Summary

  • Live updates from Monday 16 September to Sunday 22 September

Live Reporting

  1. Moody & Greenway to lead Oval sides

    Ex-Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Australia all-rounder Tom Moody and ex-England batter Lydia Greenway are to coach The Oval-based Hundred teams.

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  2. Clean sheets 'key to survival' for Aston Villa

    BBC WM Sport

    Aston Villa full-back Neil Taylor (pictured, right) says the team will have to keep getting clean sheets this season if they're going to stay in the Premier League.

    Neil Taylor of Aston Villa (right) defending against West HamGetty Images

    Since getting promoted, Villa have stopped the opposition from scoring in two of their five games, including in Monday's draw with West Ham.

    From a defensive point of view, if you're going to have a chance this season of being successful to any level, it's all about clean sheets in this league."

    Neil Taylor, Aston Villa full-back

  5. New cancer centre set to be developed

    BBC News England

    Specialist cancer centre the Christie Hospital is set to build a new £26m treatment base in Cheshire.

    Artist's impression of centreThe Christie

    Plans for the site in the grounds of Macclesfield District General Hospital have been approved by Cheshire East Council.

    The Christie said the centre would care for patients in Cheshire, North Staffordshire and the High Peak area of Derbyshire.

    Work on the site is set to begin in early 2020.

  6. Fire at former church is out

    A fire at a former church in Coventry is now out, but firefighters are remaining at the scene to make sure it doesn't reignite.

    It broke out in the early hours of this morning at the property on Station Street East.

    Fire at church

  7. Industrial Revolution pioneer to get memorial

    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    A sculpture is to be erected to commemorate the achievements of a pioneer from the Industrial Revolution.

    Dudley Council has granted planning permission for the structure to celebrate the life of Abraham Darby I at the junction of Sedgley Road and Birmingham New Road.

    Plan for statueWoodsetton Charitable Trust

    Darby was born in Woodsetton in 1678 and developed a method of producing pig iron in a blast furnace in Shropshire, using coke instead of charcoal, which was in short supply at the time.

    It paved the way for the mass production of iron and turned Coalbrookdale into the cradle of the Industrial Revolution.

    Dudley residents and councillors, along with members of the Woodsetton Charitable Trust and Friends of Wrens Nest groups, have been working to secure funding to produce the permanent memorial to him.

    The steel memorial will take the form of a cross section through his 1709 blast furnace and will also have figures of a silhouette of six pig iron workers in front and lettered cast iron ground plaques.

  8. Bid to extend motorway

    Plans to extend the M54 an extra 6.5 miles (10km), so that it reaches Shrewsbury, will be discussed by Shropshire councillors tomorrow.

    At the moment it ends at junction seven, when it becomes the A5, although the road remains a dual carriageway.

    A motion going before councillors says giving it motorway status would encourage foreign investors to look at the town.

    M54 endsGoogle

    The motion has been put forward by the Shrewsbury councillor Peter Adams and is being supported by the council leader Peter Nutting, who also represents a ward in the town.

    It suggests enlisting the help of local MPs to lobby for the extension, and to draw up a business plan to make it happen.

  9. Worcestershire need quick wickets for win

    BBC Sport

    Worcestershire need to take six wickets quickly this morning if they're going to beat Gloucestershire at New Road.

    The game is on a knife-edge with the visitors resuming this morning on 54-4 and needing just 61 more runs for victory themselves.

    Adam FinchGetty Images

    Adam Finch (pictured above) took two of the wickets to fall yesterday.

  10. Sawyer appointed Birmingham women's coach

    Australian Ben Sawyer is appointed head coach of the Birmingham women's team for The Hundred.

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  11. Man charged after shop staff 'sprayed with substance'

    Allen Cook
    BBC News

    A man's been charged after a substance was thrown at two people during an attempted robbery in Birmingham.

    The Co-opGoogle

    Staff workers were trying to challenge people at the Co-op on West Heath Road on 4 September when they were sprayed with a liquid, which didn't prove to be corrosive.

    West Midlands Police said neither person sprayed was seriously hurt.

    A 38-year-old man, of no fixed address, has been charged with theft from a shop, possession of an offensive weapon and assault and officers say he's due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court next month.

