BBC Radio Shropshire

More than £6m has been released by the government to make sure the reorganisation of services at two Shropshire hospitals stays on track.

The overhaul, previously referred to as Future Fit, will see Shrewsbury become the main emergency unit with Telford becoming a downgraded A&E Local instead.

Women and children's services will also move to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while planned surgery will be based at Telford's Princess Royal.

A leaked report in December showed the cost of the reorganisation had risen to £498m.

The health minister Edward Argar has this week confirmed to Ludlow MP Philip Dunne that £6.3m has been allocated to plan the next stage of the changes.

The money will be used to employ experts such as architects and electrical engineers to draw up final designs and planning proposals.

An otter has been spotted swimming in Gheluvelt Park in Worcester.

The creature was seen by Judith Taylor during a walk on Tuesday.

She shared the video on a local Facebook group, where people have said they were amazed to see the animal so close to the city centre.

Mrs Taylor said: "I have never seen otter in wild before... it was absolutely incredible."

By the 1970s, otters were extinct across much of the UK – their decline was mainly driven by pesticides that had polluted water courses, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust said.

It led a national project to help the return of otters in the 1990s.

Environment Agency biodiversity officer, Jude Ward, added: "Following environmental legislation and efforts of the EA and its partners to improve water quality, otters are gradually returning to much of their native range."

Bin collection services in Worcester are set to be disrupted after a refuse worker tested positive for Covid-19.

Image source, Worcester City Council

The city council said several of the team are now self-isolating and the disruption could last until 27 November.

Collections of non-recyclable waste are being given priority, with residents told not to put out their green recycling bins or brown garden waste ones.

The local authority is also suspending its paid-for bulky waste collection service.

Shropshire Star

The Shropshire Star has these stories today:

• Government releasing £6m to progress Shropshire's Future Fit hospitals shake-up, external
• Appeal to 'work together' as coronavirus cases rise significantly across Shropshire, external
• Warning over fake Covid-19 inspectors asking for cash for tests in Shrewsbury, external

Kevin Reide
Reporter, Midlands Today

A charity supporting injured soldiers says it has had its work badly disrupted by lorries crashing into its wall five times in the past few years.

Troop Aid, based in Solihull, provides emergency clothing for service personnel, but staff said its work was being affected.

The collisions have happened when lorries try to get out of a turning circle on the industrial estate the charity is based on.

Troop Aid chief executive Pam Sutton said while insurance may cover the financial cost, the cost to it is the impact on its work.

It's asked Solihull Council for the turning circle to be remodelled but the local authority said there wasn't space and it should ask the landlord to install more barriers around the property.

BBC Sport

The Professional Footballers' Association is setting up a new taskforce to further examine the issue of brain injury diseases in football.

Image source, Getty Images

It has been criticised for its lack of support by families of ex-footballers who have died of or have dementia.

It plans to reach out to ex-Blackburn and Chelsea forward Chris Sutton, whose father, Mike, has dementia.

The union will also engage with Dawn Astle, the daughter of former West Brom and England striker Jeff Astle.

Neuropathologist Dr Willie Stewart said Astle died of a brain condition normally linked to boxers, and that it was caused by heading footballs.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

The owners of a soft play centre that closed for good this week said they should have been given more support by the government.

Monkey Mayhem, on the Meadow Hill Industrial Estate, Kidderminster, won't reopen after lockdown, external as managers at the family-run centre said it was impossible to make it pay.

Manager Sian Flower: "We've battled with it for months. March was the last time we were open, we couldn't open in August because of the restrictions.

"We've had that many discussions trying to work out how we could financially do it and make it work and there was just no way we could do it."

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport says the government will "continue to engage closely with the sector as we move towards the potential lifting of lockdown next month".

The 65-year-old was arrested at home in Belfast and will be interviewed under caution, police say.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

A spike in Covid-19 cases in part of Hereford is being blamed on people socialising and visiting other households before the latest lockdown began.

