Keep Britain Tidy says there has been a rise in the number of people asking for litter picking kit.

Jess Phillips reads a list of all women killed in UK over the past year, in Women's Day debate.

Women around the UK have reacted to the disappearance of Sarah Everard by sharing their stories.

An MP says the University of Manchester's guidance on inclusive language is "wokery gone mad".

Under-fire Education Secretary Gavin Williamson tells heads how he has dealt with personal pressure.

Ellie Wright contracted coronavirus when she was 30 weeks pregnant but could not have treatment.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

A "significant number" of foster carers are needed in Coventry, social care bosses say, after a fall in numbers during the coronavirus pandemic.

There are currently 556 children in foster care in the city with 125 placed with family or friend foster carers, 157 in care provided by private agencies, and 274 within local authority foster care.

But since the pandemic, the number of foster carers available for placements in Coventry has dropped.

Nationally a charity is warning that there is a"looming crisis" in the sector.

Tyrell Harris is due to be sentenced next month over his attack on Karl Gallagher in Smethwick.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Cars could be banned from the roads outside two Coventry schools at drop-off and pick-up times.

The city council is considering running it as a pilot scheme and hasn't yet decided which schools would be involved.

Image source, Google

The local authority hopes the scheme will make the roads safer for children and encourage more of them to walk to school.

A similar car ban was introduced outside six Birmingham schools , externalin 2019.

Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines today include:

• Tyrelle Harris guilty of murdering Karl Gallagher outside shopping centre, external
• Tributes paid to Asian Elvis Presley impersonator who has died suddenly, external
• Cadbury could be bringing back one of its most iconic chocolate bars, external

BBC Midlands Today

Aston Villa head to Newcastle this evening with head coach Dean Smith saying their recent results do not reflect the side's performances in games.

Image source, PA Media

Villa are ninth in the Premier League but have only one one of their last five games.

Skipper Jack Grealish will miss a fifth successive game through injury but Matty Cash is fit after a hamstring injury, while Anwar El Ghazi has recovered from an infected toe.

"Since new year we have been very up and down in terms of results," Smith said.

"Performances, there have only been a handful where I have been disappointed this season but results have certainly been up and down for most teams."

Hundreds have complained about the "rotten egg" odour coming from the site at Silverdale.

BBC Midlands Today

An artist has filled a vending machine with free arts and crafts materials in a bid to help her local community during lockdown.

The equipment for Clara Stomeyer's project has come from donations from people in and around Quinton, Birmingham.

She said the idea was to bring a little cheer - anyone is invited to come along and choose a gift.

"I had a spare vending machine from my other business in the garage and we saw a real need in the community to bring some positivity and some happiness and through craft I always think that is the best medium."

A vaccination centre is going to be opened at Edgbaston Stadium on Monday.

It's previously hosted a drive-through testing centre and a food bank

The jabs will be administered inside the exhibition hall and will be for pre-booked appointments only.

Image source, Getty Images

Stuart Cain, Chief Executive of Edgbaston Stadium, said he was proud of the community response to the pandemic and added he and his staff were committed to "playing our part" in the fight against Covid-19.

He urged anyone offered a vaccine to accept it.

"Given the success of the vaccination programme to date, we’re very excited at the prospect of welcoming back crowds to Edgbaston in the coming weeks," Mr Cain added.

Some plants are to be removed from a Birmingham park in a bid to stop the spread of a harmful pest.

A Statutory Plant Health Notice has been issued by the Forestry Commission for the Lickey Hills Country Park after the discovery of phytophthora ramorum - a pathogen harmful to trees and woodland.

It means Larch and rhododendron will be removed from a 12-hectare (29.6 acre) area of the park in the Beacon Hill area.

Image source, Getty Images

Phytophthora ramorum is transmitted through airborne spores, but felling or killing infected plants has been found to be effective in reducing the spread.

Councillor John O’Shea, responsible for parks, said: “It is clearly unfortunate that we have to carry out work on such a significant scale, but this is essential, and we will ensure that all activity is done in the most environmentally conscious way possible.”

BBC Weather Watchers

Here are some of the great photos our local BBC Weather Watchers have been sending in from across the West Midlands.

These are from users SA Guest in Coventry, Nutty in Pattingham, Staffordshire and Joanna Hughes in Ellesmere, Shropshire:

Image source, SA Guest

Image source, Nutty

Image source, Joanna Hughes

BBC Hereford and Worcester

A plaque has been unveiled on a Worcester bridge in memory of student Thomas Jones.

The 18-year-old's body was recovered from the River Severn in Worcester in September 2018.

An inquest heard the primary teaching student was "more than likely" responding to a cry for help before he apparently slipped and fell down an embankment.

The plaque has been placed on the Sabrina Bridge in the city.

His parents, Ian and Vicki, said "This is such a fitting tribute and we honestly can’t put into words what this means to us as a family."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Shropshire's fire brigade is disproportionately white, male and heterosexual compared to the general population, a report says.

Equality monitoring statistics gathered by Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service show the number of non-white employees has stayed the same since last year.

The document, jointly authored by Chief Fire Officer Rod Hammerton and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer Natalie Parkinson and due to be discussed by fire authority members next week, also says women are "disproportionately under-represented in the operational workforce".

Mr Hammerton and Ms Parkinson note that the 2011 census found ethnic minorities made up 7% of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin population, but make up 1.9% of the brigade workforce.

The report authors said generally accepted estimates put the percentage of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the general population at about 7% to 10% and current workforce monitoring responses showed a figure of 0.7%, a decrease from 0.8% last year.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A Walsall animal sanctuary said it had rescued nearly 100 unwanted guinea pigs and rabbits since the first lockdown.

Hannah Carpenter, who runs the Hannah’s Guinea Pig Sanctuary, said she feared another surge when this lockdown ends and people are no longer at home to look after their pets.

Image source, Hannah Carpenter

Ms Carpenter said: "People probably thought, ‘we’ll get our kids a pet and it will give them something to focus on’.

“But then after having them for a couple of weeks, the children get bored of them – but that’s not fair on the animals."

New research suggests 3.2 million households in the UK have acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic, many of them thought to be in response to social isolation.

however, there have been concerns about animal welfare.

Almost 88,000 people have now been vaccinated against the coronavirus in Wolverhampton.

The city council said a total of 87,657 vaccinations had been delivered so far, with 83,370 people having received the first of their two doses and 4,287 patients having had both.

It means over 10,000 jabs were given in the last week.

Image source, Getty Images

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, said: “Thousands more people have received a life-saving Covid-19 vaccination in the last week and the pace is only set to increase further in the weeks ahead as more individuals become eligible for their first jab and others go back for their second dose."