The boss of Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital said ambulance waiting times were the "worst... I've seen in 16 years".

Image source, Google

An ambulance had to wait for four hours on the tarmac outside New Cross Hospital on Thursday, David Loughton said.

The long waiting times were driven by "a lack of flow caused by blocked beds due to increased Covid activity," he told a weekly coronavirus meeting.

Due to the increase in Covid-19 patients people will now "end up with longer waiting times for admission to hospital," he added.

A major inquiry into undercover policing has heard claims that West Midlands Police infiltrated the office of a former Coventry MP in the 1980s.

At the heart of the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) is a series of serious allegations of systematic abuses by undercover policing units developed over 40 years.

Image source, Paul Mattson

In an opening statement on behalf of former Labour Coventry South East MP Dave Nellist -and five other core participants, James Scobie QC claimed the MP had been "cultivated" by an officer for his support of the Militant movement.

"An agent supposedly tasked to infiltrate Militant, in fact cultivated Dave Nellist, getting close to him, helping him and accompanying him to meetings," the inquiry heard.

"The clear inference is that an undercover officer was planted within his Labour Party constituency office."

The action constituted a "blatant attack on the functioning of our democracy," said Mr Scobie.

The inquiry is expected to run for at least three years as it works its way chronologically through the operations that took place.

A convenience store has been robbed by two men armed with crowbars.

Image source, Google

The pair wore balaclavas and were believed to have threatened staff at the Costcutters on Stourbridge Road, Bromsgrove, on Monday, West Mercia Police said. , external

They left with cash and cigarettes.

BBC Radio Stoke

Two outbreaks of Covid-19 at prisons in Staffordshire appear to now be under control, health officials have said.

At HMP Oakwood, in Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, 71 prisoners and staff have tested positive.

While BBC Radio Stoke understands there are a large number of cases at nearby HMP Featherstone (pictured).

Dr Richard Harling, director of health for Staffordshire County Council, said infections at both sites appeared to have slowed down.

"After increasing rapidly a week or so ago, we are now just seeing a trickle of cases coming through so hopefully those outbreaks are now largely under control," he said.

The Ministry of Justice said it had taken precautionary measures at Featherstone while G4S, which runs Oakwood, said it continued to follow all national guidance.

Thousands of smaller charities across the UK could cease to exist in the new year, experts fear, following a shift in the nature of giving.

Birmingham is among the local authorities with the most registered charities.

Fundraising data and recent polls have shown a surge in donations to new NHS charities since March.

But campaigners say funds to a variety of grassroots causes are down, leaving many on the brink of existence.

The government issued a £750m bailout to the sector in April but there are now growing calls for more support.

BBC Radio Shropshire

A school has shut today due to several members of staff self-isolating because of coronavirus.

Image source, Google

In a letter to parents, external, the head teacher of Burton Borough School, in Newport, Shropshire, said the closure was for "operational" rather than public health reasons.

Lessons will be held online and parents have been told there will be more communication on what happens next week.

Four children from Coventry join a charity choir on its 10th anniversary.

Express and Star

The Express and Star is covering these stories today:

• Contract killer says wrong man was convicted alongside him for murder, external
• Wedding couple 'forgotten about' under lockdown rules, external
• Refuse to wear a mask and you can be fined, West Midlands police tell shoppers, external

Searches are under way after human remains were discovered in Solihull.

The discovery was made on land off Damson Parkway on Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images

West Midlands Police said the area had been cordoned off for further searches to be carried out.

The bones will undergo forensic and archaeological analysis, the force said.

The trust running Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, sees Covid cases increase six-fold in a month.

The jury deliberations of two men accused of murdering and dismembering a woman in a flat have been delayed after a defendant fell ill.

Image source, West Midlands Police

David Leesley, 23, from Dudley and Nathan Maynard-Ellis, 30, from Tipton deny murdering Julia Rawson.

Ms Rawson, 42, from Dudley, West Midlands, was last seen alive on 12 May last year.

Coventry Crown Court was told Nathan Maynard-Ellis has been unable to speak to his lawyers since becoming unwell overnight.

Intensive care staff at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire spoke exclusively to the BBC.

BBC Weather Watchers

We've had more blue skies with patches of white cloud around today and our BBC Weather Watchers have been busy snapping the skylines in the West Midlands.

Here are three from users Malvern Peter in Malvern Link, Worcestershire, Springer Spaniel in Leek Wootton, Warwickshire and STARA Chair in Birmingham:

Image source, Malvern Peter

Image source, Springer Spaniel

Image source, STARA Chair

Local Democracy Reporting Service
George Makin

A former Oldbury Toys ‘R’ Us store which has stood empty for almost two years will be transformed into an £11m retail park.

Image source, Sandwell Council

Sandwell council’s planning committee has granted permission for the development on Wolverhampton Road which includes a leisure outlet, shops, garden centre and a drive-thru restaurant.

Owners Horton Estates said the retail park would create 75 jobs and was a good news for the town.

The Toys ‘R’ Us store closed in April 2018 following the collapse of the national chain with a loss of 3,000 jobs across the country.

Armed police have been called out after three masked men armed with a machete tried to barge their way inside a home.

Image source, Google

Two people inside the property on Balfour, Tamworth, held the door shut as they tried to get in on Tuesday afternoon, Staffordshire Police said., external

The trio smashed the windscreen of a vehicle on the driveway before running off towards Lichfield Street in a black SUV-type vehicle.

Officers searched the area but did not find them.

All planned procedures at a major hospital in Birmingham have been postponed because of a surge in admissions of Covid patients, as well as other seriously ill people.

Image source, Getty Images

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital said it had been an "extremely difficult" decision, which hadn't been taken lightly.

Patients affected until the end of November will be contacted by the hospital trust, , externalit said.

The decision will be reviewed on an on-going basis, it added.

An advert for a coronavirus "passport" app, which has been promoted by Zara Tindall, has been referred to the medical regulator over concerns it contradicts health guidance.

The V-Health Passport allows Covid test results to be uploaded to a phone - meaning people can demonstrate they are safe to attend sports and other events.

Image source, PA Media

Jon Deeks, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, says he reported the advert to the MHRA.

"If people use these tests, they get a negative result and they go and think they haven't got Covid when they could actually still be infectious, that might mean that people don't social distance and so on," he said.

"And that might increase the risk of actually spreading Covid."

You can read more on the story here.

Nicky Hollyoake admitted 10 charges, with some of his victims under the age of 13.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

A few of the stories making the headlines on the Stoke-on-Trent Live website today:

• Burglars 'ransack' house and steal £15k of valuables, external
• Royal Stoke boss in 'sod off' rant to MPs who say NHS Covid crisis is exaggerated, external
• Council issues £400 fly-tipping fine to man building bonfire on Stoke-on-Trent estate, external

A number of firefighters including in Coventry and Staffordshire were physically assaulted last night when attending call-outs on Bonfire Night, said the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC).

"These mindless attacks included fireworks, stones and bricks being thrown at crews while they were out trying to keep people safe," said the NFCC.

During one incident in Coventry, fireworks were thrown at fire crews as they dealt with a blaze that had started under a shop canopy.

It happened just before 19:30 in the Loxley Close area of Wood End.

"Very fortunately, no-one was hurt," said the West Midlands Fire Service.