Summary

  • Updates from Monday 1 March to Sunday 7 March

  1. City of Culture 'very happy' with response to programmepublished at 14:41 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    The chief executive of Coventry City of Culture said he was "very happy with how things landed" after details of the summer's progeamme were revealed on Tuesday.

    CoventryImage source, COVENTRY CITY OF CULTURE TRUST

    "People are really looking forward to getting involved," Martin Sutherland said.

    Responding to some criticism that there was not enough detail in some of the "surprise" elements, including the launch of Coventry Moves on 15 May, Mr Sutherland said it was partly due to having to remain flexible due to the changing situation around coronavirus.

    "We have to be responsible, we have to make safety paramount and we have to follow government guidelines," he said.

    "Ultimately we want to keep some of our surprises and we will make sure people have a good time on 15 May."

  2. Dad taking on 363km challenge in son's memorypublished at 14:19 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    A father is set to walk and cycle a distance of 363 km (225 miles) to raise money for charity in memory of his son, who died after 363 days.

    Baabzi Miah, from Birmingham, is raising money for Mencap after son Adam who was born with Down's syndrome and pulmonary hypertension, died in 2017 at 11-months-old after suffering complications due to flu.

    He said the organisation helped his son "in every way" during his life.

    Baabzi Miah from BirminghamImage source, Family handout

    The challenge will start on 21 March, which is World Down's Syndrome Day.

    Mr Miah said: “I’m going to start this challenge with 5km a day and then increase the daily target by 1 km so hopefully I'll be completing it within six weeks.”

    Baby AdamImage source, Family handout
  3. Furlough extension welcomed by businessespublished at 13:54 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    The furlough scheme will be extended until the end of September by the chancellor in the Budget later and businesses in the West Midlands have said they welcome the move, but are hoping for more support.

    Joshua Singh runs the Eleven nightclub in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, and has six members of staff on furlough. He said the government support has not gone far enough and he's now having to put his business up for sale.

    "We're in arrears big time," he said. "We're struggling. Furlough's helping but we've still got bills to pay every month."

    He wants more financial help for businesses over the next six-nine months to be announced.

    Rishi SunakImage source, PA Media

    In Birmingham, Gary Wills was on furlough for six months last year.

    "I think [the extension] is needed," he said. "I think there'd be mass redudancies if there wasn't the furlough scheme in place.

    "However I really want to see more money pumped into supporting people on furlough and searching for jobs."

  4. Illegal lock-in social club stripped of licencepublished at 13:19 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    A number of revellers at Walsall Wood FC and Social Club barricaded themselves in during lockdown.

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  5. Families urged to have Covid-19 tests ahead of school returnpublished at 13:08 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    Families with school-aged children are being urged to have Covid-19 tests as schools prepare to reopen to all pupils from Monday.

    Councillor Dr Michael Hardcare, from City of Wolverhampton Council, said: "Our schools have worked incredibly hard to create safe learning environments for staff and pupils, and the onus is now on us all to do everything we ensure they remain safe in the coming weeks and months.

    “Regular testing of staff, secondary school pupils and households and bubbles is a key part of this."

    Stock image of home testingImage source, Getty Images

    Secondary pupils will be asked to take three tests in school under supervision.

    Family members and members of childcare or support bubbles can either order home test kits online or collect home test kits from a test site.

  6. Shortage of critical care anaesthetists at hospitalpublished at 12:43 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    A report has highlighted problems with a shortage of out-of-hours anaesthetists at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

    Telford's Princess Royal Hospital

    Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has been in special measures since November 2018 - it said the shortage was a national issue and one it was working to address.

    The report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said vacancies at the site meant there were not always enough skilled staff to carry out the right care and treatment, however it added the risk to patients was mitigated by staff working across the trust's sites and by using general anaesthetic staff out of hours.

    Inspectors reported some anaesthetic staff did not always feel respected, supported or valued by senior staff and that some general anaesthetic consultants felt they did not have the up-to-date skills and knowledge to care for patients with more complex needs.

    Dr Arne Rose, medical director at the trust, said: "We are grateful to the CQC for acknowledging that the leadership team is aware of current challenges and that we have improved and strengthened our process while we seek to address these."

  7. Villa hope to maintain winning momentumpublished at 11:44 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    BBC Midlands Today

    Aston Villa will move to within three points of the Champions League places, if they win at the Premier League's bottom club Sheffield United tonight.

