Adam Peaty says talking with friends and going on countryside walks have helped him cope with the mental stress of lockdown.

The record-breaking Staffordshire swimmer was due to compete in the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

Image source, Getty Images

Peaty said "I know a lot of people have struggled with mental health during lockdown," adding that preparing for the birth of his son had also given him something to concentrate on.

He is backing Swim England's #OpenOurPools campaign and hopes the 50,000 signatures will force the government to reopen swimming pools in the coming weeks.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

An 81-year-old man who spent 22 days in hospital, recovering from coronavirus, said he's still not made a full recovery.

David Ray, from Claines in Worcestershire, was admitted to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital on 20 March and said his condition for the first 10 days had been very serious.

Mr Ray said he's been doing some gardening and going for walks since returning home and had been "puffing and panting a bit", but felt he was gradually improving.

Image source, David Ray

He also said he'd been saddened to learn of the death of healthcare assistant Jodon Gait, who was one of the staff who had cared for him.

Mr Gait died of suspected coronavirus 10 days after Mr Ray was discharged.

He said Mr Gait "was a lovely chap who couldn't do enough for people and always had a smile on his face."

Another large oxygen tank is being escorted along the A34 through Staffordshire by police today.

It's causing slow traffic through the county and overhead cables are having to removed to allow it to pass.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Here's police with more on what's entailed., external

The coot was found with a broken wing, no beak and a missing foot, the RSPCA says.

BBC Sport

Warwickshire have signed former Yorkshire and England all-rounder Tim Bresnan on a two-year deal.

Image source, Getty Images

Bresnan, 35, left his home county earlier this month after a 19-year association with the White Rose.

He initially joins Warwickshire on loan until the end of this season, before starting a permanent contract until the end of the 2022 season.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Warwickshire,” Bresnan said. “It’s a club I’ve always admired."

Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines include:

• The 36 areas in England which could have Leicester-style local lockdown next, external
• 7,500 new homes for West Midlands in Boris Johnson's plan to 'build, build, build', external
• Cricketer Alex Hepburn loses appeal bid to have conviction overturned, external

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The owner of The New Saints is taking the Football Association of Wales to court over the way it decided the final league placings amid the suspension of play due to Covid-19.

Connah's Quay Nomads were named champions last month when the Welsh Premier League season was ended early. But Mike Harris is unhappy that his Oswestry-based club will miss out on lucrative Champions League qualifiers as a result.

Image source, Nat West

Mr Harris said the Welsh Premier League should either have restarted, or played a knockout competition to decide the winner.

The prime minister has visited a building site in Dudley ahead of his speech outlining his plans for a post-lockdown recovery.

Image source, Reuters

Boris Johnson says it might seem "premature" to make a speech about "Britain after Covid" when "many in this country are nervous".

But he adds: "We cannot continue to be prisoners of this crisis".

You can follow live updates here.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
David Irwin

Solihull’s flagship theatre will remain closed for most of the year, although there are hopes that the popular panto run can be saved.

The Core, which also houses the town centre library and a cafe, has been shut since March, with fears it is costing the council up to £50,000 a month.

While some services are expected to restart from July, live shows are not set to return before November.

The move to cancel another swathe of shows, booked for the autumn, comes amid fears that it will be hard to rehearse performances and that social distancing would mean much smaller audiences.

Two women and a man have suffered serious injuries after a car hit a tree in Newcastle-under-Lyme and overturned.

It happened on Dartmouth Avenue in Westlands at about 00:20. All three people are being treated at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said their injuries weren't thought to be life-threatening.

Former Worcestershire all-rounder Alex Hepburn was jailed for five years in 2019.

A protest has been held in a Warwickshire park where a "White Lives Matter" slogan was etched into a hillside.

Organisers of Tuesday evening's demonstration, Stand up to Racism Coventry, said the slogan was "used by far right to deny that racism exists" and was not "an attempt to highlight any kind of injustice or evidence that white people are discriminated against in the UK".

