Police have arrested a 26-year-old man in Coventry who they suspect of having "links to gang activity" in the city.

It follows the discovery of a loaded shotgun which was discarded following a motorbike crash in St James Lane on 25 July.

Image source, West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police said the man was being questioned on suspicion of illegal firearms possession and another allegation of sexual activity with a child.

Two other people who were arrested at the address in Bridgecote at 23:00 yesterday were later released without charge.

BBC News Travel

Severe problems on the rail network are set to continue into the afternoon.

Overhead wire damage in the Rugeley Trent Valley area means fewer railway lines are available. Services could be cancelled or diverted through Wolverhampton, adding 40 minutes to journey times.

London Northwestern Railway, Virgin Trains and West Midlands Railway services will be disrupted until 16:00. , external

Meanwhile, trains are running at slower speeds between Birmingham New Street and Bromsgrove/Redditch due to a fault with the signalling system., external

CrossCountry tweeted trains are being delayed by up to 30 minutes., external

Stoke-on-Trent Live

From the Stoke-on-Trent Live website today:

• Fraudster duped state out of £37k because he didn't want to pay dad's care fees, external
• Work set to restart on hotel and apartment block as new construction company to be appointed, external
• Families hit out at noisy tenants in town centre flats, external

A wheelie bin manufacturer in Telford is spending £25m on a second production site.

Craemer, based on the Hortonwood industrial estate, supplies half of the wheelie bins used in the UK and also exports to Europe, the United Arab Emirates and the USA.

Image source, Google

The company says the new site will allow it to boost output by 40% and create 45 new jobs.

BBC Business News

Your car could park itself in a car park by 2021 if tests in Warwickshire go well.

Image source, Horiba Mira

Horiba Mira's building a multi-storey car park at its factory in Nuneaton, external so it can test self-parking technology.

Their head of connected and autonomous vehicle, Chris Reeves, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme motorists would be able to leave their cars at its entrance.

"The vehicle will know where there is a parking space, so it will enable you to go to an appropriate parking area, and the vehicle will complete that entire transaction - including the financial transaction - and park itself," he said.

The car would then meet them again at the entrance.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A huge fire at a skip recycling centre is believed to have been started deliberately.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

A large amount of rubbish was "well alight" when 10 firefighters got to Popes Lane, Kings Norton, Birmingham, just after midnight.

West Midlands Fire Service said they used a digger to tackle it and it took more than three hours to get under control.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

BBC WM

Birmingham Airport is expecting its busiest day of the year today.

Nearly 49,000 travellers are expected to pass through with the most popular destinations being Dublin, Dubai and Mallorca.

The airport says the busiest day in 2018 was September 3 when a total of 46,683 passengers used the airport.

The Conservatives maintained their sizeable majority on Shropshire Council by holding on to the Meole ward in a by-election yesterday.

It was held following the resignation of the previous Conservative councillor Nic Laurens. Gwen Burgess held on to it with 37.6% of the vote.

But they saw their share of the vote fall by 17.6%, while the Liberal Democrats leapfrogged Labour into second place with a 14.4% increase in their share.

There are more than 12,000 registered users of the accessible transport service.

BBC News Travel

On top of the disruption to services through Rugeley Trent Valley this morning, a signalling fault's delaying services between Birmingham New Street and Bromsgrove/Redditch.

Services are having to run at a reduced speed between Five Ways and University, National Rail Enquiries says., external

It's expecting disruption to CrossCountry and West Midlands Railway services until at least 11:30.

The Market Drayton Festival of Transport has had to be scaled down because of bad weather.

Organisers said the field at The Greenlands was too wet to accommodate 500 vehicles safely on Sunday, and they are planning a much smaller event on the Towers Lawn car park instead.

The show committee said it was "absolutely gutted" to have to make the decision, but had to be fair to exhibitors and traders.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A man's been charged after three robberies in Birmingham one of which saw a 76-year-old man being shoved to the floor.

A bus pass and cash were stolen In the attack on 3 August on Coventry Road, Sheldon.

