Burton Albion sign Everton's Wales Under-21 forward Nathan Broadhead on a season-long loan.

Joanne Gallacher
Political reporter, BBC Shropshire

The preferred candidate to take over running the merged clinical commissioning group for Shropshire was previously in charge at the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, but resigned after a government investigation into pay increases.

Katherine Sheerin is believed to be the person wanted for the new job, but the final sign-off is in the hands of NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens.

Image source, Getty Images

Ms Sheerin quit as the chief officer of Liverpool's CCG after a review found weaknesses in governance at the organisation and the management of conflict of interests.

Prosecutors say Lexi Draper and Scarlett Vaughan "got in the way" of Louise Porton's sex life.

Industrial action by rail workers will lead to a significantly reduced service on Sunday, train operator CrossCountry has warned., external

A six-day ban on overtime or working on rest days started at midnight last night by members belonging to the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).

The union said the firm had "imposed changes to company-wide agreements after holding negotiations outside of the collective bargaining agreement".

A police officer has been cleared by a court of racially aggravated wounding after his dog bit a man who was part of a group of travellers.

However, PC Paul Birch, 50, of Birmingham will now face a misconduct hearing over the incident at the former North Worcestershire Golf Course in Northfield on 4 September.

Image source, Google

Called to reports of roof tiles being stolen, it had been alleged PC Birch had called colleagues before the altercation using language that was racially derogatory.

After a three-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court, a judge directed jurors to find PC Birch not guilty on Thursday.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said the decision followed a successful application by PC Birch's barrister that the prosecution had put forward insufficient evidence and there was no case to answer.

The watchdog said it was now waiting to hear from West Midlands Police how a tribunal hearing would proceed after concluding there was a case to answer for gross misconduct.

Coventry Observer

Some of the headlining stories on the Coventry Observer website are:

• Illegal Coventry loan shark who charged 40 per cent flat rate jailed, external
• Roadshow helps hundreds find new training and jobs, external
• Memorial to Tile Hill community champion to be unveiled, external

A man has been arrested after an attack in Stoke-on-Trent on Tuesday.

The man suffered a facial injuries and was taken to hospital following the stabbing on Longport Road.

A 35-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent, arrested on suspicion of assault GBH, has been released under investigation said Staffordshire Police.

A Worcester pub says it's had an "amazing" response after announcing it was going to serve its Christmas dinners this month, instead of December.

Dave Davies and his partner Heidi, who run the Maple Leaf on Canada Way, said it started out as a joke, because they struggle to get enough staff over Christmas.

Image source, Getty Images

Heidi said that when one of their regulars suggested they serve the meals in the summer they thought they'd take up the challenge.

They'll be putting up decorations, giving dinners crackers and playing Christmas music - there will even be an appearance by Santa.

The pub also held a St Patrick's Day event in July.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Crewe striker Chris Porter thinks the goals should be shared more evenly around the team this season, with more players contributing.

He was their top-scorer last season, with 13 league goals, and there were 11 from Charlie Kirk and eight from Jordan Bowery.

Image source, Getty Images

Crewe finished 12th last season and found the back of the net 60 times, but Porter believes that if more players are scoring regularly, they can make a bid for the play-offs.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Some of today's stories from the Local Democracy Reporting Service include:

• Plans to reinstate a bridge over the Montgomery Canal in Shropshire have been submitted to Shropshire Council as part of a major restoration programme.
• Campaigners have vowed to continue their fight against plans to massively expand a rural community in Solihull.

• There were hundreds of reports of begging on the streets of Solihull in the first few months of the year, official figures have shown.

An archaeological dig in the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle has come to an end and the team carrying out the excavations says it now knows where the original ditch around the base of the Norman castle was.

The team, led by Dr Nigel Baker from the University of Birmingham, had been following up geophysical scans which suggested there may be some sort of structure beneath the surface and had hoped to find evidence of medieval buildings.

Image source, Shropshire Council

But Dr Baker said the 3m deep ditch they had uncovered instead was "a serious bit of Norman military architecture" and that they had "confirmed all our earlier suspicions".

The holes are now being filled in and photos have been taken, to record what they found.

Footage shows the van swerving across lanes and hitting traffic over a one-and-a-half-mile stretch.

Hereford Times

Here are three of the stories featuring in the Hereford Times today:

• Drivers urged to slow down after roundabout crash, external
• Toilets close at Maylord Shopping Centre, external
• Driver left without paying for fuel, external

Awil Hayow adopted a boxer's stance on the hard shoulder of the motorway when police arrived.

Coventry manager Mark Robins says the club is dealing with "unprecedented" challenges as they prepare for the new season.

A family of ducks has been causing problems on the M6 near Walsall this lunchtime.

Highways England tweeted, external to say it had stopped traffic at junction 10 to get them to safety and then had to stop traffic on both carriageways 30 minutes later, when they waddled back into danger.

Image source, Getty Images

Highways England said it was working "in the best interests of both the road user and animal welfare".

Championship side Preston North End sign midfielder Tom Bayliss from Coventry City for an undisclosed fee.

One of the fire services called to help out with the Derbyshire dam collapse has said it's hard to know how much water they're dealing with, partly because a lot has soaked into the surrounding land.

Deputy chief fire officer Rob Barber from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said he had a high-volume pumping unit at the scene, capable of moving 7,000 litres of water a minute.

Image source, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Staffordshire's fire service also has a logistics team at Whalley Bridge and it's joined by firefighters from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and from the West Midlands.

Shropshire's fire service is waiting to hear if it will get the call this weekend.

The father of two young children who were murdered by their mother has said he felt "broken", with "nothing to live for".

Louise Porton, from Rugby has been sentenced to a minimum of 32 years today for killing three-year-old Lexi Draper and 17-month-old Scarlett Vaughan.

In an impact statement, Chris Draper said: "Why did Louise do something so evil to our beautiful daughters?

"They were just an inconvenience to you; how could you do this?"

Image source, Louise Porton

Mr Draper also said: "I sit and think, day and night, and I can't understand why my two little girls were taken away because Louise wanted to sleep around."

"Maybe if social services had listened to me, my girls would still be alive today."

Det Supt Pete Hill from Warwickshire Police said: "These were premeditated murders for which she has shown no remorse and the length of the sentence reflects this."

Birmingham City defender Maxime Colin signs a new four-year contract with the Championship club.