A court hears of WhatsApp threats made by the father of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

A man suffered arm injuries and cuts to his face when he was struck by a vehicle in Shrewsbury, West Mercia Police said.

It happened on Churncote at 19:30 BST on Monday.

According to the force, the victim was hit after getting out of his broken-down car, with the passing vehicle failing to stop after the crash.

Investigating officer PC Craig Byle said: “I’d like to appeal to anyone who may have been driving in the area at the time and saw the collision, or captured the broken-down vehicle on dash cam, to please contact us.”

"CSI-style" hi-vis tape is being rolled out in a bid to tackle flytipping.

Image source, Newham Council

The tape, with the message 'Rubbish Under Investigation' will be stuck to flytipping for a fixed period in a bid to "counter the expectation that fly-tips will be collected quickly and without repercussion", Birmingham City Council said.

It's part of a new partnership with Keep Britain Tidy which will also see stencilled messages painted on hot-spots to raise awareness of the cost of clearing the dumped waste to the community.

The ischeme has previously been rolled out in parts of London where the council reported a drop in flytipping of 73% in pilot areas.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Mark Cardwell

The former deputy leader of Birmingham City Council has died after a short illness.

Image source, Carl Hopley

Andy Howell was a former Labour councillor for Moseley and was deputy leader of the council between 1999 and 2003.

His wife Kate Foley said he was "Birmingham to his core" but had a range of other passions including "the great outdoors" as well as arts and charity work.

The current leader of the council, Ian Ward, said he was "shocked and saddened" to hear of Mr Howell's death, remembering him as "a good Labour man who was committed to the people of Birmingham".

Tributes also flooded in from fellow councillors and the city's MPs.

A school has paid tribute to its head teacher after she died with cancer.

Jayne Gray, who died on 6 October had been the head of St Michael's CofE Church of England High School in Rowley Regis since September 2016.

Previously she worked at Lode Heath School in Solihull and Grace Academy in Darlaston.

Image source, St Michael's CofE Church of England High School

Senior Deputy Head Teacher, Christina Handy-Rivett, said: “Mrs Gray dealt with her illness with a tenacious, optimistic and practical attitude throughout her treatment.

"In living with her diagnosis, she continued to successfully lead St Michael’s, always putting the students and school community before her own needs.

"As a leadership team, we are privileged to have worked with her and she will be greatly missed; she was an aspirational leader and mentor and we will continue to uphold everything she stood for.”

The Shrewsbury street is shut as engineers respond to a blocked sewer.

Researchers in Wellesborne are growing the vegetable under glass-free panels.

Staffordshire Police is now offering what it calls an "officer verification" check so people can ensure they are speaking to a genuine police officer going about their duty.

Measures are being introduced following nationwide concern over the murder of Sarah Everard.

Image source, PA Media

From today, officers working alone will proactively offer to carry out a verification check via the force's control room.

Members of the public can also request for the verification check to be carried out, the force said.

A statement from Staffordshire Police said: "As part of the check, officers will put their personal radio on loudspeaker to allow the officer or member of police staff working in the control room to confirm that the officer is who they say they are, that they are on duty and the reason the officer is speaking to the member of the public."

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Jennie Mattinson said: "The appalling circumstances of Sarah Everard’s murder have understandably generated concerns from members of the public about verifying the identify of police officers.

"The onus is on us, as a police force, to reassure the public of our commitment to, and ability in, keeping people in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent safe.

She added: "By offering this additional verification check through our control room, we hope to be able to provide immediate reassurance to anyone who might be concerned if they find themselves being approached by a lone police officer."

Read more: What should you do if you are stopped by police?

Repairs to the barrier led to major disruption to rail services between Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent.

Inspectors downgrade University Hospitals Birmingham Trust's overall rating amid safety concerns.

A restoration expert describes the windows at Alton Towers as some of the finest in Europe.

