Updates on Monday 4 April 2016
Coventry Live
These are some of the Coventry Live headlines today:
Gillingham sign young defender Declan Drysdale on a season-long loan from Championship side Coventry City.
Read MoreBarnsley pick up their first point of the season against Coventry but are still searching for their first Championship goal.
Read MoreThe number of coronavirus cases in the West Midlands Combined Authority area has gone up by more than 80%, a briefing has heard.
Dr Lola Abudu, from Public Health England, said there were 39,587 cases in the area, with 2,960 over the past week, compared with 1,620 in the previous seven days.
Image source, PA MediaClive Wright, representing the Department of Health and Social Care in the region, said we were at "a pivotal point" with the disease "spreading more rapidly".
There was some good news, with Stoke-on-Trent being removed from the government watchlist.
Mr Wright added that demand for tests was outstripping supply.
Coventry City defender Fankaty Dabo signs a new three-year contract, with an option for a further 12 months.
Read MoreChris Burnham, who was left in a coma after trying to stop a car in Coventry, has returned to policing.
Read MorePolice are still trying to identify four men in connection with a fall from a flat balcony in Coventry last month and have released CCTV images.
Officers were called to Bath Street on 17 August and the 31-year-old man who fell is still in a critical condition in hospital.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceCCTV cameras recorded the four leaving the flats straight after the incident.
Two men, aged 25 and 33, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder and have both since been released without charge.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceTwo women have been seriously injured in a two-car crash in Southam this afternoon.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called to Banbury Road at around 13:30 and the driver and passenger had to be cut free before they were taken to hospital.
The man who was driving the other car had relatively minor injuries and was able to get out of his car himself, the ambulance service said.
Local Democracy Reporting Service
A trail of lights is going to be created through Coventry, leading through the city to the railway station.
The city council said it would pass through Greyfriars Green and Warwick Row and be ready in time for Christmas.
Image source, Coventry City CouncilWork is also under way to improve the lighting around the city centre, to make it look more attractive and make walking around safer.
It should be complete by December.
Image source, Coventry City CouncilThe BBC Weather Watchers have been reporting everything today.
We've had sunshine in Birmingham and rain in Rushbury.
Image source, Dave Bayley
Image source, Peter StegglesAnd we've even had sleet reported in Royal Leamington Spa and hail in Evesham.
Image source, Weather Woman
Image source, TigerCoventry Live
Here are three of the stories from the Coventry Live website today:
Riyah Collins
BBC News
Three men have been arrested after a police helicopter was deployed in a chase through Solihull.
Warwickshire Police said officers pursued a vehicle suspected of being involved in vehicle crime as it headed towards Warwick at about 22:15 on Wednesday, but it failed to stop.
The car - a Saab - later collided with a police car on the A3400 in Balsall Common and officers arrested a 19-year-old man from Leicestershire, a 24-year-old man from Wigan and a 38-year-old man from Berkshire.
No-one was injured, police said. A number of items including bolt croppers, a hammer, a screwdriver and two drills were recovered by officers.
The men remain in custody on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop, and going equipped for stealing.
The man in charge of Coventry's City of Culture planning has said adjustments will be made to make sure it goes ahead.
Martin Sutherland said "This is a hard fought-for title for the city, the economic boost that this is going bring is worth defending."
Image source, PA MediaThe 12 months of events will now start in May 2021 and end the following May. Mr Sutherland said the plans wouldn't be "radically different" as a result of the limitations announced by the government this week.
He also said that a lot of work would be done over the next six months "to try and deliver against all those expectations".
Police who smelt cannabis searched a car following the collision near Corley services.
Read More
BBC CWR Sport
Coventry Rugby Club's chairman believes Championship clubs may decide to call the season off, if fans aren't allowed into games.
Jon Sharp said with wages and maintenance costs to consider, "we simply cannot afford to play behind closed doors".
Mr Sharp also said he thought the best that could be hoped for now is a shortened season, assuming the ban continues through the winter.
Vandals have tried to set fire to a wooden climbing frame and Rugby's Millennium Green.
The borough council said it found blanks and wood and a can of petrol there at the weekend.
This follows vandalism to parks at Caldicott Park and Whitehall.
Police have seized a haul of weapons from the home of a man in Warwick.
They include a number of swords, knives, knuckledusters and even an axe.
Image source, Warwickshire PoliceWarwickshire Police said the man had been "suffering from deteriorating mental health" and the weapons were taken for "his safety and others'".
Officers said the man was "now getting the professional support he needs".
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Plans for 90 more homes on the former Massey Ferguson factory site in Coventry are being recommended for approval.
Persimmon Homes has applied to create 34 houses and 56 apartments on the site.
Planning officers said the development would provide "much-needed affordable homes".
Image source, LDRSThis land had been set aside for a primary school but the city council said there wasn't a need for one.
A decision will be made later this week.
A signalling fault has caused a second day of reduced services on train lines through Birmingham's Snow Hill station.
West Midlands Railway said it has been running an "emergency timetable", involving some bus services, to Worcester and Stratford since the fault occurred yesterday morning.
The company said it expected repairs to be completed tonight and normal timetables will resume tomorrow.
Coventry Live
Here are three of the stories from the Coventry Telegraph's website:
