Updates from Monday 28 October to Sunday 3 November
Two men from Rugby have been arrested in connection with a petrol station robbery in the town.
The facility on Leicester Road was targeted at about 04:50 on 10 October, police said.
A 21-year-old has been released on bail and a 33-year-old - both from the town - has been released under investigation.
Allen Cook
BBC News
The leadership team at Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been highly criticised in a report from a commissioner appointed to oversee improvements to children's services.
Eleanor Brazil took the role in Stoke-on-Trent in May after watchdog Ofsted rated the services inadequate and said vulnerable children were "not being protected".
Her report for the government's been published today , externaland says continued upheaval in the leadership of the city council and its managers has hampered attempts to make improvements.
She also says recommendations for changes were made in 2015 and 2016 and were not followed up and, if they were, they "would have made a big difference".
Mrs Brazil concludes the city council should stay in charge of services but enter a formal partnership with a higher-performing council to make improvements.
The government's given the authority a deadline of 31 January, external otherwise it'll sort out an alternative arrangement.
Council Leader Abi Brown said the local authority was committed to making improvements, external and agreed it needed "additional expert leadership".
A few of the stories making the headlines on the Shropshire Star website:
Johnty O'Donnell
Producer, BBC Shropshire
Our demand for creative Halloween costumes is growing and its become a busy time of year for a Shrewsbury make-up artist.
Charlotte Cashmore works the rest of the year in a traditional make-up salon, but come Halloween the requests get more creative and more ghoulish.
She said Joker-grins had been popular this year, but others gave her a free-rein to come up with something gory.
She creates her prosthetic masks using latex, cotton, paint and fake blood.
People are asking for more inventive Halloween make-up
BBC Midlands Today
Financial experts from the banking sector have been hired by West Midlands Police to help take profits away from drugs gangs.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceThe new team will confiscate laundered assets and drugs cash with all the money seized being put back into drug policy initiatives.
The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner's funding the scheme with £320,000 already seized from criminals.
The team will be made up of three financial investigators who will be looking to confiscate any assets or cash made by laundering drugs money.
Quote MessageBy using the money seized by criminals and using that to support young people and all people in our region who are addicted to drugs, it's what we need to do and it's something we're working with the financial sector to make sure it happens."
Ashley Bertie, West Midlands Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner
Some of our local BBC Weather Watchers look to have taken a break from snapping photos of the weather to instead show off their pumpkin carving skills - well, it is Halloween.
These two are from Staffordshire users Windy Bindy in Branston and JJ Infinity in Penkridge:
Image source, Windy Bindy
Image source, JJ infinityCan your pumpkins match up to these? Email us your photos.
Money seized from criminals will also be used to fund drugs support services in the West Midlands.
Read MoreA woman had to escape through a window after her radio overheated and started a blaze, the fire service said., external
Image source, Staffordshire Fire ServiceFire crews were called to the house on Hazelwood Road, Stapenhill, Burton-upon-Trent, yesterday morning and found the ground floor bedroom "well alight".
The woman had managed to escape before they arrived and was treated by paramedics after breathing in smoke, before being taken to hospital.
The fire service said the fire started in a DAB radio which appeared to have been covered over with clothing.
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis
More hospital appointments in Coventry and Warwickshire will be carried out by video and phone as part of a target to reduce face-to-face consultations.
Platforms such as Skype could become the norm as hospital bosses have been told to reduce face-to-face consultations by 30% by 2024.
Image source, GoogleA health scrutiny board at Coventry City Council heard it could reduce unnecessary travelling and infections, as well as cutting costs, and that patients would be given the choice.
However, some councillors asked if there could be “unintended consequences”.
The drive forms part of a five-year health plan with final submission of proposals made by 15 November.
BBC Sport
England begin their tour of New Zealand on Friday with a new coach at the helm and a host of new players.
The squad for the five-match Twenty20 series contains five uncapped players - and captain Eoin Morgan says they have a "huge opportunity".
They include Worcestershire bowler Pat Brown, the leading wicket-taker in the T20 Blast over the past two seasons.
BBC Sport taken a look at him and the other unfamiliar faces aiming to make their mark here on the website.
The Hereford Times' stories today include:
The men have each been jailed for a year after hitting their victim with a traffic cone.
Read MoreA Halloween "zombie" bus service has been cancelled in Birmingham due to safety concerns, a bus company has said.
Image source, National Express West MidlandsThe "difficult decision" to cancel the "zombie bus to Ghoulsville" was taken due to "anti-social behaviour from a small group of people" on Wednesday, said National Express West Midlands.
The free trips around Birmingham were to raise money for cancer charity CLIC Sargent.
The company apologised to people planning to join the bus tonight saying "we must put the safety of our customers and staff first".
BBC WM reporter Chris Craddock described his journey on last night's service as having a "friendly atmosphere" albeit with "slight overcrowding issues".
"There were a few rowdy teenagers," he added, "but nothing I would describe as anti-social behaviour."
Further flooding is being predicted in parts of Cheshire this weekend with more heavy rain on the way.
Image source, Met OfficeThe Met Office has a yellow weather warning covering much of the county on Saturday from 06:00 to 22:00.
It says there's a "small chance" homes and businesses could be flooded and transport disrupted.
A vicar has admitted downloading more than 400 indecent images of children, some deemed to be of the most serious category.
A chat message was also found on the phone of Christopher Goble, from Ilmington, admitting to having a sexual interest in children, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The photographs were found in a hidden gallery on the 44-year old's phone, the CPS added, after police executed a warrant to search his house on 1 October.
He pleaded guilty three counts of making indecent images of a child at Warwick Crown Court earlier.
His case has been adjourned for sentencing until the week of 9 December.
Kaldip Singh Lehal and Rajbinder Kaur ran a the charity Sikh Youth UK, a court is told.
Read MoreThe Worcester News' headlines today include:
BBC Business News
UK car production fell by 3.8% in September, due to political uncertainty at home and weaker overseas demand, according to the industry's trade body.
Fears over a possible no-deal Brexit dampened demand in the UK, while exports fell 3.4%, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
Image source, Getty ImagesOverall car output for the year-to-date plunged 15.6%, making it the weakest three quarters since 2011.
Results for individual firms have not been released, but the news could be worrying for the West Midlands, which employs 28% of the UK's overall automotive sector workforce, according to the combined authority, including dozens of firms in the supply chain.
SMMT added that British car makers had spent £300m on no-deal Brexit measures.
Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's biggest carmaker, has previously warned of the effects of a no-deal Brexit, but only last week revealed a return to profit - recording a second quarter pre-tax profit of £156m, compared with a £90m loss the year before.
Marcus Parchment admitted manslaughter at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Read MoreA brother and sister have denied fraud offences relating to charitable funds.
Rajbinder Kaur, 50, of Hamstead Road Birmingham, is charged with money laundering and six counts of theft amounting to £47,926.
Kaldip Singh Lehal, 38, also of Hamstead Road, is charged with knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission.
At Birmingham Magistrates' Court earlier Sonia Shafiq, prosecuting, described the case as a "very complex matter" and said: "The two ran Sikh Youth UK, a charity.
"Ultimately, the Crown will say the charity received funds which were layered through bank accounts in Ms Kaur's name and the money was used to pay personal debts and bills."
The pair denied all the charges and were conditionally bailed to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on 28 November.
