Sandwell councillor Joanne Hadley was allegedly recorded using racially abusive terms.

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The stricter coronavirus restrictions have come into force in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull today, meaning households can't meet, unless they're in a support bubble.

And there's been some grumbling on the BBC Midlands Facebook page, external.

Melanie Brownhill comment: "Well that just don't make any sense. You cant see your family, but you can meet anyone in a pub."

And Liam Dyde wrote: "As long as you meet at the pub its fine, cos you’ll be spending money, therefore paying taxes."

Image source, gett

Birmingham City Council said last week the reason for allowing people to visit places including pubs and restaurants was that they had established safety precautions in place, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

But Anna Ashwood wrote: "Home probably cleaner than a lot of pubs. If we feel ill or have symptoms we would tell our family or friends, because we care about them."

New lockdown measures have come into force in parts of the West Midlands after the number of coronavirus cases rose.

People in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull are banned from meeting others who are not part of their household or support bubble, in homes or gardens.

Here's our guide to how it might affect you.

Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines today include:

• Covid-19 latest; new pub and restaurant rules; testing shortage, external
• Staff at Birmingham McDonald's test positive for Covid-19, external
• Staff at Walsall Manor Hospital test positive for Covid-19, external

Procedures are suspended as a "precautionary measure" after a staff member tested positive.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The demolition of Shrewsbury's Riverside shopping centre could get underway in the new year.

Shropshire Council wants to knock it down, along with the medical practice, multi-storey car park, bus station and footbridge, to make way for a new development with flats, offices, a hotel, restaurants and ships.

The authority has been held up by legal issues over rights of way, getting utilities connected and by the coronavirus outbreak.

It believes the project could take two or three years.

BBC Shropshire

Five registered hunts in Shropshire have shared government grants of £50,000 to help them during the coronavirus pandemic.

The money was passed on to them by Shropshire Council, which has recieved £91m to help small businesses.

Image source, Getty Images

The council said it was legally obliged to provide grants to those who had applied if they met the criteria set by ministers, and the hunts ticked all the boxes.

The Birmingham stabbing suspect left the city before returning, which will address criticism the suspect was able to wander through the city, West Midlands Chief Constable has said.

Image source, Family handout

Dave Thompson told today's meeting of the Strategic Police and Crime Board the duty inspector on shift attempted to deploy every available officer" to the scene and officers from other areas of the force were also drafted in.

Mr Thompson also said an "extensive CCTV trawl" and the "absence of a good quality CCTV image" prevented the force from releasing images of the suspect sooner.

Mr Thompson was addressing criticism of the force over the stabbings which included questions about how the suspect was allowed to roam the city for so long and why it had taken so long to release pictures.

Jacob Billington, 23, died from a knife wound on 6 September following a string of attacks spanning 90 minutes.

There's no clear evidence that coronavirs is being spread within schools, Birmingham's director of public health has said.

However, there are signs it is being spread outside schools by social events such as birthday parties, Dr Justin Varney said.

A lot of pupils are being sent home after positive Covid-19 cases identified but very few schools have shut completely, he added.

Image source, PA Media

"One of the challenges we have is that if there’s a positive case in a bubble of schoolchildren and teachers the whole bubble has to be sent home for 14 days as soon as that child is confirmed positive," said director of public health Dr Justin Varney.

The impact varies depending on how big the school bubbles are, he said.

"What we’re not seeing at the moment is any clear evidence of spread within schools – what we are seeing is the evidence of the social stuff outside of schools like birthday parties."

There's no balloon festival in Telford this year, but people are being encouraged to look to the skies for the next best thing.

A mass balloon launch has been organised from a number of secret locations so people can see them from their homes.

Image source, Telford and Wrekin Council

Last year, more than 50,000 people turned out for the event in the town park.

The balloons will be launched during the mornings and evenings this weekend.

The government is being urged to make an exemption to the new household mixing restrictions for parents with childcare issues.

Dr Justin Varney, Birmingham City Council's director of public health. said the way the current exemption has been written "prevents family members from providing childcare, and that is having significant impacts on lots and lots of families."

"This is an issue not just for Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull but for Bolton, in Greater Manchester, everywhere with the restrictions has exactly the same problems, with the way the exemption has been written, it prevents family members providing childcare and that is having significant impact on lots and lots of families," he said.

The deputy leader of the council, Brigid Jones, tweeted "if govt sill expects parents to work, childcare must be made exempt from local restrictions."

BBC Entertainment and Arts

The line-up for this year's Great British Bake Off has been revealed.

The show will return to Channel 4 on 22 September after filming was delayed because of coronavirus.

Part of the 12-strong cohort is Rowan, 55, from Worcestershire, who is a music teacher.

Image source, Channel 4

He calls his baking style ostentatious but, he hopes, tasteful.

The fitness enthusiast enjoys decorating his bakes with flowers (preferably edible ones) using what is in bloom in his garden.

Meet the other contestants here.

The coronavirus testing system is being affected by a "perfect storm of events" which is leading to a crash in the system, an infection disease expert says.

Prof Alan McNally, from the University of Birmingham, said the testing situation in the city is the "same as we're hearing from other parts of the country - lots of people struggling to get tests and no real clarity of information as to why that’s the case.

“I think the very frustrating thing is the lack of clarity of information on where the bottleneck is – my personal feeling is it’s probably no one place, I think this is multi-factorial," he told BBC Breakfast.

"I think you almost have a perfect storm of events have come together to almost essentially crash the testing system."

The government has defended the system, saying capacity was increasing.

The new restrictions across Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull are having a big impact on working parents.

Dr Justin Varney, Birmingham City Council's director of public health, acknowledged the problem and said they are "working on it".

He said: "This is an issue not just for Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull but for Bolton, in Greater Manchester, everywhere with the restrictions has exactly the same problems, with the way the exemption has been written, it prevents family members providing childcare and that is having significant impact on lots and lots of families.

"The leaders and the councils are talking to to each other jointly to put in a letter hopefully later today up to government to ask for that exemption."

Solihull MP Julian Knight has also written to the government about the issue.

BBC Weather

It will be another dry, sunny and hot day, with highs of 27°C (81°F).

The picture was taken earlier in Telford by BBC Weather Watcher Raj's Range.

Image source, Weather Watcher/Raj's Range

New lockdown measures have come into force in part of the West Midlands after the number of coronavirus cases rose.

Image source, PA Media

People in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull are banned from meeting others who are not part of their household or support bubble in homes or gardens.

The restrictions affect about 1.6 million people and run alongside wider rules which came into force on Monday.

Some parents are unhappy that grandparents cannot look after their children any more, although they would be able to meet up in pubs or restaurants. Solihull MP Julian Knight has called for a relaxation in the rule.

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo says "something special" is being built at the club after he celebrated signing a new contract with a 2-0 win at Sheffield United.

The West Midlands car parts firm blames conditions in the automotive sector and Covid-19.

An inquest opens into the death of Jacob Billington who was stabbed on a night out in Birmingham.

Don Fear becomes the first person to win the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire jackpot in 14 years.