Two of the groups which control Herefordshire Council have strengthened their alliance by combining to form a new political group.

Herefordshire Independents and It's Our County will now be known as Independents for Herefordshire.

The two parties formed a coalition with the Green Party after the elections in 2019 to run the authority.

Image source, Google

Councillor John Harrington will chair the new group and described it as "practical and progressive".

He said they will work together to fight the next council elections in two years time.

David Pittam
BBC News Online

One of Britain's "most wanted fugitives" who was on the run for nearly eight years has been given more jail time.

Mark Liscott, 60, was part of a gang of drug traffickers who smuggled £25m worth of cannabis into the Midlands.

He was jailed in 2005 but fled after being released on licence in 2012.

Nottinghamshire Police said Liscott was one of Britain's most wanted fugitives when he was arrested in Amsterdam last June.

Image source, Nottinghamshire Police

Police said Liscott tried to escape capture by jumping across neighbouring balconies while carrying about 18,000 euros (£15,438) in cash.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on 19 May, Liscott, of no fixed abode, was jailed for a further six years for conspiracy to supply class B drugs and being concerned in the making of an offer to supply class B drugs.

Liscott is originally from Birmingham but has links with organised crime groups in Nottingham and London, police said.

A fire garden experience is set to take place as part of Coventry's year as City of Culture.

Image source, Coventry City Council

The family-friendly event will be held in Caludon Castle park on 25 and 26 June.

The Mid-Summer Fire Garden event is free, but places will need to be booked via coventry2021.co.uk, external.

During the bank holiday weekend dozens of musicians have been commissioned to perform at 20 pubs across the city from 28 May to 31 May.

Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were both killed by Usman Khan in London in November 2019.

Hereford Times

From the Hereford Times:

• Dozens of weapons and Class A drugs seized in county lines crackdown, external
• Huge 125-acre solar farm could be built in Herefordshire, external
• Drink-driver was caught near Hereford school, external

Stoke City centre-back Kevin Wimmer joins Rapid Vienna in his native Austria on a permanent deal.

The new housing department in Wolverhampton should be ready by the summer, the government says.

North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will face each other in the quarter-finals of the Women's FA Cup.

A man has been shot and two others stabbed in Birmingham.

Image source, @1BordesleyGreen

Paramedics were called to Hob Moor Road, Bordesley Green, at 10:02 on Friday, the ambulance service said.

One of the stabbed men had suffered serious injuries while the other two's injuries were not thought to be serious.

All three have been taken to hospital.

A shopper spotted the bright pair, thought to be as rare as one in 30 million, at Makro in Leicester.

New poems have been composed for train passengers using a railway line in the West Midlands.

Image source, Getty Images

Eighteen pieces have been produced for each station on the Shakespeare Line, which runs from Birmingham Moor Street to Stratford-upon-Avon, West Midlands Railway (WMR) said., external

The project has been organised by Black Country performance poetry group Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists and can be downloaded via an app from Friday.

Steve Pottinger, from the group, said he hoped "whatever your taste there will be something for you".

The community scheme has been funded by the Department for Transport and WMR said it planned dozens more over the next few months.

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

Today is the last working day that commuters can drive into the centre of Birmingham before the city's Clean Air Zone comes into force.

From 1 June, drivers of high-polluting cars will have to pay £8 to travel into the centre, while the cost will be £50 for coaches and lorries.

The network of vehicle monitoring cameras will begin operating more than two years after it was approved by government, due to delays in technology and the impact of the pandemic.

A driver has been spotted driving a Lamborghini sports car without a number plate in Coventry just days after another similar case.

Image source, West Midlands Police

The blue convertible was seen by officers in the city centre who said they found the driver had no insurance.

The car has been seized and the driver reported.

On 20 May, officers stopped a red Lamborghini, external on the ring road which also had no number plate and the force said the driver turned out not to have passed their driving test.

The time taken by West Mercia Police call-handlers is being looked at by the force's Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion.

The government target is for 80% of 101 calls to be picked up within 30 seconds, but in the West Mercia area the figure is 57%.

Image source, PA Media

Police say they raided the building thinking they were going to find a cannabis farm.

BBC Sport

Warwickshire and Worcestershire will both look to improve their first innings totals when they go out to bat on day two of their County Championship matches this morning.

And two players will be looking back and thinking how they just missed out on centuries.

Warwickshire ended day one on 250-6 against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston, with captain Will Rhodes (pictured below) scoring 91.

Image source, Getty Images

Worcestershire will resume on 336-7, with Jack Haynes falling three short of 100.

They are playing Derbyshire at New Road and both matches are being played in front of a small crowd.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The Indian variant of Covid-19 is fast becoming the most prevalent in Birmingham, with health bosses warning that it is up to 1.6 times as transmissible as other strains.

The city has seen a 45% spike in cases over the past week, driven by the variant, Daragh Fahey told the council’s Local Covid Outbreak Engagement Board on Thursday.

"The actual rate of change in terms of the increased numbers of the Indian variant is increasing quite significantly in Birmingham," he said.

Image source, Reuters

"And a particular reason why that’s a concern is, from talking to people in the North West where they have very high numbers of the Indian variant, what they found was it was a gradual increase initially, and then it rose exponentially.

"So clearly that’s something we want to avoid in Birmingham, and effectively our response is a combination of adhering to the national directives as well as our own local response."

He said the city has been placed on a government "watchlist" and although it isn't about to face tier two restrictions like Bolton which has a high case rate of the variant, the government is observing what happens in Birmingham.

Dr Justin Varney, the director of public health with Birmingham City Council, told BBC News that the rise in cases was worrying and urged people to be "really sensible" as restrictions continue to ease.

"We're certainly at a point where you look at the numbers and you go 'hmmm, little bit worried'," he said.

"We should all just be really sensible coming into the Bank Holiday weekend and be using those lateral flow tests to help make things that little bit safer by testing regularly every week."

BBC Midlands Today

More than 5.3m vaccine doses have been delivered in the West Midlands, with 10m people now vaccinated across the wider Midlands area, figures show.

It's a major milestone and comes as anyone over 30 can now book an appointment for their jab.

Over the next few days, one million people across the country aged 30 and 31 will be invited via text message.

Birmingham's director of public health said reaching a younger age group was important to protect them against variants of the virus.

"What we are seeing from across the world where we have these new variants, is that it's a younger audience ending up in hospital - the people who are vaccinated are protected and the younger age groups are starting to end up in A&E.

"The faster we can vaccinate everyone the more protected we are against these new variants," he said.

He said the success story of reaching millions of people in the region was down to giving people access to get vaccinated.

"It's the entire system working together to put forward the vaccine in a way that gets to people and gives them the chance to protect themselves from a third wave," he added.

BBC Weather

A mainly dry, dull day with overcast skies. Light winds and a high of 19C/66F.

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher Shaun

Staying mostly dry tonight with lingering cloud and light winds again. Low: 11C/52F.

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

Welcome to the start of our live service for Friday.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates for the West Midlands.

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