Summary

  • Updates from 14-20 June

  1. Dancing binmen 'honoured' to feature in Capt Sir Tom Moore bookpublished at 09:06 British Summer Time 17 September 2021

    Wolverhampton's dancing binmen are set to be celebrated in a children's book from Capt Sir Tom Moore's family about heroes of the pandemic.

    Media caption,

    Dancing round the bins in Wolverhampton

    Jack Johnson, Henry Wright and Adrian Breakwell gained a huge online following and raised money for charity after sharing videos of their dances, which included Grease and Baywatch-themed routines.

    Mr Johnson said the trio were "really honoured" when they were told they would feature in the book. "It really touched our hearts," he said.

    The illustrated, non-fiction work, One Hundred Reasons To Hope, was the idea of Capt Sir Tom's family, and tells 100 stories from the last 18 months. It has a foreword written by his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore.

    Capt Sir Tom rose to national fame during the pandemic when as his 100th birthday approached, he completed sponsored laps of his garden to raise funds for NHS charities. The effort, which captured public imagination, ended up raising nearly £33m.

    "To him they were all heroes, all of them," Ms Ingram-Moore said. "He always said 'all I did was one small step, everyone else is doing all these incredible things'."

  2. Force's new chief constable starts jobpublished at 08:52 British Summer Time 17 September 2021

    The new chief constable of West Mercia Police starts work today.

    Pippa Mills has come to the West Midlands from Essex Police.

    Pippa MillsImage source, Essex Police

    She started her career at the Metropolitan Police in London, before becoming deputy chief constable of Essex in 2017.

    Ch Const Mills is the first woman to lead the West Mercia force.

    She replaces Anthony Bangham, who retired earlier this week after 30 years of service with West Mercia.

  3. Weather: Rain on the way for the weekendpublished at 08:16 British Summer Time 17 September 2021

    Sara Blizzard
    BBC Weather

    There is a band of rain slowly making its way towards us that's due to start falling just in time for the weekend.

    In the meantime, a misty start this morning will clear and we'll see a few sunny spells into the afternoon.

    Temperatures are set to reach about 21C (70F).

    West Midlands weather 17 September
  4. Ambition for street art to spread across citypublished at 06:20 British Summer Time 17 September 2021

    The Digbeth street culture festival is back - with a dream to see artwork across Birmingham.

    Read More
  5. Anglers banned from taking salmon catch homepublished at 18:27 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Catch and release rules are being introduced by the Environment Agency to protect salmon stocks.

    Read More
  6. Victim in manslaughter probe named by policepublished at 18:19 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    John Bathers is described as a "kind and caring man" in a family tribute.

    Read More
  7. Mother wins court case over noxious landfill smellpublished at 18:02 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Rebecca Currie says her son's breathing difficulties have been made worse by landfill emissions.

    Read More
  8. Covid-19 rates remain highpublished at 17:59 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Parts of Staffordshire and Warwickshire are experiencing some of the highest rates of Covid-19 in England, according to the latest official figures.

    Tamworth has seen its rate increase from 418 cases per 100,000 people to 467 in the seven days up to 12 September.

    Only seven other areas in England have a worse rate.

    Nurse delivers a Covid-19 vaccine

    Nuneaton and Bedworth, Staffordshire Moorlands and Cannock Chase are close behind Tamworth, while Telford and Rugby also have rates in excess of 400 cases per 100,000 people.

    Elsewhere in the West Midlands, the number of cases has been fairly level over the period, with many areas seeing modest falls, including Bromsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent and Wolverhampton.

  9. Sir Elton John tour postponed to 2023 after hip injurypublished at 17:40 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    BBC Entertainment and Arts

    Sir Elton John has postponed his upcoming 2021 UK and European tour until 2023, due to a hip injury sustained when he "fell awkwardly" this summer.

    Sir EltonImage source, PA Media

    The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates will be rescheduled, the 74-year-old singer confirmed on Thursday.

    "It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I am forced to reschedule," Sir Elton said in a statement.

    The planned shows had included an appearance in Birmingham.

  10. Covid vaccines: Care homes set to lose thousands of staffpublished at 17:31 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Care home providers in the West Midlands face losing more than 5,000 staff due to the government's policy of requiring all workers to be fully vaccinated, a care firm boss has said.

    Geoff Butcher

    From October, anyone working in a Care Quality Commission-registered care home in England must have two vaccine doses unless they have a medical exemption.

    Geoff Butcher, who owns the Field House care home in Stourbridge, as well as five other homes around the West Midlands, said he had six staff out of a total of 260 who were refusing the jab.

    The six, including four highly skilled workers, "will have to leave our employment on 11 November," he said.

    "Across the West Midlands the figures are that there's about 5,600 staff who will not be vaccinated and will therefore have to leave work - and that's quite a high proportion of the workforce."

    He said it was a "good thing" to have a high proportion of staff vaccinated, "but the way it's been done - I don't agree with".

    "Staffing in the care sector is incredibly difficult at the moment, there's probably 20 to 25% vacancies, and people are leaving the sector faster than they're being rehired - putting this on top of that is a major problem."

  11. Guilty plea following death 12 years after attackpublished at 17:14 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    A second man admits manslaughter after Craig Robins was stabbed in 2006 and died in 2019.

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  12. Six charged over crash that killed young brotherspublished at 17:12 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Pawanveer Singh, aged 23 months, and 10-year-old Sanjay died at the scene of the collision.

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  13. Man Utd star to face motoring offences trialpublished at 17:01 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be asked to explain why he failed to provide details for a speeding offence.

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  14. Lorry driver who killed couple in pile-up jailedpublished at 16:20 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    A married pair were returning from a caravan break to celebrate their retirement when they were killed.

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  15. Councils stop resettling refugees amid court bidpublished at 15:50 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Seven West Midlands authorities say they have "carried the burden" of the scheme for years.

    Read More
  16. 'Life-threatening' injuries for girl in tram crashpublished at 14:54 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    The teen is hurt while travelling in a car that collided with the public transport in Wolverhampton.

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  17. Vale's Rodney given violent conduct banpublished at 14:01 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Port Vale forward Devante Rodney is banned for three matches after admitting a charge of violent conduct.

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  18. Coventry 'committed' to new stadiumpublished at 12:12 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    Coventry owner Joy Seppala says the club is "firmly committed" to a new stadium as they aim for "the Premier League and beyond".

    Read More
  19. Newly-named A road to boost airport accesspublished at 10:30 British Summer Time 16 September 2021

    The first new A road in the West Midlands in almost 17 years will be known as the A4545, it has been announced.

    The 2.4km (1.5 mile) road is intended to ease congestion on the M42 at junction 6 and make it easier for drivers travelling to Birmingham Airport and nearby venues including Resorts World and the National Exhibition Centre.

    NEC

    The dual carriageway, which was first announced in 2016, will link a new exit on the M42 with the A45 clock interchange.