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Worcester News

The Worcester News has these stories today:

• Woman who has been British citizen for 42 years told 'apply to stay in UK', external
• Worcester mum says she is 'disgusted' by overflowing bin sheds, external
• Support for plan to open micropub in former Worcester store, external

A lifelike silicone therapy doll has been stolen from a car in Cannock, leaving its 10-year-old owner "distraught", Staffordshire Police has said.

It's worth around £2,500 and was bought to help the girl with an attachment disorder.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The doll was taken from the boot of a car parked at the Asda on Avon Road on 11 May and reported to the police last weekend.

A Go Fund Me page set up to buy a new doll has so far raised £1,200.

Transport innovations developed in Coventry and Warwickshire will be showcased during its year as City of Culture.

The Our Future Moves launches with an exhibition at Coventry Transport Museum from 17 July.

It will highlight the region's pioneering work in transport innovation – from autonomous vehicles to one-person submarines.

Image source, Coventry City of Culture

Objects on display will include a Skyfarer delivery drone, Aurrigo autonomous shuttle, Coventry Very Light Rail (VLR) model, Jaguar I-PACE, Microcabs hydrogen car, and a University of Warwick nano satellite which monitors wildlife populations.

Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Coventry City Council’s Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration, said: “I hope people will learn a lot, get a glimpse of the future and feel inspired.”

The Taser use and the kicks changed the ex-footballer's "trajectory to one of dying", a doctor says.

More than £700,000 of Lottery funding is to be used to help provide training for young people around the West Midlands during the Commonwealth Games.

The West Midlands Combined Authority said the games were expected to create up to 35,000 jobs and about 13,000 volunteering opportunities for local people.

Lottery Community Fund cash will be used to help young people to learn new skills and secure jobs for more than 800 people, it said.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

"This funding is vital for people who are out of work or worried about their future to gain access to work and volunteering opportunities from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games," Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said.

“Making sure that the jobs created by the Games go to local people is a key part of my jobs plan to help more than 100,000 residents into employment over the next two years, and is also critical to ensuring the Commonwealth Games is a Games for everyone.”

Stephen Green, from West Mercia Police, is charged over allegations between November and January.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Planning chiefs have backed a £65m housing redevelopment of a canalside area in Wolverhampton.

Image source, JM Architects

A total of 366 homes will be built on the Union Mill and Lower Horseley Fields site along with office space and a retail unit for a shop or café following the decision to approve by City of Wolverhampton Council’s planning committee.

The scheme, submitted by Union Mill Street Wolverhampton SPV Ltd, will involve the demolition of vacant properties as well as the conversion of historic buildings.

The development will feature the erection of 10 new buildings and there will be 359 apartments and seven houses.

The buildings to be retained and converted are the former Cheese and Butter Warehouse and two other properties known as the slip docks. The Grade II Listed 16A Union Mill Street will also be kept.

The victim, 51-year-old Lee Gadd, has been described as a "dedicated family man".

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

A ban on street drinking in Worcester could be extended for another three years.

A Public Space and Protection Order currently bans people from drinking alcohol throughout the city centre and in several other areas.

Anyone found breaking the rules faces a fixed penalty fine of £70 or prosecution with a maximum fine of £1,000.

Image source, Getty Images

An extension to the order is being considered at a city council meeting this evening.

Birmingham’s new Lord Mayor, Councillor Muhammad Afzal, has taken up office after a mayor-making ceremony at the Council House.

Mr Afzal had been due to serve as Lord Mayor last year, but it was not possible to conduct the traditional ceremony due to lockdown.

He moved to Birmingham in 1969 and was first elected as a councillor for Aston in May 1982, which he served for 23 years until March 2005, before being re-elected in May 2007.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Mr Afzal was also a founding member of Birmingham Central Mosque and was involved during its construction as treasurer, holding several different roles there until 2019.

Shropshire Star

Here are some of the stories from the Shropshire Star:

• Revealed: 50,000 tonnes of household waste involved in huge Telford blaze, external
• Shrewsbury school could be demolished and rebuilt on playing fields, external
• Man trapped between car and wall released by firefighters in Telford, external

A dealer has been jailed for four years and two months after police found drugs and equipment when they stopped his car.

Paul Hough, of Queen Street, Rugeley, was arrested when his car was stopped in the town's Aldi car park on 13 October.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Staffordshire Police said a bag in the 41-year-old's car was found to contain cocaine, cannabis scales and other drugs paraphernalia, with a street value of up to £5,000.

Another £2,000 in cash was also seized.

A driver has avoided being seriously hurt on the M6 after his windscreen was hit by a scaffolding pole.

Image source, Central Motorway Police Group

The Central Motorway Police Group said, external on Wednesday he was able to pull into Hilton Park services, near junction 10A, after his motorhome was struck.

Officers indicated it may have come off another vehicle's unsecured load as they urged drivers to make sure their cargoes were safely secured.

England's Test match with New Zealand in June in Birmingham has been selected among the next pilot events to test the return of big crowds to sports venues.

Image source, PA Media

The game, beginning on 10 June at Edgbaston, will welcome about 18,000 fans each day under the government's plan.

The ground in Birmingham has a capacity of 25,000.

Ticket holders will have to show a negative result from a lateral flow test taken in the previous 24 hours to gain entry.

Firefighters are finally leaving a plastic waste fire in Telford which has been smouldering for four weeks.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire at the former Greenway Polymers site in Ketley is now out and the recovery phase will now begin.

Image source, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service

When it started in April, smoke from the fire closed part of the M54 as well local schools and nurseries.

Work to demolish the building has already started.

A fire investigation has started to identify the cause and the Environment Agency has been monitoring air quality in the area.

Express and Star

A few of the headlines from the Express and Star today:

• Human remains found at Black Country landfill site, external
• Oscar the 'fare-dodger' dog back with his family after boarding bus through Black Country, external
• £6.5m worth of cannabis found growing in Walsall, external

Randy Conteh, 62, is accused of offences from 1995-97, Staffordshire Police said.

BBC Radio Shropshire

Members of an amateur choir in Shropshire say they are frustrated at government rules over how many people can sing indoors.

Across England, choirs were assuming restrictions on rehearsals would be relaxed on 17 May, at the same time as shops, bars and hairdressers opened up.

Instead, the government updated their guidelines, without warning, to say amateur choirs in England could only gather in groups of six people indoors and 30 outdoors.

Alex Cunningham sings with Hadley Orpheus Male Voice Choir, based in Telford, and says the rules are unfair.

"It is quite annoying that government regulations are letting people back into football matches to shout and scream their heads off but they will not allow us to go into one room and sing, even with masks on," he said.

Arsenal sign Japan forward Mana Iwabuchi after her exit from Women's Super League rivals Aston Villa.