A police force said it "could have performed better" in the case of a woman who killed herself after difficulties with her neighbour.

Amanda Dunn died at her home in Penkridge in March and, at her inquest, coroner Andrew Haigh raised concerns that Staffordshire Police brushed complaints from her "under the carpet".

Mrs Dunn contacted police officers several times over two years about issues she was having, the force admitted.

Mr Haigh conceded she had suffered with mental health problems but also cited difficulties with neighbours as "a major reason for her fatal actions".

He wrote to the force and it has since said the case highlighted several lessons for officers, including the making of referrals to other agencies.

Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Justin Bibby offered " my deepest condolences" to Mrs Dunn's family and said the force would "do all we can" to prevent similar happening again.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

The nightclub industry is facing an uncertain time as the furlough scheme ends, the owner of one venue in Worcester said.

Image source, Google

The scheme was introduced in March 2020 after Covid-19 forced large parts of the UK economy to close and ended on Thursday.

Alex Fell, who runs Alexander's Bar, said furlough was a lifeline but no-one is certain about what will happen next.

"Myself and a couple of people in the industry have taken on a lot of debt to keep our venues open and there are not as many people out as there used to be," he said.

Officers investigating a sexual assault onboard a train believe a witness could have key information.

Shortly before 20:00 on 22 August a man boarded a train at Rugby, which was headed to Birmingham New Street station.

Image source, British Transport Police

The man sat next to the victim, engaging her in conversation, before pressing up against the victims' legs twice.

British Transport Police said it believes the man shown in the CCTV image has information which could assist their investigation.

A man accused of causing the death of a two-week-old boy in a pram through dangerous driving has had his trial pushed back to March.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Ciaran Leigh Morris (pictured) was being pushed along the pavement by family members on High Street, Brownhills, West Midlands, when he was struck on Easter Sunday.

James Paul Davis has previously pleaded not guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and a separate offence of causing death by driving while uninsured.

The 35-year-old, of Croxtalls Avenue, Walsall, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday ahead of a planned trial next week.

But the court heard delays in getting case reports meant the five-day trial would have to move to 21 March 2022.

Eight cars have been seized by police around Bedworth as part of a crackdown on dangerous drivers.

The vehicles were stopped near the CBS Arena and Ash Green on 22 September.

Some had what Warwickshire Police described as serious safety issues including bald tyres, leaking brake systems and no reverse lights.

Two cats have been found dead within days of each other after going missing from a street in Telford.

The RSPCA has issued an appeal for information after Tommy and Gus were found with horrific injuries near a railway bridge at the back of a park in Wellington.

Image source, RSPCA

Tommy was found on 24 August and Gus was found in the same location on 18 September. Investigators say their injuries are not consistent with being hit by a train.

"We suspect that foul play is involved and we are appealing to local people to come forward and help give us answers," Tommy's owner Carl Farr said.

“Tommy was such a friendly cat, he would literally go up to anyone for a fuss. He also loved his food, so he was never gone for very long.

"We are totally shocked by what has happened. Like all pets, they were part of our family, and we are extremely upset and also very angry that they may have been deliberately attacked.”

BBC Radio WM

Two brothers from Kingswinford are running the London Marathon this weekend to raise money for the disability charity Sense.

Their brother Callum has cerebral palsy and they hope to raise awareness of their brother's disability as well.

Image source, Reuters

BBC Breakfast

A coffee shop chain would been forced to make most of its staff redundant without the furlough scheme, a co-founder said.

The scheme has seen the government pay the wages of 11.6 million workers across the UK after Covid-19 forced large parts of the UK economy to close.

Rob Darby, co-founder of 200 Degrees Coffee which has two branches in Birmingham, said furlough prevented a large amount of their jobs being cut.

"It takes time to build great teams. Rebuilding that from scratch would have been twice as hard as the rebuild has been," he added.

Mr Darby said the firm started to recover after lockdown eased earlier this year.

"We can cope without the furlough scheme now but there is certainly a road to go before we see what we feel might be normal trade," he said.

BBC CWR

The prime minister met this week with members from the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Campaign.

The group has been campaigning for a public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic by government.

It's co-founder Matt Fowler, from Nuneaton, set the group last year after his father died.

Image source, PA Media

Herefordshire has recorded more than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 per week for the first time since the pandemic started.

It means the county is among England's hotspots, after consistently having one of lowest rates in the West Midlands for much of the past 18 months.

Image source, PA Media

It saw an 80% rise in its rate of new infections in the seven days up to and including 24 September.

Over that period its case rate rose from 323 new infections per 100,000 people to 582.

The latest figures include a string of cases in local schools, with the county's rate among 10-14-year-olds some seven times higher than the national average.

Highways bosses say a third foot and cycle bridge over the River Severn in Worcester will eventually link up with other routes in the city.

Image source, Worcestershire County Council

The multimillion-pound crossing between Gheluvelt Park and the old Kepax landfill site is part of a long-term plan to improve access around the city for walkers and cyclists.

The county council's head of highways Jon Fraser says construction work should be under way by autumn next year and it would be a "great addition to the city".

Work is under way to create a memorial woodland in Shirley for the victims of Covid-19.

The next phase of activity at Hope Coppice started earlier this month, with the creation of boardwalks, new paths and a natural play area.

Originally earmarked for hundreds of home by the council, the area was struck from a list of development sites following a campaign by the local community.

Image source, Local Democracy Reporting Service

“We wanted to keep it as natural as possible,” said a spokesman for the council’s Planting Our Future team.

“But at the same time we wanted to make it a bit easier for people. It does get a bit boggy here so putting the boardwalks down helps people find their way through this section.”

BBC Sport

British number one Dan Evans beat Kevin Anderson to set up a second-round meeting with compatriot Cameron Norrie at the San Diego Open.

Birmingham-born Evans battled through a 77-minute opening set to beat the former world number five 7-6 (13-11) 7-5.

Image source, Reuters

World number 28 Norrie beat 22nd-ranked Evans in the first round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

Evans will face Norrie later today.

If you want to attend the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year, you have until 20:00 to get in the main draw for tickets.

There are more than 1m tickets available for the Games with prices starting at £8 for under 16s and £15 for adults.

Thousands of people have already applied for tickets, with athletics, swimming, diving, cycling and gymnastics all in high demand, organisers said.

Image source, PA Media

Matt Kidson, director of sport for Birmingham 2022, said: "A multi-sport event is a fantastic chance to fall in love with a new sport, so I’d encourage everyone to think about applying for a sport they’ve never seen before.

"We’ve got 19 sports and eight Para sports on the programme including boxing, badminton, squash, judo and table tennis, all of which are full of drama and incredibly exciting to watch."

Applications are limited to one per household and ticket limits for sessions will apply. At the end of the ballot window, tickets will be allocated at random.

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

There will be widespread rain today with a few heavy bursts with highs of 16C (55 to 61F).

An overturned lorry is blocking the northbound carriageway of the M6 in Staffordshire.

It has shed its load on the stretch between junctions 14 and 15 near Stafford, resulting in hour-long delays.

The carriageway could remain closed until this afternoon, said Highways England.

A diversion is in place.

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

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