BBC Hereford and Worcester

The number of parents issued with penalty notices in schools in Worcestershire has risen by more than a third in the past year.

Nearly 1,000 parents received fines for taking their children out of school during term time, with £50,000 being paid to Worcestershire County Council.

Image source, Getty Images

Herefordshire's numbers fell slightly, but still generated £27,000 in fines.

A council can issue a penalty of £60 per child for removing them from school without a valid reason.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Crewe manager David Artell believes complacency is the biggest threat to their promotion ambitions.

They're second in the League Two table with 16 games left to play and Artell added: "We've got to make sure that we just keep churning out results, whether they're come- from-behind wins or go-ahead wins."

Image source, Getty Images

Crewe play Oldham on Saturday and Artell said he didn't think the players were suffering from pressure at this time.

Three vehicles belonging to students at Harper Adams University were damaged in the arson attack.

Ben Bardsley was filmed on Europe's biggest waterslide after claiming an injury left him scared of heights.

Bin lorries in Crewe and other parts of Cheshire are going to be converted to use hyrdogen fuel.

Cheshire East Council has been given £1m to pay for the move and will also set up the first green hydrogen fuelling facility in the North West of England.

Worcester News

Here are three of the main stories from the Worcester News website today:

• Man rescued from River Severn in Worcester, external
• Panic buying at pharmacy over coronavirus concerns, external
• Tributes to popular karate instructor, external

A man struck by a bus in Dudley town centre has died, police say.

James Reade was hit just before 16:00 GMT in Castle Street on 30 January.

The 64-year-old was taken to hospital in a serious condition but died in the early hours of 2 February, said West Midlands Police.

Officers are asking for any witnesses to come forward.

Many diesel cars and some older petrol ones will be charged for driving into central Birmingham.

Twenty six people died when the IRA blew up pubs in Guildford and Birmingham more than 45 years ago.

BBC Shropshire

AFC Telford United will be able to continue using their main stand and changing rooms, despite the closure of the leisure, hospitality and fitness facilities at the Bucks Head stadium.

They'd been owned by Telford College, which announced this week it was shutting them down after spending two-and-a-half years unsuccessfully searching for a buyer.

Fans have been told the only change will be the catering for the hospitality boxes and directors of away teams, because the club is going to need to find a new supplier.

In the future, the football club says it will be "pursuing what future opportunities this matter may present to us", which could mean the club buying back those parts of the stadium, which they lost when the old club went out of business in 2004.

Facebook

Many of you have been getting in touch via the BBC Midlands Facebook site to comment on our story about smear test results being delayed for up to 10 weeks.

Image source, Getty Images

Jodi Burgess posted: "I waited 12 weeks to be told not enough cells collected to then wait a further 10 weeks."With abnormal smears previously this was a long six months wait to hear all ok. Crazy how long the wait is."

Karen Groves wrote: "I’m into week 11 of waiting now and keep being told 'no news is good news'. They’re quick enough to bombard women with letters and further reminders to go in the first place though! Absolute disgrace."

Hannah Parkes commented: "I was told the normal 2 to 3 weeks when had my appt back on the 20th November - rang at new year to be told results are up to 3 months - mine took 2 months in the end and thankfully everything is ok. 3 months wait is a long time if there is something abnormal!!"

BBC News Travel

There's more than five miles of queuing traffic on the M6 southbound in Staffordshire after a crash involving a car and a lorry.

Two lanes are blocked between J15 and J14 just after Stafford services.

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

Labour's candidate for the West Midlands mayoral contest has been announced as Liam Byrne, the MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill.

With just three months to go until the mayoral election, this is a late announcement by anyone’s standards.

Image source, UK Parliament

Originally Labour had planned to have its West Midlands candidate sorted by the end of last November – but a general election got in the way.

There have also been rumours of more than the usual in-fighting within the region about possible candidates.

Pete Lowe received the backing of union Unison and Salma Yaqoob hoped for a political comeback with endorsement from internal group Momentum.

It’s possible that this split the left-leaning vote amongst the membership.

But there was also early support for Liam Byrne from different Labour factions – including Labour’s now outgoing shadow chancellor John McDonnell and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Just one train runs from Oxford to Worcester every hour - but that could be doubled, a group says.

Towns in south Shropshire are going to see more trains stopping at their stations again, an MP says.

Changes to the Transport for Wales timetable had meant some trains stopped picking up passengers in Ludlow, Craven Arms and Church Stretton, so passengers could get between Cardiff and Manchester more quickly.

Image source, Google

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne said the company had now agreed to bring back the stops at Ludlow and planned to restore those to Craven Arms and Church Stretton in May.

Paul Newey is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 14 February.

Leamington Observer

Some of the Leamington Observer headlines today include:

• Probe to look into Leamington Assembly clubbers' claims, external
• Driver went wrong way around Leamington island in police chase, external
• Road rage attack businessman ordered to pay victim compensation, external

Birmingham City midfielder Josh McEachran will be sidelined for at least six months with a serious knee injury.

A search is being carried out on land where the body of a 15-year-old boy was found with multiple stab wounds.

Forensic teams are at the site near Petitor Crescent in the Wood End area of the city where the teenager was found just before 19:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Ch Supt Mike O'Hara, from West Midlands Police, said he was appealing to the public's "humanity and values" for information.

"I understand there might be a code of silence," he said, "but you need to put yourself in the shoes of the family - or the relatives or the friends - of the individual that's been murdered and then try and work out what the right decision is."

Liam Byrne will stand for election as the Mayor of the West Midlands for the Labour Party.