Local Democracy Reporting Service
Kerry Ashdown

A town has been branded a "den of iniquity" at night after concerns about anti-social behaviour putting off visitors.

Staffordshire's police, fire and crime commissioner, Ben Adams, heard the views about Newcastle-under-Lyme at a meeting on Thursday, with several councillors raising issues.

The borough council's cabinet member for community safety, Gill Heeson, told him people "don’t think it’s safe" and have little confidence in police response.

She told the meeting the town centre had problems around anti-social behaviour, drinking, begging and intimidation.

Tony Holmes, a Staffordshire Moorlands councillor, told Mr Adams his wife, born just outside Silverdale, would not go to Newcastle to shop and added: "At night? Den of iniquity isn’t it?”

Mr Adams said he had thought the town an attractive place to go but would take their concerns seriously and investigate further.

A victim of modern slavery has said he will never forget the 'tragic' conditions he lived in.

Work to drill wells to try to cut the amount of gases coming from a landfill site should be finished by the end of October, the Environment Agency (EA) says., external

Twenty-eight wells are being drilled by the operator , externalof Walleys Quarry in Staffordshire. Residents have long complained about a noxious smell coming from the site, and express health fears too.

The EA said the firm also had until the end of September to put a cap over the site's steep flanks.

The actions come a week after mother Rebecca Currie won a High Court battle as a judge agreed gases from the site had worsened her son's underlying health issues.

The judge also said the EA had to take more action to control emissions there.

The EA says it still intends to seek permission to appeal against some of the judgement.

The 91-year-old got her booster in Coventry alongside the matron who administrated her first dose.

One man earned £900,000 in two years by exploiting the workers and skimming off their wages.

David Boswell has not been seen since flames broke out at a factory left too unsafe to access.

While some fuel stations report no petrol deliveries, others experience "panic buying".

Warwickshire beat Somerset at Edgbaston to pip Lancashire and win their first County Championship title in nine years.

Conservative councillor Angela Sandison steps down after criticism from parents and politicians.

Patients normally treated in Worcester are instead being sent 18 miles away to Redditch.

Recovering from chemotherapy during lockdown, Stu Prince found a new mission - reuniting old postcards he'd found at online auctions with their owners.

With one card in particular, he helped revive memories that had been buried for decades.

Since he began collecting postcards from online auction sites, the 62-year-old amassed thousands in his home in Crewe, Cheshire. But something about this one in particular stood out to him.

You can read more here about how he went about re-delivering a baby's postcard - 75 years on.

The 91-year-old got her booster in Coventry alongside the matron who administered her first dose.

Solihull council received more than 15 complaints following Angela Sandison's comments.

Coventry is set to celebrate the "Sound System" culture that came to the city more than 50 years ago.

Coventry City of Culture Trust is holding events this October and November to bring dub & roots and dancehall lovers together to celebrate the sounds of the city and the Caribbean.

It will highlight how West Indian arrivals to the city in the 1950s built their own sound systems with huge speakers and amps, introducing new reggae and ska music to local audiences at parties.

The music went on to inspire a wealth of art and culture, including 2-Tone.

Image source, Colin Bell

Chenine Bhathena, creative director of Coventry City of Culture Trust, said: “Coventry is a music city. Jamaican reggae culture is part our city’s cultural heritage."

Tickets for each event can be purchased online.

Coventry is set to host the Community Radio Awards as part of its City of Culture year.

The event celebrates the best of the past 12 months of community radio in the UK, with radio stations, their presenters, and volunteers from across the country nominated for a wide range of awards.

Nathan Spackman, from the UK Community Radio Network, said: "Community Radio has been at the heart of communities right across the UK during the pandemic and this is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the success of the sector, during what has been a difficult 18 months.”

Image source, Community Radio Awards

Prior to the ceremony, Coventry will also play host to a community radio conference on 23 October at the Coventry Transport Museum.

Queues are being reported at petrol stations across the West Midlands amid supply problems which have caused closures.

A "handful" of BP stations, and a small number of Esso-owned Tesco Alliance stations, were closed nationally on Thursday because of a lack of delivery drivers.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said people should carry on buying petrol as normal.

Some stations, including those at Leamington Shopping Park in Leamington Spa, have seen queues of drivers trying to fill up.

The Road Haulage Association's Rod McKenzie said issues were being caused by a shortage of HGV drivers, and called for the government to relax visa restrictions for foreign workers in the short term to ease the problem.

The plans are backed despite concerns about the design of a three-storey apartment block.

The singer says she is not emotionally able to perform after her ex-band mate's death.

A hospital consultant says colleagues "hang on by a thread" due to a raft of Covid and non-Covid issues.

A hospital consultant says workers at the QE in Birmingham are already under "immense" pressure.