-season training.

Bromsgrove MP and home secretary Sajid Javid is trending on Twitter but it's safe to say it's not in the way he expected.

Here's what the prime minster hopeful had to say, and while it's about a second ref, it's not that one...

And then Twitter responded in a Twitter way and the hashtag #permissionfromsajid was born.

It has been used more than 19,400 times already and people have asked him whether it's okay to go to the toilet, have a sandwich and get a haircut.

And this SNP MP had this question...

Meanwhile, Scotland's The National newspaper had a stop-the-press moment...

Hospital staff in Shrewsbury and Telford suffered physical or verbal abuse 114 times last year, a report has revealed.

The incidents included one in which a security guard was knocked unconscious and another in which a man with Hepatitis C spat at a nurse.

Image source, SATH

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust - which runs Royal Shrewsbury and The Princess Royal hospitals - said both culprits later appeared in court and were jailed.

Acts of antisocial behavior, violence or aggression at the two sites have remained at roughly the same level for the last four years.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A man charged with the murder of a woman in Stoke-on-Trent has died in prison, a court's confirmed.

Carl Scott was accused of killing Jayde Hall, 26, who was found dead in Cherry Hill Avenue in Meir last Friday.

Following an appearance before magistrates on Monday, Mr Scott, 46, from Stoke-on-Trent and on remand at HMP Dovegate in Uttoxeter, had been due to appear at Stafford Crown Court tomorrow. The court confirmed today that was no longer the case due to his death.

Image source, Family handout

A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "I can confirm that we have been informed that Carl Scott has now deceased and as a result the criminal proceedings against him have been dropped."

A spokesperson for Serco which runs the prison said an inquest would be carried out "in due course" following a death at the prison on Monday evening.

BBC Sport

Warwickshire will be hoping for quick runs this morning after bad weather hampered their hopes of earning a first County Championship Division One win of the season.

Only 90 minutes of play was possible yesterday against champions Surrey and the Bears are set to resume their second innings on 76-2, leading by 181 runs.

In Division Two, Worcestershire still face a battle to avoid defeat at home to Middlesex, despite rain also limiting play at New Road yesterday.

The visitors are due to resume on 287-6 in their second innings, leading the Pears by 260 runs.

You can listen to the games on BBC local radio commentary or use the BBC Cricket website to stay up to date.