A Department for Work and Pensions manager says David Mackereth "left work because he chose to do so".

Shoppers are travelling hundreds of miles to visit the retailer's massive new store in Birmingham.

England proved why they are the "benchmark" in one-day cricket in their dominant World Cup semi-final victory, says Australia captain Aaron Finch.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

There will be some sunny intervals this evening but also some showers which may be heavy.

It should be a dry night with some clear spells with highs of 13C (55F).

Emilie Larter hopes to bring the boy she took care of while working for a charity back to the UK.

Taylor Williams, 17, who had a history of self-harming, was found with a ligature around her neck.

Hereford Times

Here are three stories from the Hereford Times:

• Motorcyclist who died in crash is named, external
• Overturned car closes road, external
• Gardener's World comes to nature reserve, external

The RSPCA said it was monitoring a pond where a number of dead birds have been found.

Geese, along with a raven and moorhen have been recovered from the water at Smethwick Hall Park.

A spokesperson from the organisation said: "When we attended there was a number of bodies floating on the lake and two geese were obviously in ill-health as they appeared limp."

Image source, Mandy Hall

An animal welfare officer managed to rescue the ill birds. it said.

The Environment Agency said it had been working with Severn Trent on the water quality in the pool.

"We cannot say for sure whether the deaths are related to the pollution," it added.

Severn Trent Water earlier said it had been monitoring the water quality in recent months and was "confident" the deaths were "unconnected" with previous pollution levels.

Children at Wood Green Junior School in Wednesbury have launched their own weekly radio show.

Emilie Larter has spent three years trying to adopt an orphan she met while working for a charity.

Drone footage shows more than a dozen cars abandoned on land in Walsall.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Dare

A poster promoting a Commonwealth Games event in Birmingham has had to be redesigned because it featured an "inappropriate" image of a man "thrusting" towards the Bullring.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The Commonwealth Social is an event being held to celebrate three years until the start of the Commonwealth Games, with the poster featuring various Birmingham landmarks as well as two people, but the offending character has now been flipped the other way around.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The concern was raised by a local councillor, who wrote: "I don’t wish to seem unhelpful, but I’m surprised no-one noticed the rather unfortunate positioning of the bearded gentleman on the flyer in relation to the Selfridges building.

“If it’s not too late I’d suggest rethinking the design.”

A spokesperson for Birmingham 2022 said it hadn't received any complaints about the promotional material for the event, and added: "Our design reflects a fun and exciting event and we are really surprised that anyone would choose to interpret it in any other way."

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

Reports of fly-tipping in Coventry increased by 47% over the course of the last financial year.

City council figures show there were 6,922 cases reported, compared with 4,704 in 2017-18 and they also show the numbers rising year-on-year.

A report due to go before councillors said there had also been a 50% increase in enforcement action taken in the last financial year.

And it identified a number of problem areas, including St Michael's Foleshill and Upper Stoke.

More than 76,000 people have applied for tickets to a premier screening of the new Peaky Blinders season, at Birmingham Town Hall.

That's nearly double the number who applied to go to the premier of season four, the BBC has said.

Caryn Mandabach executive producer of Peaky Blinders, said: "Peaky Blinders is a love letter to Birmingham, so we’re thrilled that the feeling is mutual.”

The new season will see the Peaky Blinders' world thrown into turmoil by the financial crash of 1929 and Tommy Shelby proposing a bold vision, as a member of Parliament.

Cannabis seized by police at a property on Market Street in Longton is said to have a street value of £2.6m.

Staffordshire Police said they have also arrested a 38-year-old man, of no fixed address, and charged him with producing a Class B drug.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The force said the raid was part of a summer crackdown on violent crime and drugs and that it's in the process of dismantling the cannabis operation.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Stephen Topping

Plans to transform Crewe's train station and the surrounding area could put to the public later this month.

They involve up to 3,700 new homes, a new entrance to the station, a new bus and taxi station and a multi-storey car park, along with offices, a hotel and shopping centre.

Image source, Cheshire East Council

There could also be a new public square to the north of Crewe Alexandra’s stadium and a bridge connecting it to Weston Road and members of Cheshire East Council's strategic plans board have now approved the latest version of the plans.

The cabinet member for planning now has to approve the plans, before they can move forward to consultation, starting on 22 July.

A route change has been announced for this year's Great Birmingham Run, which will start on New Street on Sunday 13 October.

Image source, Great Birmingham Run

The route will take runners past city centre landmarks as well as Cannon Hill Park and the Edgbaston Stadium before finishing at the Aston University campus.

The half marathon is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for local and national charities.

An alleged terrorist accused of trying to kill police officers and cyclists outside Westminster has told a court he "panicked" after getting lost in London.

Image source, Reuters

At his Old Bailey trial, Salih Khater, from Birmingham, denied intending to kill anyone during the August 2018 incident.

He told jurors he had travelled from his home in the city to the capital to visit the Sudanese embassy for a visa and after getting lost was in a state of "confusion and hesitation" when he hit a pedestrian and cyclists.

Asked why he failed to stop after the crash, Mr Khater said: "The car was not in my full control at the time."

Mr Khater, 30, denies two counts of attempted murder.

The trial continues.

Shropshire's health commissioners are considering reducing the number of free hearing aids it hands out.

The chair of the clinical commissioning group, Dr Julian Povey said it was "looking long and hard" at the contract to supply the hearing aids and may follow the lead of north Staffordshire, where hearing aids are no longer given to people with mild hearing loss.

Image source, Getty Images

Dr Povey, who uses a hearing aid himself, promised "we will do things ideally where they will improve patient care", but admitted "we're reaching the point where not everything we do may improve patient care, it may restrict patient care".

The CCG, which is due to merge with the CCG for Telford, has forecast a cumulative deficit of £99.5m by the end of this financial year.