Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines today include:

• Boy, 17, fighting for life after being hit by car in Moseley, external
• Huge bag of cannabis found dumped at shopping centre, external
• Driver suffered life-changing injuries as cars raced on A5, external

Two schemes in the West Midlands are set to benefit from an emergency fund to help plant more trees.

Image source, Getty Images

The Woodland Trust is going to give a number of local councils a share of £2.9m.

In Wolverhampton, £129,500 will be used to plant pockets of woodland on a range of open spaces in the city.

The Black Country Consortium has also been allocated £175,000 to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the area's tree stock.

Jessica Craine is next set to appear in court on Friday over the discovery of the 69-year-old.

BBC Radio Shropshire

Telford's Exotic Zoo has said it's used up all its grants and loans and has now launched an online appeal for money to keep it going.

It's set a target of £10,000, but the owner, Scott Adams, said it needed 10 times that to look after the animals.

Mr Adams said: "We've used up all the money that we had, we've taken out every loan that we could possibly get our hands on, so of course we're going to be coming out of it in massive debt."

The zoo, which is looking to move to a new site in Telford Town Park, hasn't had any visitors for 15 months.

A driver who killed a 90-year-old pedestrian has been jailed for 21 months.

Roger Cope, 50, of Laburnum Close, Kingsbury, Warwickshire, hit Isaac Wright after driving home from a pub in Staffordshire in December 2018.

Mr Wright was left in the road and died of multiple injuries, police said.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Cope was sentenced to 12 months for causing death by careless driving and another nine for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He was also banned from driving for 58 months upon his release.

Mr Wright, known locally as Ike, had been at the Two Gates social club in Tamworth, where he was a regular, and he was knocked down on Watling Street.

Staffordshire Police said after the collision Cope took his Citroen Picasso to his late mother's house in Kingsbury and hid it in a small garage, with the bonnet wedged under a sink unit to make it fit.

It was found after information from the public.

The boss of pub chain Marston's has said he will step down after 20 years with the company.

Image source, Marston's

The Wolverhampton-based company, which runs about 1,500 pubs, says Ralph Findlay will leave his position as chief executive in September.

The departure announcement comes weeks after a US private equity firm walked out of takeover talks for the group.

Mr Findlay's successor will be named in due course, the company says.

A cat has been shot in Telford, police say.

The attack happened on Barn Close, Donnington, on Tuesday.

West Mercia Police said, external the cat was recovering after being treated for injuries to a back leg.

The force said the weapon used could have been a BB gun.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans for Coventry City Council to loan millions of pounds to Birmingham Airport and two hotels affected by the pandemic have been backed by members of its cabinet.

The airport will be loaned £5.7m by the local authority if the plans are approved.

Loans will also be given to the council-owned Coombe Abbey Hotel and developer and operator Castlebridge Group for the construction of Hotel Indigo at Friargate

The council hasn't said how much it will loan to them and all three loans will need to be approved by full council next week.

BBC Midlands Today

Pregnant women are at greater risk of severe illness from Covid-19 than other women their age, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham

They looked at nearly 200 pregnancy cases and concluded women who were also obese were especially at risk along with those with underlying illnesses and from ethnic minorities.

Prof Shakila Thangaratinam, who co-authored the study,, external said women should be made aware of the risks.

"This will also need to be taken into account in any risk assessments that are being done as part of their jobs as well and in any discussions that are held with pregnant women when vaccines are offered to them," she said.

BBC Weather

A very windy start to Thursday with gales in some places but the winds should ease a little through the day with sunny spells mixed with scattered showers. High: 10C (50F).

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher Tippytoes

Those showers should slowly fade away this evening leaving clear spells overnight which will make it quite chilly. Low: 3C (37F).

You can get a latest forecast for your area at any time by going to the BBC Weather website.

A lorry has overturned in the high winds in the Peak District.

It happened this morning on the A53 in Blackshaw Moor, near Leek, Staffordshire, police said., external

They added the driver was safe and well but urged drivers to avoid the area until winds ease.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Elsewhere, large wooden panels were removed from a building in Willenhall, near Walsall, by fire crews as they said, external they were "flapping dangerously" in the winds.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Griff, Pa Salieu and Rina Sawayama have all been nominated for the award, which recognises new talent.

BBC Midlands Today

"Horrendous" paperwork is delaying exports from the West Midlands to Europe, a business owner has said.

New UK-EU trade rules came into operation on 1 January which have seen manufacturers facing more checks and increased costs.

Some firms have even said they were considering opening satellite offices in the EU to try to ease the flow of goods.

Steve Richards, from Strut Direct, Wednesbury, Sandwell, said its future supplying the water, gas and rail industries was at stake.

"We would pick a pallet up and be there in two days - it is three or four weeks now," he said.

"Same pallet, paperwork is horrendous. You have 10-15 lines on an invoice now you have to fill in just to get something over the water."

Hundreds of homes lost power overnight as strong winds swept across the West Midlands.

The Met Office has a yellow weather warning in place until 15:00 on Thursday and warns of further disruption.

Energy firm Western Power Distribution tweeted, external about several areas losing power last night although most have had it restored by 07:00.

They included Ludlow and Market Drayton in Shropshire, Stone and Stafford in Staffordshire and Evesham, Worcestershire.

Several trees have also been brought down overnight due to the high winds in the region, according to West Mercia Police., external

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

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

Sophie Tristram has cystic fibrosis and was told pregnancy in her case could prove life-threatening.

Filter mishap turns member of the clergy into a Blue Brother during Sunday service.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow.

BBC Weather

There's a Met Office warning of high winds overnight, along with rain showers.

With temperatures due to drop to around freezing tomorrow, we could have some hail showers to come.

The Met Office warned the winds could mean problems for travel and might cause power cuts.

Image source, Snapper Simon

A former TJ Hughes store in Walsall will be reopened as a vaccination centre on Monday.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust said the site, in the Saddlers Centre, would be open for pre-booked appointments only.

Image source, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

Walsall Council is offering free parking for up to an hour at the Saddlers Centre Car Park for people getting a vaccination.