Coventry Live

The Coventry Live website's covering these stories today:

• Coventry school holiday dates change after complaints, external
• Police appeal after head-on crash in Coventry leaves woman in critical condition, external
• Shut-down ‘inadequate’ care home in Coventry could become a massive HMO, external

BBC News Travel

Drivers are facing eight miles of congestion on the M40 southbound near Leamington Spa this afternoon after a vehicle fire.

Image source, Highways England

Just one lane is open past the scene, external of the blaze between J13 and J12, Highways England said.

Motorists are being warned of 90 minute delays and advised to consider using the M6 and M1 if heading from the West Midlands to London and south east England., external

Isobel Corrie was on a flight back from Thailand when James Birch had a cardiac arrest mid-flight.

Illegal metal detecting has damaged part of the Malvern Hills, according to the trust which manages the area., external

Image source, Malvern Hills Trust

Three men have been seen recently digging with detectors in North Quarry.

The Malvern Hills Trust said it suspected metal detecting was also responsible for damage seen on the Old Hills, Callow End and near Castlemorton Common.

It added removing or displacing turf or soil and using a metal detector on its land was an offence under its by-laws.

BBC Radio WM

People in Birmingham are being urged to take coronavirus seriously after a spike in the city's infection rate.

Image source, Reuters

Visits to care homes in the city have been banned as the rate in the seven days to 14 August rose to 32.5 cases per 100,000 people, from 18.3 for the week before.

The city's public health director, Dr Justin Varney, said residents needed to take the increase seriously before there had to be some form of local lockdown.

"We're seeing it reflected through people coming together as families, family networks where everyone is getting infected from a family gathering or a social gathering and we're also seeing an increase in cases linked to workplaces."

Lady Anne Dodd says the late comic would have been "thrilled to bits" to help the Shakespeare project.

Hereford Times

From the Hereford Times:

• Footfall up by a quarter in Hereford city centre, external
• Disaster 'prepper' forgot knife was in his pocket, court told, external
• Two more coronavirus cases found in Herefordshire, external

The boy got into a car after being asked if he wanted a kitten, police say.

BBC Midlands Today

A student says the government's U-turn over A-level results has given her a "whole new set of problems".

Azaria Forbes, from Oldbury, needed three A grades to study medicine but her results were initially downgraded, putting her dreams on hold.

The changes from the government now mean she has the grades but is facing a battle to get a place at university.

"My initial reaction to those grades was it doesn't change anything for me, I still can't get onto that course because it is now full."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the government is "absolutely looking at" lifting the cap on the number of places to study medicine.

The number of students studying to be doctors is regulated because of the cost and for NHS workforce planning.

A one-minute silence has been held at Birmingham New Street today, external to honour three men killed in a train derailment in Aberdeenshire a week ago.

Image source, Network Rail

Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died near Stonehaven. Six others were injured.

The train derailed after hitting a landslip following heavy rain.

Abdul Rahman Abubaker, 24, died in hospital after being shot in Birmingham in May 2018.

The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford has paid tribute to a World War II veteran, and one of its long-standing volunteers, who has died,

Desert Rat Les Cherrington, 101, from Shifnal, Shropshire, died on Saturday.

He was the only survivor from his tank when it was engaged by German forces in Tunisia during the Battle of the Mareth Line.

The museum said he was "well-known and loved by all at Cosford".

Image source, RAF Museum Cosford

Mr Cherrington had volunteered at the museum each Tuesday.

"He was a popular member of the team, cheerful, kind and modest, with a unique insight and an engaging manner," it added.

"He was generous with his time and always up for a chat.

"He will be deeply missed by those he worked with and we shall always be thankful for the inspiring stories he shared with us all."

Birmingham Live

The Birmingham Live website's headlines today include:

• John Lewis condemned for 'failing to make most’ of Birmingham Grand Central store, external
• Birmingham Airport tourists' fury as health authorities fail to check up on them, external
• Fifth man charged with murder after Stratford Road shooting, external

Allen Cook
BBC News

A young boy's been rescued from a river.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Fire crews and paramedics were called to Dosthill Park, Tamworth,, external yesterday afternoon after getting reports of someone in the water.

After firefighters used a boat to rescue him, the boy was checked over and discharged at the scene, the ambulance service said.

BBC Midlands Today

Flood defences are being installed at a cemetery in Birmingham after a number of graves were affected by thunderstorms this week.

Flash flooding caused damage to graves in Handsworth Cemetery.

The city council says it has apologised to families and is carrying out repairs.

Five men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a teenager was found with several stab wounds.

The 19-year-old man was discovered in a serious condition yesterday afternoon at an address in Abbeyfields, Great Haywood, near Stafford, Staffordshire Police said., external

The five men, all from Stafford, were arrested by police after they stopped a vehicle on Tixall Road.

Warwickshire batsman Matt Lamb signs a two-year contract extension at Edgbaston until the end of the 2022 season.

Shropshire Star

From the Shropshire Star today:

• Telford man caught with 3,000 indecent images of children, external
• Bravery of Desert Rat WWII hero remembered after death aged 101, external
• Shirehall will never fully reopen, Shropshire Council confirms, external

BBC Radio WM

A woman says she is "gutted and devasted" as plans to visit her father at his care home had to be cancelled due to a rise in coronavirus cases in Birmingham.

Jill Howard, from Harborne, had planned to visit her father, Albert, to celebrate his 88th birthday with an afternoon tea party.

But she received a call on Tuesday night from staff saying visitors were no longer allowed.

The city council moved to ban all "non-essential" visits to care homes in Birmingham as coronavirus cases more than doubled in a week.

Image source, Alamy

Ms Howard has only been able to see her dad on two occasions for garden visits since lockdown was rolled out in March and says the impact on Albert, who lives with dementia, has been noticeable.

"It has affected him, he seems a bit low in his self-esteem, his dementia symptoms seem to be getting worse," Ms Howard said. "It's also having a massive impact on relatives who have loved ones in care homes.

"They need to see them, to stimulate them if they've got dementia, for their wellbeing."

A 'Nightingale' court is set to start hearing its first cases.

Image source, Google

Ten temporary courts, known as Nightingale courts, are being set up nationally to help clear a backlog of hearings caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

An annex of Telford Justice Centre will hear civil and family cases, boosting the capacity of the centre by adding three more court rooms.

Almost half of all courts were closed in March 2020, with jury trials paused to help stop the spread of coronavirus.