A scheme aimed at getting people out of cars and using a new type of railway has secured £12.4m of government cash.

Image source, Dudley Council

Dudley Council is part of a group wanting to build a Very Light Rail (VLR) Innovation Centre in the town.

The project , externalwould investigate ways to cut the weight and cost of traditional trains and track and come up with lighter, cheaper alternatives.

The council said the coronavirus pandemic had left the scheme facing a nearly £13m shortfall but ministers agreed to put in most of the money., external

Jasbir Kaur and Rupinder Singh Bassan were found at their home in the West Midlands.

Hereford Times

Here are three stories from the Hereford Times today:

• New road bridge for Hereford 'is still a possibility', external
• Child was bitten by dangerously out of control dog, external
• Car crashes into garden, external

Local Democracy Reporting Service

People living in the south Shropshire village Of Bromfield, which is set to lose its post office, are being told they could get a mobile van to deliver some of the services.

The Post Office said it was due to close at the end of the month because the person in charge has resigned and because the owner of the property, Plymouth Estates, is withdrawing it from Post Office use.

Image source, Google

Plymouth Estates said it couldn't continue the post office, because it had been making "significant losses", made worse by coronavirus.

The chairman of Bromfield Parish Council, Andy Boddington, said he'd like to see it moved to the first floor of the Ludlow Food Centre next door, where it would see more visitors.

But the Post Office said it would not fund the move.

Rubbish including a gazebo, a barbecue and a petrol can have been left at a country park.

Image source, Sandwell Council

Sandwell Council said today, external there were also tables and chairs left behind at Sandwell Valley Country Park.

Branding it "disgusting and totally unacceptable", the local authority tweeted it took staff more than two hours to clean up.

Police have recovered stolen trailers and warned the drivers of 12 vehicles found pulling excessive loads during spot checks in Warwickshire.

Officers patrolled the M40 on Monday, following up on a previous patrol in June, and also recovered a stolen mini-digger, which had been taken in 2014.

Image source, Google

Another driver behind the wheel of a lorry carrying a train carriage was warned because it didn't have the correct plates.

Seven vehicles were found to have defective tyres, eight vehicles were found with loads that weren't secured properly and a driver pulling a caravan was found to have no driving licence.

Birmingham Live

A few of the headlines from the Birmingham Live website today:

• Carjacker steals car while woman cleans it at Birmingham petrol station, external
• Coronavirus cases in Birmingham have nearly doubled in last 14 days, external
• Officials turn up to 'large scale' wedding parties and discos defying rules in Birmingham, external

BBC Hereford and Worcester

The inquest into the death of a man, whose remains were found in Worcestershire more than two years after he went missing, has returned an open verdict.

Matt Bone, who was 26, left his parents home in Portsmouth in March 2018, and was reported missing two days after checking in to the Stanbrook Abbey Hotel in Malvern.

Image source, Family photo

In June this year human remains found in nearby Newland were identified as those of Mr Bone and police said his death was not being treated as suspicious.

Police are keen to trace people seen running away from the incident in Great Barr.

BBC Weather Watchers

It seems the weather is giving us a little bit of everything today, as you can see from these photos shared by the BBC Weather Watchers.

They were taken in the Bromsgrove, Warwick and Gnosall areas.

Image source, Hedgehog

Image source, SteveC

Image source, Neil

The long-awaited redevelopment of Worcester's Shrub Hill station has been awarded £850,000 from the government's Getting Building fund.

The proposals were first put forward in 2012 and involve a new plaza in front of the railway station, offices, a multi-storey car park, shops and flats.

Image source, Network Rail

A masterplan , externaldrawn up by the city council last year set out proposals to also redevelop the wider Shrub Hill area and said the station should make "a positive first impression" to visitors.

The money will also be used to buy land for these developments.

Image source, Worcester City Council

In total, £12m was given to projects around Worcestershire, including £5m for those in Worcester itself.

The biggest award was £3m to help the University of Worcester create a medical school, with a cricket school next door on the site formerly used by the Worcester News.

