Three masked men forced their way into an elderly couple's home in Wolverhampton before making off with jewellery, police said.

A 79-year-old man was threatened with an iron bar while a 75-year-old woman was held down as her gold necklace was taken during the break in at their home in Croft Lane, Low Hill, at about 18:15 on Tuesday.

West Midlands Police said it had recovered CCTV and was working to trace the suspects.

Blood is being cleaned from a window near to the scene of a stabbing at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham.

Two males were injured in the incident which police say took place near the rear entrance of Selfridges at about 15:30.

BBC reporter Ben Perrin, at the scene, said the blood was being cleaned from a window of the nearby Burger King outlet.

An incident at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham was a stabbing, West Midlands Police has confirmed.

Officers previously described what happened as a "disorder" and said two males found hurt at the scene received non-life-threatening injuries.

The case against four men convicted of historic child sex abuse in Telford was "extremely difficult to build", the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

The victim, who was 13 years old at the time the abuse started, was raped and sexually assaulted by the men in a flat above a pizza shop in the early 2000s.

Police were called at the time but the victim was too frightened to report the abuse, the CPS said.

She was then contacted by officers in 2018 as part of Operation Vapour, which led to the convictions of the men at Birmingham Crown Court earlier.

Image source, Google

Julia McSorley, from CPS West Midlands, said: "This has been an extremely difficult case for the Crown Prosecution Service to build and, understandably, many people were reluctant to give evidence about painful events from several years ago.

"We would like to thank [the victim] for her incredible courage in giving evidence and securing the convictions of the men who carried out these dreadful offences.”

Two teenage males hurt during "disorder" at the Bullring shopping centre did not suffer life-threatening injuries, police have said.

West Midlands Police said officers were called at about 15:30 to reports of people being injured near the rear entrance of Selfridges .

Image source, Google

There is an increased police presence within the Bullring, including armed officers, while officers try and establish what has happened and find those involved.Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101.

Hundreds of homeless and vulnerable people across Birmingham are being invited to come to the city's New Street Station on Christmas Eve for a free three-course Christmas meal.

Image source, Network Rail

Last Christmas, volunteers from Midland Langar SevaSociety (MLSS) served 200 people at the station and this year they hope to feed 350.

There will be three courses of vegetarian food, served with non-alcoholic drinks as well as a DJ, carol singers, and Christmas gifts from 18:00-21:00.

Ambulance staff called to reports of a stabbing at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham say two teenage males have been seriously injured.

Emergency services were called to the rear entrance of the shopping centre, near Selfridges at about 15:30 GMT.

The males have been taken to hospital for further treatment, West Midlands Ambulance Service said.

The number of empty homes in Herefordshire and Worcestershire has risen by 7% since last year.

New figures show that about 2,500 properties have been empty for more than six months.

Some of the worst examples are in Malvern, Wychavon, Worcester and Hereford, according to BBC Hereford and Worcester.

Herefordshire Council has recently appointed an empty property officer to work with property owners - but Will McMahon from Empty Homes UK says more needs to be done to "bring areas back to life".

"The government needs to do something about it to help," Mr McMahon said.

Another dog has been abandoned in Birmingham in the run up to Christmas.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Earlier, we brought you the news of an elderly dog being left tied to railings in Kings Heath in freezing conditions.

Birmingham City Council said the latest abandoned dog, who was found tied up in an alleyway in Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield, was the second abandoned Staffordshire Bull Terrirer to be rescued in as many days.

The 18-month-old dog's microchip does not have up to date information, the council said, but it did show he had already had three owners in his short life.

The local authority appealed for anyone with any information about the dog to get in touch.

The vulnerable victim was "passed around like a piece of meat", the men's trial heard.

A man from Stoke-on-Trent who was found holding a samurai sword outside a takeaway has pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon.

Armed officers were called to the incident in Middleport on 31 October.

