Country’s 'finest tragic actress' gets blue plaquepublished at 18:59 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
The acclaimed 18th Century actress Sarah Siddons is honoured with a blue plaque in Worcester.
Read MoreSummary
Updates from Friday 9 September
Country’s 'finest tragic actress' gets blue plaquepublished at 18:59 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
Funding secured for flood defencespublished at 18:43 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
James Pearson
Political reporter, BBC Hereford & WorcesterPermanent flood defences for the Worcestershire town of Tenbury Wells are a step closer, now funding has been secured.
Some 130 properties were hit by flash flooding during Storm Dennis in February, when the River Teme and a nearby brook burst their banks.
Image caption, Tenbury Wells was badly affected by Storm Dennis
Estimated to cost £5m- £6m, the defences are understood to consist of a wall around the town's church yard and along the river bank, as well as earthen bunds.
When complete, they are expected to protect about 70 homes and 140 businesses.
After £4.9m was set aside by the government in July, Malvern Hills District Council and Worcestershire's Local Enterprise Partnership have agreed to meet the remaining costs.
Dave Throup, Area Manager for the Environment Agency said it was "such good news".
"We’re very grateful for contributions being made by our partners meaning work can progress on this essential flood scheme," he added.
Around the web: Criticism of listed building planpublished at 17:39 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
The Worcester News is covering these stories today:
Food packers set to return to work after Covid-19 outbreakpublished at 17:24 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
Workers at a food packaging site which saw an outbreak of Covid-19 are going to start to return to work after latest tests came back negative.
Image source, GoogleLast month, 14 staff at Evesham Vale Growers (EVG) Limited in Worcestershire tested positive.
The firm, which packs and distributes vegetables and salad products, employs around 340 workers.
Dr Kathryn Cobain, Worcestershire's director for public health, said , externalkey workers had swab tests on Friday and all of them had been negative.
"Workers will start to return to work under guidance from Public Health. Alongside existing measures, EVG have introduced additional stringent practices in the workplace and for those living on site."
Your photos: Blue skies aboundpublished at 14:44 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
After the electrical storm last night, this morning has brought more sunny weather with pretty much completely blue skies - at least, according to our local BBC Weather Watchers.
Here are three of their photos from users Snapper Simon in Church Stretton, Shropshire, Mustn't in Alsager, Cheshire and Step Counter in Bodenham, Herefordshire:
Image source, Snapper Simon
Image source, MUSTNT
Image source, Step CounterPC denies causing death by dangerous drivingpublished at 14:24 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
West Mercia PC Jamie Holloway was responding to an emergency call at the time of the collision.
Read MorePositive tests could lead to 20-0 losspublished at 08:54 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
Any Premiership club unable to field a team due to positive coronavirus cases when the season resumes could be handed a 20-0 loss.
Read MoreYour photos: Dramatic lightning strikes overnightpublished at 08:37 British Summer Time 12 August 2020
We had thunderstorms and lots of lightning across the West Midlands last night and our BBC Weather Watchers were busy trying to snap photos of it.
Here are three from users Greg in Stoke-on-Trent, LeoPaul in Leominster, Herefordshire and WetWest in Kingsbury, Warwickshire:
Image source, Greg
Image source, LeoPaul
Image source, WetWestBoris Johnson in Herefordshirepublished at 16:01 British Summer Time 11 August 2020
The Prime Minister's visited Hereford County Hospital today to announce an extra £300m to prepare A&E departments for a second Coronavirus spike this winter.
Hereford will get a £2m share of the pot.
Image source, ITNWhile at the hospital, Boris Johnson praised the "fantastic progress" being made on a new 72-bed geriatrics unit at the hospital, which replaces wards from the 1940s.
The new unit, at Wye Valley NHS Trust, was one of 20 hospital upgrades given the go-ahead last July.
Asked whether it had taken a pandemic to unlock extra funding for A&Es, the Prime Minister said the money was "part of a big programme of getting ready for a second wave... if we get one this autumn or this winter".
Around the web: Worcester swimmer's contact lens warningpublished at 14:47 British Summer Time 11 August 2020
From the Worcester News:
- Worcester swimmer's contact lens warning, external
- Tributes to vet who survived bite from rabid cow in Canada, external
- Sledgehammer burglar will be 'out by Christmas', external
Your photos: Scorching temperatures and blue skiespublished at 13:05 British Summer Time 11 August 2020
We're seeing temperatures reach 30C (86F) this afternoon and the BBC Weather Watchers have been sharing their summer sunshine with us.
But thunderstorms could be on the way later...
