Parking enforcement in Telford from today becomes the responsibility of the local authority instead of the police.

John Campion, police and crime commissioner for West Mercia, is giving Telford and Wrekin Council £200,000 to help pay for the switch-over.

Image source, Google

The majority of the car parks in Telford are free and will remain free, but the council will collect fines from people parking illegally on the road.

The money will be used to pay for the enforcement, but any profit will go to the council, which says it will reinvest it in roads and other forms of transport.

Caroline says without help from a food bank she does not know where she would be now.

Norwich sign defender Sam McCallum from Coventry for an undisclosed fee, with the left-back returning to the Sky Blues on loan.

A driver has been caught traveling at 89mph in a 50mph stretch of the A50 in Stoke-on-Trent.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

He was one of 43 drivers caught speeding as officers carried out checks yesterday.

The driver is to be summoned before magistrates, said Staffordshire Police.

BBC Business News

As part of the cash injection for Aston Martin, a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll will acquire a 20% stake in the car maker

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Stroll is the owner of the Racing Point Formula 1 team and as part of the funding deal he will become executive chairman of Aston Martin.

Penny Hughes, who will step down to make way for Mr Stroll, said the firm had suffered from "the difficult trading performance in 2019" and it was left "with no alternative" but to seek extra finance.

Additionally, the Racing Point F1 team will become the Aston Martin F1 team with effect from the 2021 season.

Aston Martin Lagonda will also receive an economic interest in the team.

Fundraisers who have spent the night sleeping in Birmingham's New Street Station hope to raise £100,000 for a charity supporting vulnerable children.

Nine stations across the country took part in the Railway Children sleepout.

The charity helps children in the UK, India and East Africa who run away or are forced to leave home.

Express and Star

These are some of the early Express and Star headlines:

• Councils to fly Union Flag to mark Brexit day, external
• Wolverhampton's controversial travellers site 'will cost £370,000', external
• Tory divisions deepen ahead of HS2 decision, external

BBC News Travel

A crash has closed one lane of the M6 northbound in Birmingham.

There's queuing traffic ahead of the collision between J5 and J6.

BBC Business News

Aston Martin Lagonda, the struggling luxury car maker, has confirmed plans to raise £500m to immediately reduce "severe pressure on liquidity".

Image source, Getty Images

The Warwickshire company said it would raise £182m through a private placement of shares priced at £4.00 each.

It will tap its shareholders for an additional £318m through a rights issue.

Aston Martin Lagonda has been forced to ask shareholders for help after recently issuing a profits warning following a "very disappointing" 2019.

The maker of James Bond's favourite car has struggled since it floated on the London Stock Exchange in October 2018, when its shares were priced at £19.

The government’s official review into HS2 "strongly advises against cancelling" the project.

Image source, PA Media

Spiralling costs have cast doubt on the project which would link Birmingham with London and the north of England.

The final version of the report, seen by the BBC, says that only building one section of the railway "doesn’t make sense."

The government will announce its final decision on the scheme next month.

A man has been seriously hurt after being hit by a bus in Dudley.

Part of Castle Street was closed after the incident on Wednesday afternoon.

The closure also affected Tower Street and New Street, police said.

Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather

It will be a cloudy day with some rain this afternoon and highs of 13C (55F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Friday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

Children at Featherstone Primary School give their views on what they think Brexit is all about.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow.

Coventry Observer

These are some of the Coventry Observer headlines:

• Patients' backlash over plans to combine stroke treatment, external
• Teenager died after taking ecstasy with friends in Stratford, external
• Coventry bus services under survey scrutiny, external

Port Vale fans will be urged to look after their hearts this Valentine's Day weekend.

Nurses from Royal Stoke Hospital will be at their ground on 15 February, handing out leaflets explaining the symptoms of heart disease.

Image source, Getty Images

It's come about because of the death of Vale fan Tony Evans, who went into cardiac arrest a few minutes before half time in a match in 2018.

Plans to revamp Birmingham's Alexander Stadium for the 2022 Commonwealth Games have been approved.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The venue in Perry Barr will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics during the 11-day event.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Birmingham was named as the host city for the games in December 2017.

Seating at the stadium will be increased to 18,000 from 12,700 - allowing a capacity of more than 30,000 during the games through additional temporary seating, says the city council. , external

Construction of a new stand will commence in spring of this year, with completion in late 2021.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Joe Sweeney

The Union flag will fly over Wolverhampton to mark the UK’s official exit from the EU on Friday.

At a meeting of the city’s full council yesterday, Conservative member Simon Bennett put forward a motion to raise the flag outside the Civic Centre for the duration of the day to officially mark Brexit.

It was given the full backing of the city’s Labour leader.

Mr Bennett said: “Regardless of whether you voted to leave or remain – and it is no secret that there are many in this chamber who voted remain – nobody can be in any doubt that this is a significant moment in our country’s history."

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Stoke City midfielder Sam Clucas thinks other teams will start to see them as one to be feared.

They've won three of their five games in January and that includes victories over promotion-chasing West Brom and Swansea City.

Image source, Getty Images

Tomorrow, Stoke travel to Derby County and Clucas said: "They're going to look at us and think 'they're in great form' and they're going to be worried about us."