Summary

  • Updates from 24 - 31 May

  1. Police called to reports of man trying house doorspublished at 13:48 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    A man has been arrested after officers were called to reports of a man trying house doors in Coventry in the early hours.

    The 33-year-old was detained on suspicion of burglary after police were called to Heather Road in the Binley Woods area.

    He was identified as a suspect matching the description of the offender, said West Midlands Police.

  2. Wasps centre De Jongh to join Stormerspublished at 13:38 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Wasps centre Juan de Jongh is to leave the club at the end of the season to rejoin South African side the Stormers.

    Read More
  3. Brothers banned from music videos glorifying crimepublished at 13:32 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Kareem and Theo White appeared in drill music clips on YouTube that encouraged violence, police say.

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  4. Covid: Confusion over indoor rules for choirspublished at 13:20 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

    More than 40,000 people have signed a petition on the Parliament website calling for the government to let amateur choirs rehearse indoors.

    A choir rehearsing outdoorsImage source, PA Media

    Earlier this year, ministers updated their guidelines, without warning, to say amateur choirs in England could only gather in groups of six people indoors and 30 outdoors.

    The author of the petition says singing with other people is an "invaluable lifeline" for mental health.

    Lee Fisher, musical director of the Droitwich Spa Songsters in Worcestershire, has signed the petition and said the government's rules are hard to understand.

    He said: "I was watching TV and on the darts, there was just a crowd of people singing inside the building and it just made me think 'how can some people do one thing that other people are not allowed to do?'"

  5. Cricket: Bears and Pears set for first fans in monthspublished at 12:24 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    BBC Midlands Today

    Crowds will return to watch both Warwickshire and Worcestershire in action in the County Championship today.

    A cricket ground

    The members will be back at New Road, Worcester, for the first time in 20 months for their home game with Derbyshire.

    Warwickshire were allowed to stage a test event last summer but their game with Nottinghamshire will be the first with spectators this season.

    The Bears' chief executive Stuart Cain says a lot of the people they expect today will be their members.

    "People who really supported us last year by donating their membership at a time when they could not come and see live cricket, so for us this is a big thank you to those loyal fans," he said.

    Follow live coverage of the matches here.

  6. Charity match to raise money for young Crewe goaliepublished at 12:04 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    BBC Radio Stoke Sport

    Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City will play each other in a pre-season friendly, to raise money for 12-year-old Crewe goalkeeper Ashton Hulme.

    He had to have his left leg amputated earlier this year, after being diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.

    Ashton HulmeImage source, Crewe Alexandra

    The match is due to take place at the Alexandra Stadium on 20 July and all money raised from the match will go to a fundraising appeal setup in Ashton's name.

  7. McDonald's wins appeal fight for drive-through restaurantpublished at 11:41 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Local Democracy Reporting Service
    Tom Davis

    Fast food giant McDonald's has won planning permission on appeal to open a new drive-through restaurant in Coventry.

    McDonald's signImage source, Reuters

    The proposals for part of Asda's car park on London Road were refused by the city council's planning committee in June.

    Campaigners opposing it argued it would cause gridlock and put pedestrians at risk.

    But a planning inspector said there was "no compelling reason" to refuse the plans and granted McDonald's its appeal.

  8. Anniversary of air ambulance's first missionpublished at 11:15 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Today is the 30th anniversary of the first mission by Midlands Air Ambulance, the charity has tweeted., external

    Air ambulance medics in actionImage source, Midlands Air Ambulance

    The organisation is marking its 30th birthday this month , externalin its work taking patients from emergencies to hospitals.

    The charity said its first mission, on 27 May 1991, saw them help a woman who suffered a fall on a mountainside in Hay-on-Wye, near Herefordshire.

  9. Date set for demolition of Rugeley cooling towerspublished at 10:48 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Landmark cooling towers at a former power station will be demolished in June.

