Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

Birmingham City Council is currently set to go nearly £7.5m over budget this year, after just four months of the financial year, councillors have heard.

The local authority's Resources Committee heard , externalthe main pressures are coming from:

• Bin collections - heading for a £5m overspend due mainly to lorries breaking down although new wagons are set to hit roads in April.
• School transport - which has seen increasing demand as well as the collapse of the Accessible Transport Group which had run the door-to-door bus service.
• Homelessness - with the number of people in bed and breakfasts being identified as a major factor, but the number had reduced from 690 last year to about 440.

Councillors, however, were told the local authority had managed to claw back £10m from the £17.4m overspend which was forecast after the first three months of the year.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

A respite centre for severely disabled children in Worcestershire is expected to be closed down, because the NHS says it is "no longer cost effective" to run.

The Ludlow Road site in Kidderminster offers overnight breaks for families, and Worcestershire County Council has been consulting on the plan to close it.

The council’s cabinet is meeting next Thursday and is expected to approve the closure, but it could also approve plans to expand a similar facility in Malvern, called Osborne Court.

Phil McCann
Cheshire Political Reporter, BBC News

Plans to build a joint police and fire station in Crewe have been dropped after it was discovered the project would have cost taxpayers £18m.

Image source, Google

Members of Cheshire Fire Authority voted unanimously to move forward with plans to build a station just for the fire service instead.

Officers found that a large basement car park would have to be built to provide enough parking spaces for police and the fire service, which would bump up the cost by a "considerable amount".

The fire service now hopes to have designs ready by the end of the year for the new station, which, if approved, will be built on the site of the existing one at the corner of Macon Way and Crewe Road.

Twitter

A move by Shropshire councillors to officially extend the M54 to Shrewsbury have been questioned by people on social media.

Steven Walters tweeted: "Its practically a motorway as it is.. All its gonna do its stop learner drivers from going on there."

Image source, Google

Jane Pittaway was also unimpressed and tweeted: "What an utter and disgraceful waste of much needed public funds."

And Eleanor pointed out: "People still drive on it like it is a motorway anyway."

England contender Dom Sibley hits a superb 215 not out in Warwickshire's 488 all out before they reduce Notts to 105-5.

Andrew Marsden suffered a fractured elbow when he was pushed into the middle of the road.

BBC Weather Watchers

It may be September, but there's been plenty of blue sky around again today and here are some of the photos we've been sent by our local BBC Weather Watchers.

These three are from users Ken M in Lydbury North, Shropshire, Shaun in Shugborough, Staffordshire and Rileyhev in Hereford:

Image source, Ken M

Image source, Shaun

Image source, Rileyhev

A bid to raise £61,000 for a new statue in Dudley has been supported by local businesses, Quakers and even a limited edition beer.

A group now has planning permission to erect a sculpture in the town, to celebrate the achievements of the Industrial Revolution pioneer Abraham Darby I.

Image source, Holden's Brewery

Landfill company Enovert, has contributed £23,000 to the project and the Society of Friends another £1,000.

Holden's Brewery created a beer called Abraham Darby 1st (pictured above), with 10% of the profits going towards the appeal.

Dudley Council is also backing the project, with the borough artist, Steve Field, working on the designs.

Cabinet member Ian Kettle described Darby as "a man of Dudley, a pioneer of his day and fundamental to the huge changes that took place at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution".

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Sport

Coventry City could be playing their home games away from Coventry for up to three seasons, the club's chief executive Dave Boddy has revealed.

The club is playing at Birmingham City's St Andrew's stadium this season, after failing to reach an agreement to carry on playing at the Ricoh Arena.

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking at the first supporter's forum of the new season, Mr Boddy also confirmed that the club has re-engaged a land agent to find a suitable site to build a new stadium.

A Worcestershire councillor has urged the police to arrest all the climate change protesters planning a demonstration in Worcester on Friday and is calling them "eco-facists".

Extinction Rebellion says it is intending to block traffic in the city centre during the morning rush hour, provoking Alan Amos, the councillor responsible for highways, to accuse them of forcing their views on to people,

Image source, Getty Images

The exact location of the protest hasn't been announced and West Mercia Police is advising drivers to avoid the city centre if at all possible.

Emma Bond, from the protest group encouraged motorists caught up in the demonstration to turn off their engines and "relax, be patient and maybe at least see it from the point of view that this is a climate emergency".

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Amos said it would be "law-abiding taxpayers" who would "suffer the consequences".

Jodie Looker
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

A teenager's been robbed of his bike at knifepoint.

The 14-year-old was cycling with a friend in Crewe on Thursday evening when Cheshire Police said two men came up to them on Dunwoody Way, external.

Image source, Google

They first asked if they wanted to buy drugs and, when the pair said no, demanded the victim's bike and pulled out a large knife.

Officers say the teenager handed the bike over and ran off.

In the North West of England, about 200 additional beds were open for use on a single night in June.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Walsall's target of becoming a carbon-neutral town has been pushed back 20 years, to 2050.

The Labour group on Walsall Council had asked for a "climate emergency" target of getting there by 2030, but the ruling Conservative group managed to get that amended.

The Conservative council leader, Mike Bird, said he wanted to ensure there was an achievable plan in place.

Earlier this year, the West Midlands Combined Authority called for the region to have net-zero emissions, external "no later than 2041".

The UK as a whole is targeting net-zero emissions by 2050.

Halesowen News

From the Halesowen News:

• Woman fights off cash machine mugger by pulling her hair in Blackheath, external
• Prolific Halesowen shoplifter sent to prison, external
• Missing O from sign returned after 10 years, external

John Hammond
Weather forecaster

After a fine, dry day, we're in for a more cloudy night with clear spells:

You can keep up-to-date with the latest weather forecast for your area by going to the BBC Weather website at any other time.

Herefordshire Council has been criticised for carrying out work on a ceiling at the Grade 2 listed Shire Hall without planning permission.

The Georgian Society, Hereford Civic Society and Hereford City Council have called the work "unlawful", "a quick but damaging repair job" and "causing significant harm" to the building.

Image source, Google

Historic England did not object and the council's specialist conservation advisor approved the work.

An application for retrospective permission is now expected to be passed to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Stoke City striker Sam Vokes has said it's "hard to put a finger" on the reasons for their poor start to the season.

He went on to say that while individual mistakes had cost them at times, "some of the performances haven't been up to scratch".

Image source, Getty Images

The Wales international has admitted to being frustrated at being left out of the side, but said it was still early days and that players, management and fans have to stick together.

Shropshire Star

Here are three stories from the Shropshire Star today:

• Council sets up its own housing company, external
• Railway stations to be overhauled, external
• Huge blaze near Shrewsbury was deliberate, external

The family of Mavis Eccleston call for a change in the law surrounded assisted dying.

Sheila Pereira thought she had signed up for an event in Worcester in the US, not its English namesake.