Image source, PA Media

The rises have happened in areas including Hinton, Belmont and Newton Farm, Herefordshire Council said. , external

The county's director of public health, Karen Wright, said residents had to respect the current rules to help those most at risk.

"I think it is really useful reminder to us that we may go and see our nan or an older relative and there is a temptation to give them a hug. The ask is please don't do that," she said.

Dog Stark is recovering at home for two weeks after undergoing surgery for his facial wounds.

A scheme to restore a rare garden designed by Capability Brown, widely believed to be England's greatest gardener, can continue after a £269,000 grant from the government.

Image source, Claire Watts/National Trust Images

The National Trust said the project to restore the curved wall garden at Berrington Hall, near Leominster, Herefordshire, was in danger of being delayed due to the financial impact of Covid-19.

The grant from the Culture Recovery Fund will allow work to start this week to preserve the 18th Century bricks.

The demolition of Birmingham's Perry Barr fly-over is due to get under way in January.

Coventry Live

A few of the stories on the Coventry Live website today:

• Coventry's Covid-19 rate hits all time high, external
• Social club in Coventry earmarked for supported living apartments, external
• E-prescriptions coming to Coventry, external

BBC Radio CWR

Electronic prescriptions are going to be introduced at hospitals in Coventry and Rugby in a bid to free up staff time and cut medication errors.

Image source, Google

The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust is one of 16 NHS trusts getting a total of £16m with UHCW getting £1.2m.

The Department of Health, which is funding the move, said, external the electronic records had improved patient safety in other areas of the NHS.

A test pilot for people without any signs of Covid-19 is going to be launched in Wolverhampton tomorrow.

Image source, PA Media

The city council said, external the trial would be held at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara on Sedgley Street and aimed to find undiagnosed cases of coronavirus to help protect those most at risk.

They will be using lateral flow test kits which give results in about 20 minutes, without the need for a lab.

Anyone without symptoms of the virus will be able to get a free test at the centre until 30 September.

People with signs of Covid-19 should book a test through the normal channels, the council added.

BBC Radio CWR

More than 60% of fines for breaking coronavirus rules in Staffordshire and the West Midlands have gone unpaid for more than 28 days, figures suggest.

Image source, EPA

The statistics obtained by the Press Association revealed a total of nine police forces which saw 60% or more of the penalties go unpaid within 28 days between 27 March and 21 September.

They include Staffordshire Police with 28 out of 43, unpaid and West Midlands Police with 230 out of 380.

Birmingham Live

The Birmingham Live website is covering these stories today:

• Fifteen mourners found hiding in city cemetery to avoid Covid rules, external
• Academy trust boss accused of conflict of interest for signing son's £550 expenses, external
• Loving tributes to 'always smiling' scout leader after murder probe, external

Human remains found near a Jaguar Land Rover plant in Solihull could date back more than 25 years, police say.

They were discovered on a construction site off Damson Parkway on 4 November and the area was cordoned off for further searches.

West Midlands Police says it is still awaiting the results of a series of scientific tests, which could take several more weeks and are expected to reveal exactly how long they have been buried at the site.

The force says the remains are not currently being linked to any existing criminal investigation.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Joe Burn

Hundred of tyres have been spotted dumped inside a Grade II listed former teapot factory.

Image source, Jane Ashworth

They have been photographed at the former Price and Kensington works in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, by Labour Group leader and local councillor Jane Ashworth.

She said old furniture and lawn mowers also appeared to have been left in part of a warehouse on the site and called on the city council to clean it up.

The local authority said it would start legal proceedings against the owner of the works.

BBC Weather Watchers

We've got plenty of grey clouds around today but that has not put off our local BBC Weather Watchers from getting outside and snapping photos of their areas.

Here are three from users Wrekin Rambler in Telford, Shropshire, David 007 in Stourbridge, Dudley and Hedgehog in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire:

Image source, Wrekin Rambler

Image source, David 007

Image source, Hedgehog