Friends of a 15-year-old boy who has been leaving soft toys at children's graves in Staffordshire for the last five years are trying to give something back to him

Owen Osborne-Williams first started leaving the presents at a church in Hednesford, because he was concerned they would not have Christmas gifts.

Image source, Damian Osborne-Williams

He's unable to get about at the moment, because his family's car has developed engine problems and an online fundraising page has been set up to get it fixed.

Supporter Jenni Holding said: "I thought what better way to support Owen and his family than to try and raise enough to help get them back on the road."

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Crewe Alexandra are hopeful of having striker Chris Porter back before the end of the month, but manager David Artell said he can't put a firm timescale on his return.

Porter has missed their last five games with a hamstring injury, and Artell said: "When you're at his age you've got to be a bit cautious, but he's doing everything he can to be back."

Image source, Getty Images

The 36-year-old has scored eight times in League Two this season.

Jordan Birch's vehicle smashed into a taxi the musician was in at over twice the 30mph speed limit.

Cities will be able to benefit from the government's £3.6bn Towns Fund, it's been confirmed, after a cabinet minister was criticised for launching the scheme in Wolverhampton.

Image source, Gavin Dickson

Communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, came under fire from the city's mayor after announcing he was kicking off what officials called "a countrywide tour of towns" in the city.

Mayor Claire Darke told the Guardian: "We have been a city for 19 years and they need to catch up.

"Are they that out of touch that they did not bother to look it up?"

Mr Jenrick, who was born in Wolverhampton, said smaller cities are eligible for funding from the scheme however won't be able to enter a separate Town of the Year competition.

He also pledged to visit all 100 areas receiving funding under the Towns Fund in the coming months.

A number of hospital trusts in the West Midlands have seen falls in the number of A&E patients they managed to see within four hours, external last month, compared with December 2018.

The hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford saw the lowest percentage within this timescale, just 60.5%, but they were closely followed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, which reported a figure of 62.8% last month - down from 73.5% the previous December.

The government asks for 95% of patients at A&E departments to be seen within four hours, but the average for England is 79.8%.

Image source, SATH

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, and the Wye Valley NHS Trust also saw the percentage of patients seen within four hours fall, to 66.7% and 67.3% respectively.

The Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust reported a fall from 86.7% in December 2018 to 74.2% last month.

Ambulance bosses have ordered crews to avoid taking care home residents in Worcestershire and Shropshire to local hospitals unless it is an absolute emergency because of the "extreme difficulties" being experienced.

RAF Police at an airbase have had an eventful start to the moo year, after being called to round up a herd of escaped cows.

The animals were blocking the road outside RAF Shawbury, in Shropshire, on Monday morning and trampling their way across a children's play area, but the RAF officers were able to help the farmer safely retrieve them.

Image source, RAF Shawbury

Needless to say, people on Twitter have been having fun with this, with RAF Valley tweeting "Just an udder day at the office" and another person commenting "I reckon they'll be milking this for all it's worth".

RAF Shawbury tweeted "Happy Moo Year!"

Image source, RAF Shawbury

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The Shrewsbury Town striker Lenell John-Lewis appears likely to rejoin his former Shrewsbury manager Paul Hurst at Scunthorpe United.

Shrewsbury extended his contract by six months after he picked up a serious knee injury at the end of last season, to help him get fit again.

Image source, Getty Images

John-Lewis's extension is due to finish at the end of January, giving fans from another club the chance to think of clever chants referring to the chain of department stores.

The Sikh Channel Community Broadcasting Company is being investigated over "regulatory concerns".

Shropshire Star

These are three of the stories featured on the Shropshire Star's website today:

• Plans for thousands of homes near Tong will be scrapped, external
• Vegan adverts reinstated on buses after surge of complaints, external
• Trio to appear in court following 'nasty burglary', external

The 28-year-old rapper known as Cadet had been facing a bright future before his death in a crash in Staffordshire last year.

He had been performing alongside rap duo Krept and Konan since he was a teenager and Radio 1Xtra DJ Nick Bright said 2019 "was set to be massive" for him.

Image source, Getty Images

Krept, who was his cousin, said he was "heartbroken" as Cadet had finally started getting the recognition he "deserved".

He said the duo were motivated to finish their latest album "to keep his name alive [...] and continue his dream".

Cadet's last single released before his death, Advice, with Deno Driz, peaked at number 14 in the charts.

BBC News Travel

Buses are being diverted away from part of Coventry city centre after a man was hit by a car.

A police cordon remains in place on Cross Cheaping, with buses diverted away from Trinity Street and The Burges.

A van driver who caused the death of an up-and-coming rapper after drinking six pints of beer has been jailed for four years and eight months.

Blaine Johnson, who was also known as Cadet, was travelling in a taxi on his way to a gig at Keele University when he was hit by Jordan Birch's van on 9 February 2018.

