New checks are in place for police officers after a serving officer was jailed for sexually abusing children, according to the man in charge of holding the West Midlands force to account.

Allan Richards served in Birmingham and was jailed in November for 22 years after being found guilty of a string of 40 sex offences over 30 years.

Image source, West Midlands Police

He had been questioned by officers twice - but kept serving until 2011. He kept a list of boys he was attracted to and used a police database to access information about young men.

The Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson told the BBC a "proper checking system" was now in place to verify who was accessing what data at the force and why.

He said he had been reassured the culture of the West Midlands force was that people would report wrongdoing to senior managers when they saw it.

Alec Blackman
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

A man is critically ill in hospital after a flat fire in Stratford. 

The man is being treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham after the blaze at Hamlet Way just after 15:30 yesterday afternoon.

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

Some cloud around first thing so it isn't a frosty start.

Brighter skies will start to arrive later.

Highs of 9C (48F). Find out more.

Alec Blackman
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

As Hull gets their year as UK City of Culture under way - the bookies are already making Coventry the favourite to succeed them. 

They make the city 2/1 favourites - followed by Perth in Scotland and the Welsh capital - Cardiff. 

Roger Bailey's a tour guide and a Coventry city councillor and says we've got everything needed to win.

Image source, Coventry City Council

Coventry Telegraph

Jaguar Land Rover’s new electric car has sparked a race to produce the develop the batteries that will power it - and Coventry is in the lead., external

JLR bosses have publicly expressed their desire to build the I-Pace cars in the city, but that can only happen if the battery supply chain is in place.

We'll bring you the latest news, sport, travel and weather updates from across Coventry and Warwickshire throughout the day.

Two Kurds living in the UK are jailed for terror offences after trying to join so-called Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

We'll be back from 08:00 with more news, sport, travel and weather updates.

Have a great night. 

Alec Blackman
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

The firm in charge of the Cathedral Lanes shopping centre in Coventry has submitted plans to create more restaurant space. , external

The outdoor clothing specialist Blacks closed its unit last year and the Shearer Property Group says it'll use that space for more places to eat and drink. 

The City Council says, external if it approves the plans, work could start in June.

Image source, Rolfe Judd Architecture

Coventry Telegraph

It might look more like one of the brightly coloured buildings one would encounter in the children’s television show Balamory but what exactly is the purple building being erected next to One Friargate?  , external

Image source, Coventry Telegraph

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

A cloudy evening ahead with further patchy rain and lows of 5C (41F).

Shelley Phelps
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, Political Reporter

Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald met with campaigners at Leamington Spa's rail station earlier. 

Action For Rail staged the demonstrations after fares rose on Monday by an average of 2.3%.

He told me commuters are being let down by the rail network. 

Image source, Labour Party

News that proposed major housing development at Long Marston is to receive garden village status has been welcomed by a local transport group.

Ministers have lent their support to 14 such developments across England, with each set to deliver between 1,500 and 10,000 properties and establish new villages.

Fraser Pithie is secretary of Shakespeare Line Promotion Group which represents rail passengers that use the existing Stratford-Birmingham rail line. He said the scheme at Long Marston could lead to the reopening of the railway between Stratford and Honeybourne.

Housing developer CALA Homes has offered £400,000 towards a study looking into reopening the railway line there, he said.

West Midlands Ambulance Service says New Year's Day was its busiest ever.

It received 4,629 emergency calls - 807 more than its previous busiest day on 1 January 2011.

It adds that in the period from 29 December to 2 January, it took 18,583 calls compared to 15,933 for the same period in 2015-16 - a 16.6% rise in call numbers for the five days.

The evening of New Year’s Eve and the early hours of New Year’s Day were filled with alcohol-related calls including assaults, falls and unconscious patients, the service said.

The majority of calls during the five-day period involved people who had fallen or felt unwell - including breathing difficulties and chest pains.

Looking for a new project for the start of 2017? How about getting fitter with a chance to win free tickets to the FA Cup final?

BBC Get Inspired has again teamed up with the Football Association to launch the 2017 FA People's Cup, a free knockout competition that will give the people of England the chance to play in their version of the famous tournament. 

From Sunday League regulars to folk who have only kicked a ball in their back yard, everyone can take part.

Find out more and sign up here.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC Local Live

Here's a recap of our main stories today:

• Three jailed for terrorism offences
• Woman dies after being hit by a van
• Terminally-ill Archers actress wants her character to survive

The library in Stratford-upon-Avon will be closed between 20 January and 30 January while "essential" maintenance work is carried out.

During the period, services will be delivered from Stratford Arts House at 14 Rother Street.  

Work on the Henley Street location is expected to last until the summer.

A man who planned to fight for so-called Islamic State has been jailed for terrorism offences along with the man who radicalised him.

Shivan Azeez Zangana, 21, who uses the surname Azeez, and 26-year-old Aras Mohammed Hamid, who turned him, arranged covert meetings in locations including a Coventry park and cemetery.

Azeez, who lived in Sheffield, and Hamid, of no fixed address, were jailed for three years and seven years respectively, having both been found guilty at Kingston Crown Court of preparing acts of terrorism.

A third man - Ahmed Ismail, 19, of Coventry - was convicted of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism and jailed for 18 months.

If you were stuck on the M6 between junctions two and one earlier, this is why.

Image source, @officialwmas

The ambulance service said the male driver was unhurt.  

Rail operator CrossCountry says it's investigating after a Paralympic athlete was forced to wet herself because an accessible toilet on a train she boarded in Nuneaton was out of order.

In a statement the company said the cirsumstances of Anne Wafula-Strike were "unacceptable" and it was the "first time we're aware of such a situation ever happening on one of our trains".