A micro artist's tiny versions of six famous works of art have sold for more than £90,000

Image source, David A Lindon

David A Lindon has recreated works including Munch's The Scream, Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and van Gogh's The Starry Night and Sunflowers.

His versions are small enough to fit into the eye of a needle.

The six masterpieces and a further six pieces of art can been seen at A New Beginning, an exhibition at the Lighthouse Media Centre in Wolverhampton, until 29 October.

Council officials object to the plans saying they would encourage car use and increase congestion.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The fine for fare-dodging on the West Midlands Metro could increase from £10 to £100.

The proposal is to help deter people from skipping payment, with a cut to £50 if the fine is paid within fourteen days.

“Whilst the vast majority of our customers travel with a valid ticket, from time-to-time they tell us how unfair it is that some people try to avoid paying the correct fare,” a spokesperson said.

“In response we are increasing the existing £10 penalty, which has been in place since 1999, and may no longer be a suitable deterrent.

Image source, WMCA

The announcement comes shortly after it was revealed that the region would be bidding for £2 billion worth of funding to further extend the metro system, with proposed extensions including from Wednesbury to Walsall along the old railway line; Wolverhampton city centre to New Cross Hospital; Hagley Road, Birmingham and Sandwell; and Brierley Hill to Stourbridge.

Transport for West Midlands has asked anyone with comments about the fare rise to contact it by 19 November 2021.

Earlier, we told you how Wolverhampton had missed out on a place on the long list of locations set to become City of Culture in 2025.

The city put in a bid for the title but its been announced it hasn't made it to the final shortlist of eight.

Sham Sharma, Chair of the Wolverhampton Business Forum, said the news is disappointing.

"We have great great assets in Wolverhampton, I always think we need to shout about them in the wider world," he said.

More places than ever before put in bids to become the next UK City of Culture. An initial list of 20 places was whittled down to eight potential winners by an independent advisory panel.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Mark Cardwell

A group of parents of children with special educational needs have said it "feels like Groundhog Day" as concerns are raised about a Birmingham council's new education chief.

Sue Harrison was appointed last month , externalafter leaving a similar role in Central Bedfordshire council, where parents have criticised the SEND provision.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Birmingham has faced many complaints regarding its own services, including a recent "second warning" from Ofsted about improvements, leading some parents to question the new appointment.

“I have been around the SEND system in Birmingham for a long time and it does feel like Groundhog Day," said Jo Bussey, whose son has cerebral palsy.

“It’s clearly a really complicated machine to administer. I really want to believe that they will be able to deliver.”

The local authority said it carried out "due dilligence" before appointing Ms Harrison.

"We are confident that Sue has the skillset and background that is needed to take services forward in this city," a spokesperson said.

Central Bedfordshire Council also said that Ms Harrison had developed "a comprehensive improvement plan" for educational services during her time there.

One food bank in Worcester says people are coming to them "desperate for help".

BBC Radio Stoke

A Cheshire woman, whose sister was killed by an IRA bomb, said she still does not know who did it, 47 years on.

Ann Hamilton from Alsager died after an explosion at a pub in Guildford in 1974 - one of five people who were killed.

Today her sister Cassandra will ask a Surrey coroner to name the bombers.

Eleven people - the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven - were wrongly convicted in what became one of Britain's biggest miscarriages of justice.

Image source, Family handout

"It is very important, at the end of the day they prosecuted people that they have said 15 years, 14 years later didn't do it," she said.

"It is not about getting justice for my sister, it is getting answers to questions we have as a family.

"I'm never going to get justice for my sister because nobody is going to bring her back, obviously,"

A headteacher says most of her students are keen to bevaccinated against Covid-19.

The rollout of the Pfizer jab for 12-15 year olds has begun in Worcestershire.

Lindsey Cooke, the head at Hanley Castle High School, said after speaking to students who have had coronavirus they are "absolutely up" for having the vaccination".

Image source, Google

"Everybody knows someone now who has been ill and there have been teenagers who have been really poorly with this," she said.

Declan Jones is accused following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.