A patient undergoing palliative care received a special visit when puppy Toast was taken to meet her.

When dog lover Betty Groves told clinical support worker Heather Lloyd, from Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, she'd love to meet her pet Shih Tzu, Heather pulled out the stops to make it happen.

"Betty loves dogs and we often chatted and reminisced about her previous animals. I used to show her pictures and videos of Toast and she loved it," said Heather, who has worked at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust for 13 years.

Image source, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

“Unfortunately, when Betty found out she didn’t have too many months left to live, she said she really wished she could meet him, and I knew we could make it possible before she was discharged.

“I brought him in and she was so delighted. He sat on her lap and she gave him lots of fuss. It was such a pleasure to do this nice thing for her and make a really lovely lady’s wish come true.”

The visit was part of a trust initiative to improve the experiences of palliative and end-of-life patients.

BBC Radio Shropshire

West Midlands Railway has apologised for cancelling 35 journeys on the line between Shrewsbury and Birmingham in the last week of October.

The company said it has had a shortage of drivers for months because it's training programme has been held up by the coronavirus pandemic.

West Midland Railway said during the pandemic it lost training days, but hoped to see more drivers qualify in the coming months.

It said it currently has 151 trainee drivers "in the pipeline" waiting to qualify and if it had not been for the pandemic, most would be driving trains by now.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Ambulances waiting outside A&E departments are being used as "a sort of ward outside hospitals", one paramedic said.

Steven Raven, from West Midlands Ambulance Service, said ambulances are being forced to wait outside due to delays in handing over patients.

The College of Paramedics has warned lives are at risk as patients are facing unacceptably long waits for a 999 response.

NHS data shows call-outs for problems such as heart attacks and strokes are taking nearly three times as long as they should in England.

Mr Raven, who works in Herefordshire, said Covid-19 had "jammed" up the health service and there were no beds for patients.

"So ambulances sit outside A&E which means they can't respond, which means that there are fewer and fewer vehicles responding because we're being used as a sort of ward outside hospitals," he said.

An NHS spokesperson said it has asked trusts to take action to prevent ambulance handover delays "with immediate effect".

A man arrested on suspicion of the 16-year-old's murder in Oxford was released without charge.

A woman from Telford has called for a ban on the sale of "really large fireworks" to the public, after her greyhound died on bonfire night.

Kayleigh Coates believes Tiger had suffered a heart attack from the stress of the loud noises.

She said: "They were all around, left, right and centre with some big fireworks."

Image source, Kayleigh Coates

Ms Coates said she found Tiger dead on the floor and had buried her "strong and loving" dog in the garden.

After sharing her story online she said: "I don’t have my own fireworks I'm not a big fan, I'd rather go to a display.

"I don’t want fireworks banned completely, but the big ones I don’t thing should be sold to the general public."

Already-approved plans for defences in Severn Stoke must be resubmitted after a design change.

Eddie Scott, 18, had only opened his business three days before a pipe burst.

What would the world be like if it was run by teenagers? One company decided to find out.

UK renewable energy provider, Good Energy, appointed six young people, aged from 12 to 17, to sit on a new advisory board back in March - no adults allowed.

Image source, Good Energy

Advisory board member, Mahnoor Kamran, 17, from Stoke-on-Trent, said that the group debate the firm's "business policies, environmental policies and ethics".

"For us [on the panel], it's not about short-term gains and profit," she said. "For young people, it is about our future - who gets to live, and who suffers. I think we will always put the planet over profit in every situation."

You can read more on the story here.

British heptathlete Kelly Sotherton has become an MBE after being appointed in the Queen's New Year Honours.

Image source, PA Media

The athlete from Birmingham won an Olympic bronze medal at the event in Athens in 2004, and in both the heptathlon and 4x400m relay in Beijing in 2008.

Sotherton has been recognised for her services to track and field athletics and the promotion of women's sport.

Image source, PA Media

She received the honour from the Prince of Wales during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

Steven Gerrard has become the new Aston Villa manager - leaving Scottish champions Rangers after three years in charge.

Thirty-seven tortoises will hibernate in fridges at a Shropshire vets this winter.

In Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, Armistice Day was marked by members of the Academy Combined Cadet Force.

They laid a wreath and read the names listed on the memorial of those who died.

Image source, Denford Associates

Image source, Denford Associates

Stoke City defender Harry Souttar is stretchered off playing for Australia with a potentially serious knee injury.

Steven Gerrard's appointment as Aston Villa boss is not without risk, but it is also one that comes with a huge amount of excitement and potential.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lead a service of remembrance in Alrewas to mark Armistice Day.

The awards' first live show since 2017 will happen in Coventry on 5 December.

Campaigners are calling for a feasibility study to investigate a new railway station in Baschurch.

The two MPs are at risk of facing ballots that could see them deselected, the BBC understands.

BBC Radio Stoke

Home Office funding is going to be used to improve women's safety in Staffordshire and Cheshire.

The two counties have been given £600,000 to spend on awareness campaigns, street pastors, and safe routes for women through Hanley, Stafford and Newcastle.

In Cheshire, technology will be set up to allow women to video call the police control room if they have concerns while out at night.