Watford maintain their Championship top-two bid with a convincing win over Birmingham City.

Devante Rodney's excellent strike earns Port Vale a precious 1-0 victory at fellow strugglers Colchester.

Coventry miss the chance to ease relegation fears as they fight out a scoreless draw against bottom side Wycombe.

Jacob Brown's fourth goal of the season is enough for Stoke to beat Derby in an uninspiring game in the Potteries.

Operators in northern England and the Midlands get grant as they continue with low passenger numbers.

Photographer Andrew Fusek Peters says perfect weather was also needed for the dramatic shots.

Trevor Johnson, a porter at New Cross Hospital, died at the hospital he worked at in October.

Wasps come from 18-6 behind at half-time to beat Newcastle and move level on points with the Falcons.

Oliver Banfield's victim says she thought he was "fulfilling a violent cop movie fantasy".

Steelworks have nearly been completed at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham City Council says.

The stadium in Perry Barr, will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The steelworks will be finished by next week, the council said, with work to add fixtures and fittings underway.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "This is an exciting milestone and it's testament to the hard work and efforts of all involved that we have made such progress despite the challenges of delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We can now clearly see what the new stadium will look like when complete."

The stadium is due to be finished by Spring next year.

New Birmingham boss Lee Bowyer is back at Blues - 10 years on from being part of their biggest day - and already a winner again.

Bollards are going to be installed in parts of Hanley next month to stop people driving through pedestrian zones.

The city council is installing automatic sliding bollards and fixed bollards on Piccadilly, Cheapside and Brunswick Street and said it wants to encourage shoppers to return after lockdown ends.

Image source, Google

Councillor Daniel Jellyman, cabinet member for infrastructure, regeneration and heritage, said: "These streets have been clearly marked as pedestrian zones for a number of years but unfortunately we are still getting vehicles travelling down them when they shouldn’t be."

He added the city council wants to encourage "a real café culture vibe".

Some patients at a Shropshire hospital will be allowed visitors under new rules.

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) had to restrict all visiting for patients in November in line with national guidance in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But, from Monday, limited visiting will resume for long stay patients on the Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries (MCSI) and Sheldon Ward, the general medicine and rehabilitation ward

Image source, Google

Patients will be allowed one named visitor who must book their visits with the ward.

Visitors will need to wear face masks at all times and will be provided with a surgical face mask by the trust on arrival.

Stacey Keegan, chief nurse at RJAH, said: "We have been monitoring the situation very closely and feel that now is the right time to allow some visitors back on site.

"It's the right thing to do, especially for our most vulnerable patients who will really benefit from contact with their families."

Sir Lenny Henry wrote to Sonny, eight, thanking him for his "brilliant idea".

Reece was bullied at school, leaving him with depression and anxiety, but now he's helping others.

Shropshire Star

Here are some of the stories on the Shropshire Star website:

• No Covid patients in intensive care at Shropshire's two main hospitals for 'first time in over a year', external
• Some visitors allowed at Shropshire hospital as rules ease next week, external
• Row over rotting windows on Telford housing estate, external

An off-duty firefighter has been praised after helping to save a child who was trapped inside a house.

Russ Jones rushed to a blaze at a house on Farren Road in Northfield, Birmingham on Thursday.

There, he discovered the occupant's son was missing inside.

After spotting a curtain moving in the front room, he found the boy lying on the floor by a front room window, and smashed the glass with a rock to enable him to lean in and pull the boy to safety.

Image source, West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service

The boy was treated for minor injuries by West Midlands Ambulance colleagues and then transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

The fire has since been found to have started accidentally

Mr Jones, who has been a firefighter for 24 years, said: "As soon as I saw the fire and was told a young child missing in the property, I had to do something.

"Without my firefighting kit there it was too dangerous for me to enter the property, so I had to find a way of trying to locate the boy and rescue him. I’m just so grateful I did and that he is OK."

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

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

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