Updates from Friday 22 October
A driver had to be cut free from a car that crashed with a van, closing a road in Wolverhampton.
The woman was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital, said the ambulance service.
Image source, West Midlands Fire ServiceThe fire service says Bridgnorth Road in Shipley is closed for investigations.
Emergency services were called to the scene near Shipley Hall shortly after 09:20.
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Councils in the Black Country are spending more to help people on benefits with their housing costs amid a "perfect storm" of needs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions have revealed that local authorities in the area handed out a combined £4.7m in discretionary housing payments in 2020/21.
The payments are top-ups given out by councils with the aim of preventing homelessness.
The amount awarded has increased from £4.4m in 2019/20, although most of the pot comes from central government.
Image source, GoogleEvery council is allocated an amount towards the payments, but in many cases, local authorities are required to swell the sum using their own funds.
Councils in the Black Country were allocated £4.5m between them, meaning they had to shell out a net total of more than £100k of their own money. Dudley, Sandwell, and Walsall councils all had to add to their government contribution, while Wolverhampton spent less than the allocated amount.
Thomas Cave, from anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said: “Too many people have to top up their rent after they have received the housing element of their benefits.
“Covid support schemes – including furlough, the Covid Local Grants Scheme, the £20 increase to Universal Credit and the eviction ban – have now ended.
"Paired with rising living costs and the energy crisis, this has created a perfect storm of financial crisis."
Tens of thousands of city dwellers are on waiting lists for a safe place to park their bikes, figures have revealed.
Campaigners are calling for more funding for councils to provide safe parking on residential streets to help boost the uptake of clean transport.
Figures obtained by the Press Association revealed that demand for on-street bike hangars far outstrips supply, with just 20,000 spaces and more than 51,000 people on waiting lists.
Image source, Getty ImagesAmong the cities which said they had no hangars were Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.
David Renard, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, says long-term funding is required to "better cater to cyclists".
Science fiction dreams of flying taxis are closer than ever to becoming a reality.
Image source, Urban Air PortPlans to build the country's first skyport in Coventry near the city's rugby and football stadium, have the backing of the British government., external
It is being designed by a Hyundai-backed UK company called Urban Air Port (the firm has registered the name as a trademark), and seeks to become the world's first operational hub for air taxis and cargo drones.
Billed as the "world's smallest airport", the firm hopes that the zero-emissions facility will be replicated around the globe to cut both road congestion and air pollution from cars and lorries.
You can read more on this story here.
BBC CWR
Firefighters have spent the night tackling a house blaze in Warwickshire.
Police joined fire crews at the scene on Brook Lane in Moreton Morrell.
Drivers have been asked by the Warwickshire force to take extra care due to smoke in the area.
The force added nobody had been injured.
Two women have been taken to hospital after being hit by a car on a bridge in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Image source, GoogleThe vehicle left the road on Bridge Foot, hit a wall and then the two pedestrians. It happened shortly before 19:30 on Sunday.
The pair, both in their 60s, suffered potentially serious leg, arm and back injuries, said Warwickshire Police.
A third patient, a man who witnessed the crash, was assessed and discharged at the scene, added the ambulance service.
Riyah Collins
BBC News
It has been two years since residents at a block of flats in Birmingham were told cladding was making their homes unsafe.
While a dangerous exterior is chipped away at Islington Gates, the flats have been left shrouded in plastic, making for cold, dark homes.
On the sixth floor lives Danny Kelly, who has just celebrated his 30th birthday. It has been six months since the plastic sheet cut off his connection to the views outside his window.
Before the sheeting "you could see all of Birmingham," Mr Kelly said. Now all that's visible is scaffolding and the plastic.
It is already cold by early October.
"We've only got electric heaters and I'm not going to turn that on knowing we've got no insulation," he said.
You can read more on Mr Kelly and other residents' stories here.
Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather
This morning, any areas of mist will clear, but it will be quite cloudy.
Outbreaks of rain will arrive by the late morning for most, and the afternoon will see outbreaks of heavy rain, although temperatures will feel mild. Highs of 13C to 16C (55F to 61F).
Latest weather for the West Midlands
Stoke-on-Trent Live
From Stoke-on-Trent Live:
Welcome to our live service for Monday.
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