About 2,000 people are expected to attend the two-day Festival for Pagans and Witches.

The organisers of the service in Bridgnorth say they hope it will bring people closure.

Leanne Stokes has not been able to introduce her twin sons to family in Australia.

That's all from our live coverage today.

We'll be back with more news, sport, travel and weather updates from 08:00 on Monday.

The family of a man with autism who is suffering from long Covid have urged people to take the virus seriously.

Dom Zabawa, 39, from Walsall, who has autism and severe learning difficulties, contracted Covid-19 last year and is still suffering from the effects.

Long Covid is described as symptoms continuing for more than 12 weeks after an infection - severe or mild - which can't be explained by another cause.

His mother Pam Zabawa said her son had caught coronavirus in March 2020 and been admitted to hospital for 17 days.

"He now has oxygen overnight to help with his breathing and to ease the pressure on his chest, which he never had to have before.

"He’s always tired, has low energy and his appetite hasn’t been the same.

“It’s been such a long journey and it’s had a massive impact on us as a family. It feels like we’ve spent the last 18 months living on a knife edge, constantly worrying about Dom and his health."

Only in the past six weeks she said had he begun to improve.

Image source, Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group

Sally Roberts, chief nursing officer for Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Many people who have had Covid-19 will have lasting symptoms and for some these may have a big impact on their quality of life.

“Long Covid can affect anyone regardless of age or lifestyle and so the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious illness is to come forward for your jabs as quickly as possible."

Chiltern Railways issues "reluctant" advice due to "severe disruption" this weekend.

Chelsea says it is "heartbreaking" to lose her job after seven years in the industry.

BBC Midlands Today

Plans for a £2bn investment in the region's transport network, have been set out in a government funding bid.

Under the plans, Metro lines would be extended with more tram routes in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Birmingham and the Black Country.

There would also be new rapid bus services, lower fares and safe cycling routes.

Rail projects include the expansion of Snow Hill and Moor Street Stations, and new train stations across the region.

The community ambulance stations in Oswestry, Craven Arms, Bridgnorth and Market Drayton will shut.

Joanne Gallacher
Political reporter, BBC Radio Shropshire

The three shopping centres bought by Shropshire Council more than three years ago continue to cause problems for the Conservative-run authority.

Major plans to regenerate Shrewsbury town centre were due to be unveiled to the public on Tuesday, but at short notice those in charge decided to discuss them behind closed doors.

The local authority is considering demolishing Pride Hill - one of the precincts which it paid £51m in total for.

Image source, Google

Originally the site had been earmarked as the new civic centre - where Shropshire Council staff would be housed following the sale of the Shirehall.

The new plan would stop that, after surveys showed it wouldn't provide value for money. Instead the Pride Hill centre is likely to be demolished and a multi-storey car park and hotel could be built in its place.

Under this model the Riverside shopping centre would also be replaced by the civic HQ where other organisations as well as the council would be based.

I believe about £1.2m will now need to be spent on another feasibility study.

This has led to questions from opposition councillors about where the money is coming from; whether the land will be sold to developers; will the council keep the assets and own the leisure facilities; will it have an impact on the proposed £80m ring road; would the plan spell the end of re-introducing pedestrianisation in the town?

These are questions which will be put to the ruling group at a full council meeting next week.

The press and public won't be privy to the conversations though - unless the Liberal Democrats get their way. They've tabled a motion to move the item back on to the main agenda.

One of the council's directors Mark Barrow said the decision to discuss the matter in private was down to "commercial sensitivity" which he said was "not unusual".

He's right, it's not unusual to protect business assets and finance deals, but the sudden u-turn and exclusion of press and taxpayers is.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the discovery of a fully loaded gun dumped at an industrial unit in Birmingham.

Image source, Google

Officers were alerted to the weapon, which was discovered at Stargate Business Park in Nechells, on Thursday afternoon.

It followed an incident where police on routine patrol spotted a suspicious BMW on false plates shortly before 14:00 BST which then sped through the Nechells area at 80mph before the occupants made off on foot.

However, the officers were able to catch up with two men, aged 20 and 18. They were arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, dangerous driving and possession of a firearm.

Detectives later discovered that the BMW had been stolen from an address in Shirley in July 2020.

West Midlands Police said the suspects remained in custody for questioning.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for parts of the West Midlands this weekend.

Heavy rain on Sunday is likely to cause disruption in parts of Birmingham and the Black Country as well as Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

Image source, Met Office

The Met Office said there was a small chance of flooding, power cuts and disruption to transport services.

For more information and to stay up to date, visit the Met Office webpage, external.

Tributes are paid to Covid patient Marcus Birks whose illness led him to urge people to get vaccinated.

The High Court has ruled that stricter controls must be imposed on Walleys Quarry in Staffordshire.

A woman who works in a care home in Walsall says she is "very angry" after being told she will lose her job after deciding not to have the coronavirus vaccination.

The government announced , externalthat anyone working or volunteering in a care home in England must be fully vaccinated by 11 November, unless exempt.

The government described the move in June as a "sensible and reasonable step".

However, 24-year-old Chelsea told BBC Radio WM it made "no sense at all".

Image source, PA Media

She said: "We’ve worked through the pandemic for nearly two years now and we’ve kept all of our residents safe without being vaccinated.

"Now I’m going to be losing my job because I don’t want a vaccination that we’ve been told doesn’t stop you from passing on the virus, it doesn’t stop you from carrying it, yet I’m putting residents at risk by not having it."

She said she decided not to get the vaccine based on anxieties about needles and the speed of the rollout, and said she didn't think it was fair to be forced to have it.

"I don’t think the government realises what it’s doing to people’s mental health – I’ve worked in care for seven years and now to be told I can’t work in care, which is something I love doing, it’s heart breaking."

Image source, Getty Images

Joyce Pinfield, the vice chair of the National Care Association, said the industry's number one priority had to be keeping residents safe.

However she raised concerns that the policy could lead to a "tremendous impact on staffing", with about 3,000 care workers leaving their roles in the West Midlands, compared with up to 70,000 nationally.

BBC Weather Watchers

It looks like the sunshine isn't quite ready to leave us just yet but the signs of Autumn are making themselves known too.

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers/ Hannah Hunts

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers/ David S

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers/ Sunchaser

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers/ Boardwalk

Thanks to our Weather Watchers, whose photos today come from Pattingham, Lichfield, Hereford and Bromsgrove.

To see more photos, or to get involved yourself, visit the BBC Weather Watchers webpage.

Road sweeping will only be in emergencies as bin collections are prioritised, an authority says.

Police make three arrests over a platform thought to have served hundreds of thousands of customers.

A motorcyclist has been airlifted to hospital after a collision with a car.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called to the island of the A460 and A519 in Cannock, Staffordshire, at about 09:45.

On arrival, it said, crews found the female patient with serious injuries.

She received specialist trauma care at the scene before being taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital by the Midlands Air Ambulance.

Birmingham's traditional market was called off in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.