Updates from Monday 28 October to Sunday 3 November
BBC News Travel
An entry slip road on to the M6 northbound has been opened at J4, near Coleshill.
The M42 J7 northbound link arm on to the motorway has also been opened, said Highways England.
Part of the motorway has been closed for an accident investigation following a serious crash earlier.
The closure is now only affecting J5 to J6.
Stoke-on-Trent Live
The Stoke-on-Trent Live website's headlines today include:
A Coventry couple have won £1m on the National Lottery Thunderball draw - after mistakenly copying out the same numbers on a second ticket.
It means each ticket scooped the £500,000 top prize.
A third ticket also matched five balls, but not the bonus ball, meaning they also won £10 and £5,000 prizes.
Image source, PA MediaGayle Say, 65 said she had now retired from her cleaning job, but not before working a week's notice.
"I won't have to get up in the cold, dark mornings - I used to have to get up at 6.40am and only had one day off so I worked weekends," she added.
"So, now the clocks have gone back, I can lie in on Saturday and Sunday - that is amazing. I haven't done that for 28 years."
Husband Phillip, also 65 and a retired builder, said after treating their family he wanted to buy a car having never previously owned one.
"You always think about 'what car shall I get?' because I haven't got a car at all, I cycle everywhere.
"There will be something for the kids - it's a million pounds for our family and not for us."
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Dare
A city centre nightclub has been allowed to keep its licence despite a man being left with a "15 inch" knife wound at an event linked to a BBC Radio 1Xtra gig that also saw an attack on a famous rapper.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceStories nightclub on Ladywell Walk, which only began trading 14 months ago, will now have to adhere to a strict set of guidelines following a decision by Birmingham City Council’s licensing committee.
A man was stabbed following a mass brawl at the venue on 5 October, during an "unofficial after party" for the Radio 1Xtra event at Arena Birmingham, which also took place on the same evening.
The BBC event was dramatically halted by police after one of the performers, Krept, was assaulted backstage.
During the six-hour long hearing the committee was shown CCTV of the incident at Stories, which saw a mass brawl break out in the club following an altercation between two women.
Licence conditions include the installation of a knife arch, CCTV cameras and ID scanners.
A man has been arrested after car hit a wall in Wolverhampton in the early hours of this morning.
The crash happened on Rookery Road, said West Midland Police.
The 43-year-old was arrested on suspicion of failing to provide a breath specimen and remains in police custody.
The winner of a competition to design a flag, external for Herefordshire will be revealed tomorrow.
Almost 700 people submitted a design after it emerged the county was one of only two in England not to have a registered flag.
A panel reduced the number to a short list of five possible flags.
Image source, The Herefordshire Flag CommitteeThe designs all feature images synonymous with the county, such as apples, bulls, the River Wye and black and white houses.
West Midlands Railway workers are set to take strike action on seven Saturdays leading up to and through the Christmas period.
The RMT trade union said it had been left with "no choice" other than to call the industrial action "over plans by the company to bulldoze through driver only operation".
Members have been instructed to not book on for any shifts on seven consecutive Saturdays starting 16 November, it added.
The RMT has opposed the introduction of driver-only-operated trains - where drivers close doors instead of guards - which started rolling out across the country in 2017.
The union's general secretary Mick Cash said: "We will not allow the drive for profit to override the core issue of safe and accessible services for all on West Midlands Trains and we stand firm on that very basic principle."
The Office of Rail and Road, in charge of safety on the railways, has previously said "with suitable equipment, proper procedures and competent staff in place, it is a safe method of working, external".
West Midlands Railway said if the strike goes ahead contingency plans have been made to run a skeleton service using managers.
Quote MessageWe are disappointed at the outcome of the ballot. We have committed to keeping a guard on every passenger train. We reached a framework agreement with RMT in May last year which guaranteed a safety-critical conductor on every passenger train. We remain determined to find a way of resolving this dispute without disruption and inconvenience for our passengers."
West Midlands Railway statement
Birmingham Live
Some of Birmingham Live's main headlines today are:
Matt Sandoz
Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke
Stoke City captain Ryan Shawcross has told BBC Radio Stoke he's hopeful of getting back to full training in the next fortnight.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe 32-year-old broke his leg in July in a pre-season friendly against Leicester and needed surgery.
Quote MessageI'm sure I'll be looking to get involved in training in the next couple of weeks but then the time period for me to play games is different so it is a day-by-day basis, it's a lot of work with the medical staff."
