Smokers in Worcestershire are being invited to take part in a poll when they bin their butts.

It's hoped the questions will encourage smokers to avoid dropping cigarette ends on the street, cutting the littering by half.

Wyre Forest District Council has installed six yellow bins around Stourport, Bewdley and Kidderminster, asking people to cast their vote by leaving butts in one of two slots, depending on their answer.

But what do you do if you don't like superheroes?

The receptacles cost £1,500, although the questions can be easily changed.

A Cheshire Coroner spokeswoman confirmed it was informed of John Hall's death on Thursday.

Midlands caucus shapes up behind Boris Johnson's rival.

Essex and Warwickshire are to switch County Championship fixtures following the flooding at New Road, Worcester.

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Sport

Coventry Blaze say the revamp of their defence is complete with the addition of 23-year-old American Chris Pohlkamp.

The right-hander joins from the College side Bowling Green State University and head coach Danny Stewart says he is "gritty, blocks shots and comes to work every night".

Image source, Dave Reginek

The club has also confirmed three players from last season, Kevin Noble, Chris Joyaux and Ivan Puzic, won't be returning.

Defenceman Nicolai Bryhnisveen has already left, joining Stavanger Oilers in Norway.

Image source, Scott Wiggins

The final details of a Clean Air Zone to tackle pollution in Birmingham have been approved - including a charge of £120 for non-compliant vehicles entering it.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The city began its strategy after roads were identified as unlikely to meet legal air quality levels.

It was revealed last week that the zone's implementation would be put back after delays to the vehicle-checking software required to make the system operational and enforceable.

Vehicles deemed high-polluting are set to be charged between £8 and £50 a day to travel through the city centre, depending on their type.

A new report today says £75m of net proceeds will be used to create new parking zones, cycle routes and a pilot scheme for hydrogen buses.

Levi Whitmore-Wills will be detained in a young offenders institute for seven years.

The union Unite says it will "leave no stone unturned" to find new jobs for workers affected by the closure of the Kerry Foods factory in Burton-upon-Trent, but warns "there are not that many well paid jobs in Burton and the vicinity".

Kerry Foods announced the closure on Monday, with 900 jobs set to go.

Unite, which describes the closure as "the end of an era", says there will be a meeting with management on Friday to discuss redundancy package for its members.

Villagers were woken by the noise of a farm vehicle "ramming" the front of the shop.

Two men have been taken to hospital following a crash on the M40 in Warwickshire.

Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening, the ambulance service says.

Image source, Warwickshire Police

A van which overturned is still blocking one lane of the northbound carriageway between J15 and J16.

BBC Weather Watchers

It's a grey and wet day across the West Midlands that the BBC Weather Watchers have been recording.

This one was taken in Kings Norton...

Image source, KarenJ

And oh the glamour, this was the scene in Hednesford earlier. It's definitely "bin" a wet one...

Image source, Angus and Me

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Port Vale manager John Askey has said he's pleased with their summer transfer activity so far and he's preparing to add another player to his squad.

The club has signed four so far and Askey said: "We're not having to go out and panic into getting players, we're in a decent position."

Image source, Getty Images

Askey is looking to add another three or four players and added: "we're getting good players in who've got good attitudes, who want to progress."

A man hurt in a crash in Worcestershire earlier has died of his injuries, West Midlands Ambulance Service has confirmed.

A spokesperson said the pedestrian died at the scene of the crash which happened in Beckford at 06:45 and involved a car and stationary lorry.

The ambulance service added a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s were taken to hospital in Redditch, where their conditions were not believed to be serious.

The loss of Kerry Foods - the biggest employer in Burton-upon-Trent - is "crushing", unions said.

This colourful map, external shows the rainfall in the West Midlands recorded by the Met Office this morning.

Yellow shows the areas hardest hit.

The Met Office said 29mm was recorded in two hours by a rain gauge near Alberbury in Shropshire.

Image source, Met Office

Thieves used a construction vehicle to rip the front off a Co-op store so they could take the cash machine inside.

Image source, Debbie Williams

Debbie Williams, who works at the shop in Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, said she was woken at about 02:30 by a large bang, and then watched as a wall was demolished before thieves loaded the cash machine into the back of a truck.

She said they "were brazen as anything - it was like a film, you just couldn't believe it".

Image source, Debbie Williams

Ms Williams said: "To stand outside and see that in the heart of the village is just so tragic."

Play is set to start on time at The Oval for day three of Warwickshire's match against Surrey.

England opener Mark Stoneman led the way with 71 on day two as Surrey fought back after surrendering a first-innings lead to Warwickshire.

The chief inspector of prisons says the number of assaults on teenagers at HMYOI Werrington was high.

A man who stabbed another man to death with a fishing knife in a row over a stolen PlayStation is set to be sentenced later.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Patrick Hill, 22, died three days after he was attacked inside a flat in Albany Court, Coventry, on 10 February.

Levi Whitmore-Wills, 18, admitted striking the first blow in a struggle but said he held the knife just to get Mr Hill to leave the flat.

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Warwick Crown Court on Monday.

BBC News Travel

A van has overturned on the M40 northbound in Warwickshire.

Two lanes are closed from J15 to J16, with heavy congestion in the area.

There's also congestion on the southbound carriageway with drivers slowing to look at the crash.