Image source, Stand up to Racism Coventry

The message in Miners Welfare Park, Bedworth, was thought to have been made on Friday morning. It's since been removed by the council.

Warwickshire Police said it was being treated as racially-aggravated criminal damage and said officers would be increasing patrols in the area.

The force also said it was aware of footage appearing to show someone in clothing "resembling a Ku Klux Klan outfit".

Image source, Stand up to Racism Coventry

"The miners who clubbed together to purchase the park in 1921 would be horrified to see for what purpose their park is being used by racists today," the protest group's Facebook post states., external

Image source, Stand up to Racism Coventry

Thousands of people have marched in the UK as part of Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.

Areas of Shrewsbury will remain car-free for the next three months to encourage people to shop there.

The system will be in place every day from 11:00 to 16:00 until the end of September.

A pedestrian zone was created by closing High Street to vehicles during peak shopping hours, allowing more space for people to walk and queue outside shops while maintaining social distance.

The main Frankwell and Abbey Foregate car parks will remain free of charge for the period.

Former Worcestershire cricketer Alex Hepburn, jailed for raping a sleeping woman in his team-mate's bedroom, has lost his Court of Appeal bid to have his conviction overturned.

Image source, PA Media

Sue Paz
BBC South

As the coronavirus outbreak spread across the UK, about two million people with certain health conditions were advised to "shield" - but, it was revealed, about 600,000 had been left off the "high risk" register, despite meeting the criteria.

BBC News has been looking at how those who were not on the initial list dealt with lockdown and what sort of support they received.

Image source, Liz Goldfinch

Liz Goldfinch, 79, from Droitwich in Worcestershire, has been shielding with her 88-year-old husband, Oli, as she has cryptogenic organising pneumonia (COP) - a rare lung condition - and Parkinson's disease.

"Eventually I got a call from my GP and was told I had initially been missed because my illness is rare and not straightforward," she said.

Mrs Goldfinch said her friend had been delivering her prescriptions, while her son and neighbours had also been "very helpful and checking on us regularly".

She added: "I feel lucky that I've got Oli with me and I've not been alone - it would have been very difficult without him."

You can read more on the story here.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans to extend a Worcestershire quarry won't affect two popular festivals, a developer has promised.

Cemex also wants to create a large rowing lake once extraction at Upton-upon-Severn has finished.

Two of the town’s most popular events, Sunshine Festival and Upton Blues Festival, are held at the nearby Fish Meadow.

Boris Johnson will promise to "build build build" as he unveils government plans to soften the economic impact of coronavirus.

Set to speak in Dudley later, the prime minister will say he wants to use the coronavirus crisis "to tackle this country's great unresolved challenges".

Image source, Getty Images

As part of a "new deal", Mr Johnson will set out plans to accelerate £5bn on infrastructure projects.

Labour called for a "laser-like focus" on preventing job losses.

Last week, the West Midlands mayor launched a plan asking for £3.2bn over three years from the government to keep the regional economy going.

"No-one’s kidding themselves that [the government] will hand over a cheque for £3bn next Tuesday," said Andy Street.

But there was an "urgent need" to submit the plan which would be a "perfect opportunity for government to show its plan for leveling up".

The initialism - and the acronym, "Bame" - has been growing in prominence in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the world and a report into the backgrounds of those at higher risk of dying with Covid-19.

But many people say it does more harm than good.

Student Tosin Attah, 20, from the West Midlands, first heard it at university, in London, where there were "BAME officers". But she would never use it about herself, likening it to the word "coloured".

"I mean, it was a white term, if we're being honest," she says. "White people made it so they don't have to say 'black', because they feel weird saying black for some reason.

"I feel like 'BAME' is just their safe word to not come off as racist."

You can read more on the story here.

BBC Weather

It will be a cloudy day with the occasional sunny spell but also some showers possible with highs of 18C (64F).

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers/Mrs Baggins

A report finds Joseph McCann was "managed by an unstable team", lacking experienced staff.