Updates from Monday 16 December to Sunday 22 December
A picture of a horse, taken a 15-year-old from Kidderminster has been named among the winners of a national photography competition.
Image source, Katie SalesKatie Sales has been awarded first prize in the 12-15 Mobile Phone & Devices category of the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2019, beating more than 6,500 entries.
Katie took the picture of Albie on her smartphone.
A new drama tells the story of the Stafford Hospital scandal - one of the biggest in the NHS's history.
Read MoreFollowing news of flood warnings and alerts earlier, the Environment Agency's Dave Throup said a "lot of rain" was on its way into our patch from the south, external.
He warned of "appalling travelling conditions and flash flooding" with "some already high rivers expected to respond later".
BBC Radio Stoke
Air quality around a controversial landfill site in Staffordshire is not at unsafe levels - according to inspectors
People living around Walleys Quarry near Silverdale have complained for some time about the smell of eggs blowing into their houses.
The landfill takes non-hazardous industrial and commercial waste, which the Environment Agency admits can cause a smell.
But today the agency says air quality is not being impaired.
Image source, GoogleIt investigated for seven months in 2017, and for the first half of this year, and says it did not find any pollutants above recommended levels.
Red Industries, which runs Walleys Quarry, says it takes the concerns of residents seriously - and does all it can not to cause nuisance to its neighbours.
A water main which burst in Newport, Shropshire has been repaired, says Severn Trent Water.
But, it says it has found additional problems down the hole - which means Wellington Road will remain closed until tomorrow afternoon.
The company says there is no risk to supplies - but have apologised for the inconvenience caused by the road closure.
BBC Midlands Today
A night shelter for the homeless run by former Stoke City manager Lou Macari, will take a significant step towards safeguarding its future today.
Macari, who also managed Birmingham City, opened the shelter three years ago to get homeless people off the streets and help them move on to independent living.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which owns the building, is giving the Macari Centre a five-year lease on the property.
A full judgement is expected in the new year after an appeal ruling on the doctor.
Read MoreThe rapper said the Christmas version of one of his hits by a Stoke-on-Trent school was "brilliant".
Read MoreA man's now out of hospital, after he was attacked at a petrol station in Crewe and left with serious facial injuries.
Image source, GoogleThe 33-year-old was assaulted by four men outside the Esso petrol station on Victoria Avenue in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Cheshire Police are still investigating the attack, at about 03:20.
PA Media
A teenage migrant found wandering along a motorway near Birmingham faces a "long period of uncertainty and limbo" after becoming separated from his parents, a charity worker has said.
The 15-year-old boy, who said he was from Iraq, was found by police on the central reservation of the M6 on Wednesday night, before being transferred to immigration officials and social services, authorities said.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe teenager now faces a drawn-out and "very complex legal situation" regarding his immigration status and ability to stay in the UK, said Lucy Leon, a migration policy worker at the Children's Society charity.
Quote MessageTo have lost one's parents and be in a country you do not know is an experience no child should ever have to go through and he is likely to be traumatised, bewildered and overwhelmed."
Lucy Leon, Migration policy worker at the Children's Society
BBC Radio Stoke
About 40 workers leave Wedgwood in Barlaston today.
It brings job losses in recent months to approximately 100.
The pottery firm says it has made the staffing changes for the long-term health of the brand.
Some 100 people will be left on the shop floor in Barlaston, making high-end and hand-crafted products.
A few of the stories making the headlines on the Express & Star website:
Three people have been arrested after a man was stabbed in Telford.
It happened just after 22:00 on Wednesday in Crescent Road, Hadley.
Two men aged 27 and 23 and a 16-year-old boy have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Image source, West Mercia PoliceThe two men have been recalled to prison, while the 16-year-old has been released on police bail, West Mercia Police said.
At the time of the stabbing, police said the 27-year-old victim had suffered potentially life-threatening injuries.
A doctor who was found guilty of sexual assault after allegedly touching a patient's breast has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.
GP Dr Rajeshkumar Mehta was working at the The Hill Practice in Sparkhill, Birmingham when the patient made the allegation.
Image source, GoogleHe was jailed for 15 months following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court in April last year.
The doctor served his sentence and was struck off the medical register following the conviction.
However, judges at the Court of Appeal decided to throw out the conviction on 13 December.
Speaking after the hearing, Dr Mehta said he "lost everything after 40 years of NHS service".
Neil Heath
BBC News Online
A prisoner who was jailed for robbery and aggravated burglary has absconded from HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire.
Police said Daniel Russell, 28, from Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, left the open prison on Wednesday.
He is described as having hazel-coloured eyes and brown hair, and has the word "Dan" tattooed on his left arm and a scar on his lower left forearm.
He has links to Cardiff, Watford, the West Midlands and Staffordshire.
The force said the public should not approach Russell, who was convicted at Bristol Crown Court in October 2014 and sentenced to 13 years and 10 months.
Image source, Derbyshire PoliceThe men's young victim was forced to perform sex acts in a churchyard and raped above a shop.
Read MoreThere are fears of more flooding in parts of the West Midlands as the Met Office warns of more heavy rain until midday tomorrow.
A flood warning is in place in Kempsey, in Worcestershire, while dozens of less serious flood alerts were issued last night, covering other parts of the county, as well as Shropshire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.
Image source, Dave ThroupLast night flood pumps were installed on Hylton Road in Worcester.
Dave Throup, from the Environment Agency, said the rivers were already high and the ground saturated in many areas.
A serious case review into Teri-Rae Palmer's death found her mother must "take full responsibility."
Read MoreSeveral MPs have contacted the rail minister to raise concerns over the performance of West Midlands Railway.
There was more disruption for commuters last night, with many services running from Birmingham into Worcester cancelled.
The operator has apologised and blamed a shortage of train crews - a familiar issue for the firm in recent months. It said it had recruited more staff and was in the process of training them.
Quote MessageThe fact when they promised extra carriages at peak times they've been unable to deliver on that promise. The fact that we have this new timetable and yet they don't seem able to run trains on time even with the new timetable."
Robin Walker MP
Mr Walker called on the firm to keep promises made in winning the franchise.
On Monday, the first weekday of the new rail timetable, West Midlands Railway said 75% of trains were within five minutes of schedule. It has also published performance data for the moth so far, external.
On Twitter, one traveller said she had claimed delays compensation every day for the last week.
Others were less pleased.
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A driver has escaped injury after his car left the road in Shrewsbury and ended in a ditch.
It happened shortly after 01:00 at the Preston Roundabout.
The car has been seized by police and emergency work has been carried out to repair the barrier.
Shropshire's Operational Patrol Unit tweeted: "There is the right way to take a roundabout, and the wrong way."
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