Summary

  • Another loan for Birmingham Airport

  • Woman critically injured in taxi crash

  • Man charged with murder after woman's body found in river

  • Fire on 14th floor of tower block

  • Updates from Friday 12 February

  1. Celebrating 60 years of the E-Type Jaguarpublished at 15:24 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    The British car is now considered a classic, sought after across the world.

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  2. Health screening call over 'horrendous' smellpublished at 14:58 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Residents say an odour from a landfill site in Staffordshire is causing them to feel ill.

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  3. Girl, 15, sentenced after car flip crash deathpublished at 13:59 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    William Kingham, 15, died at the scene in Solihull on 23 November 2020.

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  4. Designs released for Covid-19 memorial gardenpublished at 13:48 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Designs for a coronavirus memorial garden have been released by Birmingham City Council.

    The council is developing a proposal to work with local communities on a series of gardens across the city, in recognition of how the virus has affected all parts of Birmingham.

    The central feature is a pebble bed that would give communities the opportunity to write the name of someone lost in the pandemic on one of the stones.

    Designs for the gardenImage source, Birmingham City Council

    Council leader Ian Ward said: "The last year has been a time of grief and heartbreak for too many people in Birmingham as communities and neighbourhoods right across the city have experienced loss and tragedy and it's important to remember and pay tribute.

    "Our initial designs are an excellent starting point and will help us develop ideas in partnership with the people of Birmingham."

  5. Teenager cleared of knife chargepublished at 13:30 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Joshua Molnar is cleared of having a knife in public after a review of the case by prosecutors.

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  6. Boy, 17, found guilty of teenager's manslaughterpublished at 13:26 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    The convicted youth claimed he acted in self-defence when he killed Nasir Patrice in January last year.

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  7. Flooding risk from rising groundwater levelspublished at 13:08 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    Groundwater levels in Birmingham "will continue to rise" and potentially pose a flooding risk to buildings and graves, a council meeting has heard.

    An overview of the city council's flood risk management work was heard at a meeting of the authority's sustainability and transport overview and scrutiny committee on Wednesday.

    Flooding at Brooklands RoadImage source, David Kukadia

    Along with measures being taken to address flooding along Birmingham's rivers and at other locations, it was told groundwater levels were likely to keep rising due to a decline in industry.

    The meeting heard last year was in the top 10 lists for wettest, warmest and sunniest years for more than 100 years, with the June thunderstorms causing widespread flooding in the city.

    Papers to the meeting state "significant flooding" was noted on Stratford Road, Golden Hillock Road and Percy Road, with flooding in Sparkhill, Acocks Green, Hall Green, Digbeth and South Yardley.

    There have been repeated reports of flooding in gardens along Brooklands Road and Silverlands Close, Hall Green.

  8. Hundreds of weapons recovered from surrender binspublished at 11:15 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    More than 800 weapons have been recovered from surrender bins distributed across the West Midlands.

    Knives, knuckle dusters, bullets and even a bayonet have been recovered from the 19 post box-sized containers, which have been placed around the region in an initiative by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.

    An extra knife bin is due to open in Coventry in the next few weeks.

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  9. Public urged to be vigilant when selling goods onlinepublished at 10:43 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Police are urging people selling goods online to remain vigilant, after con artists scammed West Midlands residents out of more than £125,000.

    WatchesImage source, West Midlands Police

    People who advertise goods on sites such as Facebook, Gumtree and eBay are being urged to take extra care before handing over items.

    It's amid ongoing fraud reports in the last six months, mainly involving high-value goods such as watches and mobiles, West Midlands Police said.

    At a meeting someone will inspect an item and agree to pay for it via bank transfer, although a fraudulent cheque will be paid into the victim's account with the funds showing as pending.

    The victim will hand over goods thinking a payment has been completed, but the cheque will later bounce back unpaid. Det Con Edward Spokes said: "Anyone selling goods online should check with their banks that any payments have cleared their accounts before handing over goods.

    "Funds shown as pending in the account do not necessarily mean that the payment has been completed."

