West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph agrees a deal to play for Worcestershire in their first seven County Championship matches.

West Midlands Police has announced a new unit to improve its response to gangs and organised crime in Birmingham.

Image source, West Midlands Police

The force said extra officers had been brought in to create two units – one covering central Birmingham and another for the east of the city – which it believes will enhance its ability to "disrupt gang activity".

Some officers will work alongside neighbourhood police teams, looking out for people linked to criminal activity, and others will specialise in "offender management" - ensuring gang members adhere to any bail conditions, exclusion zones and curfews, plus offer support for anyone wanting to leave a gang.

“The new structure allows us to really get under the skin of gangs and grip those who cause the biggest risk of serious harm," Insp Dawn Burns said.

"We are getting smarter at how we address those challenges and tailoring our response to tackling the specific threats. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach."

England goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck says the situation at Birmingham City is "unacceptable" following player complaints about conditions.

The patients at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital were allegedly exposed to "avoidable harm".

Warwickshire's South Africa Test batsman Pieter Malan is to miss Thursday's start of the season as he is on the Covid 'red list'.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
David Irwin

Solihull Council's planning committee said a restrospective planning application for a "shed" is "trying to take the Michael".

Image source, Solihull Council

The back garden building in Longmore Road, Shirley, - which councillors say is more akin to a bungalow than a shed - was branded an "abomination" and the “most luxurious shed” a councillor had ever seen.

"It is not a storage shed, we are not going to be taken for being mugs in Solihull, clearly it’s a bungalow,” Cllr Richard Holt, chair of the planning committee, said.

The structure could now face demolition after all nine members voted to refuse permission for the retention and extension of the L-shaped building at a meeting last week.

Insp Matthew Downs admits using unnecessary force on a youth in a custody block.

A Shropshire hospital trust is to work with the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) around how it deals with women and families after criticism of its maternity services.

Last year a report into the maternity care of more than 1,800 families by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) found that poor care over nearly two decades had harmed dozens of women and their babies.

The agreement to work the HSIB represented a "key milestone" for the trust as it implemented changes from the report, led by Donna Ockenden, a former senior midwife.

The trust said it will be working to "communicate openly and receive feedback from women and families".

It has also held its first monthly public meeting to "drive forward actions in maternity services arising from the first Ockenden Report".

Image source, Dudley Zoo

Dudley Zoo and Castle is set to transform an empty paddock into a new outdoor area for the zoo's orangutans.

The new £500,000 enclosure will include a high mesh and glass barrier with a semi-circular overhang at the top which the orangutans can access from their current dens.

The arboreal great apes, Benji, Jazz and Sprout will have a large timber climbing frame, hammocks, ropes and an outdoor heated shelter.

Zoo director, Derek Grove said: “Three lockdowns in the past 12 months has meant we’ve had to delay some of our major site development, but we’ve always been determined to deliver our updated plans for our orangutans.”

Castleford Tigers head coach Daryl Powell is to succeed Steve Price at Warrington Wolves at the end of the 2021 season.

Publicans say the use of vaccine passports for the hospitality industry will be a "nightmare".

The 26 clinics, providing treatment for 6,000 new parents, will open by April 2022, NHS England says.

BBC Radio Stoke

A new podcast of intimate and hilarious conversations about race, love and the grey spaces in between has launched on Tuesday on BBC Radio Stoke and BBC Sounds.

Each episode features married couple Matt Hodson, 39, born and bred in Solihull and a commercial manager for a railway company, and Bongi Msimanga, 34, born in southern Africa, now living in Shropshire and a journalist with the BBC for seven years.

The questions are demanding, sometimes brutal, and the answers always raw and often comical.

Like many interracial couples during the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, they found themselves talking about race in a different way.

They'd never really talked about racism as an institution or what it meant for their marriage. They'd fallen in love with each other's differences. But those differences were now creating fault lines through their relationship and between friends and family.

New episodes of It's Not Always Black and White will be updated weekly on all podcast platforms.

Two-week-old Ciaran Morris died after a car hit his pram in the West Midlands on Sunday.

Coventry chief executive Dave Boddy says transfer embargoes imposed on some Championship clubs are "ridiculous".

Warwick University defeated opponents from Cambridge's Magdalene College in the BBC Two quiz show.

Birmingham’s historic School of Jewellery has been revealed as the location for BBC Two’s new jewellery show All That Glitters.

Image source, Birmingham City University

Airing from 13 April, the show sees eight of the country's top jewellery makers descend on the studio to create show-stopping pieces to impress award-winning judges.

The series, hosted by comedian Katherine Ryan, was filmed last summer at the 131-year-old site in the city's Jewellery Quarter.

"I am delighted that we have had the opportunity to work with the BBC on this project,” said the school's head, Prof Stephen Bottomley.

“The school will be in a brand new spotlight and it will give us all immense pride.”

A temporary memorial to all those who have lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic will be installed in Aston, Birmingham next month.

Image source, Birmingham Hippodrome

'In Memoriam', by artist Luke Jerram, consists of 120 flags created from bed sheets arranged in the form of a medical logo.

"I hope the installation is of value to people who have been affected by the pandemic," Mr Jerram said.

“Not many people have been able to grieve properly, with loved ones unable to visit their relatives in hospitals, funerals cancelled and places of worship and community closed. So there’s a massive need for an artwork that can help us grieve for those we’ve lost.”

Image source, Birmingham Hippodrome

The installation was made in partnership with the Birmingham Hippodrome and BrumYODO and will be displayed in Aston Park from 8-16 May.

Mental health "hubs" for new, expectant or bereaved mothers are to be set up around England, including in the West Midlands.

Image source, Science Photo Library

The 26 sites, due to be opened by next April, will offer physical health checks and psychological therapy in one building.

NHS England said these centres would provide treatment for about 6,000 new parents in the first year.

The first 10 sites will open around England "within months", including Birmingham & Solihull and Shropshire Telford & Wrekin.

Five years ago, 40% of areas in England had no dedicated maternal mental health services.

Shropshire Star

The stories making headlines in the Shropshire Star today include:

• Shrewsbury Quarry visitors urged to take rubbish home after Easter weekend mess, external
• Man attacked by group of teenagers near Shrewsbury footbridge, external
• Ironbridge museums boss voices vaccine passports fears, external