Summary

  • Updates from Monday 20 January to Sunday 26 January

Live Reporting

  1. 'Love the game more' - Blues boss on touchline fracas

    BBC Sport

    Birmingham City's manager says players and staff "need to love the game a little more" after angry scenes at the end of their draw with Middlesbrough.

    Pep ClotetGetty Images

    Lukas Jutkiewicz knocked the ball in the net with three minutes to go, but the referee had stopped play seconds earlier when two players collided.

    That saw a fracas between players and coaches from both clubs and one member of each team's backroom staff was sent to the stands.

    Afterwards, Blues boss Pep Clotet said: "I understand the referee can stop the game at any time but we kept playing, they kept playing and the Middlesbrough bench stormed the pitch to try and stop the game.

    "We all need to love the game a little more and make sure we represent the best values of the game."

    But Boro manager Jonathan Woodgate said play had to be stopped if there's a head injury and "what happened after that was just handbags".

  2. MP calls for British firms to have 'priority'

    Warley MP John Spellar has called for the government and local councils to award more contracts to British firms after the UK leaves the EU at the end of the month.

    The UK will formally leave the EU on 31 January with a withdrawal deal - and it will then go into a transition period that is scheduled to end on 31 December 2020.

    Labour MP Mr Spellar said British firms should have "priority".

    John SpellarUK Parliament

    Let's give business to British firms employing British workers."

    John Spellar, MP

    Responding, cabinet minister Michael Gove said he agreed, while Mr Spellar had "repenteth" and made the same case as Vote Leave in 2016.

    "He is absolutely right. One of the benefits of Brexit is that we can buy British and put British firms, British workers and the whole of the United Kingdom first."

  3. Community hospital closure approved by health bosses

    The number of community hospital beds will also be reduced across Staffordshire, under plans.

    Read More

  4. Your photos: A misty start to the day

    BBC Weather Watchers

    It's all a bit hazy out there this morning, so no sweeping landscapes from the BBC Weather Watchers today.

    Instead they've shared lots of photos of the mist in Bodenham, Rushbury and Brierley Hill.

    BodenhamStep Counter
    RushburyPeter Steggles
    Brierley HillTragie's Town

  6. JLR to cut jobs - but not in Midlands

    Jaguar Land Rover is to cut 500 jobs at its Halewood plant on Merseyside.

    The firm, headquartered in Coventry, has plants across the West Midlands, including Solihull and outside Wolverhampton - but jobs in the region are unaffected by the latest announcement.

    Car plantGetty

    Today's news follows results released earlier this month that showed a drop in worldwide sales.

    In 2019 it sold 557,706 vehicles, 5.9% fewer than the year before.

    JLR said it was taking action to "safeguard the long-term success of our business"

    It said changes at Halewood, which produces the Range Rover Evoque model, would "deliver significant operating efficiencies at the plant" while allowing it to meet "growing customer demand" for the new Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

  7. Four released in 'county lines' stabbing probe

    Nasir Patrice, 17, was fatally stabbed in the attack in Leamington Spa on 15 January.

    Read More

  8. Officer hurt as suspects' car crashes into police cars

    A police officer's been hurt after a car refused to stop and crashed into two police cars.

    LudgateGoogle

    The vehicle had previously also hit two parked cars on Ludgate, in Tamworth, Staffordshire Police said.

    The officer suffered neck and head injuries in the incident yesterday.

    Two men from Birmingham were arrested at the scene with one still in custody and the other released under investigation.

  9. Lorry driver arrested for reversing out of motorway toll

    A lorry driver was arrested for dangerous driving on the M6 Toll yesterday, after trying to reverse out of the toll gates and back on to the motorway.

    The police said the driver had attempted the manoeuvre after realising he didn't have the correct payment.

    LorryCMPG

  10. Homeless fan's 'dream comes true' with Hawthorns trip

    A homeless man says his "dream came true" after being he was given a ticket to watch his boyhood team play for the first time.

    Read More

  11. Bowling league to admit women for the first time

    Women are to be allowed to play in the Shropshire Premier Bowling League, for the first time in its 25-year history.

