Sixth form students at a school in Lichfield are being asked to get a precautionary Covid-19 test, after cases of the Indian variant were identified.

One case has been confirmed at the The Friary School, while a further two are deemed likely to have the variant.

The cases have self-isolated, and close contacts in school have also been isolating in line with government guidelines.

All Year 13 pupils have been asked by Staffordshire County Council and Public Health England to get a precautionary PCR test to check there are no additional cases of Covid-19.

Image source, Google

Dr Richard Harling, Staffordshire County Council’s director for health and care, said: "With sixth form students at The Friary finishing their studies on Wednesday, it is sensible to ensure there are no further cases of Covid-19 in this particular group, which is why we have asked all students to get a precautionary PCR test."

BBC Weather

It will be a cloudy day with some bright sunny spells and highs of 14C (57F).

Welcome to our live service for Tuesday.

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, external and Facebook., external

Three Birmingham widowers raise more than £3,500 in memory of their wives.

Bloodstains on PC Benjamin Monk's boots indicate he forcefully kicked Dalian Atkinson, a court hears.

We will be back tomorrow from 08:00 with the latest news, sport, travel, weather and more for the West Midlands.

The driver caught swerving on the M40 was one of 21,000 incidents caught during a safety operation.

A horse had to be freed from a ditch after becoming caught in barbed wire.

Image source, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

Image source, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

Image source, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

The three-year-old became stuck in mud on Plant Lane, near Sandbach on Sunday morning.

The rescued horse was "soon feeding and walking around," after the incident, the fire service tweeted. , external

The partnership that runs the surgeries says it is hiring more staff following complaints.

Three metal manufacturing plants in the West Midlands are going to be sold by the UK's third largest steel maker, Liberty Steel, as part of a restructuring plan.

Image source, Reuters

It says the move will allow it to pay back one of its main creditors in full.

The firm has started a formal sale process for Coventry's Liberty Pressing Solutions and Liberty Aluminium Technologies, which has a site in Kidderminster.

It is also trying to sell Performance Steels at West Bromwich.

The sales are part of an overall restructuring after boss Sanjeev Gupta's main financial backer Greensill Capital went bust in March.

Backer Credit Suisse lost more than £1bn and today's announcement comes after a meeting over the weekend in Dubai between Mr Gupta and representatives of the investment bank.

A woman, 24, is arrested by police on Monday on suspicion of racial abuse.

A cycle hire scheme has launched across Birmingham.

More than 300 bikes are now available for people to rent from 43 docking stations in and around the city centre.

Monday's launch follows rollouts of the scheme over the last two months in Coventry, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Image source, West Midlands Combined Authority

By the end of the year there will be 170 fixed docks and 1,500 bikes for hire across the region, of which 150 will be powered e-bikes, West Midlands Combined Authority said.

The bikes can be hired using the Beryl Cycle Hire app.

Theodore Johnson had killed two previous partners before he murdered Angela Best in 2016.

Three machetes have been found and seized by police in Coventry.

Officers were first called to reports of youths seen with knives in a car park off Maycock Road, Foleshill on Saturday, West Midlands Police said., external

On turning up, officers seized a machete and a knife and arrested two boys, both aged 14, on suspicion of having an offensive weapon.

The pair have since been released under investigation.

The force said a police dog also helped find two machetes hidden in bushes off Olivier Way, Walsgrave.

A Worcestershire road has been closed due to a collapsed wall.

The wall came down on Lansdowne Crescent Lane today.

Worcestershire County Council Highways said the road would remain closed while officers work to make it safe.

Image source, Worcestershire County Council

At least 79 cases of the India variant have been detected in the West Midlands region over a week.

The Public Health England statistics, analysed by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, cover the seven days up to 15 May.

Twenty-three cases were in the Birmingham City Council area and more than 10 in each of Dudley, Coventry and Sandwell.

Image source, Getty Images

However, by way of comparison, the data shows there were hundreds of cases in Bolton, Blackburn and Bedford over the same period - 611 in Bolton alone.

Not all Covid-19 cases are tested for variants, so the numbers could well be higher.

The latest studies have shown that both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective against the India variant after two doses.

Express and Star

The Express and Star's headlines today include:

• Nearly 20,000 fly-tipping incidents - but councils only issue 124 fines, external
• We won't give up in bid to change jury law, vows family of Stourbridge stabbing victim, external
• Plans submitted for 65ft 5G mast in Cradley Heath, external

BBC Weather Watchers

This morning's sunrise looked to have drawn plenty of our local BBC Weather Watchers out early, given it happened at 05:00.

Here are some of their photos taken at the time, from users Tippytoes in Aldridge, Walsall, Adam P in Wellesbourne Hastings, Warwickshire and Peter Steggles in Rushbury:

Image source, Tippytoes

Image source, Adam P

Image source, Peter Steggles

One man is charged following dawn raids in London, Coventry, Birmingham and Essex.

West Midlands Police is appealing for help tracing a man who attempted to ram a police motorcycle during a pursuit.

It happened in Oldbury on 5 May.

The car, which the force said was later discovered to be on cloned plates and is suspected stolen, was pursued by the officer on a motorcycle, before the suspect "attempted to reverse ram the officer".

The officer was not injured, but the car did make off from police.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the force.