Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel will start the day in the overall lead after regaining the green jersey following Thursday's time trial.

Image source, SWPix

In Pershore, he beat leader Matteo Trentin by nine seconds to take a six-second lead overall.

"It's a really close battle with Matteo and I think it's going to be a proper fight," Van der Poel told ITV Sport.

"It was a long time ago when I did a time trial. I'm happy with the result."

Ludlow's staging its 25th food festival, starting today and more than 180 food and drink producers are involved.

The three-day event was started by the local chamber of trade as a way to boost the image of the town and it said it was a "novel idea" at the time and was launched "just to see what happened".

It now attracts more than 20,000 visitors and has a team of more than 100 volunteers working on it.

Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson says being diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis five months before the Rugby World Cup was a "freak thing".

Coventry Live

Some of the Coventry Live headlines today include:

• Councillor called police after harassment at own home, external
• Coventry among the region’s cities and towns where shop numbers are falling, external
• Two of Solihull's oldest schools to merge, external

Telford and Wrekin Council is set to appoint one of its former directors as their new Chief Executive.

If councillors confirm the move, Dave Sidaway will take over the role in the winter, with an annual salary of £155,000.

Image source, Telford and Wrekin Council

He went to work for Stoke-on-Trent City Council after leaving Telford in 2015 and became its City Director.

He'll replace Richard Partington, who announced he was leaving in July, after eight years in the post.

Today's Tour of Britain field includes local rider Jake Stewart.

The 19-year-old from Coventry, who rides for the Great Britain Cycling Team, said the familiar route and faces would act as an incentive.

The number of people killed as a result of domestic violence in the UK is at its highest level in five years.

Last year, 173 people were killed in domestic violence-related homicides, according to data obtained by the BBC from 43 police forces across the UK - an increase of 32 deaths on 2017.

The Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, Jess Phillips said police officers were taking domestic violence seriously, but "they simply don't have the resources to do what they may have done previously".

The rising figures, she said, were due to a "police force and a CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] that cannot cope, and the government is responsible for that."

Government minister Victoria Atkins said the domestic abuse bill would be included in the next session of Parliament and also pointed to the introduction of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme - known as Clare's Law -which lets people find out from police if their partner has a history of domestic violence.

One lane is blocked northbound on the M6 outside Stafford.

A crash has added to the congestion caused by an earlier breakdown J14-J15.

Highways England says traffic officers are on the way.

Birmingham Live

Some Birmingham Live headlines today include:

• Police shooting of armed man was 'reasonable and proportionate', external
• Woman dies at the scene of Walsall hit-and-run, external
• HMV set to open 'Europe's largest entertainment store', external

A woman has died in a house fire in Dudley.

The 64-year-old was found inside a property on The Knoll, Kingswinford shortly before 21:10 on Thursday, West Midlands Ambulance Service said.

“Sadly a woman found inside the property was confirmed dead on scene by ambulance staff," a spokeswoman said.

A man who was out of the property when emergency services arrived was treated for minor effects of smoke inhalation and discharged at the scene.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious, police said.

BBC Radio Stoke

A girl from Staffordshire Moorlands said the desire to ride her horse spurred her on to learn to walk again after breaking her back.

Eleanor Bloor, 12, was seriously hurt after a trailer door fell on her at an agricultural show.

She was told by doctors she may never walk again.

Intensive rehabilitation has allowed her to walk and ride her horse Clover again.

Protests against teaching children about same sex relationships will resume outside a Birmingham school later.

Image source, PA

Some parents of pupils at Anderton Park Primary will gather at the end of the school day outside of an exclusion zone, which was put in place after an injunction banning protests at the school gates.

A High Court hearing is scheduled for October to decide whether protests can resume outside the school gates.

Their demonstration follows long-running objections to their children learning about same-sex families.

Cycling's Tour of Britain enters Warwickshire for stage seven of the competition.

More than 100 of the world's top riders will take part in the stage which starts at Warwick Racecource and ends at Burton Dassett Country Park.

Image source, SWPix

Riders will tackle a 186.5km route passing through the University of Warwick, Kenilworth, Atherstone and Bedworth.

The final 166km stage of the competition starts in Altrincham and finishes in central Manchester on Saturday.

Investigations are continuing after a woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Walsall.

Image source, Google

The 52-year-old woman suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene on Cavendish Road, Beechdale, at about 13:00 on Thursday.

A grey Peugeot 206 was recovered nearby and has been sent for forensic tests.

West Midlands Police said the hunt for the driver was already well under way. Officers are appealing for anyone who may have dashcam footage to get in touch.

Express and Star

Some of the early headlines on the Express and Star website include:

• Black Country conman who preyed on elderly jailed for four years, external
• Under-fire hospital trust boss insists she is the right person for the job, external
• Hunt for driver as woman killed in Walsall hit-and-run, external

Chatterley Whitfield Colliery in Staffordshire has been named as one of the most endangered buildings in England and Wales.

Image source, Victorian Society

The disused coal mine near Chell was the first colliery in the UK to produce 1,000,000 tons of saleable coal in a year.

Following the closure of the mine, the buildings had served as a museum, which has long-since closed.

The Victorian Society has described the site as "far too important to be lost".

The list is compiled by the Victorian Society using nominations from the public.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

It will be a dry and settled day with plenty of sunny spells and highs of 16C (61F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Friday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

The Royal British Legion says the photographs reveal "stories of remembrance living on the skin".

The Victorian Society publishes its annual list of the most endangered buildings and structures.