Karlan Grant powers home a late winner as West Bromwich Albion scrape to a derby victory over Birmingham City.

Matthew Hardy, from Northwich, set up bogus social media accounts to pose as his victims, a court hears.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A local development plan that sets out where 7,000 new homes could be built around the Black Country, has been criticised by politicians.

Qadar Zada, the leader of the opposition Labour group on Dudley Council said the party did not support any development of green belt land and there were other options he felt the local authority wasn't exploring.

Image source, Google

Suzanne Webb, the Conservative MP for Stourbridge, said people she had spoken to were almost all unhappy with the plans.

She said there needed to be a policy of developing brownfield land first and that not enough had been done to identify suitable sites.

Ms Webb also said the two green belt areas identified in the plan were much-loved areas and described one as a "green oasis in an otherwise built-up area."

Dudley Council, run by the Conservatives, said the plan had sought to prioritise brownfield sites and protect green belt land as much as possible.

Consultation to the plan ended on Monday.

Covid-19 rates have continued to rise in most parts of the West Midlands, according to the latest official figures.

Twenty four out of 30 local authority areas in the region recorded rises in the seven days up to 11 October.

Nuneaton and Bedworth, Lichfield and Cannock Chase remain among England's hotspots, although several other parts of the country have seen their number of new cases rise by even more.

Worcester saw the biggest percentage rise in the week up to 11 October, with the number of cases rising from 182 to 317 week-on-week (74% increase). However, rates remain very low there, compared with other parts of the region.

Birmingham, which has the largest population of any local authority in England and has seen more deaths than any other, continues to have one of the lowest rates of infection in the country.

Only the Malvern Hills, with 254 new cases per 100,000 people, has a lower rate in the West Midlands.

Rugby, Stafford and Stratford-upon-Avon, which until recently have been among the worst affected parts of England, all saw falls in their rates over the same period.

Hospital admissions remain fairly stable, with 1,099 Covid-19 patients in the wider Midlands in the week up to 15 October, up from 1,008.

A lab in Wolverhampton is suspended as 43,000 people in England and Wales are potentially affected.

Telford and Wrekin Council says there have been safeguarding issues over pupils using the pitches.

A three-month-old puppy has been stolen by a group of men in Birmingham.

Image source, West Midlands Police

The young American Bulldog, named French, was stolen from his owner after he was assaulted by the four men on The Radleys, near the city airport, on 9 October.

He was then bundled into a grey VW Golf after the attack, which happened just before 16:00.

West Midlands Police has appealed for anyone with information, or anyone who has seen French, to come forwards.

Errors at a lab see up to 4,000 people in Wales wrongly told they did not have Covid.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith puts faith in £38m signing Emiliano Buendia to shine again.

Commuters will be able to enjoy the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) performing for free at New Street Station soon.

The orchestra is also allowing a few lucky people to be "maestro for a moment" by conducting them.

The concourse performance gets under way at 16:00 BST.

The mayor pledges to work with regions across the country to aid the post-pandemic recovery.

Recruitment has been hard for years but has been made worse by the pandemic, bosses say.

Worcestershire fast bowler Dillon Pennington signs a new contract extension tying him to New Road until 2023.

West Midlands Ambulance Service says hospital handover delays in Shropshire are not good enough.

Students are appreciating an opportunity to get hands-on experience of the technology.

The Environment Agency says it has re-evaluated its strategy over emissions from Walleys Quarry.

The 12-lane bowling alley and golf course will be open by Easter, the owners say.