Ryan Shawcross, Stoke City captain
Allen Cook
BBC News
It's been a big week for the Midlands Air Ambulance team, they've flown their 54,000th mission since beginning in 1991.
It covers six counties - West Midlands, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire - and responds to some of the most serious accidents as well as reaching rural locations inaccessible by land ambulance.
Image source, Midlands Air AmbulanceThe charity, which relies on fundraising, started off 28 years ago at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire, before moving to RAF Cosford, Shropshire., external
Today it operates from three air bases at RAF Cosford, Strensham in Worcestershire and Tatenhill in Staffordshire.
To mark the 54,000th mission, on their Facebook page the team posted a photo , externalwhere "we played Emergency Services Tetris".
Phil Bowers
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke
Part of a Grade II listed building in Stoke-on-Trent is going to be demolished amid fears it could collapse on to the street., external
Image source, GoogleThe city council is going to carry out the work on the Price and Kensington Teaport Works, on Newcastle Street, in Longport, this weekend.
The demolition's being done under the 1984 Building Act as the council says it feels there's a danger to the public.
Part of Newcastle Street is closed for the work from 06:00 today until 06:00 Monday.
Part of the M6 is set to be closed throughout the morning after a serious crash between J5 and J6.
Image source, Highways EnglandAccident investigation work is continuing on the northbound carriageway after a serious crash shortly after 04:30.
Traffic data firm Inrix is reporting that vehicles remains trapped within the closure, with slow traffic on the southbound carriageway as people slow to look at the crash site.
There's also traffic management on the M42 both northbound and southbound where vehicles is being prevented from joining the M6.
A crash between J6 to J5 on the M42 southbound carriageway is also causing severe delays with queuing traffic for seven miles.
Worcester Warriors’ hooker Joe Taufete’e has been shortlisted for the prestigious World Player of the Year , externalaward.
Image source, Getty ImagesUSA's Taufete’e was a key member of the Eagles’ squad in the Rugby World Cup where he started all four matches in Japan.
He returned to action with Warriors as a replacement against Northampton Saints last Saturday.
The awards will be presented at a dinner in Tokyo on Sunday, 3 November - the day after the World Cup final.
Coventry Live
Some of the Coventry Live headlines today include:
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Joe Burn
A man says his house and neighbouring homes are sinking into the ground due to a collapsed drain and is urging his local council to take action.
Image source, GoogleMark Mandley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he started having problems 14 years ago on Warrington Road, Stoke-on-Trent, and has spent £18,000 on work to correct the issues.
They include cracks appearing in the walls and dipping foundations.
He says it's down to a collapsed drain, and that he had been informed by Severn Trent Water it was owned by the city council.
Local MP Gareth Snell has added his voice to the demand for urgent works but the local authority says the ownership of the drains is still being "looked into" and investigations are "ongoing".
A man has been arrested after a serious crash on the M6 this morrning.
Two men have been taken to hospital after the three-car collision between J5 and J6 shortly after 04:30.
A 25-year-old man was given emergency trauma care at the scene before being taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Image source, Highways EnglandThe second patient was treated for less serious injuries.
A 19-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, West Midlands Police said.
The northbound carriageway is expected to remain closed between J4 and J6 until 12:00.
Former Conservative MP Antoinette Sandbach, who has joined the Liberal Democrats, said she had considered not standing for re-election.
Image source, UK ParliamentThe Remain-voting Cheshire MP was among 21 rebels who lost the Tory whip after rebelling against Boris Johnson in a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
She will stand as a Liberal Democrat candidate in her Eddisbury constituency in December's general election.
Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, she said she had considered not standing for re-election.
"Like many of the MPs that have stood down, I have been subjected to abuse."
"It has been incredibly difficult for my family and for me. But this is a critical time in our nation's history," she said.
BBC Midlands Today
An elderly couple have been trapped in their flat for several days, after the lift in their building stopped working.
Ninety-eight year-old Ken and 95-year-old Molly Woodward live at End Wood Court in Birmingham.
The pair have limited mobility and have to use the lift as they can't climb the stairs.
The lift has been broken since Saturday, they said, and not expected to be fixed until Wednesday.
Letting agency Pennycuick Collins has said they appreciate travelling up and down stairs for elderly residents can be difficult - so they've employed a different contractor so work can be carried out in seven days.
Some of the Express and Star headlines this morning include:
The Remain-voting MP says she will stand as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the general election.
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