    The cooling towers when they were in use

    The owners of Rugeley Power Station have set a date for 6 June, external for the structures to come down.

    The station closed in 2016 and the site is being cleared for new housing, businesses and a primary school.

    The owners said an exclusion zone would be put in place for the collapse and the demolition would be live-streamed.

  10. Your photos: Blue sky and sunshinepublished at 10:17 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    BBC Weather Watchers

    Today feels like a balmy May day as there is already plenty of blue sky and sunshine around, as our local BBC Weather Watchers have shown us with their snaps.

    These three are from users Serena in Great Chatwell, Staffordshire, Step Counter in Hereford and Dr R in Birmingham.

    Great ChatwellImage source, Serena
    HerefordImage source, Step Counter
    BirminghamImage source, Dr R
  11. Plans to convert old town centre pub into flats rejectedpublished at 09:47 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    Plans to turn a former town centre pub into flats for vulnerable young adults have been rejected.

    The former Theatre Bar in Eastgate Street, Stafford, would have been extended and converted to form 15 one-bedroom apartments, a rest room and staff accommodation.

    The former Theatre Bar In Eastgate StreetImage source, Google

    However, the impact of the proposed works on the 19th Century building sparked concerns for Stafford Borough Council officers.

    The rejection notice, issued this month, stated the proposed development, "by reason of the introduction of an incongruous, disproportionate, and overly over dominant addition to the host building, would result in harm to a historic building".

    Planning permission was granted last year to transform the Theatre Bar into 10 flats.

    A statement submitted as part of the application at the time said it was intended for the building to be leased to a housing association with an established track record in assisting living provision.

  12. Oxygen appeal raises more than £15,000published at 09:18 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Nine oxygen concentrators worth more than £15,000 have been sent to India after an appeal by 40 Rotary clubs in the West Midlands.

    The money was raised in two weeks and members are now raising money for another 32.

    Oxygen cannistersImage source, Getty Images

    Clubs taking part include those across Birmingham, north and south Warwickshire, north Worcestershire and Coventry.

    Heart of England Rotary District treasurer Robert Rainbow said: “We have been totally overwhelmed with the amount of support this appeal has received."

  13. Willenhall canal baby death: Fresh search for witnessespublished at 08:47 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    BBC Midlands Today

    Detectives investigating the death of a baby boy whose body was found in a canal earlier this month will be at the scene later to speak to members of the public.

    The area where the infant was found

    Officers are hoping to talk to potential witnesses after the infant was discovered in the water at Rough Wood Country Park, Willenhall, on Thursday.

    They say the child could have been there for up to four days and his mother may need urgent medical attention.

  14. Weather: A mainly sunny daypublished at 08:17 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    BBC Weather

    It will be mainly sunny today with just a few patches of cloud, although there is a slim chance of the odd shower. Highs of 19C (66F).

    This morning in Muxton, ShropshireImage source, BBC Weather Watcher BeccyWoodWeather
    Image caption,

    Thursday morning in Muxton, Shropshire

    The mostly clear skies are set to start tonight but some bands of high cloud are expected to drift in from the west. Lows of 9C (48F).

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

  15. Live updates for the West Midlandspublished at 08:00 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Welcome to the start of our live service for Thursday.

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

    You can let us know about stories in your area via email,Twitter, external and Facebook, external.

  16. County lines crackdown leads to 1,100 arrestspublished at 06:56 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Eighty drug dealing phone lines were identified and 292 weapons seized across the UK in a week.

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  17. Doorstep performance set for City of Culturepublished at 06:51 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    People are being invited to help premiere a new piece of music as part of the signature event.

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  18. Passengers refused boarding amid testing confusionpublished at 06:15 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Travellers with Ryanair and EasyJet were told they could not fly because they had taken the wrong PCR test.

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  19. Police officer faces hospital assault chargepublished at 18:35 British Summer Time 26 May 2021

    The victim was being detained at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital, the police watchdog said.

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