Local Democracy Reporting Service
Joe Sweeney

A Labour councillor for Wolverhampton City Council has been suspended from the city's party for breaching group rules.

Image source, Harborough Labour Group

At a meeting on Monday night, Labour councillors voted 33-9 to suspend Celia Hibbert following allegations she voted against the whip and encouraged others to do so.

The Penn councillor is also accused of approaching the Conservative opposition and asking to join their group.

A vote was taken to remove the whip from Ms Hibbert for a year, however she has the opportunity to appeal.

Councillor Paul Birch, who represents Blakenhall at the council, said Councillor Hibbert's actions were a "complete disgrace to the Labour group and its values", however the group's leader, Ian Brookfield, declined to comment.

Councillor Hibbert has been approached for comment.

BBC CWR

A Warwickshire woman has hatched a duckling from an egg she bought at a supermarket.

Sam McDougal named her duckling "Morri" after the supermarket he came from and said he was doing "absolutely great".

She told BBC CWR it was meant to be a joke, and she'd hoped to trick her dad into thinking she was going to have some ducks for the garden when in fact she was just incubating the supermarket eggs.

"About six days later I decided to candle them and one had a little baby in it," she said. "It backfired on me."

Morri hatched last week and will be kept by Ms McDougal, a self-confessed wildlife lover, at her home in Shilton and Barnacle, near Rugby.

"I have a lot of ponds in my garden luckily," she said.

Morrisons has been approached for a comment.

Investigators warn of the risks of smoking following the blaze in Wolverhampton.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
David Lawrence

Waste giants Biffa and Stratford District Council have agreed to share the extra cost of dealing with domestic recycling after the regular reprocessing plant was destroyed by fire.

Image source, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service

The Ettington plant caught fire in July and has been out of use since.

Items have instead been taken to an alternative site in London but this incurred extra costs with the council picking up about 75% of the fees.

It has now agreed with Biffa to split the costs evenly for the remainder of the year.

BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, Laura and Glenn / BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, Peter Steggles / BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, Honeybun / BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, Boardwalk / BBC Weather Watchers

Thanks to our Weather Watchers whose photos today have been sent in from Dudley, Rushbury, Kingsbury and Bromsgrove.

To see more, or to send in your photos, visit the BBC Weather Watchers webpage.

A road in Wolverhampton will be closed for about three weeks while repairs costing £40,000 take place.

Image source, City of Wolverhampton Council

A section of the Smestow Brook embankment, which runs alongside the A454 Bridgnorth Road in Wightwick, collapsed earlier this month.

High voltage electricity cables were exposed and Wolverhampton City Council raised concerns that the embankment could give way further.

Closing the road from its junction with Windmill Lane "was the only realistic option," councillor Steve Evans said.

Over the next few weeks, the drainage outlet will be extended and the embankment will be rebuilt, covered with a membrane and dressed with large stones.

Rob Mayor
Political reporter, BBC Radio WM

Refuse workers in Sandwell are on strike today in an ongoing row over terms and conditions.

It's the fifth time the GMB union members have walked out since August and means green waste collections will be delayed.

They claim they have been subjected to bullying by managers at Serco, the company which runs the refuse service on behalf of Sandwell Council.

Workers say they are forced to use poor quality protective clothing whilst being paid less than workers at neighbouring councils.

Serco said they are disappointed by the action and they always intend to work in partnership with trade union partners.

BBC Radio Stoke

A 28-year-old man has been arrested after a suspected shooting in Stoke-on-Trent.

Armed police were deployed to Moorland Road in Burslem just before 18:00 BST on Monday.

Staffordshire Police had received reports that a man had been shot with an air gun and arrived to find a victim with minor injuries.

A "large, professional" cannabis grow was found after police raided a house in Uttoxeter on Monday.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Detectives said they had received reports from concerned locals and went to investigate.

"We arrived and the male inside didn’t want to open the door, so we let ourselves in the patio door," officers said.

The man was later arrested after the plants were discovered inside.

Seven young men were seen brandishing machetes and a handgun during a disorder in Birmingham, police said.

Image source, Google

The violence broke out Cherrywood Road in Bordesley Green at about 15:00 BST on Saturday.

Witnesses reported hearing a gunshot, however detectives said no weapons were recovered from the scene and no injuries have been reported to them.

Officers are now reviewing CCTV in the area and said at least three groups of men had been identified in the area at the time and all those involved were wearing hooded tops and face masks.

West Midlands Police appealed for anyone with information to get in touch.

The family of a 72-year-old man who died following a crash in a Staffordshire village have paid tribute to a "much loved husband, father and grandfather".

Image source, Family handout

Stan Dominey was driving a blue Honda motorbike on Eccleshall Road in Forton on Saturday afternoon when there was a collision with a black Mercedes.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Staffordshire Police has appealed for anyone with information to get in touch.

A water engineer from Birmingham has designed a PPE headscarf to wear while on site working for Severn Trent.

Aminah Shafiq graduated in engineering two years ago and during lockdown realised that her headscarf might be holding her back in her career.

"I started thinking about the two concerns I had - the free flowing material and the fact that the helmet wouldn't fit over my head," she said about her process for creating a safer design for Muslim women.

"I took inspiration from athletic headscarves which have more of a snug fit," she said.

Severn Trent has now made the headscarf available to its workforce to have as part of their usual PPE kit.

BBC News Travel

A crash on the M6 this morning is causing delays of about an hour.

The crash happened at about 08:00 near the northbound junction 10 for Walsall and is causing congestion on the local network.

Traffic is stretching as far back as junction six for Birmingham and is also having an impact on the M5, between junction one for West Bromwich and the M6 junction.

Highways England has advised motorists to consider using the M6 toll to avoid the traffic.

Blues striker Troy Deeney has spoken about the "anger" he feels at the racism he says he confronts on a daily basis.

The 33-year-old who grew up in Chelmsley Wood, joined Birmingham City earlier this year from Watford.

Image source, PA Media

"I can't express to you how it feels," he said. "When it's about me I can take it. When it's about my kids it's very difficult, when it's about my partner it's very difficult.

"It's hard to express the anger, the sadness, and then the rage to want to do something."

Deeney wore the captain's armband for Saturday's match against Swansea and scored the opening goal.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

It's going to be mostly cloudy as we go through the course of the day, later on there might be some sunny spells breaking through that cloud.

It will feel pretty mild with temperatures reaching up to 17C (63F) but you might also notice a breeze picking up later this afternoon.

Find your local forecast here.

Welcome to our live service for Tuesday.

We'll be bringing you the latest news, sport, travel and weather updates from the West Midlands until 18:00.

Find us on Facebook, external and Twitter, external if you want to get in touch.

A review says meetings did not focus enough on protecting Caitlin Sharp from sexual exploitation.

A watchdog says a service still requires improvement following an inspection.

Gary Simpson, 38, died in a motorbike crash before he managed to create the garden for children.

The parents of Coldstream Guardsman Mathew Talbot say he was "badly let down" by Army planners.