Birmingham Live

The Birmingham Live website is covering these stories today:

• Giant 5G mast on Outer Circle bus route 'appears overnight', external
• City restaurant boss fears Tier 3 'will kill off 90 per cent of venues', external
• Man fights for life after suspected electrical sub-station raid, external

People living in parts of Staffordshire are being urged to get tests amid a spike in local cases.

Image source, Staffordshire County Council

Overall, the Staffordshire Moorlands saw the rate of new cases fall to 299.7 per 100,000 for the week to 20 November from 421.6 the week before.

But the county council says, external places in the area including Cellarhead, Bagnall, Brown Edge, Cheadle and Upper Tean had been identified as hot spots with a lot of community transmission of the virus.

People with or without coronavirus symptoms are being encouraged to get tested and a mobile test centre will be at the JCB plant in Cheadle from 25-27 November.

Jamie Davies punched Chris Cooling in the face, breaking his jaw, the ambulance service says.

BBC Radio Stoke

The government is being urged not to put Staffordshire in the highest Covid tier once lockdown is lifted.

Image source, PA Media

The three-tiered regional measures will return in England from 2 December, the prime minister confirmed this week.

Areas will find out which tier they are in on Thursday, with the decision based on factors including case numbers, the reproduction rate - or R number - and pressure on local NHS services.

Staffordshire County Council leader Alan White said he wanted to avoid the county being placed in the highest tier.

"I want to make sure the tier we are allocated is proportionate and I want to make sure that it gives us the best chance of getting back on our feet once this crisis is over", he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"The number of businesses that are contacting the county council all the time in distress as a result of the regulations means that I am really keen we get back on it as soon as we possibly can."

Shropshire Star

The Shropshire Star is featuring these stories, among others:

• Hospitals under 'sustained pressure' and seeing higher numbers of Covid patients than first wave, external
• Three sentenced after sergeant kicked in head following Shropshire pub brawl, external
• Government's stricter tier system sparks fears for Shropshire's hospitality industry, external

Shropshire could more than double the amount of woodland it has, Friends of the Earth has said.

It has produced a map of the UK, showing the potential for more trees, and it shows the county currently has 47,000 acres of woodland.

The campaign group said there was enough land to increase that to 115,000 acres and has asked for more funding to be given to councils and farmers, so they can plant trees.

Burglars who targeted several homes in one day are believed to have been searching for Asian gold jewellery.

The eight break-ins happened on Saturday in Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent, and Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire Police said., external

Gold jewellery is often bought as a wedding gift in British Asian families and passed down through generations.

In one burglary, £4,000 of jewellery was taken, but otherwise the thieves left empty-handed after being disturbed, officers said.

Shrewsbury Town sack manager Sam Ricketts after a run of eight League One matches without a victory.

BBC Midlands Today

A head teacher said the pandemic was the most challenging time of her 32-year career and the current pressures on her staff were unsustainable.

Helen Slack, head of Twickenham Primary School, in Kingstanding, said schools like hers need more government support.

Her comments follow a survey of schools in Erdington by local Labour MP Jack Dromey, external, which found they were paying thousands of pounds in extra costs to be Covid-secure.

The additional financial demands also include having to pay for additional staff, manage additional workloads and stress.

"Whilst we all agree the best place for children is in school, without extra support it is absolutely unsustainable that we just cannot carry on in this way," Ms Slack said.

"All schools are in this same position where they are trying to juggle all these things together."

The Department for Education said this year's core funding for schools represented the biggest increase in a decade and it had also launched a £1bn Covid catch-up package.

Two men in balaclavas got out of a car in Coventry and tried to put her inside it, police say.

Coventry University has said all of its students will be able to get coronavirus tests before the Christmas holidays.

It is opening a new testing centre at the Priory Sports hall on Monday and it will offer the rapid result tests.

The university said it hopes it will provide reassurance as the students travel home for the Christmas break.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

An animal rescue charity in Kidderminster has taken in more than 400 animals in the last six months and is concerned about people getting pets during the pandemic they can't really cope with.

Greatfield Small Animal Rescue is also worried about another spike before Christmas, with people worried about their jobs or being made redundant.

Lyndsey Hill, who runs the centre, said it had to shut its doors at one point.

"When it was announced that lockdown was happening, we had a surge of animals coming for rehoming," she said.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

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

• 'Hero' dad, 21, beaten back by flames as he risked his own life to rescue family, external
• Covid police turn up as festive takeaway food event attracts 450-strong crowd, external
• Key worker left waiting over a week for Covid test result, external

BBC Weather Watchers

A lot of us can expect to see some rain today and it's looked pretty grey and damp in the photos from the BBC Weather Watchers this morning.

These pictures were taken in Leek and Lydbury North.

Image source, Videoman

Image source, Ken M

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

Shrewsbury Town manager Sam Ricketts has told BBC Radio Shropshire he didn't want to talk about his future after they sank to second-bottom of League One.

It was their eighth game in a row without a win and the third League game in a row in which they've let a lead slip.

Image source, Getty Images

Shrewsbury led 2-0 early in the second half, but Milton Keynes came back and equalised in the 70th minute.

Afterwards, Ricketts dodged questions on their bad run of form and instead said: "We talk about this all the time. Listen, I'm still infuriated by the referee not giving us the goals that we should have done and giving them goals."

Martin Payne claimed to be collecting money for the NHS, Staffordshire Police says.

BBC Radio CWR

Two men wearing balaclavas have attempted to kidnap a woman and her baby in Coventry, officers say.

West Midlands Police said it happened as she was out walking him in a pram on Yarningdale Road at around 23:10 on Friday.

Image source, Google

The force said the men tried to force her into a black three-door car, but they gave up and drove off when she screamed.

A man has died after his van was involved in a crash near a pub.

Image source, Google

It happened on Tuesday evening outside the Blue Boar Inn in Temple Grafton, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, the ambulance service said. , external

The fire service cut the man free but he died at the scene.

Express and Star

The Express and Star is covering these stories today:

• Hospital chiefs raise alarm as pandemic puts extreme pressure on staff, external
• Nearly 900 take part in Wolverhampton rapid Covid testing pilot scheme, external
• Windrush campaigner to receive posthumous award, external

A rapid coronavirus testing pilot scheme in Wolverhampton has "exceeded expectations", the council says.

About 900 people have been tested at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara on Sedgley Street with results getting back within an hour.

Image source, Getty Images

The City of Wolverhampton Council said its also been attracting people from outside the city, because you don't have to have symptoms to get tested.