Ollie Robinson's century and Tawanda Muyeye's unbeaten 76 give Kent hope of pipping Middlesex to the Division Three title.

The teacher admitted allowing her friend to use her school laptop.

Thank you for joining Midlands Live on Thursday.

Our bite-size news, sport, travel and weather updates resume from 08:00 on Friday.

Have a good evening.

Drivers are being reminded to avoid junction 10 of the M6 if possible this weekend as work takes place to install a second four-lane bridge spanning the width of the motorway.

From Friday evening until Monday morning, 44m-long steel beams weighing up to 120 tonnes will be lowered into place as part of a £78m improvement scheme.

Image source, National Highways

Work has already been carried out on the north bridge near Walsall.

The motorway will be closed in both directions while the work takes place. Traffic will instead follow an "up and over" diversion at junction 10, leaving the motorway, and travelling over the roundabout before rejoining the M6 on the other side, National Highways says.

The M6 southbound will close at the junction at 20:00 on Friday while the northbound carriageway closes at 23:00.

National Highways project manager Annie Hyett said: "We only shut motorways if absolutely necessary and appreciate the impact closures have on people."

Hereford Times

From the Hereford Times website:

• Home Bargains in Hereford announces temporary closure, external
• Town centre road to become one-way from next week, external
• Herefordshire's affordable homes 'must give something back', external

Two poet laureates have been announced for Coventry.

The move coincides with the start of the BBC's four-day spoken word festival called Contains Strong Language.

The two city poets, Emilie Lauren Jones and young laureate Hawwa Hussain, will hold the titles for the next two years.

Heidi Crowter says the current law on abortion for foetuses with the condition does not respect her life.

An investigation is under way after shots were fired from a car in Birmingham last night.

West Midlands Police said it happened on Westhorpe Grove just before 19:30 and it believed someone was injured, but the victim hadn't come forward.

The force said there were reports he or she was picked up by a car and then driven away.

Police have alerted hospitals in the area and officers have been carrying out inquiries on streets surrounding the scene.

BBC Sport

Warwickshire's hopes of winning the County Championship are going to depend on victory over Somerset in their final match and mid-way through day three, that's looking unlikely.

Replying to Warwickshire's first innings of 367, Somerset trail by just a handful of runs, with two wickets remaining.

The other two title-contenders, Hampshire and Lancashire, are currently playing each other.

Image source, Getty Images

Worcestershire are having a much better day though.

They've taken four second-innings wickets against Leicestershire and still lead by more than 100 runs.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

From Stoke-on-Trent Live:

• Sainsbury's worker dies in town centre supermarket, external
• 'Gang armed with machetes' terrify families as police chase them through gardens, external
• Vandal captured on CCTV leaving trail of paint outside hair salon, external

A council has announced plans to invest £4.8m in its high streets.

Telford & Wrekin Borough Council said the money would be spent over the next two years on high streets in Dawley, Madeley, Ironbridge and Newport.

Each area, it said, would be given a plan to tackle problems and attract more visitors.

Image source, Telford & Wrekin Council

Councillor Lee Carter said: “As a council, our vision is to protect, care and invest to create a better borough.

"By investing this £4.8m across our borough high streets, we’re helping make our borough town centres vibrant places where residents want to be.

“Everyone in our borough towns should be able to take pride in their high street – so that’s what we’re working to deliver.”

Roads will remain closed after the 'severe' fire in Highgate, Birmingham.

BBC Midlands Today

A woman who is partially paralysed is worried the rise in energy prices will leave her having to choose between heating her home or eating.

"It's stressful now as it is. I worry every night, I can't sleep properly, because I'm thinking 'how am I going to pay the bills?'" Helen Stephens, from Wednesbury, said.

The wholesale price of gas has shot up six-fold in the last year. While consumers are largely protected by a price cap, that is set to rise by 12% next month.

Even those who have secured cheap fixed deals in the last year are in danger of seeing their supplier collapsing, and face the very real prospect of higher bills from another one.

