Summary

  • Updates from Monday 19 April to Sunday 25 April

  1. Charity opens drive-through donation stationpublished at 07:19 British Summer Time 24 April 2021

    Myton Hospice in Warwickshire expects the site to ease pressure on its charity shops.

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  2. 'Politics is alien in these communities'published at 07:08 British Summer Time 24 April 2021

    Local residents put their questions to the candidates in the running for West Midlands mayor.

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  3. Leach builds big Pears total against Nottspublished at 19:54 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Worcestershire captain Joe Leach hits 84 to help the Pears' tailenders reach 436 before Nottinghamshire rally to 99-0 by the close.

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  4. Murder arrest over fatal stabbingpublished at 19:46 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    An 18-year-old man is held on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.

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  5. More surge testing following further variant casepublished at 19:07 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Households in the Highgate and Bordesley ward, including Digbeth, are to be targeted, a council says.

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  6. Siddle strikes before Bears tail wagspublished at 18:37 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Peter Siddle takes three wickets on his Essex return but a dogged effort from Warwickshire's tail leaves matters evenly poised.

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  7. Mum of abandoned baby 'primary concern' for policepublished at 18:23 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    The baby boy was discovered clothed and wrapped in a blanket by a dog walker in a Birmingham park.

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  8. End of live updates for Fridaypublished at 18:00 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Allen Cook
    BBC News

    We will be back on Monday from 08:00 with the latest for the West Midlands.

  9. Plan for 1,300 homes, shops and restaurants approvedpublished at 17:53 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Local Democracy Reporting Service
    Tom Davis

    A plan for hundreds of homes, hotel rooms, a cinema and restaurants in part of Coventry city centre has been approved.

    Developer Shearer Property Group aims to build up to 1,300 homes along with shops and restaurants as part of its City Centre South scheme.

    Artist's impression of the schemeImage source, Shearer Property Group

    Plans initially received approval in 2012 when an "anchor department store" was at its heart but the pandemic's impact on the retail sector forced a rethink.

    The new plans received outline approval on Thursday despite criticism from the Coventry Society at the lack of affordable housing and questions over the financial viability.

    Regeneration councillor Jim O'Boyle insisted the viability was not an issue given it was carried out during a pandemic and promised there will be affordable housing further down the line.

  10. Post Office: Conviction 'contributed' to worker's deathpublished at 17:41 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    The widow of a Post Office branch manager who was wrongly convicted of stealing money said she believes the case contributed to his death.

    Karen WilsonImage source, PA Media

    Julian Wilson owned and ran the Astwood Bank village post office branch near Redditch, Worcestershire and was convicted after a prosecution in 2008.

    He died in 2016 from cancer before his name could be cleared along with others on Friday by the Court of Appeal.

    His widow, Karen Wilson, said: "His health deteriorated after he was suspended in 2008. I think the stress contributed. He may have still got cancer but I think it contributed.

    "For 13 years I have lived and breathed it. We almost lost everything."

    Mr Wilson's daughter, Emma Jones, added: "This is a bittersweet day for us. Very unjust, very unfair."

  11. Mutation of UK-Covid variant found in schoolspublished at 17:28 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    The cluster of cases were found in schools in Telford and Wrekin, a council says.

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  12. Complaints rise over Silverdale landfill smellspublished at 17:12 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    BBC Radio Stoke

    The number of complaints about smells coming from a landfill site have nearly doubled in a week.

    People living near to Walleys Quarry in Silverdale, Staffordshire, have complained about the odours from the site for years but complaints spiked earlier this year.

    The landfill site

    Sian Rooney lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme and said the stink makes her feel trapped in her own home.

    "It starts to seep in in the evening or overnight and you start to get a feeling of panic because you know you cannot get it out of the house because you cannot open your windows because it is outside," she said.

    The Environment Agency (EA) has responded by installing air quality monitoring units and said it had 2,212 reports of odour from 12-19 April, external compared to 1,168 for the previous seven days. , external

    Owners Red Industries said it was aware of the complaints and is on track to finish covering over part of the site by the end of next week.

  13. Man admits stab murder of new mumpublished at 17:06 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Kimberley Deakin, 29, was stabbed at her Stoke-on-Trent home in November, police say.

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  14. Post Office worker 'really grateful' as conviction quashedpublished at 16:53 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    BBC Midlands Today

    A former sub-postmistress said she had had to wait 11 years to see her conviction quashed along with 38 others.

    Rubbina Shaheen

    They were convicted of stealing money, with some imprisoned, after the Post Office installed the Horizon computer system in branches.

    Rubbina Shaheen, from Shrewsbury, was jailed for a year in 2010 and, as a result, was forced to sell her home and live in a van.

    The stress has led to her living with a number of physical and mental health conditions.

    On Friday, the convictions were overturned at the Royal Courts of Justice.

    Mrs Shaheen said: "I have started to believe it, that it has really, really happened. I waited 11 years for this and I am really, really grateful for everyone."

  15. Eight men deny conspiring to commit murderpublished at 16:39 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Father-of-four Mohammed Haroon Zeb was shot in Dudley in January and died in hospital.

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  16. Pedestrian hurt in crashpublished at 16:32 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    A man has been hit by a car and seriously hurt in Walsall.

    The pedestrian was injured on Darlaston Road on Friday afternoon, the ambulance service said. , external

    He has been taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

  17. Gavin Parry death: Police warning as they hunt gunspublished at 16:18 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    More arrests are expected after a man was shot dead at an industrial site, police said.

    Police tape at the sceneImage source, PA Media

    Ten have already been made in connection with the killing on Western Road, Birmingham, West Midlands Police said, external, with all released on bail.

    Gavin Parry, 31, was found dead on 13 April.

    A 22-year-old man was also hurt and after he was released from hospital, he was arrested.

    The force said it believed a social event took place before the death and the gun used was an automatic, able to fire several shots in quick succession.

    They added there could have been more guns fired at the time and warned anyone hiding the weapons could face a prison sentence.

  18. Walleys Quarry residents at 'breaking point'published at 16:05 British Summer Time 23 April 2021

    Thousands of residents living near a landfill site in Staffordshire have complained about the smell coming from the site.

    Walleys Quarry in Silverdale, Staffordshire, has been the focus of community anger over many years.

    Questions have also been asked in Parliament, with one local MP comparing the smell to "rotten eggs".

    Some of the local residents have been sharing what it is like to live alongside the landfill site.

    The Environment Agency has said it is about to add a fourth air quality monitoring station near the site and had recently shared data from other sites with Public Health England.

    It added enforcement action required Red Industries, the owners of the site, to make improvements to its operating procedures.

    The firm said an "accelerated programme of capping and other engineering works" was "on plan for completion, as agreed with the regulator, by 30 April 2021".