A gold ring that was lost more than 60 years ago in a Shropshire field has been reunited with its owner.

Roy Beddows lost his ring while working on a farm in West Felton when he was 17.

Image source, Robin Kynaston

Metal detectorist Robin Kynaston was scouring the same land six decades later when he found it buried six inches down.

"It's the first ring and the first gold I've ever found", Mr Kynaston said.

Following an appeal on social media, Mr Kynaston reunited Mr Beddows with the ring.

Image source, Robin Kynaston

"It means such a lot to get it back", Mr Beddows said, adding that he would give it to his son.

More money is going to be spent on fixing potholes in Stoke-on-Trent, the city council has said.

The local authority says it is putting another £1.2m into repairing blighted roads.

Image source, PA Media

There will also be six more teams working on the streets, aiming to deal with more than 4,000 repairs over the next few months.

Conservative councillor Daniel Jellyman told BBC Radio Stoke the holes that "present the highest risk", located near hospitals, schools and on main roads would be prioritised.

Express and Star

A few of the headlines from the Express & Star:

• £1.7m cannabis gang leader to repay tenth of ill-gotten gains, external
• Drug and illicit tobacco shop in Wolverhampton loses licence, external
• Three Penkridge streets targeted by burglars, external

The leader of Shropshire Council Peter Nutting says he has no fears about the finances despite facing a £14m hole in the budget.

He says he'll be holding talks with the county’s MPs in a bid to secure better government funding, but has brought in a spending and recruitment freeze as a precaution.

Mr Nutting said the problem was not knowing how much money it would get from April.

An 18-year-old man could face trial next April charged with the murder of a Cheshire schoolboy.

The body of 15-year-old Alex Rodda was found in the village of Ashley near Knutsford on Friday morning.

Image source, Family handout

Matthew Mason, of Allerton, near Knutsford, appeared before Chester Crown Court this morning.

He's accused of murdering the 15-year-old on Thursday and being in possession of a bladed article in a public place in Newport in Shropshire on Friday.

A PCSO from Dudley has delivered a talk on UK policing to school children in Beijing.

Karen Copsen, who works for West Midlands Police and is based at the Brierley Hill station, spoke at Chaoyang Fangcaodi International School in China last month while visiting her daughter who is a teacher there.

Image source, West Midlands Police

The children learned about the UK style of "policing by consent" and that only a small percentage of UK officers are armed.

"I hope my input has inspired the children, particularly the girls, to follow their dreams, pursue their passions and be who they want to be later in life," Ms Copsen said.

A spokesman for the school said he hoped the talk would encourage pupils to consider a policing career in the future - in whatever country they end up living in.

Chris Doidge
BBC Radio Derby, political reporter

The Burton Mail is set to close its office in Burton-upon-Trent in January in a move that the National Union of Journalists says implies "a move towards closing the newspaper".

Image source, Google

Under current plans, journalists working from the Burton office will either work from home or move to the paper's other office in Derby.

The Burton Mail said it would continue to be a daily paper and previously said there were no redundancies connected to the change.

However the NUJ is calling on Reach PLC, which owns the Burton Mail, to rethink its decision to shut the office.

Stoke City has welcomed a banning order given to a fan for racially abusing a Nottingham Forest goalkeeper.

Carl Mason, 53, of Franklyn Street, Hanley, pleaded guilty to using racially aggravated threatening or abusive words when the teams met at the Bet365 stadium on 27 September.

Image source, Getty Images

Yesterday he was fined £310 at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates' Court and given a three-year banning order.

A spokesperson for Stoke City said, "there’s no place in society for racism" and that it worked "actively alongside the police to bring offenders to justice”.

Nottingham Forest praised Stoke City's action and those of witnesses who came forward and reported the incident.

“Football is for everyone and it is important that clubs and their supporters join together to tackle these issues in our game," a spokesperson said.

