Bomb disposal experts searched a property in Wolverhampton after a council worker found a suspicious device.

Wheatsheaf Road in Pendeford was evacuated after the device was found in an empty property, Wolverhampton Police said.

People living nearby were taken to Dovecote Housing Office on Ryefield while the scene was checked.

Express and Star

Some of the early headlines in the Express and Star today include:

• Road safety plea after mother killed in hit-and-run, external
• Police officer dragged along road on back by driver, external
• Sandwell Council apologises after six cabinet secretaries wrongly suspended, external

Telford's former Thomas Cook store has reopened as a branch of Hays Travel - one of 555 bought by the Sunderland-based chain.

And on Wednesday a committee of MPs learned Hays paid just over £6m for them - that works out at just over £10,000 a shop.

Dean Beale, the chief executive officer of the Insolvency Service, told them it was the “best deal on the table”.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Thousands of new trees could be planted in Sandwell as part of efforts to improve local air quality.

Image source, Sandwell Borough Council

The borough council's cabinet is being asked on 30 October to approve the plans for 15,000 over three years. , external

Planting could start from 23 November, with the authority putting one in the ground for each of the 4,900 children beginning school in reception this September.

The scheme would cost £90,000 over three years and be part-funded by The Woodland Trust, with the trees placed in Barnford Park, Oldbury; and Jubilee Park, Tipton; in the first year.

Planning officers recommended the scheme for approval despite 260 letters of objection.

Three men are due to appear in court today charged with a series of break-ins.

Twenty-nine burglaries took place in nine days across the Black Country.

The three were arrested in the Wrexham area on Sunday.

Two 21-year-olds and another aged 25 have been charged with conspiracy to burgle nine homes and a further robbery between 8 and 17 October and are set to appear before Walsall Magistrates' Court.

A 30-year-old man who was also arrested at the weekend has been released with no further action, said West Midlands Police.

Testing has begun on the latest extension to the West Midlands Metro.

Trams ran overnight from Grand Central to Centenary Square, in Birmingham, on the section of line which is due to open in December.

This first phase extension is 840 metres long and the Midland Metro Alliance said it would be the first tram route in the UK to operate entirely on battery power.

The group said it meant there was no need to fix electric cables to listed buildings along the route and reduced its "environmental footprint".

When the route opens in December, it marks the conclusion of the second big tram extension in the city, with more routes to follow.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

It will be a cloudy day with rain at times and top temperatures of 14C (57F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

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

Wheatsheaf Road in Pendeford is evacuated after the device was found in an empty property, police say.

Wolves fans are told not to wear club colours at their "closed doors" Europa League tie at Slovan Bratislava.

The daughter of a man who died in a hospital corridor after six hours on a trolley says she is angry at the NHS.

Amadou Bakayoko and Zain Westbrooke score as Coventry City come from behind at St Andrew's to beat Joey Barton's Fleetwood Town.

West Midlands Police says the man drove himself to a test centre in Great Barr, Birmingham.

The mother of a stabbed teenager criticises his family's treatment during a trial over his death.

Wasps have not had a training ground since matches were moved to Coventry's Ricoh Arena.

A man in his 50s with a walking stick was beaten to the floor with a metal bar.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow.

Bethany, who has autism and extreme anxiety, was locked in a seclusion room for almost two years.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Residents are being asked by police to root through their kitchen drawers to check for any old knives to get rid of them.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Oldbury Police tweeted it was a new initiative, external as the majority of knife crime involved ones taken from homes and carried outside.

It added people could either call officers via the 101 number or wrap them up and recycle them in a knife bin.

In 2018 nearly 700 children in the West Midlands police area were victims of knife crime. Earlier this year, three teenagers were fatally stabbed in the space of 12 days.