The West Midlands already has the highest level of fuel poverty in England, according to government figures.

Due to her ill health, Ms Stephens spends hours a day in the same room and says she feels the cold even when others don't.

"Cold is my enemy, it will actually kill me."

The 59-year-old said due to a gluten and wheat free diet her food bills were also very high and a rise in energy prices would leave her "in massive trouble".

Covid-19 cases have continued to rise in the parts of the West Midlands that have been most in the spotlight in recent weeks.

Rugby, Cannock Chase, Staffordshire Moorlands and Tamworth are currently among the worst-affected areas in England.

All saw rates in excess of 480 new cases per 100,000 people for the seven days up to and including 18 September, with Rugby experiencing a 20% rise in new infections.

Stafford saw a 44% rise in cases over the same period, with its rate rising from 313 to 453 in a week.

Image source, PA Media

Staffordshire Moorlands, Tamworth, Cannock Chase, Rugby, Stafford and Lichfield all saw the biggest percentage increases in the number of PCR tests performed in England, in the week up to 16 September - suggesting a big rise in people exhibiting symptoms connected with Covid-19.

Hospitals serving those areas all saw a small rise in hospital admissions, according to the latest figures available, covering up to 12 September.

However, the number of hospital deaths have been very stable in recent weeks, after starting to rise in early August.

BBC News

Families in Stoke-on-Trent say they are worried about rising food and energy bills putting a strain on household finances this winter.

The bills are rising due to a spike in global gas prices - and many families face a £20-a-week benefit cut.

One resident, Carol Lowe, is set to lose her Universal Credit payments which she has relied on since her husband Alan died in April.

"Why should you, in this day and age, when you have worked hard all your life, have to sit in your living room with cardigans, coats and blankets around your shoulders because you can't afford to keep warm? It's not on, it's not right," she said.

Other families in the city say they have had to cut costs elsewhere to cover rising food bills or consider the cost of a shower.

Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon told the BBC she expected the winter not to be easy for many in her area.

"I'm upbeat about the future for the city, but in the meantime, you know, we will undoubtedly have a few tough months ahead. I'm confident for the most vulnerable that there will be help available."

The number of firefighters at a large factory blaze in Birmingham have been scaled back as the flames are brought under control.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Seventy were initially called out at about 05:15 to Macdonald Street in Highgate, with the fire service saying there were several neighbouring factories that needed protecting amid the risk of spreading flames.

A drone is now being used to search for remaining hotspots.

The fire service said Macdonald Street would remain closed all day between the junctions with Charles Henry Street and Bissell Street.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Fans of comedian Joe Lycett have crashed a theatre's website with their demand for tickets for a gig.

Image source, Getty Images

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre tweeted, external on Wednesday morning that Lycett would appear for a fundraising comedy show on 1 November.

That was at about 10:30. By 11:17 they tweeted , externalthe Brummie comedian's popularity had crashed their website.

The theatre apologised for the inconvenience and said they hoped to be "back up and running soon". They are yet to confirm they are.

Lycett is known for his Channel 4 show, Joe Lycett's Got Your Back, presenting BBC One's The Great British Sewing Bee, and in 2020 changing his name to Hugo Boss for a month.

BBC Weather

It's mainly dry this morning with varying amounts of cloud around which should clear later on, leaving the rest of the day dry and fine, with lots of warm sunshine. High: 21C/70F.

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher KinverSteve

Conditions will be dry and sunny this evening with clear skies to start tonight before turning cloudier towards dawn with some mist and fog patches around. Low: 10C/50F.

You can get the latest forecast for your area by going to the BBC Weather website.

Seventy firefighters have been tackling a large fire at a factory in Birmingham.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

They were called at about 05:15 to Macdonald Street, Highgate, and urged nearby residents to keep windows and doors closed.

The fire service said, external there were several factories close to each other at the scene and it was working to contain flames and stop them spreading.

It added by 07:30 firefighters had made "good progress" in getting the blaze under control although one nearby building suffered water damage.

No injuries have been reported.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

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

We love to hear from you, so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external