Local Democracy Reporting Service

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

• Mayor Andy Street believes he has "categorically"’ done enough to be re-elected in next year’s mayoral election. “There’s a hell of a lot more to do yet, but we will continue the progress we are on,” he said.
• Council chiefs in Walsall are challenging other local authorities using the under-threat Acorns Hospice to help fund the "amazing" service. A fundraising campaign was launched in July to raise £2m to safeguard the facility’s long-term future.
• Birmingham City Council left a landlord more than £1,200 out of pocket after wrongly paying housing benefit directly to a tenant who failed to hand over the money and then left, a judge rules.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

A festival celebrating Stoke-on-Trent's pottery industry aims to inspire the next generation of potters, the organiser has said.

Started in 2009, the British Ceramics Biennial hosts artists from across the world in the city to show off their ideas and works in clay., external

Image source, British Ceramics Biennial

The event's based at the former Spode factory site in London Road, Stoke and has expanded this year to other sites in the city including Middleport Pottery and World of Wedgwood.

Iain Cartwright is the festival's executive director and told BBC Radio Stoke it was important "to show children of this city what the heritage of the city is all about".

"Often in schools now it's actually quite difficult for them to get their hands on clay so we introduce artists into those schools," he added.

A man and a woman have been badly hurt after their car smashed into a wall this morning., external

The crash happened on Lower Park, Bewdley, Worcestershire, at about 02:00, the ambulance service said.

The man was seriously hurt and suffered several injuries.

Paramedics added that the woman, who was driving, was treated for possibly serious injuries and both were taken to hospital.

BBC Shropshire

Shrewsbury's new £71m bypass has to be delivered on budget and by its deadline of 2023, the man running the project has said.

Image source, Shropshire Council

The road, between the Battlefield Link Road and Oxon Link Road, will also include two bridges and crossings for cyclists and pedestrians.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is providing £54m towards the scheme with Shropshire Council covering the rest.

The local authority's transport manager Matt Johnson has told the BBC it had to prove to the DfT it could build the route on budget and by 2023 to get that cash.

"We would not have been awarded the funding unless that was in place so my job now, for the next four years, is to complete delivery of that piece of work," he added.

A man has admitted causing grievous bodily harm to PC Gareth Phillips, who was run over by a police car.

The 42-year-old suffered potentially life-changing injuries after he stopped a suspected stolen car on Moorcroft Road, Moseley, Birmingham in August.

Appearing at Birmingham Crown Court today, Mubashar Hussain, formerly of Sherwood Road, Hall Green, pleaded guilty to the charge.

The 29-year-old also admitted two counts of vehicle theft, dangerous driving, two counts of driving while disqualified, two counts of assault, assault on an emergency worker, aggravated vehicle-taking, and two charges of having no insurance.

He was remanded in custody until a sentencing hearing on 15 October.

Shropshire Star

The headlines on the Shropshire Star website this morning include:

• Chirk man jailed for brandishing knife in A&E, external
• More than half of people across Shropshire miss health MOT, external
• Traffic shake-up plans for Oswestry, external

Two men are due in court in Birmingham after a police officer was run over with his own car.

Image source, West Midlands Police

PC Gareth Phillips, 42, suffered potentially life-changing injuries after he stopped a suspected stolen car on Moorcroft Road, Moseley, in August.

Mubashar Hussain, 29, is charged with 13 offences including attempted murder, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and wounding another officer.

Ahsan Ghafoor, 24, of Fulham Road, Sparkhill, is charged with two car thefts, dangerous driving and other motoring offences.

They are both due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court.

Police said the vehicle was reported stolen in Newtown four days ago.

Anglers are being asked to help carry out a a survey of barbel in the Upper Trent and River Dove in Staffordshire.

There's concern that numbers of the fish have gone down, said the Environment Agency.

It's keen for anglers to record what they catch in an attempt to try and understand fish stocks better.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A horse has been pulled free by firefighters after getting stuck in a ditch at a nature reserve.

Image source, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service

The animal needed rescuing yesterday afternoon at Fenns Moss, between Whitchurch and Ellesmere, Shropshire, the fire service said. , external

Crews used specialist equipment to pull the horse free but it's not clear whether it was injured.

Image source, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service

A man is due in court charged with the murder of a father-of-two who was stabbed in Birmingham.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Dale Grice was found with fatal injuries in Cooksey Lane just before 07:00 on Saturday.

Ravinder Heer, 32, of Pimpernell Drive, Walsall, is due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court later.

The police officer sustained minor injuries when he was struck by a BMW in Wolverhampton on Sunday.

Two men have been taken to hospital, one suffering serious injuries, after a three-car crash in Warwickshire.

One man had to be cut free from a car that had left the carriageway and crashed into a tree shortly before 06:30 on the A46 in Snitterfield, said the ambulance service.

Another man from a second car was treated for minor injuries before being taken to hospital.

The road remains closed from A3400 Birmingham Road and A439.

The government is to ask MPs to agree to a snap election for a second time, in what could be one of Parliament's last acts before being suspended.

Image source, Getty Images

Number 10 has billed Monday's vote as Labour's "last chance" to secure an early general election.

Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon and Minister for Business and Industry, said he was confident the prime minister would get a deal with Brussels.

"This bill that some of my colleagues decided to back Jeremy Corbyn on went through, the prime minister came out and made very clear now that has happened 'I will go and get a deal'," he said.

"We've got to allow our government, our prime minister the space to be able to get a deal, rather than second-guessing."

BBC News Travel

Drivers are facing delays getting on and off the M6 at J16, near Crewe, this morning due to issues with the traffic lights on the junction's roundabout.

Highways England said it was trying to sort out a problem, external with the sequencing which has caused gridlock on the roundabout.

There's congestion on the A500 back to the Talke junction and the Weston Gate roundabout due to the issue.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

The Stoke-on-Trent Live website's top stories today include:

• Teenager 'seriously' injured after crash between motorbike and car, external
• Heroic landlord scales drainpipe to stop woman throwing herself off hotel ledge, external
• Parents' fury after council scraps taxis to get children to and from school on eve of new term, external

Terminal 2 of Birmingham Airport was evacuated briefly on Sunday afternoon after concerns about items found in luggage.

The airport said they were found to be replica firearms bought at an antiques fair and posed no threat to travellers.

A man has been charged after a police officer was hit by a car in Wolverhampton.

The officer was struck on Sunday by a BMW he had flagged down on Victoria Street for speeding, leaving him with minor injuries, West Midlands Police said.

Image source, Google

Joshua Arnold, 22, of Dick Sheppard Avenue, Tipton is charged with attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving and possession of cannabis.

He's due before Dudley Magistrates' Court later.

A survey by consumer magazine Which? looks at the frustrations of travellers across the UK.

Daisy-May Demetre was "really proud of herself" after the New York Fashion Week appearance.