Updates From Monday 18 November to Sunday 24 November
We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning.
One benefit of the shorter days over winter is we get to see sunset photos taken by our BBC Weather Watchers earlier in the day.
So here are three from users Shiver Me Timbers in Clee Hill, Shropshire, Ruth's Vuew in Beoley, Worcestershire and Little Acorns in Southam, Warwickshire:
Image source, Shiver Me Timbers
Image source, Ruth's View
Image source, Little Acorns
Tom Edwards
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester
A school that threatened to partially close unless the government fixed its heating has been given “emergency funding” to allow it to stay open.
Image source, GoogleWoodrush High, Wythall, near Redditch, sent a letter to parents last week saying its ageing boiler system, which was in need of replacement more than two years ago, had finally stopped working.
Head teacher Natasha Rancins added she was considering closing a third of the school site unless the government was prepared to help.
Two previous requests for money had been rejected.
Parents started a petition and now the school has released a statement saying it's been given the funding by the Department for Education.
It will now install install a temporary boiler system while it works on a long-term solution.
Leamington Observer
These are some of today's Leamington Observer headlines:
Gavin Kermack
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester
A man's been badly hurt after his arm got caught in machinery on an industrial estate.
The emergency services were called to Thorn Business Park, Rotherwas, Hereford, just after midday.
Firefighters had to cut the man free from the machine and he was airlifted to hospital in what police said was a serious, but stable condition.
Allen Cook
BBC News
A man and a woman found dead at a flat in Birmingham earlier this month have been named by police.
Image source, SnapperSKThe West Midlands force said Michael Tesfamariam and Tsegereda Gebremariam, both 28, were known to each other and from Eritrea, Africa.
They were discovered at the property on Oxford Road, Moseley, on 9 November.
Police said post-mortem examinations had been carried out although the results were not revealed. An inquest is set to open on Wednesday.
The deaths are no longer being treated as suspicious, police say.
An animal charity's cancelled its Christmas fair due to the recent heavy rain.
The Dogs Trust Shrewsbury was going to hold the event on Sunday but says there are safety concerns over waterlogged car parking areas. , external
Instead, the charity says it's planning an alternative fair in the spring.
A few of the headlines from the Ledbury Reporter:
He was born and raised in Scotland, but teenager Terry Taylor is keen to shine for Wales having made his Wolves debut.
Read More
Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter
It will be a dry night with clear spells and areas of patchy freezing fog expected to form throughout the night and lows of -2C (28F).
Latest weather for the West Midlands
Christian Bale has come under fire on social media for his Brummie accent in new film Le Mans 66.
Although the film has been well received by critics, BBC Radio 5 Live's Mark Kermode's said Bale's accent in the film took "a few geographical laps" including "an occasional detour into Wallace and Gromit territory, external".
Born in Sutton Coldfield, Bale's character Ken Miles worked at the nearby Wolsley Motors in the 1930s.
Image source, Getty ImagesAfter World War Two he took up racing, before moving to the USA, where he became something of a legend, working with designer Carroll Shelby, played in the film by Matt Damon.
Commenting on Youtube, users complained Bale's "poor" accent was pretty far from Birmingham, comparing it to that of Professor Brian Cox (from Oldham) or a cross with an Australian accent.
"This is the first time in years Bale has done a performance close to his actual accent and yet it sounds so odd and fake," one person commented.
It's not the first time an actor has received flak for a Brummie accent, as the cast of Peaky Blinders can attest. Creator Steven Knight, himself from Birmingham, admitted it's a hard accent to get right.
Bale might have given himself an unnecessary challenge, with some people on social media commenting that Miles never had a Brummie accent anyway, as this clip from the 1960s seems to back up, external.
Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News
Bloodhound has now joined the exclusive club of land speed racers that have gone faster than 600mph (965km/h).
Running across its dry lakebed track on Saturday, the British car's GPS sensors clocked 628mph (1,010km/h) with RAF pilot Andy Green, from Atherstone, at the controls.
Watch the Bloodhound supercar get off the line
Bloodhound's achievement is notable because it's been running with only the thrust of a jet engine. The car's design allows for a rocket motor, too.
When this is fitted next year, as planned, the arrow-shaped machine should be in a very strong position to smash the current world record of 763mph (1,228km/h), set 22 years ago by another British car, Thrust SSC.
Allen Cook
BBC News
A woman's been left seriously hurt after being hit twice by two different vehicles, one of which drove off without stopping.
Image source, GoogleThe victim, in her 30s, was crossing the road outside Shrewsbury Railway Station on Thursday, West Mercia Police said,, external when a silver vehicle hit her.
The driver failed to stop and the woman was left in the road with a serious injury to her ankle.
Officers added she was then hit by a second vehicle which did stop at the scene.
A suspected World War Two bomb has been removed from a construction site in Oldbury.
Officers cordoned off an area around Tat Bank Road and Seven Starts Road, which has now been lifted.
The bomb disposal team have "safely removed the bomb to be detonated in a controlled environment," said West Midlands Police. , external
Lee Blakeman
BBC Radio Stoke
Port Vale manager John Askey's admitted it'll be hard not to start with striker Mark Cullen after he scored his third goal in two matches.
Image source, Getty ImagesCullen's only started four games this season since joining from Blackpool, but struck the winner against Carlisle on Saturday.
Quote MessageHe's not been fit for the majority of the season. When he has been fit then we've been doing well so it's been difficult to get him in the side but, if he keeps doing that, it's hard to keep him out."
John Askey, Port Vale manager
BBC News
The care system helps older and disabled people with day-to-day tasks like washing, dressing, eating and medication.
It is under pressure across the UK after past governments failed to reform or fund the council-run system properly.
Experts believe the problems are now so acute that politicians who ignore the issue at this election, do so at their peril.
A man's been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after a pedestrian died in a crash.
Image source, GoogleThe 25-year-old man was killed in the collision, which also involved a black Peugeot car and a lorry, on the A5 near Lichfield on Saturday morning, police said. , external
The road was shut between Wall Island and Muckley Corner for more than five hours today, external as officers carried out investigations.
A 41-year-old man, from Walsall, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and a 37-year-old woman, also from Walsall, was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.
Both have since been released under investigation.
The headlines from the Hereford Times:
BBC Shropshire
Parents in a village have forced their council to change where their children catch the school bus from after complaining their lives were at risk.
Image source, GoogleThe group in Alberbury, near Shrewsbury, had told BBC Shropshire the youngsters were forced to wait on a grass verge at a junction on the busy B4393.
One of them, Kerry Strauss, said: "On five occasions, we've had children almost hit by cars and we're just asking that the bus get moved from where it picks the kids up to get our children off the main road and keep them safe."
Today, Shropshire Council's portfolio holder for children's services, Ed Potter, said the bus route would change from tomorrow to a safer drop-off and collection point.
A burglar who broke into three homes in Warwickshire, stealing cash from the properties, has been jailed for six years.
Image source, Warwickshire PoliceMarc Lelli admitted three charges of burglary after the incidents in Kineton on the night of 4 October.
The 39-year-old, of Cromwell Road, Banbury, was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on Friday.
