Cheshire East Council had a backlog of applications to keep people in care, a watchdog says.

The 17-year-old hit the animal more than 20 times over the head and is given a detention order.

More than 300 cannabis plants have been discovered at a property in Highate, Birmingham, says West Midlands Police.

The force shared details and images on Twitter earlier.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after a woman was assaulted at a bus stop.

Image source, Google

The 18-year-old required hospital treatment after she was attacked on New Street, Bulkington, in Warwickshire, at about 18:45 GMT on Thursday.

The suspect, an 18-year-old from Coventry, reportedly got out of a silver Uber van just before the incident, police said.

The Warwickshire force has appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

A man, 39, is arrested on suspicion of murder after a nine-year-old boy dies in Droitwich.

Covid-19 support grants are being brought in for taxi drivers.

Birmingham City Council said it will be providing a one-off payment of £1,000 for city taxi drivers, who continue to be significantly impacted by the pandemic.

Image source, Getty Images

Council leader Ian Ward urged drivers to access the support.

"We know that the last 12 months have been incredibly difficult for Birmingham taxi drivers, who have seen their trade seriously affected by the coronavirus restrictions," he said.

"Many drivers and their families are struggling to make ends meet because footfall in the city has been low since last March."

The latest news and updates from across the West Midlands and south Cheshire.

The 17-year-olds are set to stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court in July.

It has apologised to a history group after saying a Black Country delicacy violated its standards.

Covid-hit Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill is to carry on working from home for now, following his 33 days in hospital.

A head teacher is calling for "a clear time line" and information about plans for children to be tested at schools.

"Next week it would be really nice to have a clear timeline and some information about... the testing programme and whether we're expected to test all children all at once and that's quite a big logistical issue," Nicola Mason, head teacher at Chase Terrace Academy in Staffordshire, said.

"It takes away our largest space, our sports hall, so some of our curriculum wouldn't be able to go ahead as normal if we were testing more children."

Image source, Nicola Mason

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to set out plans for the return on Monday, with the Department for Education saying pupils won't return to classrooms before 8 March "at the earliest".

"The other part really is the exams and how we are generating grades for the children in year 11 and 13 and of course years 10 and 12 who are also on exam courses," Ms Mason told BBC Breakfast.

"They are the two really big things for me that are on my mind and causing quite a bit of stress for the coming weeks."

A man has died in a fire in Birmingham.

Emergency Services were called to Church Hill Road in Handsworth at 05:17 GMT.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said it became clear nothing could be done to save the man and he was confirmed dead at the scene.

Image source, Google

Warwickshire batsman Sam Hain signs a new two-year contract extension, keeping him at Edgbaston until 2023.

A city centre canal towpath has been closed after a wall next to a railway line collapsed.

Image source, Canal and River Trust

The boundary wall collapsed on to the towpath in Birmingham between Five Ways Bridge 86, Islington Row and Footbridge 84A Birmingham University Footbridge on Thursday.

The wall separates the canal towpath from the busy cross-city railway line.

The path will be closed until 26 February for repairs, the Canal and River Trust said.

Image source, Canal and River Trust

A 92-year-old woman has completed a charity challenge where she pedalled the equivalent distance of the English Channel on her "pedalo".

Image source, Betty Christmas

Betty Christmas, from Hall Green in Birmingham, has pedalled for 20 minutes every day for a month on her bike pedal exerciser to raise money for Guide Dogs UK.

"I am there, I can't believe it," she said. "My legs were going like mad."

Clad in red, white and blue, Ms Christmas completed the 21 miles at about 08:00 GMT, and will be celebrating with "a great big glass of red wine".

She raised just under £2,000 for the charity and to celebrate her success Birmingham's Cannon Hill Park has said it will name one of its swan pedalos in her honour.

An employee at a Tamworth business has tested positive for the South African coronavirus variant.

Image source, Getty Images

Staffordshire County Council said it has identified everyone known to be in contact with the worker - about 50 people in Tamworth and Lichfield - and they are to be offered testing.

The positive case lives in a part of Walsall or Birmingham where mass testing is already underway following the discovery of the variant in those areas.

The council said there is "no need for anyone else to take further action" and there is not evidence the variant will have spread in the wider community.

All of the people being offered home testing today are staff or clients of the Tamworth business.

We're on the brink of some milder weather but it's still looking fairly unsettled.

This afternoon we'll see a lot of cloud across the region so it will be fairly dull but the rain should be staying to the west of us.

Temperatures will be rising to up to 11C but with gusts of wind reaching up to 45mph it won't feel as mild as that.

An inspection finds staffing levels were lower than planned and morale was low among staff.

Rescued Woody, a fan of custard creams, has been turning heads when he goes on walks with a greyhound.

Balvinder Gahir was "belittled" for years and called a "psycho mum", jurors heard.