Shropshire Star

Here are three of the main stories from the Shropshire Star today:

• Delays at roundabout 'would rise six-fold' without improvements, external
• Plans to build houses on ancient woodland branded 'ecological vandalism', external
• Person trapped as crash closes main road, external

A proposed £3m youth hub in Stoke is leading to fears among young people that it could lead to more violence.

Living conditions at HMP Hewell, near Redditch, have been described as "the worst I have seen" by an inspector.

Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, also said parts of the jail were "squalid, demeaning and depressing" and he reported 70% of inmates claimed drugs were easy to obtain, with a quarter of inmates developing drug habits.

Image source, Google

HM Inspectorate of Prisons carried out an unannounced inspection in June and has set out a range of recommendations for the prison and will review its progress in the coming months.

Phil Copple, of HM Prison and Probation Service, said concerns over living conditions would be addressed, while a new drug strategy, extra sniffer-dog patrols and increased searches would make the closed prison safer.

Two drivers have been injured, one seriously, following a two-car crash near Newport last night.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called to the A41 in Woodcote at 19:15 and the man in one of the cars had to be cut free before being driven to hospital in Stoke.

The woman in the other car was not thought to have been seriously hurt, but was taken to New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton to be checked over.

A consultation event near Oswestry over plans for the Mile End Roundabout on the A5 is continuing.

Land nearby is earmarked for hundred of new homes, and the new designs propose to replace the one roundabout with two, to cope with the expected increased traffic.

Image source, Shropshire Council

It would be paid for with £9m from government money and plans are on display at Mile End Golf Club until 20:00 today.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carl Jackson

Birmingham City council overpaid staff by nearly £250,000 in the last financial year.

A report recorded 30 overpayments, caused by failures to record absence, reduction of hours worked, accumulated long-term sickness absence, maternity leave or contract terminations.

The report also said: “It is disappointing that overpayments are still occurring on such a regular basis, particularly when they arise as a result of managers failing to input a termination date when an employee leaves."

It said employees are contractually obliged to let managers know if they are being overpaid, prompting some councillors to call for responsible managers to be penalised.

Council auditor Neil Farquharson said it was a "frustrating" and "persistent" problem.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Stoke manager Nathan Jones described last night's defeat to League Two Crawley Town as "as bad a performance I've had since I've been a manager".

They were beaten on penalties after the match ended 1-1 and Jones described the performance as "lacklustre" with "no real commitment, no real desire".

Image source, Getty Images

Jones also said he thought the team were better after half time, but "the red card killed us".

Coventry Live

Here are three of the headlines from the Coventry Telegraph this morning:

• Historic sites are set to be brought back into use, external
• New homes set for go-ahead, external
• Coventry thug jailed for having handgun and silencer, external

Police are investigating allegations a penalty box official attacked a Telford player at an ice hockey match on Sunday.

Telford Tigers said the incident happened at the game between their Tigers 2 side and Deeside Dragons at the Deeside Leisure Centre and claimed another one of their players was verbally threatened by the same official, just before the alleged assault.

North Wales Police confirmed it was called at 19:49, and said inquiries are ongoing.

Deeside Dragons said: "Dragons can confirm an incident occurred during the game, which has been referred to the league and North Wales Police for a full investigation."

And it said it had handed over CCTV footage to the police.

Four flood alerts remain in force for Staffordshire and Birmingham.

The Environment Agency says water levels on the rivers Cole, Sow, Penk and Tame have peaked, but it's warning they could rise again, with more heavy rain forecast.

Image source, Kevin Onion

Yesterday the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning, because of the heavy rain, but it has no warnings for today.

BBC Shropshire

Whitchurch Alport have won the Shropshire Senior Cup for the first time in the competition's 141-year history, beating a young Shrewsbury Town side 3-1 at Montgomery Waters Meadow.

An Aaron Johns brace put Whitchurch 2-0 up after a goalless first half.

Shrewsbury got one back through a Leon Ashman own goal before Whitchurch wrapped up the win with a goal from the veteran former Northern Ireland international Steve Jones, just before full time.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

We're expecting a drier day today, with plenty of cloud.

But the rain is forecast to return later this week.

You can get up-to-date weather forecasts for any area on the BBC's weather page.

A disturbance at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire, which began yesterday evening, has been brought to an end.

A prison officer was hurt as about 10 inmates caused damage to a building and assaulted staff with pool balls.

Several ambulances and emergency response units were called.

The high security jail near Evesham holds some of the country's most dangerous offenders and this latest incident follows a similar disturbance involving more than 80 inmates in September last year.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

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 , externaland Facebook., external

A group in Stoke-on-Trent is providing a safe space for members to discuss their lives.

A pub car park oak tree and a ginkgo gifted by a Japanese naval hero make the shortlist.

The theme park management course where undergrads spend half of their time at Alton Towers.

Living conditions at a Worcestershire open prison were "squalid, demeaning and depressing".

Staffordshire University is one of the smallest in the UK, but has some quirky degree courses.

Stoke-on-Trent has always been known for its ceramics. But is it still all about the tableware?