She saves her vehicle from a transporter's ramp shortly after leaving a slimming club at a church.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

Here are some of the stories on the Stoke-on-Trent Live website:

• Police called to North Staffordshire park after woman 'shouts at children', external
• Widow, 81, left with fly-tipped asbestos outside home for two months, external
• City chiefs reveal more of £86m city centre revamp plans, external

The tawny owls have been cared for at a rescue centre while developing their flight feathers.

More areas than ever before have put in bids to be made the next UK City of Culture.

They include Wolverhampton, which is among 20 places to express their interest in hosting a year of cultural festivities in 2025, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.

The successful bidder will take on the baton from Coventry, which is the 2021 UK City of Culture.

Image source, Getty Images

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: "This record number of applications from all four corners of the country is testament to the huge success of City of Culture in generating investment, creating jobs and boosting local pride.

"This prestigious prize creates a fantastic opportunity for towns and cities to build back better from the pandemic and I wish all bidders the very best of luck."

The 20 bidders will be reduced to an initial longlist in the coming weeks and then cut down further to a final shortlist in early 2022, with the winner announced in May 2022.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Debts totalling more than £60,000 are being written off by Tamworth Borough Council after it was unable to recover the money owed.

Image source, Local Democracy Reporting Service

They include housing debts of £52,882.79, as well as £7,416.53 housing benefit overpayments and £1,551.51 council tax arrears.

The write-offs, which were endorsed by the council’s cabinet on Thursday, pertain to a period between 1 April and 30 June.

Deputy leader Robert Pritchard said: "Officers apply all due effort they can to get monies the authority is owed or has been due to be paid, but also apply common sense where that money is no longer able to be recovered, for example in the event of death of an individual, no estate to pursue or other issues where companies have gone bankrupt."

Leader Jeremy Oates said: "If at any time that money does become available we will still have it off them, even though we have written it off."

A cabinet report said while "reported collection rates are marginally ahead of target at the moment", it was too early to know what effect the pandemic would ultimately have on the economy and residents' ability to pay in the future.

Josh Larcombe has been given a suspended jail sentence at Plymouth Crown Court.

A yellow weather warning has been put in place for parts of the UK tomorrow.

The West Midlands is included in areas warned of thunderstorms expected between 12:00 and 22:00 on Saturday.

The Met Office said many places may be missing the worst, but heavy showers and thunderstorms could cause some transport disruption and flooding.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

A leisure centre will be closed today while a new fire detection system is installed.

Image source, Google

Rubicon Leisure Ltd, which operates Abbey Stadium for Redditch Borough Council, had to close the site last week when the alarm was found to be faulty.

It said the swimming pool should reopen on Saturday with the centre due to fully reopen on Monday., external

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

A drive-through clinic has been set up at a hospital in Worcester to speed up checks on patients with pacemakers.

Image source, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Bosses at Worcestershire Royal Hospital said, external waiting lists had built up in their cardiology department due to the pandemic.

They have set up a pod in their car park for people with pacemakers and implantable cardiac loop recorders.

Patients park in the pod, are handed wireless equipment and it downloads information which doctors can then review within minutes.

Will Foster, from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said the drive-through clinic would free up capacity in the cardiology unit.

"We do not just need to go back to our previous level, we need to do more so we are trying to aim to do 125% of what we were doing pre-pandemic," he said.

BBC Sport

Birmingham Phoenix will take on Oval Invincibles in the women's Hundred eliminator this afternoon as they bid to reach the final at Lord's on Saturday.

Image source, PA Media

The side were on the brink of elimination earlier this month but won three games in a row and leapt from sixth to third in the table after their last win.

Bowler Issy Wong said the side saw anything as a bonus and felt they had a bit of momentum.

"For us to have got there, the fight we have shown the last two weeks, we are going into [the eliminator] on a high," she said.

While in the men's Hundred, Southern Brave take on Trent Rockets tonight, vying for a place in the final against Birmingham Phoenix at Lord's tomorrow.

Express and Star

From the Express and Star today:

• Wolverhampton one of 20 places to battle for City of Culture accolade, external
• Family overwhelmed as tribute planned for RAF veteran, external
• Major retrofit scheme launched to improve water supply, external

BBC Weather

Mainly dry and cloudy today with some bright spells this morning and scattered showers moving in later this afternoon. High: 21C/70F.

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher Stormchaser Al

Things will be overcast this evening with some spots of rain around and a band of heavy rain is expected to push into the region overnight. Low: 15C/59F.

You can get the latest forecast for your area at any time from the BBC Weather website.

Welcome to our live service for Friday.

We’ll be bringing you the latest news from the West Midlands.

You can let us know about stories in your area via Twitter , externaland Facebook, external.

For the first time groups of towns or areas have been able to bid for the cultural capital title.

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow.

BBC Midlands Today

The work of NHS staff and other key workers during the pandemic is being celebrated with 51 sculptures in the centre of Birmingham.

They've each been decorated by a different artist and they're going on display in Chamberlain Square tomorrow, before being taken to Manchester, London and Edinburgh.

Charlie Langhorn, the managing director of Wild at Art said it had been pointed out to him that they look a bit like Oscars and he said that wasn't the intention, but it was fitting because both celebrate "great work".

BBC Weather Watchers

We've got some wildlife photos for you now from our local BBC Weather Watchers, taken today in the West Midlands.

These are from users Tippytoes in Frodesley, Shropshire, Skywatcher in Cathiron, Warwickshire and Buddhist in Kidderminster, Worcestershire:

Image source, Tippytoes

Image source, Skywatcher

Image source, Buddhist

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

The Port Vale midfielder Tom Pett has said the players have "got to learn and got to learn quickly" after failing to score in their opening three league matches.

But after keeping two clean sheets he said: "Look at the positives, we've got two clean sheets at home, we're going to be difficult to beat."

Image source, Getty Images

Port Vale travel to Stevenage on Saturday and Pett said the players were learning every day in training and promised they would get better with each game.

A train is being named after a Staffordshire village where several people died in a rail accident.

On 6 January 1968, a passenger train hit a transporter at a level crossing at Hixon, resulting in 11 deaths and dozens of injuries.

Cross Country Trains said it also planned to remember the tragedy by giving a copy of the train's nameplate to the village hall and by funding a stained glass window at St Peter's church there.

Dominic Allan needs a metal plate to protect a part of his brain covered by skin and no bone.