  12. Plasterwork falls from historic building

    Historic buildings experts have been called in to survey Ledbury's 17th Century Market House after some of the plasterwork fell away.

    The town clerk Angie Price said they were doing the "best they can, as fast as they can" to assess the extent of any damage and decide what restoration work will be needed.

    Market HouseGoogle

    The two-storey black and white timber frame building sits on 16 pillars in the heart of the town and in 2006 hundreds of thousands of pounds were spent on repairing the timbers after they became infested with wasps.

  13. Tourism plan aims to build on Peaky Blinders effect

    BBC Midlands Today

    An action plan's been launched to try and capitalise on the tourism benefits for the West Midlands from the TV show Peaky Blinder and the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

    Still from Peaky Blinders

    The West Midlands Growth Company says its strategy aims to generate 19,000 new jobs in the region and raise the value of tourism to £13.7bn.

    Its plans include promoting the area to overseas markets and making the most of events such as Coventry being UK City of Culture in 2021 and Birmingham's Commonwealth Games in 2022.

  15. Park attack 'changed boy's life in an instant'

    Kai Davis, 15, who has autism, needed hours of surgery after being seriously injured in the assault.

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  16. Former arts school 'thriving' after being at risk

    BBC News England

    BBC News has been looking a what happened to some of the listed as being 'at risk' in previous years.

    It includes the Moseley School of Art in Birmingham which was built in 1899 and closed in 1975.

    Moseley School of Art before revampGoogle

    The Victorian Society listed the building in 2010 and, in 2017, owners Moseley Muslim Community Association (MMCA) secured £1.7m to renovate the site.

    Now it is a thriving community and arts centre once again, the MMCA said.

    Moseley School of Art after revampGoogle

  17. Autistic teenager's bones broken in park attack

    BBC Midlands Today

    A schoolboy has undergone emergency surgery after being attacked in a park.

    Kai

    Kai told the BBC he was with friends when he was assaulted by an older teenager in a park in Cannock earlier this month.

    The 15-year-old, who has autism and attends a specialist school, suffered broken bones and now has 20 metal pieces in his legs and collarbone.

    Bandages on Kai's leg after surgery

    Staffordshire Police said they were investigating the attack.

    I want justice for Kai and I want the person who did this to be sent down for the maximum time he can get sent down. This has changed my son's life of an instant, it's really upsetting."

    Marc Davis, Father

  18. Coventry City stay top with Wimbledon win

    BBC Sport

    Coventry City's perfect home start to the season continued as they scored in second-half injury time to beat AFC Wimbledon.

    The win keeps the Sky Blues top of League One by a point.

    Elsewhere in the league, Shrewsbury Town fans saw probably the game of the night as their side edged a seven-goal thriller to beat Southend 4-3.

    While 10-man Burton couldn't hold on to their lead at Portsmouth as a 95th penalty for the home side resulted in a 2-2 draw.

    In League Two, Crewe are second after beating Leyton Orient,Walsall beat Morecambe and Port Vale lost at leaders Exeter City.

  19. Boarded-up medieval kitchen could reopen

    BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

    A medieval kitchen which has been boarded up since the 1950s could be opened up to the public.

    St Mary's Guildhall, CoventryGoogle

    A planning application to investigate the possibility at St Mary's Guildhall, is due to be submitted by the city council in Coventry.

    The local authority's making the move after experts recommended it review the future of the building and make it a better visitor attraction.

    The kitchen's believed to be one of the last intact medieval kitchens in England and, if the application's approved, they'll find out how much work is needed to restore it since it was covered up in 1954.

  20. Cricket: Sibley key as Warwickshire look to add more runs

    BBC Sport

    England prospect Dominic Sibley will be looking to add more runs to the century he's scored for Warwickshire in their match with Nottinghamshire.

    Dom Sibley celebrating earlier this season for WarwickshireGetty Images

    He'll resume on 115 with Sam Hain also not out on 67 as the Bears, having closed on 264-2, look to build a strong reply to their opponent's first innings total of 498.

    In Division Two, Worcestershire fans are set for a tense morning as their visitors Gloucestershire need just 61 more runs to win with six wickets still in hand.

    The visitors had taken a slim first innings lead and then dismissed the Pears for 128, leaving them a 115 victory target.

    Both games can be followed on BBC local radio commentary or via the BBC Cricket website.