Birmingham Live

Today's top stories from Birmingham Live:

• Husband and wife funded luxury lifestyle from £250,000 stamp washing fraud, external
• Birmingham Dogs Home looking for owners for its largest ever litter of puppies, external
• New mum parked in parent and child bay left savage note by angry driver, external

A pedestrian has been seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash in Burton-upon-Trent.

The woman, in her 40s, was crossing Branston Road at around 20:30 on Friday 13 December when a car knocked her to the ground before heading off in the direction of the A38, police said.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

She suffered a broken nose, swelling and bruising to her face and lost six teeth.

Staffordshire Police have released images of her injuries in order to appeal for information.

PC Chris Bower described the injuries as "horrific" and asked anyone who may have seen what happened to get in touch.

The plans would secure jobs and were integral to the upgrade of the rail network, Network Rail said.

Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM

The family of a Stourbridge solder killed in the Hyde Park bombing is one of four who've won the first stage of a High Court damages claim against suspect John Downey.

Image source, PA Media

Trooper Simon Tipper was 19 when he was killed alongside three other Royal Household Cavalrymen in the blast in July 1982.

The four families brought the civil action against the convicted IRA member after a criminal case collapsed at the Old Bailey in 2014.

The case will now progress to a second stage to determine the amount of damages to be awarded after the High Court ruled Mr Downey was an "active participant" in the bombing.

Aston Villa centre-back James Chester hopes there are better days ahead after making his long-awaited return from injury.

A main water pipe supplying the whole of Newport has burst.

Wellington Road is shut between the High Street and Granville Avenue junctions.

The Boughey Road junction is also affected.

Severn Trent Water says work to fix the pipe will take place tonight and officers hope the road will reopen tomorrow morning.

Michael Dubrowsky left his savings to the Birmingham Royal Orthopaedic Hospital where he was treated.

A man has been arrested after a stolen car was involved in a crash with a bus in Birmingham on Tuesday.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Police spotted the Vauxhall Astra - believed to have been stolen during an armed carjacking in Shaftmoor Lane, Hall Green on 9 December - on Snow Hill in the city centre at 17:35.

It failed to stop for officers, West Midlands Police said, and moments later collided with a bus in Wimbourne Road. None of the bus passengers were injured, however a 37-year-old passenger had to be cut from the car by firefighters and taken to hospital for treatment on a back injury.

The driver, a 34-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of robbery, dangerous driving and failing to stop for offices and remains in custody, police said.

Stoke-on-Trent now has three Conservative MPs for the first time in 90 years.

Shropshire Star

Here are some of the stories appearing on the Shropshire Star website today:

• Jailed: Man drove at 80mph in 30mph zones, external in police chase through Shrewsbury in stolen Mercedes
• Brazen thief walked out of Shrewsbury store with £2,000 sculpture under his coat, external
• Dogs saved from house fire, external in Telford

Rob Mayor
Political reporter, BBC WM

This is victory for campaigners who’ve spent the last two years fighting Network Rail all the way.

They claim the sleeper factory would plague their homes and the 21 schools within one mile of the site with dust and pollution.

Image source, George Makin/ LDRS

That’s rejected by Network Rail which says the factory is "nationally important" after a similar facility in Birmingham was closed to make way for HS2.

Sandwell Council’s planning committee unanimously ruled that reassurances over the environmental impact were inadequate, a decision met with applause from dozens gathered in the public gallery.

But it’s not the end of the line for this story.

Network Rail says it was not given enough time to provide more information about environmental safeguards, and has hinted it may appeal to the government's planning inspectorate, a process which could take several months or more.

A woman has died after a car hit two pedestrians in Leamington Spa on Tuesday night.

Image source, Kirsten Leahy

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called to the junction of Rugby Road and Guys Cliffe Avenue at about 19:35.

“Crews arrived to find a man and a woman who’d been in a collision with a car; the woman was in a critical condition," a spokesperson said.

“Staff quickly administered advanced life support, but unfortunately despite their best efforts, she was confirmed dead at the scene."

The second pedestrian, a man, was taken to hospital but his injuries are not thought to have been as serious, WMAS said.

The driver of the car was also treated at the scene before being taken to hospital.