An affectionate look at what goes on behind the scenes of the Limelight Club in Crewe, where for ten years tribute acts to the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Phil Lynott have been providing a post-industrial town the chance to hear some legendary live music.

In the Limelight, a converted Methodist church, the spirit of rock is alive, along with Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Phil Lynott - in reality John, Keith and Wayne. The posters on the club walls display more than a decade of tribute-band entertainment by the likes of Pink Fraud and Stairway to Zeppelin. Arena reveals the characters offering locals the opportunity to hear their favourite music performed live. (2007)

Artist's impressions have been released of plans for a gigafactory on the site of Coventry Airport.

Plans were submitted earlier this year, external for the plant which, if approved, will become the UK’s largest single industrial facility, covering the same area as 74 full-size football pitches

Gigafactories are built to create electric car batteries.

Image source, West Midlands Gigafactory

Securing the factory could create thousands of jobs and attract up to £2bn of investment to the region, the city council has said.

Andy Street, West Midlands Mayor, said: “From securing the future of our region’s automotive industry and the huge economic and job creation that would bring, to helping protect our planet from the climate change emergency, a West Midlands Gigafactory would be a complete game-changer for our region – and we are making it happen.

“By submitting our planning application earlier this year, and now answering the difficult question around power supply and renewable energy, we are doing what we can to be able to get the site operational ASAP once a commercial negotiation between supplier and customer concludes.

Image source, West Midlands Gigafactory

Youth workers in Birmingham will support pupils on their walks to school to de-escalate violence.

Fed-up residents on a street in Macclesfield express their frustration at a sinkhole in song.

Patrick Bauer and Emil Riis are on target as Preston come from a goal down to beat Coventry at Deepdale.

Birmingham City end their run of three successive defeats with a hard-earned point at in-form Huddersfield.

Crewe MP Dr Kieran Mullan writes to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urging him to select the town.

Danny O'Ryan has had a lifelong dream of playing the famous Wurlitzer organ at Blackpool Tower.

The group of friends say they have raised £40,000 over the past 18 years.

Four people suffer minor injuries in the crash in Dudley, the ambulance service says.

Head teacher Emily Proffitt says the cost of supply cover may run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Like the rest of the UK, the West Midlands has seen a rise in Covid-19 rates in almost every local authority area.

The Staffordshire Moorlands remains among England's hotspots, recording a 27% increase in the seven days up to and including 16 October, with 749 new infections per 100,000 people, up from 588.

Image source, Getty

Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Wyre Forest, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Bromsgrove, Warwick, Redditch and Newcastle-under-Lyme all saw rates in excess of 600 new cases per 100,000 people.

However, Nuneaton and Bedworth, which has been among the worst-affected parts of England in recent weeks, saw a 13% fall in its rate - one of only six local authorities in the West Midlands to record a drop week-on-week.

Despite recording 3,321 new cases in the week up to 16 October, Birmingham, the largest local authority in England, continues to have one of the lowest rates in the country.

Lloyds Banking Group is to close a further 48 branches, blaming declining visits by customers.

Two sites in Birmingham are among those to close.

Its Cotteridge branch will close in March next year, while the Birmingham Springfield branch will close mid-February next year.

Image source, PA Media

Vim Maru, retail director for Lloyds Banking Group, said: "Like many other businesses, we've seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years, and this decline is continuing.

"Our branches remain a fundamental part of how we serve our customers but we need to ensure the size of our branch network reflects the number of customers wanting to use them."

The Unite union said the closure of 41 Lloyds Bank and seven Halifax branches will deny thousands of customers access to vital services and cash, and could lead to 178 job losses.

Freak winds smash car windows, bring walls down and damage houses in Widnes.

BBC Radio Stoke

People over the age of 70 in Staffordshire are being urged to get their Covid booster jabs.

There's been a slow uptake so far from people in that age group.

Dr Paddy Hannigan, who is in charge of the vaccine rollout, fears complacency may have crept in but said there's plenty of availability.

Image source, PA Media

Facebook

Hundreds of people in Coventry have applied to take part in a scheme which promises them mobility vouchers if they give up their cars.

But it seems a lot of people reading the BBC Midlands Facebook page, external aren't ready to take to public transport yet.

Gaynor Drinkwater wrote: "Public transport, that's a joke. Not on time, overcrowded at peak times and wouldn't trust cleanliness. I have to use it."

And John Tidmarsh added: "All of these assumptions stem from London where they have an extensive underground transport system, the rest of the country are pretty much car reliant."

Image source, Getty Images

Cath Wells did at least believe it's possible and wrote: "I've never owned a car. I walk, use buses, lifts from friends, trains and taxis. I have a job and a child."

But she added: "The public transport provision though, here in Newcastle and Stoke-on-Trent, leaves a great deal to be desired.

"I'm hoping that it improves sufficiently in future for other folks not to need a car."

There are "fundamental weaknesses in the system", Birmingham City Council said.

BBC CWR

A report has been published into how Coventry's year as City of Culture is reaching people.

It's found more than two thirds of those going to events are from Coventry postcodes, while 18% were from Warwickshire.

However the figures don't look at how many of those going are the same people attending multiple events and how many are unique visits.

Image source, PA Media

A junior doctor working in an accident and emergency unit said some restrictions may reluctantly need to be reintroduced to protect people in the face of rising infection rates.

Health leaders have warned England may need to introduce a back-up strategy immediately if the country is to avoid "stumbling into a winter crisis".

West Midlands Doctor Kishan Bodalia was asked by BBC News if he would like to see more restrictions come in.

"I would not like to see restrictions," he replied.

"But in this situation of a pandemic with Covid where people's lives are being lost, then my role as a doctor is incredibly important to promote health.

"And if this requires us to take on extra precautions, such as pushing the use of face coverings or encouraging people to work from home or vaccine passports, for example, then we must do so to protect the population, but also to protect the NHS from such pressures."