BBC News Health

The network of emergency Nightingale hospitals set up to cope with a surge of Covid-19 cases is to close from April, the NHS has said.

Established last spring amid fears that the NHS might be overwhelmed, the temporary hospitals in England were largely not needed.

Birmingham's NEC centre was opened by the Duke of Cambridge last April, but has been mostly unused.

Some were used as rehab centres and the sites in London and Sunderland will stay open for vaccinations.

Eloise Parry, 21, from Shrewsbury, died in 2015 after taking dinitrophenol (DNP) capsules.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

A family of otters - one of the UK's most elusive mammals - has been pictured in a Worcestershire river.

Image source, Matthew Lissimore

Image source, Matthew Lissimore

Wildlife photographer Matthew Lissimore tweeted us, external the pictures he took whilst out walking near the River Arrow.

Image source, Matthew Lissamore

"[I] couldn't believe my luck", he said.

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

More than £13,600 is raised through donations, a cake sale and yoga session to keep the club open.

Gareth Jones was principal at Ormiston Meridian Academy before retiring in 2019.

A man has been arrested after police were called to reports of a man brandishing a hammer in Birmingham city centre.

A hammer was recovered by officers after the incident at 16:45 on Broad Street.

It's unclear at this stage if anyone was hurt or threatened or any property damaged, said West Midlands Police.

Marian Savu was attacked in the early hours and pronounced dead at the scene.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

Final details have been submitted for 240 homes near Tile Hill station in Coventry.

Image source, Coventry City Council

Land situated west of Cromwell Lane was removed from the green belt and allocated for 240 homes in the council’s Local Plan in 2017, with outline permission for 240 homes approved in 2018.

An application has now been submitted for the plot, which is split in two by the Grade-II listed farmhouse Westwood Farm in the middle, which remains unaffected.

The southern side will be developed by St Philips Homes and provide a mixture of 58 three and four-bed detached houses, each with two parking spaces and a garage. The northern parcel of land will be developed by Spitfire Homes and create 182 homes across a range of detached, semi-detached, and terraces, as well as apartments.

Oakley Hughes used his mum's thumb to unlock her phone when she passed out after a fall.

The home's provider has been told to improve by Ofsted after inspectors found "serious shortfalls".

The venture will expand to places including Birmingham, Coventry and Walsall in the next few months.

Team GB rugby player Heather Fisher says she "dreads" using public toilets as she is frequently mistaken for a man because of her alopecia.

Naga Munchetty travelled across the UK to understand what race and racism means today.

A railway line has reopened six months after a train derailed and burst into flames, spilling 330,000 litres of diesel.

The southern end of the Heart of Wales line was closed following the "major incident" in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, on 26 August.

Network Rail said it took 37,500 hours of work to protect the environment and repair the line which runs from Shrewsbury to Swansea.

On Monday passenger and freight services will resume.

Year 11 students have been arriving back at Jewellery Quarter Academy in Birmingham as pupils across England return to school for the first time in two months as part of the first stage of lockdown easing.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Covid tests introduced at schools are voluntary - and there have been warnings from school leaders that getting parental consent has been the biggest difficulty.

Face masks are expected to be worn in secondary school classrooms, where social distancing is not possible, at least for the remaining weeks of this term.

Officers are continuing to investigate "violent disorder" in Coventry over the weekend when a man and a teenage boy were injured after shots were fired.

Image source, Google

West Midlands Police said officers were deployed to Achal Close in the city at about 00:20 on Sunday.

A 29-year-old man was taken to hospital with leg injuries, police said, and the 17-year-old boy self-presented at hospital later with hand and chest wounds, which are not thought serious.

No arrests have been made, police said, but patrols have been stepped up.

The man, who was believed to have been in his late teens, died after being found with stab injuries.

Sisters Tia, Scarlett and Imogen are among thousands of pupils returning to school in Birmingham today.

Tia said she was "excited" to be returning to school "because I get to see my friends and do all my favourite activities".

West Midlands Police is to get a share of government money to target violence hotspots.

The £30m funding is being allocated in a bid to crack down on murders, knife crime and other serious offences.

The money is being made available to forces in parts of England and Wales "most affected by serious violence", according to the Home Office.

In the past two years £100m of such funding has resulted in more than 100,000 weapons being seized and has seen thousands of hours of police activity like increased patrols and searches, the Home Office said.

Extra rail services have been introduced as more pupils return to schools and colleges across England.

West Midlands Trains is one of the companies boosting capacity, with additional carriages introduced to some services.