Wasps sign Cornish Pirates prop forward Marlen Walker on a short-term loan deal to cover depleted squad.

A 14-year-old boy has been stabbed in Coventry.

He was injured in Wexford Road in the Wood End area of the city at about 21:30 on Tuesday, West Midlands Police said.

Image source, Google

The teenager was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening.

Detectives are reviewing CCTV in the area as part of their investigations.

A rescue dog had to be moved by five separate teams in relay to comply with lockdown restrictions.

Essential workers from two parts of Birmingham are encouraged to get tested on Thursday.

A study to see whether different vaccines can be used for the first and second dose of a coronavirus vaccine "will not impact our deployment programme", the vaccines minister has said.

The trial will be conducted in Birmingham and six other places.

Nadhim Zahawi, also Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon, told BBC Breakfast the government's rollout of vaccines would continue as planned.

"If you've had a Pfizer Biontech vaccine for your first dose, you'll have a Pfizer Biontech vaccine for your second.

"If you've had Oxford-AstraZeneca, you'll have Oxford-AstraZeneca for your second dose."

Eight hundred patients will be part of the study, which will report in the summer.

Coronavirus rates are continuing to fall across the West Midlands, the latest official figures show.

Every local authority area recorded a drop in rates in the week up to and including 30 January.

Most saw the rate of new infections fall by about a third, although both Wolverhampton and Stafford saw falls by more than 40%.

Image source, Reuters

Sandwell and Walsall still have among the highest Covid-19 case numbers in England, although in Sandwell the number of cases fell from 2,5781 to 1,593 in a week.

However, in the last week a handful of cases of the South Africa variant of the virus have been detected in both Walsall and Birmingham.

It is not thought to be any more dangerous than other variants circulating, but initial research suggests it is more transmissible and vaccines may be slightly less effective.

Four people have been arrested for drug and trafficking offences after a warrant was carried out in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Hundreds of cannabis plants were seized from an address in Six Ashes on Wednesday, West Mercia Police say., external

Two men aged 62 and 52, along with a woman aged 33, were arrested for modern day slavery and human trafficking offences.

The three, along, with another 52-year-old man, are also under suspicion of the cultivation of class B drugs.

The 62-year-old man and the woman were bailed while the other two men were released under investigation.

Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines today include:

• Mass testing starts after South African variant of Covid-19 detected in Birmingham, external
• Police probed 'sickening' attacks and thefts from 2,500 hospital crimes in pandemic, external
• Axe-wielding pair smashed into home to demand keys, external

BBC News Travel

Emergency repairs are being carried out on a water hydrant which has closed Newport Street in Worcester.

People at Birmingham New Street Station were among those to pause on Wednesday to join a national clap in tribute to Capt Sir Tom Moore.

The 100-year-old, who raised almost £33m for NHS charities, died with coronavirus at Bedford Hospital on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier announced the national clap at 18:00 GMT would celebrate Capt Sir Tom and "all those health workers for whom he raised money".

A mobile testing site will be opened in an area of Birmingham after two cases of the South Africa coronavirus variant were detected.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

The city council says testing will be ramped up in the Frankley Great Park ward and parts of south Northfield.

The discovery comes after the variant was detected in nearby Walsall.

Dr Justin Varney, director of public health in Birmingham, said the new variant presented a "new risk" and urged all adults to get tested "to minimise the risk of spreading the virus".

Smitha Mundasad
News reporter

A UK trial has begun to see if giving people different Covid vaccines for their first and second doses works as well as the current approach of using the same type of vaccine twice.

Image source, Getty Images

A study will be recruiting in the next two to three weeks and involve sites in Birmingham and six other places.

The idea is to provide more flexibility with vaccine rollout and help deal with any potential disruption to supplies.

Scientists say mixing jabs could also possibly give even better protection.

BBC News Travel

Rail lines between Leamington Spa and Banbury are blocked due to an incident.

Train services are expected to be cancelled or diverted until 11:00 GMT, said National Rail.

BBC Weather

It will be a cloudy day with patches of fog or mist.

Showers will push in from the south through the day, turning heavy for some, with highs of 6°C (48°F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email,Twitter , externaland Facebook., external

Andy Hogan-Hughes struggled with his mental health after covering a series of fatal crashes.

David Moyes says Jesse Lingard can make England's Euros squad after he scores twice on his West Ham debut.

Joseph Flavill caught the virus twice while he was in hospital after being hit by a car last March.

People in parts of the city are being urged to get tested even if they have no symptoms.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow.