West Midlands Mayor Andy Street is hoping to attract 1,000 volunteers from the region ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games to spruce up the area.

Image source, West Midlands Combined Authority

The campaign is backed by Keep Britain Tidy and kicked off with a litter pick in Perry Barr.

“In under a year’s time the eyes of the world will be on the West Midlands as we host the Commonwealth Games," Mr Street said.

"We know just how fantastic our home is, so we want to make sure it’s looking its best when visitors arrive and images are broadcast around the world."

BBC Radio Shropshire

Businesses in Shropshire know they need to become more environmentally friendly, but don't know how, the chief executive of the county's Chamber of Commerce has said.

It has been carrying out research and Richard Sheehan said there was also evidence that potential employees are put off joining firms without environmental policies.

Mr Sheehan said: "There is an awareness that something needs to happen, but there is not necessarily the awareness of what direction of travel they can take."

And he said firms want to know "where they can find the support and guidance they actually need".

A 13-year-old boy remains in hospital for treatment while his dad is discharged, police say.

Oliver Townend on his relationship with his horse Ballaghmor Class and his hopes Team GB's eventing gold will inspire young riders.

Megan Newborough, 23, was found dead on a rural lane after being reported missing, police say.

The artistic director of Birmingham Hippodrome has announced her resignation after six years in the role.

Fiona Allan will leave the company in the autumn before moving to work with Opera Australia.

Image source, Birmingham Hippodrome

During the pandemic, Ms Allan has been a vocal advocate for more support for the arts as the theatre was left empty and unable to put on shows.

“Despite these challenges we have still reached more than 850,000 people," she said. "I have no doubt that Birmingham Hippodrome will emerge from this period stronger, more energised and resilient than ever.”

Britain's Adam Peaty backs a return of TV show Superstars to see who is the best of the best among Olympic champions from Tokyo.

West Midlands Police is appealing for help in tracing three suspects after a distraction burglary in West Bromwich.

Police said a woman pretending to be from a window cleaning business visited a woman in her 70s at an address off Hydes Road on 2 August.

Meanwhile, two men went around the back of the house and were able to take a bag containing valuables such as bank books and jewellery.

The force asked anyone who recognised the suspects or had any information to get in touch.

A gold medallist said he risked being "the fattest Olympic athlete" after a particularly warm reception from locals when he returned to Ellesmere.

Oliver Townend picked up gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with Laura Collett and Tom McEwen in the team event.

"We all had a superstar horse," he told BBC Shropshire from his training ground in Dudleston Heath. "It all fell into place as well as you could ever dream of."

His gold medal "really hasn't sunk in" Mr Townend said, adding that training "has not stopped since we got back".

He did find some time to celebrate however, sharing a picture on social media of what awaited him at home.

"There's no big win lost on this team - we know how to celebrate that's for sure," Mr Townend said.

"Everywhere I went I either got given a piece of cake or a drink so I thought, 'God, I'm going to have to be careful with this - I'm going to be the fattest Olympic athlete if I'm not careful'."

Amarpal Atkar died after he was attacked outside Birmingham New Street station last month.

Nottingham Forest defender Gaetan Bong is banned for three matches for violent conduct.

A police dog unit has apologised after one of its dogs was caught on camera eating food a man had left out for local wildlife.

Image source, West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police were alerted to the offence after the Shirley resident shared footage with Solihull Updates, external.

After an "extensive and rapid" investigation, the force identified PD Albion as the culprit.

"As you can see, PD Albion is extremely sorry," the dog unit said, before sharing footage of an interview with the snack thief in which he warned others not to follow his lead.

Twenty-five suspected dealers are arrested in dawn raids across Cheshire, Salford and Merseyside.

Laura and Jane exchanged their vows on the same route they met on their first date.

Royal Stoke University Hospital says it is seeing more younger, unvaccinated patients.

The Care Quality Commission says it found people were at risk of harm at Eldertree Lodge.

A driver has been reported for having no insurance and for driving with only a provisional licence after a car ended up on its side in Warwickshire.

Warwickshire Police said officers were called to Ansty at around 20:30 on Tuesday to the crash, which is not believed to involve any other vehicle.

Posting on Twitter, the force said no one was hurt in the incident.

Image source, Warwickshire Police

Workers have completed repairs to a section of the M6 that was damaged by a lorry fire yesterday morning.

The southbound section between junction 6 and junction 5 near Birmingham was shut for a while after the vehicle, which was carrying office equipment and "hazardous" chemicals, caught fire.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Highways England closed one lane overnight and said the work to repair it was completed by 05:30.

BBC Weather

The forecast for today is light cloud and temperatures up to 21C (70F).

And the weather is expected to remain pretty much the same until the weekend.

To get a full forecast for where you live, go to the BBC Weather page.

Image source, Cloudgazer

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

Please get in touch to share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email,Twitter, external and Facebook, external.