A planned footbridge, which could also be used by cyclists, was awarded £1m and will link Gheluvelt Park and the old Kepax landfill site.

Another £500,000 has been given to connect more businesses to full fibre broadband.

A child has suffered serious injuries after being hit by a vehicle on the M5 in the West Midlands this morning.

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) said the collision happened close to junction two for Smethwick at 11:20 and he was taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Image source, West Midlands Police

The boy had been on foot when he was hit and WMAS said it was not yet clear what he was doing on the motorway. West Midlands Police said inquiries were ongoing.

Nobody else was hurt.

Burton Albion sign former Lincoln City defender Michael Bostwick on a one-year contract.

Cannabis plants with a street value of about £1.3m have been uncovered at a former Indian restaurant near Whitchurch in Shropshire.

West Mercia Police said a search was carried out at the Taj Mahal Spice building at Oakvale in Prees Heath yesterday.

Image source, West Mercia Police

Det Sgt Steve Miller, from West Merica Police said: "We know those involved will be part of a wider serious and organised crime network."

A funeral has been held today for a special constable who died months after he was hit by a car.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Resham Singh Nahal (left) was hit by a car while attending the scene of a separate collision in Oldbury, on 8 November.

Last month, West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson confirmed his death and the force said tests would determine if his death related to the injuries he suffered on duty.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said Mr Nahal was also part of its Patient Transport Service, external and colleagues formed a guard of honour at Perry Barr Crematorium., external

Image source, West Midlands Ambulance Service

A camera records the moment a man says he feels blamed by police for his friend's disappearance.

CCTV footage shows Keeley Bunker at the same venue as the friend who would be convicted of her murder.

Coventry Live

Here are three stories from the Coventry Live website today:

• Staff at Tesco store test positive for coronavirus, external
• Fresh bid to save Rolls Royce jobs, external
• Temporary GP practice to open, external

A baby spider monkey has been born at Dudley Zoo.

Staff said the birth on Friday , externalwas the first at the zoo in four decades and came during the day in front of visitors.

Image source, Dudley Zoo

The Colombian black spider monkey is usually found in parts of South America.

Zookeepers said the primates remain a critically endangered species in the wild due to deforestation and hunting.

The number of people testing positive for coronavirus in Sandwell has fallen, according to new figures.

Image source, Reuters

The borough was named as an area of concern by Public Health England last month after a rise in cases.

But data from Public Health England shows there were 66 new cases in the week up to 31 July. Figures for the seven days to 24 July showed 96 cases.

That means 20.2 people tested positive for every for every 100,000 population (up to 31 July), down from 29.3 a week earlier.

Here are the rate of infections (per 100,000 people) for all local authorities in the West Midlands - for the seven days up to 31 July, compared with the previous week.

• Birmingham down to 12.7 from from 13.4
• Bromsgrove down to 6.1 from 7.1
• Cheshire East up to 6.6 from 1.3
• Coventry up to 14.7 from 8.7
• Dudley up to 4.7 from 3.4
• East Staffordshire up to 9.3 from 8.4
• Herefordshire remains at 5.7
• Lichfield up to 6.7 from 2.9
• Newcastle-under-Lyme up to 7.0 from 3.1
• North Warwickshire is down to 6.2 from 9.3
• Nuneaton and Bedworth up to 17.8 from 8.5
• Redditch remains at 1.2
• Rugby up to 6.5 from 1.9
• Sandwell down to 20.2 from 29.3
• Shropshire up to 6.2 from 5.0
• Solihull up to 7.0 from 4.2
• South Staffordshire down to 3.6 from 6.2
• Staffordshire Moorlands up to 6.1 from 1.0
• Stoke-on-Trent down to 3.1 from 4.3
• Stratford-on-Avon up to 3.1 from 0.8
• Tamworth up to 2.6 from 1.3
• Telford and Wrekin remains at 3.9
• Walsall remains at 8.1
• Warwick remains at 4.2
• Wolverhampton up to 16.8 from 14.5
• Worcester down to 3.9 from 7.9
• Wychavon down to 4.7 from 7.9