There are plans for 1,300 new homes, a primary school and a community centre on the outskirts of Hereford.

Bloor Homes has submitted an application to build the new estate on land at Lower Bullingham between Watery Lane and the A49 Ross Road.

Image source, Getty Images

Local residents have expressed concerns about the number of houses planned, the impact on traffic and the effect on wildlife in the area.

The site is one of three areas suggested as being suitable for development by Herefordshire Council and members are due to make a decision on the application in May.

He held a gun to the victim's head and threatened to kill her if she did not agree, the court heard.

A sculpture dedicated to victims of knife crime is to be displayed in Wolverhampton as part of a nationwide tour.

Image source, City of Wolverhampton Council

The 27ft (8m) Knife Angel sculpture is made from 100,000 blades handed into police across the country.

Artist Alfie Bradley, who created the sculpture at the British Ironworks Centre in Shropshire, said it was a "monument against violence and aggression".

It will be displayed in Wolverhampton city centre for 28 days from 1 April.

Firefighters are dealing with a chemical incident at Bramshall Industrial Estate in Staffordshire.

Some surrounding buildings have been evacuated and a cordon is in place.

One of the new MPs for Stoke-on-Trent has asked the government for money to buy state-of-the-art bus shelters.

Jo Gideon told the House of Commons she wanted them because "a lack of bus shelters too often puts people off using buses".

Image source, Getty Images

Ms Gideon, who was formerly a councillor in Kent, said she wanted to: "Level up some parts of Stoke-on-Trent with parts of London."

And she said she was hoping to get "state-of-the-art, solar-powered and vandal-proof bus shelters" that provided "up-to-the-minute travel information".

Police believe a house in Birmingham is a base for sending children out as drug mules.

The chairman of JCB, Lord Bamford, believes there will be no problem getting an EU trade deal done by the end of the year, and believes agreement could be reached in just a few months.

He said the question at the heart of talks would be simple: "Are we going to have free trade between us and Europe, working both ways, or not?"

He added: "People say it's impossible, I don't think it is."

Staffordshire-based digger-maker JCB has 6,500 employees in the UK and before the EU referendum, the Conservative Party donor wrote to staff to explain why he favoured a Leave vote.

There will be more plain-clothes police officers patrolling the streets of Burton in an effort to tackle organised crime, according to the local force.

Ch Insp Clair Langley, the new area commander for East Staffordshire, said the "action team" would also look into crimes including burglary and theft from motor vehicles.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Ch Insp Langley, who joined the Staffordshire force 15 years ago, ran operations targeting organised crime in the town in 2015 and 2016, and also led an investigation into suspected slavery at nail bars.

Coventry Live

Some of the Coventry Live headlines today include:

• Chilling moment killer brags on Snapchat about murdering young father, external
• Homes plan on land formerly earmarked for new school in Coventry, external
• Outdoor cinema making a return to Coventry Cathedral, external

Aston Martin Lagonda's share price jumped 21.81% after the luxury car-maker announced £500m of rescue funding.

Image source, Reuters

A consortium led by billionaire Lawrence Stroll will put in £182m, with the rest coming from issuing fresh shares to existing investors.

Mr Stroll partly owns the Racing Point Formula 1 team, which will be branded Aston Martin under the deal.

The move comes hours after a board meeting held to discuss how to prop up the ailing Warwickshire firm.

Proposals that could see Commonwealth Games shooting and archery competitions staged in India several months before the main event starts in Birmingham are being "reviewed in detail", said organisers.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The proposal has been put forward by India, who had threatened to boycott Birmingham 2022 after shooting was excluded from the Games.

Shooting has been included in every Games apart from one since 1966.

But last year Birmingham 2022 announced that the sport - along with archery - had been left out of the programme, as they are both optional sports for host cities.

Ian Reid, chief executive of the games' organising committee said: "We're confident that everybody is talking to everybody else, and whatever the final decision is in February everybody will be comfortable taking that forward."

"The proposal is still being reviewed in detail," he told the PA news agency.

"It is a separate event - but there is a proposal around some links [to the Birmingham games] which the federation are looking at in consultation with all the partners."

Plans to more than quadruple the size of Birmingham's Alexander Stadium for the games were approved yesterday.

Now here's a job - and you keep it by getting the chop.

Shropshire's Harper Adams University is looking for more than 100 volunteers to taste-test lamb and is offering to pay them.

The university said the trial was to help it understand more about Welsh lamb quality, with the tasters offered different cuts of meat to see which ones they enjoy most.

Image source, Getty Images

There will be eight one-hour sittings, starting on 18 February, and anyone bringing a group of 20 will be given £200 for the club or charity of their choice.

The experiment is being organised by the Welsh meat industry body HCC Meat Production Wales, external, and a similar experiment is also being run in Cardiff.

Crewe Alexandra sign Middlesbrough's England Under-19 forward Stephen Walker on loan for the rest of the season.

The BBC Weather Watchers have been busy documenting beautiful skies over the West Midlands this morning.

These were taken in Bodenham, Herefordshire, by Step Counter; in Shrewsbury by Jono; and in Stoke-on-Trent by Jeff.

Image source, Step Counter

Image source, Jono

Image source, Jeff

Three members of staff from Birmingham City University (BCU) are among 83 Britons and 27 foreign nationals who are on a flight back to the UK from Wuhan in China.

Yvonne Griffiths, Maeve Clark and one other BCU employee were helped to the flight by a local team that had been supporting them, said the university.

The flight is due to land at RAF Brize Norton at 13:30.

On arrival, the UK passengers will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral and quarantined for two weeks.

It comes as the first two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the UK.

Crews are at the scene of a lorry fire in Coventry.

Image source, Peter Barlev

Firefighters were sent to the A45 Birmingham Road near Allesley just before 10:30.

Two engines are using jets to tackle the blaze, the fire service says.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

A man arrested after a crash on an underpass in Leicester has been released under investigation.

The collision, on Southgates Underpass on Thursday morning, left an 18-year-old man with life-threatening injuries.

Three others were treated for injuries not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing.

Leicestershire Police arrested a 19-year-old man, from Sutton Coldfield, on suspicion of driving while unfit through drugs and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He has been released but the force said inquiries into the crash are ongoing.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The new swimming pool at Worcester's Perdiswell Leisure Centre is having its changing room floors fixed after complaints they are too slippy.

A survey of visitors found the lack of non-slip flooring was one of the most complained-about subjects.

Image source, Worcester City Council

The leisure centre opened in January 2017 and Freedom Leisure runs it on the council's behalf.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

A price rise for tickets to Coventry's Godiva Festival has been approved amid claims it will "destroy" the event.

The highest price - £12 for an on-the-door Saturday ticket - is a 500% increase on the £2 admin fee introduced last year.

The new charging policy was signed off during a council meeting on Thursday.

Image source, Marcus Pendleton

Reduced prices are available if tickets are bought in advance, with an "early bird" costing between £4 and £6 for adults per day, or £12.50 for a three-day ticket.

The plans had sparked concern from the opposition Conservative group, with leader Gary Ridley claiming the fees had “taken the UK’s biggest free festival and destroyed it”.

The event has been hit by severe financial difficulties in recent years and the council says new charges will "ensure the sustainability, safety and high quality of the festival".

Birmingham Live

Some of Birmingham Live's headlines include:

• Thug jailed after horror hammer attack on carjack victim, external
• Family's fury as 'evil' schoolboy killer granted release from prison, external
• Moment brazen killer brags of murdering young dad on Snapchat, external