A recruitment consultant form the West Midlands has missed out on winning the BBC's Apprentice.

Scarlett Allen-Horton, from Bentley Heath, missed out to the artisan bakery owner Carina Lepore.

Carina impressed Lord Sugar by being on the winning team in nine out of the 10 tasks during the series, including winning all three episodes in which she was project manager.

An ageing population and a drive to increase diagnosis rates are behind the rise, experts say.

Motorway police said a pedestrian walking on the M6 to whom they were alerted last night was a young boy who had illegally entered the UK.

He had split up from his parents a few days ago and didn’t know which country they were in, according to the force.

Police said the boy was taken to a place of safety with food and water until social services could take him into care.

People who have experienced rough sleeping have been sharing their stories with BBC News.

Among them is Samantha Bird, 30, who has been sleeping rough on the streets of Birmingham for two years.

Placed in foster care across the West Midlands as a child, she said as an adult she was living in a shared house but her mental health led to her being sectioned and her housing benefit stopped, which then led to her landlord forcing her to leave.

She said life on the streets was dangerous and she felt judged by passers by.

"Steady progress" is being made at HMP Birmingham after it was brought back under government control, inspectors have said.

But they added CCTV "promised for years" has still not been installed at the jail.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said CCTV would be installed within six weeks.

The prison was previously run by security firm G4S which lost the contract in April after the chief inspector of prisons described it as the worst he had ever been to, two years after a huge riot.

A lane of the M6 southbound is blocked between Junction 15 at Stoke-on-Trent and Junction 14 for Stafford due to a stranded car, says Highways England.

It has traffic officers and a recovery vehicle on route.

Two cats from the West Midlands have been selected in the annual Cats Protection charity calendar.

Miss March is Maia, from King’s Norton in Birmingham, who was adopted by Tamasine Broad.

Image source, Linda Scannell

“Maia had a difficult start in life and was full of cat flu," Ms Broad said, which has left her with partial sight.

"Her favourite place to sleep is on my pillow and although a small cat, she certainly makes the most of her half of the bed and really has made my house a home.”

For August, Mylo from Warwick was chosen.

Image source, Linda Scannell

“Mylo stole my heart the minute I opened his pen and heard his tiny little squeak of a meow," his owner, Clara Youden, said.

"He makes our quirky little family feel complete - he’s a gentle, quirky, wonderful little character.”

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Andrew Morris

A former public toilet could be turned into an Indian takeaway after plans were submitted to Shropshire Council.

Image source, Google

Owners of The Masala Restaurant in St Julian’s Friars in Shrewsbury want to convert the existing former public toilets into a fast food takeaway to serve the local residents.

The application says the conversion will be "a very straight forward design, the only works required externally are to install new windows with a lowered cill height to serve the customer".

Councillors will discuss the plans in due course.

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

Heavy rain is expected throughout Thursday, which is being blamed on two areas of low pressure crossing across the west Midlands.

There will be quite gusty conditions today - but it is warm air, so temperatures will be slightly higher.

Sophie Madden
BBC News

Good morning, we'll be bringing you the latest news, sport, travel and weather until 19:00 GMT.

Want to get in touch? You can find us on Facebook, external and Twitter., external

Here are the stories of some of the men and women sleeping rough on the streets of England.

G4S and the government each felt the other should pay for CCTV in HMP Birmingham, a report says.

One primary school in Birmingham reveals how it is trying to balance its books, give pastoral care and teach.

That's all from our live coverage on Wednesday.

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

Armed officers are sent to the shopping centre after two teenagers are stabbed near Selfridges.

The MP for Worcester says he will be speaking to the government's rail minister over the "real concerns" commuters have been facing.

MP Robin Walker said West Midlands Railway needs to solve a catalogue of issues after a number of trains were cancelled in Worcestershire this afternoon and evening.

West Midlands Railway has apologised to passengers for the problems which have caused chaos for commuters between Birmingham and Worcester.

Image source, West Midlands Railway

The operator says the problems are due to a shortage in train crew and are unrelated to this week's new timetable.

Mr Walker said that travellers "have had a consistent series of underperformance" with the operator failing to deliver on its promises.

"Even with the new timetable, it is a real concern", Mr Walker added.

The Met office has a yellow weather warning in force for rain covering most of the West Midlands until midday on Friday.

Many parts of the region have barely recovered from recent flooding, meaning the ground is very saturated in parts, the Environment Agency says.

Worcester County Council says Hylton Road in Worcester is closing to allow pumps to be installed. The road is expected to reopen at about 21:30.

A flood warning is in force for Kempsey and the surrounding area, and a string of less serious flood alerts are in place in parts of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

BBC News Travel

The rail line between Birmingham New Street and Rugby is currently blocked as emergency services respond to reports of a person hit by a train.

Birmingham New Street is advising people to check before travelling, external.

National Rail Enquiries says disruption is expected until 20:30.

This is currently the scene at Shrewsbury's Market Square where hundreds of people have gathered to sing carols and enjoy a bit of Christmas spirit, despite the awful weather.

BBC Radio Shropshire is hosting the annual Carols in the Square event, with people listening in and messaging from all around the world.

Telford and Wrekin Council has welcomed the convictions of four men over charges including the rape and indecent assault of a 13-year-old girl in the early 2000s.

Telford has been in the headlines in recent years over child sexual exploitation and an independent inquiry on child sexual exploitation in the town is currently ongoing.

Image source, Google

Jurors in this latest case were told by prosecutors the vulnerable victim was sold for sex and treated as a "piece of meat".

Clive Jones, Telford and Wrekin Council director of children’s services, said the local authority was pleased the perpetrators had been brought to justice.

The convictions also follow Operation Chalice which saw seven men jailed in 2013 for child sexual abuse offences in the town.

The council has set up a task-force to focus on the issue and has trained taxi drivers and hotel staff to spot the signs of CSE, although it has also faced criticism for the time taken to launch the inquiry.