Other robberies happened on Pershore Street on 31 July and on a bus on Cranes Park Road the following day, with phones, cash and bank cards taken.

A 35-year-old, from Berryfields Road, Sheldon, has been charged with three counts of robbery and will appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court later, police said.

Dudley News

The Dudley News is covering these stories today:

• Council tax bill for thousands as families refuse to fund funerals, external
• Dudley illegal money lender ordered to pay back over £130,000, external
• Sir Lenny Henry speaks up for more creative subjects in schools, external

BBC Midlands Today

Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson's said he's fully clear of a blood clotting problem which ruled him out of action for three months last season.

Image source, Getty Images

The 27-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in March and had to undergo treatment.

It emerged just after he won his second cap for England in the Six Nations.

But, at Wasps' kit launch in Coventry, Robson said he was "all clear now and on the mend" and couldn't wait to start the new season.

"Luckily I was in the position I was that we found it when we did so I feel pretty thankful for that."

BBC News UK

A doubling of spending on outside legal advice by more than 40 local councils has been labelled "ridiculous" by people fighting funding cuts.

Figures from 270 of the 408 councils asked by the BBC showed £322m was spent last year on in-house legal teams and £142m on external legal services.

They include Birmingham City Council which spent £2m on outside legal advice last year. Their amount spent on personal injury and negligence claims went up from £24,231 in 2015-16 to £131,285 last year.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils often hired outside help to complement in-house lawyers.

But anti-cuts campaigners say the money should be spent on services.

BBC Sport

Worcestershire Rapids' bowlers proved the heroes last night as the T20 Blast holders pulled off a remarkable three-run win against Durham.

They somehow managed to defend just 117 with only Tom Fell (28) and Ross Whiteley (24 not out) getting to grips with a slow surface.

Durham's reply looked to be on course for a routine win as they put on 79 in 12 overs.

But some miserly bowling, including Daryl Mitchell taking 2-17, left Durham needing nine to win off the last over and Pat Brown conceded just five singles and took a wicket to seal the win.

The victory moves Worcestershire into second in the North Group.

BBC News Travel

A reminder that there are severe problems on the rail network.

Damage to the overhead electric wires in the Rugeley Trent Valley area is resulting in fewer lines being available for trains to run on, the National Rail Enquiries website reports., external

It is anticipated disruption will continue until 12:00.

London Northwestern Railway, Virgin Trains and West Midlands Railway services are all affected with some trains cancelled or diverted through Birmingham.

Sophie Calvert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Work is due to restart on two major regeneration projects in Stoke-on-Trent after the original construction company went into administration.

Image source, Genr8

Pochin, the main contractor for the Clayworks apartment block and Hilton Garden Inn developments in Hanley, collapsed earlier this month putting 120 jobs at risk.

Now almost two weeks on, developer Genr8 says it's set to announce the company Wilmott Dixon will take over as construction manager.

It adds that it's still working with the firm to finalise when exactly it can start.

Express and Star

The Express and Star's covering these stories today:

• Months of delays for criminal court cases leave victims in limbo, external
• Controversial Bescot railway sleeper factory 'would create jobs', external
• Ring and Ride jobs saved as National Express vows to improve service, external

BBC Sport

Diogo Jota scored a stunning acrobatic volley as Wolves beat Armenians Pyunik 4-0 at Molineux and 8-0 on aggregate to set up a Europa League play-off tie with Italian side Torino.

Image source, Reuters

The 8-0 aggregate win is Wolves' biggest in Europe and means they are now just two games away from reaching the Europa League group stage.

Before the game, it emerged the club's captain Conor Coady had written to all 48 fans who made the 6,370-mile round trip to their match in Armenia.

The letters were all signed individually and had the fans' names on, Wolves said.

Image source, PA Media

Elsewhere in the competition, the New Saints were knocked out at the same stage after losing 4-0 to Ludogorets Razgrad in Wrexham, 9-0 on aggregate.

But Scott Ruscoe's side will take plenty of positives from their European campaign, which started with a Champions League first qualifying round win over Feronikeli of Kosovo.