    League chairman Mark Shore explained it was established to prepare "the best players in Shropshire to compete in the county championships", which is an all-male competition and that there had been "plenty of opportunity for people to play in mixed leagues".

    BowlsGetty Images

    The change was agreed at a league meeting last night, after a motion was put forward by Meole Brace Bowling Club and it will come into force when the new season starts in April.

    Mr Shore said he thought the league had acted democratically and that the introduction of women would strengthen the league, because the county is "blessed with some of the best female bowlers in the country".

  13. Sandwich surprise as police officer finds Subway raid gun

    A police officer stopping off for a sandwich at a Subway in Birmingham got a surprise when he came across a robbery in progress.

    He joked afterwards that while waiting for his foot-long sub roll, he "found this six-inch concealed" gun on the suspect he arrested.

    GunWest Midlands Police

    People have been congratulating the officer for the arrest and suggesting he should get free food from the sandwich chain, but that will have to wait, because he revealed he didn't even get the chance to complete his order.

  14. Decision on HS2 'will be made next month'

    A decision on the future of HS2 will be made next month, the transport secretary has confirmed.

    A proposed design for an HS2 trainSiemens/PA

    Grant Shapps said an announcement on the new high-speed rail link between London and the north was "weeks rather than months" away.

    His comments come after it emerged from a leaked report that the project could cost £106bn - about the same as the entire economy of Kuwait.

    As recently as 2015 it was expected to cost £56bn, although its original budget was £32bn.

    Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 5 Live that he would make a decision, along with the prime minister, in February.

    The first phase of the project, between London and Birmingham, is due to open at the end of 2026, with the second phase to Leeds and Manchester expected to be completed by 2032-33.

  15. Aluko named Villa Women sporting director

    Aston Villa Women appoint former England forward Eniola Aluko as their first sporting director.

    Read More

  16. Long delays on A38

    BBC News Travel

    Drivers are facing long delays on the A38 near Lichfield this morning after a crash.

    Highways England said one lane was shut on the southbound side between the junction for Lichfield and Swinfen.

  17. Breathing life into black British history

    BBC Entertainment and Arts

    The "gifting" of an African girl to Queen Victoria is being put in the spotlight on the stage in Coventry.

    Sarah Bonetta pictured with her husband James Davies in 1862Getty Images

    Sarah Bonetta pictured with her husband James Davies in 1862

    BBC News has been looking at several little-known but remarkable chapters of black British history which have been turned into plays.

    They include The Gift at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, which is being performed until Saturday when it will head to London.

    The play tells the story of Sarah Bonetta, a girl who was taken from slavery in Africa by a Royal Navy captain and presented as a gift to Queen Victoria.

    You can read more on the stories here.

  18. Hospital closure and cuts to community beds confirmed

    Sophie Calvert
    Political Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

    Cheadle Hospital in Staffordshire is to be closed, while the number of beds across five community hospitals in the county will be permanently halved.

    Cheadle HospitalGoogle

    It follows a meeting by the two clinical commissioning groups in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire yesterday evening.

    The community hospital beds will be reduced to 132, from 264 in 2014, with 77 at Haywood Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent and 55 at local care homes.

    Instead, there will be four care hubs providing services in Longton, Leek, Bradwell and at Haywood.

    At the meeting, campaigners said they were worried about the quality of the services which would be provided in the future and the safety of the care homes which will be used.

    But Marcus Warnes, accountable officer for the CCGs, said they had to make the changes because the current community provision was "out-of-date and in need of reform and we have been trying to address this for years".

  20. England in Netball Nations Cup action in Birmingham

    BBC Sport

    England will be hoping to get their Netball Nations Cup back on track today in Birmingham when they face South Africa this evening.

    General view of the New Zealand gameGetty Images

    The Roses lost 64-48 to New Zealand in their opening game of the inaugural tournament.

    The match at the Arena Birmingham is due to start at 20:00 and follow New Zealand's game with Jamaica, set to begin at 17:30.