BBC News

A deportation flight from Birmingham to Jamaica left with just four people on board, the Home Office has said.

Image source, PA Media

Several last-minute legal challenges meant 33 people did not board Wednesday morning's flight as planned.

Some of them were guilty of crimes such as murder and child sexual offences, Home Secretary Priti Patel said, adding it was "absolutely galling" they had been stopped from being deported.

The plane, an Airbus A350-900 which has a maximum capacity of 350 passengers, departed Birmingham Airport at 01:20.

Lawyers for some of those due to be on board said it wasted taxpayers' money.

You can read more on the story here.

Birmingham Milk Bank, located at the city's Women's Hospital, is seeking new donors to meet an increase in demand.

It has provided donor breast milk for 70 years to babies born prematurely or unwell, who are being treated in the hospital's neonatal unit, and whose mothers are unable provide their own milk due to geographical separation or illness.

Staff said it has now seen an increase in demand of around 40% and is encouraging more people to donate.

Image source, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

Over the past 12 months, more than 6,000 bottles of milk have been sent to neonatal units across the West Midlands and South Wales.

The milk is collected from homes by the volunteer Blood Bikers.

Charlotte Sherlaw-Sturrock, a clinical genetics tegistrar at the hospital, who donated milk for eight months said: "I used to work at the hospital's Neonatal department, so I was aware of the babies who needed breast milk.

"I was passionate about helping in any way I could."

A group of Staffordshire litter pickers have made Remembrance displays from recycled plastic bottles.

Lichfield Litter Legends have created the poppy display at the town's Memorial Garden, with further flowers on show at Curborough Community Centre, the Green Fairy Trail at Swinfen and another in the village of Wall.

All the poppies have been made by volunteers from the bottom of plastic bottles they have collected over the past 12 months.

Image source, Sharon Coleman

More than 650 poppies have been made.

A total of 350 are in the memorial garden to represent the fallen marked on the memorial wall.

Sharon Coleman, from the group, said the displays also commemorated 100 years of the Royal British Legion.

Old wheel trims have also been fashioned into giant poppies.

"When they are in a mass they look amazing," she said.

Image source, Sharon Coleman

The firm entered administration last year but has now been bought by an Indian company, TVS Motors.

A watchdog says "bickering" bin workers stopped returning communal bins to the right place.

The 450-year-old almshouses were built for, and still house, former servicemen in Warwick.

The 44-year-old man was dead found in bushes near a tower block in Wolverhampton.

About one in five care home workers in Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent are not fully vaccinated, latest NHS figures, external show.

A government deadline for all care workers to be fully vaccinated comes into force on Thursday.

Data reveals that 83% of staff at care homes for older adults in the two cities have received two coronavirus vaccines, compared with a national average of just under 90%.

Image source, Getty Images

On Tuesday, the government announced that it would be compulsory for front-line NHS staff in England to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by April.

In the West Midlands, NHS figures show 2,753 care home staff are yet to receive their first dose. This is out of a total of almost 52,000 staff.

Other areas in the region, including Dudley, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Walsall have had an uptake upwards of 90% for both vaccinations.

A man is being sought by police investigating an attempted robbery at a shop in Telford.

It happened just after 21:00 on 8 November, at a Nisa store on Holly Road in Little Dawley.

He paid for a few small items, West Mercia Police said, and while waiting for his change pointed a small knife towards the cashier and demanded £100.

Image source, West Mercia Police

The cashier refused to hand over the money and the offender left the shop, the force said.

Det Sgt Ben Poppleton said “We are keen to speak to the man in the CCTV image as we believe he may have information that can support our ongoing investigation."

The force urged the man, or anyone with information, to come forward.

The scheme provides emergency food, furniture and supplies in Bromsgrove and south Birmingham.

The road is covered in dozens of potholes but is not owned or maintained by anyone.

BBC Radio Shropshire

The owners of a Dorrington pub say a road closure on the A49 has caused them to lose business.

The Horseshoes pub said it had lost revenue from their evening customers as the road is closed between 20:00 to 06:00 every evening until early January.

Owner Tanya Monolova said coupled with the pandemic, the pub has lost out on thousands of pounds after they were forced to re-mortgage.

"We have got eight full timers and they want to keep their jobs safe and I am trying to do my best to keep their jobs safe but with the road closure how can I keep them on the payroll full time," she said.

"It is getting more and more difficult for us.

"In December we are expecting to be really busy but people already cancelled because of the road closure and they actually say it is the road closure."

National Highways say they “appreciate that roadworks can be disruptive", the closure was completed within five days and works have now moved further south.

Murder-accused Emma Tustin says her stepson's injuries the day before he died were self-inflicted.

Marley was found dead in his garden in Dawley, Shropshire, by his owner's 10-year-old son.

Researchers discover that some lawn-mowers are capable of delivering life-threatening injuries.

A lawyer for 31-year-old James White argued his trial had gone ahead unfairly

A man has died following a collision between a car and a lorry.

West Mercia Police said it happened between the junction with Cheltenham Road and Aston Summerville near Evesham, Worcestershire at about 09:45.

The collision involved a Silver Nissan Qashqai car and a white Mercedes car transporter lorry.

A man in his 50s was pronounced dead at the scene and his next of kin have been informed, the force said.

The lorry driver was unhurt.

Image source, Google

The road has been closed and is expected to remain so for a number of hours while investigations take place, the force said.

It urged anyone who saw the crash, or either vehicle beforehand, to come forward.

The contest comes after Conservative MP Owen Paterson resigned after breaching Parliamentary rules.

The activist and her partner Asser Malik celebrate a nikkah ceremony with family in Birmingham.

BBC Midlands Today

A man from the Midlands who helped rescue a caver who was injured on the Brecon Beacons said it was "extraordinary".

The man was lifted to the surface on a stretcher after two days and is now said to be doing well.

Mike Clayton from the Midlands Cave Rescue Association said the accident had happened in a "complex" area.

He went into the cave at 03:00 on Sunday to help moving the man, which he said was a "very slow process".

"Cavers rescue cavers," he said

"If it ever happened to us we hope there would be others to come to our aid."

Emma Porter from the association helped manage volunteers.