The body of the former BBC announcer was discovered at the bottom of stairs in his County Down home.

Peaky Blinders picked up two awards at last night's National Television Awards.

The period drama set in Birmingham won Best Drama.

Image source, Getty Images

Its lead Cillian Murphy, who plays Tommy Shelby, also picked up Best Drama Performance.

Calvert Batchelor was jailed for the "grotesque" attack on a traffic officer in Walsall in July.

The death of a person found in a fire at a disused Birmingham building is not being treated as suspicious, police say.

The body was discovered after emergency services were called to fire in Bradford Street, Digbeth, shortly before 21:00 on Tuesday.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

The death has been referred to the coroner, West Midlands Police said.

BBC Midlands Today

People living close to the University of Birmingham say they’re being overwhelmed by new high-rise blocks of student flats.

Proposals have been put forward to build two new halls in Selly Oak to accommodate another 1,700 students.

Some locals are worried it will cause parking problems and they're raising a petition against the plans.

Resident Richard Batley said: "It should be an area of balanced housing, where housing of families is also regarded as important, but they seem to have sold it out and regard it simply as a place of dense accommodation by people who have no continuous relationship with the area."

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The Shrewsbury Town manager Sam Ricketts has said there have been no firm offers yet for his captain Ollie Norburn.

With just a few days before the January transfer window closes, Ricketts said: "We've got some very, very good young players, who are obviously going to attract interest from elsewhere and it doesn't surprise me."

Image source, Getty Images

But he said he compared the situation surrounding Norburn with people looking at a car in Auto Trader and explained: "Ringing up about a car doesn't mean I'm buying it."

Norburn faces a fitness test ahead of tonight's League One game at Gillingham after hurting his knee in the FA Cup draw with Liverpool.

Construction work on a new tram line will not commence today, it has been clarified.

The West Midlands Combined Authority and Dudley Council are marking a number of projects getting underway in early 2020 today, including the the VLR and Metro projects.

Preliminarly construction for the route has always been scheduled to commence in 2020, with the Midland Metro Alliance saying more details will be shared in the coming weeks.

Firefighters called out to a fire in a disused commercial building in Birmingham discover a body.

A zoo in Telford has announced it will be closing its doors to the public.

Telford Exotic Zoo opened in Priorslee in 2017.

In a post on Facebook it has said "after many logistical issues" it has decided to close the site to the public.

The zoo previously hit the headlines as it was forced to fill its new penguin enclosure with models, as a shortage of birds meant it was unable to get the real thing.

In the post, the zoo said: "We will continue to use the site which has seen much development and investment to make it a beautiful, engaging and educational place for our non profit community work, community education programs, animal assisted therapy and interventions and private education experiences, but no longer offer public entry as a zoo."

Earlier we told you about some signalling faults causing trouble for CrossCountry services.

Lines have now reopened between Cheltenham Spa and Birmingham New Street.

However services are still subject to disruption with delays likely - currently about 10-15 minutes.

West Bromwich Albion sign Sheffield United forward Callum Robinson on loan until the end of the season.

Express and Star

Here are some of the headlines from the Express and Star this morning:

• Jailed: gunman who tried to drown Pc in storm drain tunnel fight, external
• Campaigners’ railway reopening hopes as £500 million pot is revealed, external
• Heath Town refurbishment scheme £11.4m over budget

BBC Radio Stoke

Local councils in Staffordshire and Cheshire will receive more than £1.5m between them to tackle rough sleeping.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been given a government grant of £950,000.

It says the money will go on a range of schemes including an outreach service to help people on the streets.

Image source, PA Media

Trevor Nicklin, who has been working with rough sleepers in Hanley for 17 years, said the problem was getting worse.

"At times you feel helpless because of the need of many, many people who are just completely broken and don't seem to know where to turn for help and support.

"We have people coming in who have lost their accommodation for various reasons, so, it is quite an issue and I don't think it is going to go away overnight."

Moves to get people walking or cycling in Worcester, instead of making short journeys in the car, have been backed by city councillors.

The authority's environmental sustainability strategy includes plans to reduce the number of car journeys of less than two miles, so the city can be carbon neutral within 10 years.

Image source, Google

The strategy will now be put to people living in the town and also includes proposals to offer bicycles for hire, similar to the Beryl Bikes in Hereford.

Combat Stress is moving out of its base in Shropshire.

The mental health charity for veterans runs services from Audley Court in Newport but it's now looking for a more cost-effective location.

The news comes as the charity announced it won't be taking on new cases due to a funding crisis.

Combat Stress says it's the only way to continue caring for people already on its books.

The Department of Health says its priority is providing the best care for veterans.

The new boss of West Midlands Trains says plans are in place to improve the network and its trains.

The firm has been named as the second worst performing rail operator in the country, with only Northern Rail rating worse.

Image source, West Midlands Rail

The latest passenger survey by Transport Focus found that satisfaction levels at West Midlands Trains were down 11 points to 73%.

A body has been found in a fire at a disused building in Birmingham.

Emergency services were called to the property in Bradford Street, Digbeth, shortly before 21:00 on Tuesday.

An investigation into the cause of the blaze at the Kingfield Heath building, formerly a business premises, is ongoing.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Work begins today on a new tram line to Dudley and Brierley Hill which has been more than 30 years in the planning.

The trams will run along the route of train lines closed by Doctor Beeching in the 1960s.

The project will take about two years to complete.

BBC Sport

An injury-time winner from Trezeguet sent Aston Villa into the Carabao Cup final with victory over Leicester City.

It sparked wild scenes of joy and a pitch invasion at Villa Park, as the hosts reached their first showpiece final since the FA Cup in 2015, when they lost 4-0 to Arsenal.

Image source, Getty Images

Villa will now face either Manchester City or Manchester United in the final.

A fault with the signalling system between Birmingham New Street and Cheltenham Spa means there will be no trains between Birmingham and Cardiff until the end of the day.

And there will be fewer services between Birmingham and Cheltenham.

Tickets will be accepted on West Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and Transport for Wales trains.