    Dean Smith

    Dean Smith's (pictured) team will have to do it without captain Jack Grealish, who has still not fully recovered from a leg injury.

    Quote Message

    There was a lot of noise outside that we were a one-man team and couldn't win without Jack. We firmly believed in the squad of players that we'd got, but we also know that we're a better team with Jack in it, because (of) the top-class player he is."

    Dean Smith, Aston Villa head coach

  8. Covid-19 recovery fund for sport welcomedpublished at 11:18 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    BBC Midlands Today

    The chief executive of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, Stuart Cain (pictured), has welcomed news the sport is to receive what's expected to be a significant chunk from the government's Covid-19 recovery fund.

    Stuart Cain

    Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to announce £300m of funding to help sport recover from lockdown in today's Budget.

    Warwickshire lost £9m as last season fell victim to the pandemic and the new money will help the club to prepare for what it hopes will be the return of spectators.

    Quote Message

    It is helping us get the stadium ready for reopening, helping make sure that we've got all the right staff in place with the right equipment, importantly we've got the right PPE equipment, that people have been trained, that we've got safe procedures in place for when crowds come back in (to) the stadium. But equally it's not just about professional sport hopefully. We want some of the money to go to help fund the recreational cricket clubs in the region as well."

    Stuart Cain, Warwickshire County Cricket Club chief executive

  9. Study into Covid vaccine responsespublished at 09:54 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    A study is to investigate the immune response to Covid-19 vaccinations in patients with certain immunosuppressed conditions, including cancer.

    University of Birmingham

    People with cancer, inflammatory arthritis, diseases of the kidney or liver or who are having a stem cell transplant may be at increased risk of the more severe complications of Covid-19 infection.

    These underlying medical conditions and the treatment such patients receive as part of their care may weaken the immune system, making vaccines particularly welcome for these groups.

    But researchers, including those at the University of Birmingham, have said current evidence suggests people with these medical conditions may not obtain optimal protection from established vaccines.

    The new Octave trial, a research project involving groups in universities and funded by the Medical Research Council, will seek to better determine the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines in these clinically at-risk patient groups.

    The study will investigate the effectiveness of such vaccines being used in the UK in 2021, in up to 5,000 people within these patient populations.

  10. Firefighters called to tractor blazepublished at 09:18 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    Fire fighters have shared these images of a call out to Hollerton in Shropshire last night.

    Tractor fireImage source, Shropshire Fire and Rescue
    Tractor fireImage source, Shropshire Fire and Rescue

    Crews were called to Wollerton - a small village in the Hodnet area - at about 19:09 GMT.

    They used one pump to extinguish the blaze and there were no reported injuries.

  11. Critical care staff shortage highlighted by CQCpublished at 08:42 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    Inspectors visited The Princess Royal Hospital after being contacted about its out-of-hours cover.

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  12. Fresh appeal after woman struck by car diespublished at 08:42 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    Police want to hear from anyone who was in the area, in Moseley, and who may have dascham footage.

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  13. Weather: A cloudy day with thundery showerspublished at 08:27 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    It's going turn a little chillier over the next few days but today we also have the risk of showers.

    We could see some heavy rain and even a rumble of thunder, and you can expect some overnight frost.

    Temperatures will reach between 7 and 12 Celsius.

    West Midlands weather forecast 3/2/21
  14. Live updates for the West Midlandspublished at 08:12 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March 2021

    Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

    We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

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

  15. 'Remarkable Man City came through hell'published at 23:45 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2021

    Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City have "come through hell to do something incredible" by extending their winning run to 21 games with victory against Wolves.

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  16. Otter spotted catching fish in city canalpublished at 22:08 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2021

    Otters are being seen in areas where they have not been sighted for 60 years, say ecologists.

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  17. Salford City 1-0 Port Valepublished at 21:29 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2021

    Salford reignite their promotion push with a first win in four as Ian Henderson earns a 1-0 victory over struggling Port Vale.

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  18. Boro snatch late win at Coventrypublished at 21:20 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2021

    Middlesbrough come from behind to beat Coventry City and reignite their play-off hopes.

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  19. Terriers and Blues play out drab drawpublished at 21:07 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2021

    Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City play out a poor draw that does little to help either side's worries at the foot of the table.

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