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. GB athlete 'in shock' at canalside assaultpublished at 13:57 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    The international runner has her backside grabbed while training for the Olympics.

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  2. Three planes land on runway with left-out ladderpublished at 12:26 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    Authorities say the passenger aircraft "narrowly missed" the object in the middle of the landing strip.

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  3. Coventry City of Culture: 'Bold' makeover plannedpublished at 11:49 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    A "dramatic" make-over is planned to "breathe vitality" into part of central Coventry ahead of the city's tenure as UK City of Culture.

    Plan for Hertford StreetImage source, Coventry City Council

    Artist Morag Myerscough is set to transform Hertford Street, linking the city's Broadgate with Bull Yard.

    The "bold" transformation - imagined in the computer-generated image above - will be installed over the spring months, the city council says.

    “Community is at the heart of every project I do," said Ms Myerscough.

    "Working with the food traders and surrounding shops, together we aim to make a new destination for everyone that brings joy to an area that needs some love.”

  4. Warwickshire sign South Africa's Malanpublished at 11:11 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    Warwickshire sign South Africa Test batsman Pieter Malan as their overseas red-ball player for the 2021 season.

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  5. Listen: Coventry v Saracens in pre-season friendlypublished at 10:18 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    Coventry take on Saracens at Butts Park Arena in a pre-season friendly - listen to live BBC local radio commentary.

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  6. Plans to move council into shopping centre debatedpublished at 09:41 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    BBC Radio Shropshire

    Plans to turn Shrewsbury's Pride Hill shopping centre into a new council office and leisure venue are being debated by councillors on Thursday.

    If the move goes ahead, Shropshire Council would move to the new site and sell its Shirehall headquarters in the town.

    Pride Hill

    Councillors are being asked to approve work on the design and budget, with a final decision set for later this year.

  7. Is Covid at risk of becoming a disease of the poor?published at 07:49 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    Lower vaccine uptake coupled with higher infection rates could scar communities for years to come.

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  8. City of Culture seeks more than 5,000 volunteerspublished at 06:23 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    "City hosts" will help welcome visitors to Coventry during the year-long programme of events.

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  9. Huge gas holders to disappear from city's skylinepublished at 06:12 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2021

    Gas holders at the Birmingham site were the world's largest in the 1800s, National Grid says.

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  10. Family wins appeal for Irish headstone inscriptionpublished at 22:24 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Keane family says they're delighted to be able to put an Irish message on their mother's gravestone.

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  11. Swansea City 1-0 Coventry Citypublished at 20:56 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Swansea City get back to winning ways and maintain the pressure on the top two with a hard-fought 1-0 win over a resolute Coventry City.

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  12. Ninth arrest over fatal shooting of father-of-fourpublished at 20:51 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Mohammed Haroon Zeb, 39, died of a gunshot wound on his birthday.

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  13. Walsall 0-1 Newport Countypublished at 20:07 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Joss Labadie’s header secures victory over Walsall and kick-starts Newport County’s promotion campaign.

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  14. Hill-walker killer asked stranger to call policepublished at 20:01 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Moses Christensen looked like he had "walked through a stream" when detained by police, a court hears.

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  15. Pool park drained of water 'due to vandalism'published at 18:59 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Vandals opened up the sluice at the pool, park volunteers say.

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  16. Hydro-electric plans resurrectedpublished at 17:50 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    Shelved plans for a hydro-electricity scheme at Shrewsbury weir have been resurrected.

    The town council has committed funds in its 2021-22 budget to look again at the viability of the project, which was first raised more than 10 years ago.

    Plans were abandoned when changes to feed-in tariffs – money paid for electricity supplied to the National Grid – rendered it non-viable.

    Shrewsbury HydroImage source, Shrewsbury Hydro

    The town council has allocated about £30,000 in its budget towards a feasibility study, which it is hoping Shropshire Council will match.

    A report from 2015 said tenders received when the scheme was first put the total cost of the project at around £1.5 to £2m.

    Shrewsbury Town Council leader Alan Mosley said while the scheme would not "change the world" it would generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of about 400 homes every year and would demonstrate both the councils' commitment to tackling the climate crisis and serve as an educational tool for local school children to learn about hydro power.

    He added: "The climate emergency makes it vital that we move to much more green energy and the hydro scheme at the weir will make a good local contribution to our objectives."

  17. Man in court after discovery of £1m cocainepublished at 17:47 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    The seizure was described as one of the biggest in recent years by law enforcement in NI.

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  18. Birmingham council tax rise of 4.99%published at 17:32 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    Birmingham families are to pay up to £166 extra per year after councillors agreed a council tax rise of 4.99%.

    Ian Ward

    Council leader Ian Ward (pictured) defended the Labour leadership’s record on finances amid more than £730m in cuts since 2010.

    Outlining achievements against the spectre of the pandemic, he said the authority had helped hundreds of rough sleepers, provided free school meal vouchers for children and delivered food packages and more.

    Mr Ward said the government’s "failure to act" over a social care funding crisis had meant the council had been forced to put council tax up.

    The Conservative group said the leadership’s financial plan for 2021 to 2025 showed there was a projected overspend of £80.5m in four years’ time.

    Conservative group leader Robert Alden said: "The council should not stand idly by when it has been given the ammunition by the government to be able to help those in need in our city."

    Liberal Democrat group leader Jon Hunt said the leadership’s plans to increase funding for fly-tipping and climate change were "steps in the right direction", but he said there had been "no public consultation about this budget".

    The council’s Green councillor Julien Pritchard said the budget was “insufficient” on tackling the climate emergency despite promises around the sustainability team.

  19. Shrewsbury Town's winning run continuespublished at 17:01 Greenwich Mean Time 24 February 2021

    BBC Sport

    Shrewsbury Town's remarkable revival continues after another victory last night.

    They raced into a three-goal lead inside the first 20 minutes at home to the MK Dons.

    Sean Goss' early goal was followed by two penalties - the first scored by Ollie Norburn before Curtis Main stepped up to take and convert the second.

    Steve CotterillImage source, Rex Features

    Goss rounded off the scoring with his second of the game and the Shrews are now 10 points clear of the League One relegation zone.