Image source, Google

Christopher Edwards, 40, of Joseph Street in Burslem appeared at Stoke Crown Court earlier where he was handed an eight-month sentence suspended for 18 months along with a 15-day rehabilitation order.

About 300 trees will be given away for free in Birmingham on Christmas Eve to mark the end of the city's Frankfurt Christmas market.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The markets will close on Monday 23 December and the council has invited anyone in need of a tree for their home to collect one that has been used to decorate the market for free.

Market organisers have also invited teams from local charities, homeless shelters and women’s refuges to take trees to their bases or centres.

The trees will be available to collect on New Street from 08:00 on Christmas Eve.

Transport for West Midlands has committed almost £15m to create four new major cycle routes in Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country.

Image source, TfWM

The four routes are:

• A segregated cycle highway at Perry Barr to Perry Park and the Alexander Stadium
• Birmingham to the Airport and NEC
• New routes and local links to connect communities to the new Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro line
• Along the Binley Road route between Coventry University to University Hospital

TfWM hopes segregated cycleways will help to encourage new cyclists by making riding a bike in the region safer.

Worcester Warriors hooker Isaac Miller signs a new contract running until the end of the 2021-22 season.

Coventry Live

A few of the stories appearing on the Coventry Telegraph website today:

• Distraught mum claims maggots are dropping into sink from rat carcass in Coventry home, external
• Flasher broke into 90-year-old woman's home in terrifying attack, external
• Nicola Payne investigation could see new information and further searches in the new year, external

Wasps centre Michael Le Bourgeois signs a new undisclosed-length contract with the Premiership side.

Four men have now been found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl in Telford in the early 2000s.

During a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, the jury heard the group passed the then 13-year-old around "like a piece of meat".

Shafiq Younas, 35, of Regent Street, Wellington, has this afternoon been convicted of indecent assault.

It follows three guilty verdicts yesterday:

• Mohammed Ali Sultan, 33,was convicted of rape and three counts of indecent assault.
• Mohammad Rizwan, 37, of Mafeking Road, Telford, was also found guilty of two counts of indecent assault
• Amjad Hussain, 38, of Acacia Drive, Leegomery, Telford, was convicted of a single count of indecent assault.

Hussain was cleared of a similar charge of indecent assault this morning, along with a fifth man, Nazam Akhtar, 35, of Victoria Avenue, Wellington, who was found not guilty of rape.

A family farming firm has donated £35,000 to the local village primary school in a bid to cut class sizes.

WH Gittins & Sons said the family had been farming in Ruyton-XI-Towns for 120 years and had seen 22 direct family members attend St John the Baptist Primary School and Nursery over the years.

Its donation has meant that the school has been able to take on extra teaching staff to reduce class sizes from more than 30 pupils per class to the low 20s.

Image source, St John the Baptist Primary School & Nursery

Simon Gittins, the farm’s managing partner, who has seen his father John, his own three daughters and his niece Heidi attend the school, said: "Seeing the children being taught in small groups and getting more teacher time is a very satisfying direct result of our donation.

"We feel very fortunate to have such an amazing school on our doorstep."

Julie Ball, the school’s executive head teacher, said smaller class sizes were "enormously beneficial to pupil development" adding that the "incredibly generous act", was having a "positive impact on all the children at the school".

Police are hunting a man from Stoke-on-Trent who failed to turn up to court over a crash which seriously injured a teenager and her toddler two years ago.

Aqeeb Rasab, 26, of Wolston Road in Cobridge was due at Stoke-on-Trent Crown court this morning.

Judge David Fletcher has issued a warrant for his arrest.

Image source, Google

Rasab has previously pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice in relation to the crash which took place on Waterloo Road in Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent in August 2017.

Bellal Ahmad, 28, of Emerson Road in Cobridge, appeared in court and pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The case was adjourned until a future date to be confirmed as Judge Fletcher wants to sentence both men at the same time.

A letter reveals how the author suffered a turkey-related mishap ahead of his last Christmas.