BBC Sport

Stoke City will be targeting a win this evening against fellow strugglers Middlesbrough as it would move them out of the Championship relegation zone.

Image source, Getty Images

The Potters are three points behind their hosts but would leapfrog them with a victory due to having a better goal difference.

However, Stoke are likely to be without captain Ryan Shawcross for the game.

The defender returned from a broken leg against Luton on 10 December, but lasted less than 20 minutes before he was forced off with a groin problem.

More flooding, this time in Upton upon Severn.

A road in Burton-upon-Trent's been shut for much of the afternoon after a car overturned in a crash.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The emergency services were called at about 13:30 to Clay Lanes, Branston, after two vehicles were involved in the collision.

No-one was seriously hurt, Staffordshire Police said., external

Drivers are being warned of heavy flooding in parts of Staffordshire.

Police said it was affecting routes in the south of the county,, external including Wodehouse Lane, Wombourne:

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Allen Cook
BBC News

Drivers are being warned long tailbacks on motorways in the West Midlands could continue into this evening as millions of people travel for Christmas.

Image source, Highways England

The RAC and AA motoring groups have warned sections of the M1, M5, M6 and M25 are likely to see heavy delays.

There were delays on the M6 between Birmingham and Wolverhampton this morning and the AA said it expected traffic to reach a peak about now.

Traffic on the motorway has also been slowed by emergency pothole repairs this afternoon in Staffordshire and a break down near Castle Bromwich.

Money from the sale of the vandalised Perspex will go towards a homeless charity.

BBC News Travel

Trains are being disrupted between Birmingham New Street and Redditch/Bromsgrove due to flooding.

National Rail Enquiries says , externalservices could be cancelled or delayed and it expects the disruption to last until at least 20:00.

A chef suffered serious burns after the incident at an Indian restaurant where

Dudley News

A few of the stories making the headlines in the Dudley News:

• Stu Deeley celebrates Masterchef: The Professionals victory, external
• Lonely OAPs invited to enjoy free Christmas dinner, external
• School choir scoops £1k for new instruments, external

Feng Xu was a "prolific operator" for criminal gangs involved in prostitution and drug production.

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The Shrewsbury Town manager Sam Ricketts has responded to claims in the Coventry Telegraph, external that his players "kicked Coventry City off the pitch" in their match last Saturday.

Coventry City manager Mark Robins said after the game: "All day there's those fouls, we try to run away from them, they're holding you back and sometimes it's not seen or not given."

But he gave credit to Shrewsbury Town and added: "That's not why we lost. We lost because we weren't good enough today."

Image source, Getty Images

Ricketts responded: "I can remember a fairly hefty late challenge on Ryan Giles on the touchline which actually went unpunished."

"We're a fit side, we're a physical side, but we certainly don't go around kicking anyone."

Howard Johnson, from Walsall, beat and belittled his victim and made her eat from a dog bowl.

The MP for the Wrekin has said he wants plans for 3,000 homes near junction three of the M54 to be formally scrapped by Shropshire Council.

Mark Pritchard welcomed the comments of council leader Peter Nutting, who said the development is now "very unlikely" to happen, but tweeted "these encouraging words needs to be solidified by action and a formal discarding of the Tong site as a 'Strategic Site' within Shropshire."

Shropshire Council had been considering including the principle of the development in its local plan, after proposals were put forward by Bradford Estates.

But Mr Nutting said the Black Country local authorities which had initially shown an interest in the scheme had not followed it up.

Police want to trace six more men over the disorder at a Championship match between Leeds and Birmingham.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Labour MP Peter Kyle has told BBC Politics Live on BBC Two he hopes Birmingham MP Jess Phillips will stand in the contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

He says: “I’m encouraging her to enter the race because I think she is a politician who is firmly rooted in the realities of everyday life, beyond the Labour Party.”

He says he spoke to her yesterday and will be speaking again later today, adding that “she is looking into it”.

“I’m encouraging her actively to do it because I think hers is a voice that needs to be heard,” he adds.

Stephen Bush, political editor at the New Statesman, says Ms Phillips has “got a difficult path to the ballot”.

He says she has the support of other Labour MPs, but she also needs backing from the trade unions and the membership.

If she achieves that, he says, she has “a watchable quality” and is someone who could cut through to voters.

Brexit Party MEP Lucy Harris says none of the potential Labour candidates would be competition for Boris Johnson.

Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were stabbed to death at a prisoner rehabilitation event.

Steve Hermon
Journalist, BBC WM

Bin workers in Sandwell are to hold a ballot on strike action.

The GMB union says increased workloads from council contractor Serco are affecting the health and safety of its members and the public., external

The ballot closes on the 6 January.

The regional contract director for Serco, John Mason, told BBC WM the firm is continuing to speak to employees and the union to find a resolution.

A train driver died after being seriously hurt as he moved between two trains which were being coupled together at a depot, investigators have revealed., external

The man was injured on Saturday evening at Tyseley Depot, Birmingham.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said he had just got off a train which had been brought into the site on a nearby line.

They're now trying to piece together the events which led to him dying.

Pieces of plastic used to protect a Banksy festive artwork in Birmingham have been auctioned off for a homeless charity.

Image source, Banksy

Earlier this month, the artist unveiled the artwork, showing a man on a bench being "pulled" by reindeer in the city's Jewellery Quarter, via Instagram. It highlighted the plight of homeless people across the UK this Christmas.

The plastic sheeting was put in place after someone leapt over barriers and sprayed red noses on the two reindeer.

Image source, Fellows Auctioneers

The screen was auctioned off after it was also vandalised and then replaced with a more permanent cover, according to Fellows Auctioneers.

They sold the plastic, along with the bolts used to attach it to the wall, for £2,300, external to a local firm with the proceeds going to homeless group Midland Langar Seva Society.

New direct services between Gobowen and London are being promised by the company taking over Virgin's West Coast rail franchise.

Avanti West Coast said the first of these trains would run in December 2022, but it has not yet said where it will call along the route.

Image source, Avanti West Coast

Avanti has also promised to phase out older diesel locomotives in favour of hybrid trains which can also run on electricity.

Virgin Trains started running direct trains between Shrewsbury and London in December 2014.