Image source, NHS Give Blood

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Birch had been veering on to the wrong side of the A531 in Staffordshire at speeds of between 65 and 69mph and admitted feeling "a little drunk" before getting into his van.

Birch, who is 23 and from of Grove Crescent in Woore, Shropshire, had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Judge David Fletcher said he accepted Birch was "not a man who is prone to doing this sort of thing on a regular basis", but while it was an aberration, "the consequences were catastrophic".

A man's been taken to hospital after being hit by a car in Coventry city centre.

An area around Cross Cheaping remains cordoned off by officers investigating the crash, which happened shortly after 11:30, said the ambulance service.

He's not thought to be seriously injured, it added.

Stratford Observer

Some of the Stratford Observer headlines today include:

• Two men admit daring £84,000 burglary at Stratford Post Office, external
• Police step up patrols in Wellesbourne following burglary spate, external
• Parking permit price hike scaled back after public outcry, external

Bin collectors in Sandwell are preparing to take industrial action in a row over increased work loads.

The GMB union said its members were concerned that contractors Serco had cut two rounds and handed the extra work to other crews, and said it meant they were having to cut corners to get the work finished.

The union also accused Serco and Sandwell Council of "bickering amongst each other" instead of trying to resolve the argument.

GMB members voted for action short of strike action, which will mean working to rule.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

A bid to stop Coventry’s Police Museum from moving to Birmingham is to be ramped up after more than 1,500 people signed a petition against the plans.

Image source, West Midlands Police

The site, based at Little Parks Street police station, was founded in 1957 and contains memorabilia of some of Coventry’s more gruesome past – including the death mask of the last woman to be hung in Coventry in 1849, Mary Ball.

It could shut under West Midlands Police plans to move exhibits to a new central museum in Birmingham, but Coventry’s Conservative group believe the city’s history should not be moved.

A total of 1,531 people have signed a petition which will be presented to full council on Tuesday, 14 January, urging Coventry City Council to back a campaign to keep it in the city.

The premier of Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical bestseller How to Build A Girl has been chosen to close the Glasgow Film Festival.

Beanie Feldstein plays a 16-year-old extrovert from the outskirts of Wolverhampton with raging hormones, an unstoppable imagination and gigantic dreams.

The US actress Beanie Feldstein spent a few weeks working in a gift shop in the city as she tried to pick up the tricky accent for the movie.

Allison Gardner, co-director of the Glasgow Film Festival, said Moran's film was a hilarious and moving tale of a teenager making her way in the world.

"Along the way she takes life lessons from her heroes, Sigmund Freud, Sylvia Plath, Julie Andrews and David Bowie, to try to navigate the unfairness of the world. I loved every minute of it," she said.

The 16th annual Glasgow Film Festival will run from 26 February to 8 March.

Neil Heath
BBC News Online

A fox is being treated by vets after it was found in a Derbyshire village with three missing toes.

Biscuit, as he has been named, was rescued by Linjoy Wildlife Sanctuary and Rescue, in Etwall, after he was seen limping in a garden in Church Gresley on Tuesday.

Staff have said he may have been attacked by another fox or a dog as the toes have been "torn away".

Image source, Linjoy Wildlife Sanctuary and Rescue

Biscuit needs surgery for his injured feet, the rescue centre said.

"There are also puncture wounds to all four legs and to his chest although these appear to have started granulating and healing over so the wounds are at least a week old," a spokeswoman said.

"Unfortunately the foot wounds are infected."

Biscuit is now staying at a vets in Uttoxeter until the infection is under control.

Image source, Linjoy Wildlife Sanctuary and Rescue

Coventry Live

These are some of Coventry Live's headlines this lunchtime:

• Arrests made after Coventry carjacking, external
• Police investigating four Coventry burglaries over three nights, external
• The sorry state of the former Highfield Road ground, external

An explosion on board a passenger train which caused "considerable damage", was caused by the failure of an electrical capacitor, government investigators have said. , external

Image source, Rail Accident Investigation Branch

The empty CrossCountry service was departing Central Rivers service depot near Burton-upon-Trent on 26 September 2019 when onboard electrical equipment exploded in a coach cupboard.

It was only discovered when the driver moved through the train to change ends at Birmingham New Street Station.

The damage included buckling to the inter-vehicle doors, detached covers from the equipment case and damage to the ceiling, said Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

Fragments of glass were also spread throughout the adjacent seating area.

Modifications to improve air flow to the device, which stores electrical charge, were introduced after a previous similar incident in May 2005, according to the report.

Investigators found that spacers, supposed to be fitted to the unit, had not been present and that had been "mislaid or not re-fitted following work that was done within the equipment case".

Bombardier Transportation has reported that it will now modify the spacers so they are permanently fitted to the equipment case covers.