  10. First areas to get fast broadband upgrade revealedpublished at 10:39 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    The government announces first stages of plans to get superfast broadband to the majority of UK homes.

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  11. 'Good progress' made at recycling plant firepublished at 10:18 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    "Good progress" is being made by crews tackling a fire at a recycling centre, the fire service has said.

    Scene of fireImage source, West Midlands Fire Service

    About 100 tonnes of scrap metal is on fire at the scene on Cheston Road in Aston, Birmingham.

    Scene of fireImage source, West Midlands Fire Service

    Firefighters have prevented it from spreading and the incident is to be scaled down shortly, the service tweeted. , external

    Cheston Road and Thimble Mill Lane have been closed during the incident.

    At it's height, smoke could be seen billowing from the site.

    The fire sceneImage source, Jack Sherriff
  12. Operator to run Civic Halls announcedpublished at 09:47 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Venue operators and concert promoters AEG Presents is to run Wolverhampton's Civic Halls.

    It is due to reopen early next year following a major multi-million-pound refurbishment programme, said the council, which stated AEG Presents "beat off premier competition to secure the long-term deal".

    Civic halls site - image over plans

    The company owns and operates more than 40 venues and the Wolverhampton site would "host leading musical and entertainment acts, business events and conferences", the authority stated.

    It added AEG Presents would now bring forward plans for the venue "with bigger and better acts and events" and work on developing the final stages of the transformation of the Grade II listed building.

    Council leader Ian Brookfield said it was "a huge coup".

    Quote Message

    I went to my very first live show at Wolverhampton Civic hall, The Clash in 1978, and so it's always been my venue of choice... it's a quality venue, so we're delighted to be involved in it."

    Steve Homer, AEG Presents CEO

  13. Investigations underway into Market Drayton Firepublished at 09:20 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Investigations are underway into the cause of a fire in a commercial building in Shropshire.

    Picture from the sceneImage source, Market Drayton fire station

    Crews from Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire fire services were called to assist with the fire in the building in Market Drayton from 23:33 GMT.

    The fire was contained to the single story building.

  14. Students protest against treatment of womenpublished at 08:52 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    BBC Midlands Today

    Hundreds of students joined a protest on Thursday against the treatment of women at the University of Warwick.

    Protest

    The organisers said women on campus felt "unsafe and unheard" and many had been the victim of some form of sexual assault.

    They have been demanding changes from the university.

    One woman said: "Within my social circle alone I know of four different women who have had extremely traumatising sexual assault issues and attacks."

    A man said: "I've had so many friends who have unfortunately been affected by sexual assault."

    The university said its policy on sexual misconduct was clear, it would not be tolerated and individuals found to have broken values would face expulsion or some other form of withdrawal from the university.

    People had the right to feel safe, it stated.

  15. Dozens of firefighters at metal scrap yardpublished at 08:25 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2021

    Nine fire engines have been sent to a blaze at a metal scrapyard in Birmingham.

    FireImage source, @kirbywithteeth_

    There have been reports of 100 tonnes of scrap metal on fire at the scene on Cheston Road in Aston.

    Thimble Mill Lane has been closed along with Cheston Road.

    Two hydraulic platforms have also been deployed, the fire service said.

  16. Three men jailed for 'vicious' murderpublished at 18:02 Greenwich Mean Time 18 March 2021

    Talented saxophonist Colton Bryan had been stabbed several times and died at the scene, police say.

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  17. Blues 'disappointed' as Spurs given winpublished at 16:39 Greenwich Mean Time 18 March 2021

    Birmingham call the decision to award Tottenham three points after they called off their Women's Super League game a "great disappointment".

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  18. Man jailed for life for murder of womanpublished at 16:36 Greenwich Mean Time 18 March 2021

    Ameen Thabet is told he will serve a minimum of 18 years in prison for the murder of Najeeba Al-Alriqy.

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  19. BBC's West Midlands commitment 'rights the past'published at 16:30 Greenwich Mean Time 18 March 2021

    The corporation is to relocate some news services and make more primetime shows in the region.

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