An events venue in Hanley would be "for every resident of Stoke-on-Trent" the councillor responsible for regeneration has promised.

Councillor Daniel Jellyman said he was confident of getting funding for the project after being "shortlisted for a huge pot of money from government".

Image source, Google

The plan is to build it on the site of the former East West shopping centre, which is being demolished.

Work is due to finish next month and the 10-acre site will be used as a car park in the short term, but Mr Jellyman said the arena scheme is part of the council's plan to connect up parts of the city.

The RSPCA wants to finds those responsible for the "cruel" air gun attack.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

A proposal to open a lap dancing club in Birmingham’s business district has been approved in the face of more than 40 objections.

Image source, Google

La Belle’s will be based in the former Cogs Bar with £2m being spent on refurbishing and re-purposing the building on the corner of Newhall Street and Great Charles Street Queensway in the city centre.

Birmingham City Council’s licensing committee approved the application on Wednesday after a five-hour meeting where tempers occasionally flared.

There have been more than 40 official objections, particularly from residents and businesses of the area arguing it is an inappropriate location for a lap dancing club.

Wolverhampton is the latest council set to declare a "climate emergency" as part of a drive to reduce carbon emissions.

Image source, Getty Images

Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency".

A motion will be put forward at full council on 16 July.

There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.

It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared with 1990 levels) by 2050.

BBC Weather Watchers

We've had some wonderful photos shared by the BBC Weather Watchers this morning, including this one, taken at Napton on the Hill in Warwickshire by a user using the name LittleAcorns.

Image source, Littleacorns

Others include this sunrise by the mere in Ellesmere and Dammo appears to have gone to the Cricket World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston today.

We're all very jealous.

Image source, Marguerite

Image source, Dammo

A woman has won her two-year legal battle to adopt a little boy in Uganda.

Emilie Larter from Leigh Sinton, in Worcestershire, was volunteering for a children's charity in Uganda when staff received news that a woman had died and she was given care of the youngest, who didn't even have a name.

Image source, Emilie Larter

Ms Larter hopes to be able to bring the child, who became known as Adam, back to the UK eventually, but says it could still be 18 months before all the paperwork is complete.

Shropshire Star

Here are three stories from the Shropshire Star today:

• Woman and three children escape wreckage, external
• Child sexual exploitation inquiry to look back 30 years, external
• Local heroes in the running for Telford bridge name, external

The family of a motorcyclist who died in a crash near Ledbury last month have described him as "a hardworking man who loved life to the full".

Andrew Murray from Tewkesbury was killed in a head-on crash at Hollybush on the A438 on 30 June. His wife Emma said the 57-year-old was "a top bloke who loved his family and enjoyed many things: Burnley football club, riding motorbikes and of course, hunting with his dogs".

Image source, Family photo

West Mercia Police is asking for help in understanding how the crash happened and have appealed for dashcam footage.

A Warwickshire hotel said its Twitter account had been hacked after hundreds of users on the site responded to an update from its account calling UK flags "racist and offensive".

Image source, Twitter

In a statement, Wroxall Abbey and Estate said staff had been "shocked to see what had been posted on our behalf".

Twitter users responded to the tweet by sending pictures of flags with some calling for a boycott of the hotel.

Others posted negative reviews on TripAdvisor in response.

In a statement the hotel said: "We can confirm that we do not consider ourselves unpatriotic and that the views expressed on Twitter are not those held by Wroxall Abbey and its staff."

"Thankfully," it said it had now regained control of the Twitter account and was working to rectify the situation.

Research by social media experts at the BBC revealed more than 5,000 people were talking about the original message on Twitter this morning.

If you're heading to Edgbaston for the cricket, you may come across a few showers later, but bright spells are also expected.

BBC Weather's Billy Payne said: "It's now looking mostly cloudy through both the morning and afternoon with occasional light showers possible, but a few bright or sunny interludes may develop.

Highs of 22C (72F).

BBC News Travel

A fault with the signalling system between Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street is now set to disrupt rail services until 13:30.

Details of the fault were first revealed after 07:00.

Warsame Ahmed Mohamed punched, kicked and stamped on Zakir Nawaz following a row over a car crash.

The police say a woman and three children who were taken to hospital after a car crash near Wem yesterday all suffered head injuries, but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Their Vauxhall Zafira hit a garden wall at a house on Shrewsbury Road and then overturned and the four were all taken to the North Staffordshire Hospital for treatment.

Image source, West Mercia Police

BBC Sport

Jordanne Whiley will play her first match at Wimbledon today since taking time away from the sport to have her first child.

Image source, Getty Images

The Halesowen player has lifted 10 Grand Slam titles in her career including four at the All England Club.

She has already won nine events since returning to tennis in February following the birth of her son Jackson.

She's preparing to make her Wimbledon comeback, two years after winning the wheelchair doubles title with Yui Kamiji,who she will play in her first singles match before teaming up with in the doubles.

She had set her sights on reaching the world top 15 by the end of July - yet she's already in the top eight.

"It's been so much better than I ever could have imagined," says Whiley, who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease.

BBC Radio Stoke

Investigation work to find out what's wrong with a Stoke-on-Trent fly-over could continue until the weekend.

The A53 Festival Park fly-over has been closed since Tuesday after an issue was found with an expansion joint - it's not yet known how extensive the problem is.

Image source, Google

The road surface needs pulling up, before the council knows how long repairs will take.

Aston Villa sign England Under-21 defender Ezri Konsa from Championship side Brentford in a £12m deal.

A woman should find out today whether she will be able to adopt a Ugandan boy she has looked after since his mother's death..

Image source, Emilie Larter

Emilie Larter has spent years trying to adopt Adam who she met days after his mum died while volunteering in the country.

Emilie, from Leigh Sinton, Worcestershire, became the baby's sole carer and ran a crowdfunding campaign to help cover the costs of formally adopting the youngster and bring him to the UK.

A judge will make the final decision on whether or not to declare her Adam's legal mother

Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines this morning are:

• HMP Birmingham staff attacked by violent inmates, external
• Calls to exempt mosque and church worshippers from Clean Air Zone charges, external
• Birmingham bids to become UK Tree City, external

Senior Labour figures have expressed anger and alarm over claims some of Jeremy Corbyn's closest allies tried to interfere in disciplinary processes involving allegations of anti-Semitism.

Deputy leader Tom Watson was among those who spoke out following accusations made in Wednesday's BBC Panorama documentary.

The West Bromwich East MP said he was "shocked" and "appalled" by the claims.

Labour said the programme was inaccurate and denied any interference.

Good news if you're heading to Edgbaston this morning.