Updates from Monday 16 December to Sunday 22 December
McDonald's has withdrawn its application to open a restaurant in Worcester, after complaints it is too close to North Worcester Primary Academy.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe application for the old Harvester pub site on Droitwich Road was due to be considered by the city council this week
It's understood McDonald's is now working on revised plans.
Three people have been arrested after a man was stabbed in Telford last Wednesday.
West Mercia Police said the attack happened just after 22:00 on Crescent Road in Hadley.
Image source, GoogleThe three males are aged 27, 23 and 16.
The 27 and 23 year old men have been recalled to prison, the 16-year-old has been released on police bail.
Worcester Warriors' Irish hooker Niall Annett signs a new two-year contract at Sixways.
Read MoreThe hit Birmingham-based TV drama Peaky Blinders is having an influence on Scotland's most popular baby names.
L-R: John Shelby (Joe Cole), Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and Arthur Shelby (Paul Anderson)
Jack and Olivia are reigning name champions of 2019 according to the National Records of Scotland, however rising at speed were Arthur and Tommy, possibly brought back in vogue by the BBC drama set in 1920s Brum.
Arthur rose 20 places to 26th and Tommy soared 41 places to 48th.
A "fizzing" fireworks box was pushed towards Anthony Nicholls' feet in his home, an inquest hears.
Read MoreWorkshops which aim to teach young people how to deal with the effects of knife crime have been launched by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.
Image source, Getty Images'Street Aid' was granted £37,000 to fund the programmes across Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Walsall and will deliver training in emergency first aid, conflict resolution, and consequential thinking skills.
Students aged 14-24 will be taught how to deal with injuries such as gun shots, knife wounds and acid attacks in the time it takes for emergency services to arrive.
Quote MessageEquipping young people with the skills and knowledge to respond to difficult, and often life-threatening situations, will help in reducing conflict on the street and the rise in violence throughout the region. These workshops are crucial in acknowledging issues that young people are facing and breaking down barriers of communication.
Waheed Saleem, Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner
BBC Radio Stoke Sport
Port Vale manager John Askey says he doesn't mind if fans have high expectations - because he has high expectations too.
After struggling last season, the team has been doing better than expected and are challenging for a playoff place.
Image source, Getty ImagesAskey said: "We have to be realistic and we'll find out at the end of the season, but it won't be through lack of trying and I know that the players that we've got are all honest players and they'll give everything they've got."
A man was killed when intruders pushed a large "fizzing and smoking" firework towards his feet while he was eating dinner with his wife.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceAnthony Nicholls became trapped in an upstairs bedroom after intruders kicked down his front door and set off the 210-shot firework, in November 2017.
Birmingham's assistant coroner, James Bennett, was told criminal damage had been caused to the victim's house in Tile Cross two days before the arson attack.
Mr Nicholls, 56, suffered "unsurvivable" injuries and died in hospital five days after the attack. His wife, Maria Jones, survived but has since died from unrelated causes.
Their daughter, Fiona, remembered her father as "a kind, caring and funny man whose life was cut short by this wicked act".
A murder inquiry is continuing.
Horses getting onto a railway line have prevented some MPs making it to Parliament for their first official meeting of the new House of Commons.
Labour MP Cat Smith tweeted to say even though she had left with two-and-a-half hours spare to get from Lancashire to London, it was unlikely she would arrive on time.
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The horses, which National Rail said have since been removed, caused disruption on the West Coast Mainline at Athersone.
"The horses which were on the railway at Atherstone earlier today are now safely back in their field," National Rail said, however disruption is likely to continue until 16:00 GMT.
Stuart Roe was stabbed multiple times as he made his way home from a pub.
Read MoreA moss-planting project is underway on the Staffordshire moorlands, to help improve water quality and increase the number of plant species.
Staff and volunteers from a lottery funded scheme have planted 10,000 sphagnum moss plants.
Image source, Getty ImagesSphagnum moss helps create a healthy blanket bog, which stores water and carbon.
Here are three of the stories from the Shropshire Star:
Nearly 900 hedgehogs have been cared for at RSPCA Stapeley in Nantwich this year - the most the centre has ever looked after.
Image source, RSPCANumbers treated at the Cheshire centre have been increasing every year, but nearly 50% more were treated in 2019 than 2018.
Most of the hedgehogs that come in are usually cold, underweight, wobbly, dehydrated, collapsed and hungry when they arrive, the RSPCA said.
Quote MessageThe number of hedgehogs we have been caring for this year is incredible and when I last counted we have had 897 admitted this year.
Lee Stewart, Stapeley Grange manager
A Hereford man who illegally dumped bin bags full of rubbish at the Holmer Trading Estate has been fined £300 by magistrates.
Alexandru Croitoru, 23, from Grandstand Road in Hereford admitted three charges and was also ordered to pay costs of £150.
Image source, Herefordshire CouncilHerefordshire Council said he fly tipped the black bin bags at night during November and December 2018, while working as a delivery driver .
The maximum penalty for fly tipping is a £50,000 fine and/or five years in prison.
A man who fatally stabbed another man he was drinking with on a night out has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceMartyn Turley, 58, of no fixed abode, admitted stabbing Stuart Roe, 34, on Springfield Drive, Halesowen, in the early hours of 30 December.
Image source, Stuart RoePolice said both men had been out drinking in Rowley Regis with separate groups of people and were not previously known to each other. Detectives had not been able to establish a motive for the attack.
Turley pleaded guilty on day three of his murder trial at Birmingham Crown Court in November.
Investigations into the cause of a severe fire are under way, says West Midlands Fire Service.
Read MoreA 19-year-old man has appeared in court over the murder of Tony McCorry, 72, at his home in Sutton Coldfield.
Image source, Family handoutThe grandfather, who worked and cared for the homeless, was discovered at a property in Stonehouse Road at 03:45 GMT on 11 December and died in hospital hours later.
He had grown up in a Glasgow orphanage before moving to Birmingham in the 1960s, police said in a tribute issued earlier this month.
Rhys Reynolds, of Landswood Close, Kingstanding, was remanded in custody after appearing at the city's crown court.
He is next due to appear in January with a trial set for June.
A lorry has overturned on the Randlay Interchange in Telford and it means the road will be closed for most of the day.
West Mercia Police said the driver suffered minor injuries.
Image source, West Mercia PoliceA community lottery starts in Redditch today giving people the chance to win up to £25,000.
The Redditch Community Lottery will support local volunteer groups and charities.
Image source, Getty ImagesTickets can be bought online and buyers will be asked to choose which local charity or organisation will benefit from 50% of their cash.
A man was taken to hospital with serious burns after a suspected gas explosion at a house in Coseley, Dudley, on Monday night.
Image source, West Midlands Fire ServiceEmergency services were called to Siddons Road just before midnight after neighbours called to report a gas explosion - although West Midlands Fire Service said it was working to establish the cause of the blaze.
Image source, West Midlands Fire ServiceWest Midlands Ambulance Service said paramedics treated the man at the scene for serious burns and he was then taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for further treatment.
