Joseph Squire, who has spent time in prison, mentors young people in Coventry to steer them away from crime.

One woman said potential employers would hear she had MS and "the call would go dead".

Do "more hardships lie ahead" for the Midlands as the chancellor predicts?

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Live updates for the West Midlands have now finished for the week.

We'll be back with you on Monday with all the latest news, travel, weather and sport.

A Birmingham community leader running a food bank in Lozells says government money would be better spent on local communities, not on "ten pounds off at Nando’s."

Diners will get a 50% discount off their restaurant bill during August under government plans to bolster the embattled hospitality sector.

Bishop Desmond Jaddoo (pictured centre), who set up Food Parcel Mondays at the Assemblies of the First Born Church on Lozells Road six weeks ago, says the wake-up call from coronavirus "is not being heard" by some of the most vulnerable in society.

He has called on the government to make it easier for people to access support, claiming that they "too often leave themselves apart from the normal man".

Every Monday, he and a group of volunteers hand out food packages to members of the public, with about 180 given out this week.

Shropshire Star

Some of the Shropshire Star headlines today include:

• Human remains found as divers search for 'murdered' missing grandmother, external
• Date set for next stage of Ironbridge Power Station demolition, external
• Staff made redundant as Patshull Park Hotel closes for good, external

A police officer has received hospital treatment after being deliberately struck by a car in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton.

Image source, West Midlands Police

He sustained minor injuries after approaching a grey Mercedes C-Class, which then reversed into him at about 14:00 on Beechwood Avenue.

The car then drove off while the West Midlands Police officer was sent to hospital where his injuries were described as minor.

The force said it was investigating and urged any witnesses to get in touch.

Lesley Harper of Sanders Fitness is working out how to get people working out at her Droitwich gym.

An outdoor pool in Worcestershire is planning on reopening after the government advice on swimming pools was relaxed.

It's hoped Droitwich Lido will open by 1 August, and remain open for six weeks the council has said.

Social distancing measures mean the pool, which normally holds 550 swimmers, will be available to about 80 to 100 at a time.

Funding worth £5,000 from Wychavon District Council has made the reopening possible, said Conservative leader Bradley Thomas.

BBC News Travel

Buses are to replace a number of trains on Sunday as engineering works are carried out on Chase and Snow Hill lines.

Services affected include Walsall to Rugeley and Stourbride and Bromsgrove to Worcester.

Passengers are being advised to check the timetable before travelling.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

Plans to convert an old police station in Coventry into flats is set to be given the green light, two years after a previous bid to demolish it failed.

Image source, Google

The old Tile Hill police station, at the junction of Tile Hill Lane and Tremelay Drive, was one of three sites sold off back in 2015 in a money-saving review for West Midlands Police.

A mixed house and flats plan was rejected by the city council in 2018, but a fresh application to build eight two-bedroom flats and seven one-bedroom flats was submitted in March.

The plans, which would span across two three-storey buildings and a further one two-storey building with car parking, have been recommended to be approved by council officers ahead of a final decision by a planning committee on 16 July.

Bosses at The Birmingham Rep say 40% of roles could be affected.

Inquiry into care by NHS trust is now assessing about 1,500 cases, the BBC learns.

The government has approved the reopening of children's play areas but many in England remain shut.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Keri Trigg

Shropshire Council has repaired 12,000 potholes in four months in a major drive to improve the dire state of the county’s roads – councillors have been told.

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Barrow, director of place, told a meeting of the council’s performance management scrutiny committee that the need for a drastic overhaul in highways maintenance had long been identified.

Road repairs were stepped up last year and by November 2019 the number of defects in need of repair had been reduced from 3,500 to about 700.

Mr Barrow said: “However performance worsened again over the winter period and when we got into spring we decided we needed a full and inclusive programme of improvements because what we were encountering were not one-off issues, they were more systematic problems.”

Premiership Rugby says protecting "the integrity of the competition" is why clubs have a congested revised schedule.

An outdoor pool in Kenilworth will remain closed despite the government announcing they would be able to open from Saturday.

Image source, Warwick District Council

Warwick District Council said the Abbey Fields lido would remain closed for the rest of the season as it hadn't been given enough time to prepare the facilities and staff had been furloughed.

A decision to close and redevelop the outdoor pool was taken by the council in 2019 - this year was set to be the last time it was open to the public.

The council said it couldn't confirm the pool had now closed for good.

PC Jamie Holloway, 49, of West Mercia Police, was responding to an emergency call at the time.

Labour's shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, says the government needs to do more for Birmingham and regional high streets, following the decision by John Lewis to pull out of the city.

She has been in Northfield this morning to see how small businesses are coping after the easing of lockdown.

"Clearly many firms around it [John Lewis] will also clearly be worried," she said.

"The chancellor needs to recognise that this is a crisis which is very sectoral, it's having a much stronger impact on certain parts of the economy than others."

Speaking yesterday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government was "throwing everything" at stemming job losses with a £30bn stimulus package.

BBC Sport

Aston Villa are running out of time to avoid an immediate return to the Championship after their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United.

Image source, Reuters

Dean Smith's side have collected just two points from their past 10 games, a run that includes eight defeats, and they concede just too many goals.

The three shipped against United means they have let in 65 from 34 games, the most in the division, and have conceded two or more goals in 21 Premier League games this term.

Relegation will leave them with a big task of holding on to Jack Grealish, who has been linked with a move to United, but the captain could not conjure up any sort of threat to worry the opposition.