Image source, Shaun
Image source, Suttonwalker
Image source, OgySnapsNHS dental clinic to get £2m faceliftpublished at 12:04 British Summer Time 11 August 2020
A community dental service in Worcester city centre is to get a £2m upgrade.
Moor Street clinic supports people with a disability, learning difficulty or behavioural conditions such as dental anxiety.
Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust is investing in new facilities there, which it says will allow it to carry out additional treatments.
Moor Street will close by the end of August for works to start, with patients been seen at either Lowesmoor or the Dental unit at Malvern Community Hospital.
The work is expected to last until next spring.
No more coronavirus cases at farmpublished at 08:33 British Summer Time 11 August 2020
The remaining workers on a Herefordshire farm which experienced a coronavirus outbreak have tested negative for the virus.
In total 142 cases of coronavirus have been linked to Rook Row Farm in Mathon.
Herefordshire Council and Public Health England said most of the workers at AS Green and Co can now return to work, although some are still self-isolating.
They praised the farm for acting swiftly and decisively to prevent a bigger outbreak.
Farm's Covid-19 outbreak 'successfully contained'published at 19:06 British Summer Time 10 August 2020
Up to 134 crop pickers at the farm in Mathon tested positive, prompting health officials to step in.
Read MoreTyseley fire: Smoke seen from Worcestershirepublished at 18:50 British Summer Time 10 August 2020
Allen Cook
BBC NewsWe told you the plume of smoke from the industrial fire in Tyseley, Birmingham, could be seen for miles away and here are some of the photos to prove that.
These were taken in Kings Heath, Stirchley and Cofton Hackett, near Bromsgrove:
Image source, Peter TurlandImage caption, Kings Heath
Image source, Phil BantingImage caption, Stirchley
Image source, Peter BentleyImage caption, Cofton Hackett, near Bromsgrove
Man dies in towing crashpublished at 17:01 British Summer Time 10 August 2020
Police are appealing, external for witnesses and dashcam footage after a man in his 40s died in a crash involving two cars in Whitney on Wye in Herefordshire on Sunday 9 August.
The crash took place at around 12:50. It involved a Skoda and a Honda, which was towing a speedboat in the direction of the A438 towards Brecon.
The man died at the scene.
Waiting list for allotments doublespublished at 16:34 British Summer Time 10 August 2020
A combination of good weather and the coronavirus lockdown have led to a surge in interest in allotments in Worcester.
The city's allotment forum, which monitors 26 sites, says the waiting list for plots has doubled to more than 300 people since the arrival of the pandemic.
Forum chair Maz Williams says the fact that during lockdown people were still allowed to go down to allotments has "massively increased the interest". She hopes the interest will stay long-term.
This week is National Allotment Week, external.
Storms build as lightning reportedpublished at 15:23 British Summer Time 10 August 2020
Storms look to be building around south Shropshire and north Worcestershire, with reports of lightning strikes near Bridgnorth and Kidderminster.
Several flood alerts are in place, external across Birmingham and the Black Country, as well as parts of Warwickshire and south Staffordshire.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on TwitterThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.Skip twitter postThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
End of twitter postFamily stranded on smart motorway for six hourspublished at 15:10 British Summer Time 10 August 2020
The RAC has apologised to a family from Halesowen after they were left stuck in a smart motorway refuge on the M5 in Worcestershire for hours.
Melissa Kynoch, her elderly mother and two young children broke down on the M5 between junctions 5 and 4a on Thursday 6 August.
With no hard shoulder, Ms Kynoch says she initially stopped in the slow lane and phoned the RAC, while her 82-year old mother called the police.
Melissa said: "We were stuck in that particular spot for two hours. Nobody came".
Image source, Melissa KynochHighways England said the lane was closed as soon as it was notified. Traffic officers then towed Melissa's car to an emergency refuge, but Ms Kynoch says it took a further four hours for an RAC recovery team to arrive.
Quote MessageWhen I called them back after two hours, they had cancelled our job. They said they couldn't find us, which is incredible to me that they couldn't find us on a motorway."
Melissa Kynoch
The RAC has apologised to Ms Kynoch for the quality of service, offering a refund on her membership. Highways England said it appreciated "how distressing this must have been for the driver".
Father stabbed in facepublished at 12:52 British Summer Time 10 August 2020
West Mercia Police has launched an investigation after a man was stabbed in the face in Redditch.
Officers say, external the attack happened at around 02:00 on Saturday 1 August.
The victim, a man in his 40s, was walking from The Park Inn pub on Evesham Road towards Pool Bank with his son. He was left with injuries to the face and was taken to hospital for treatment.
The offender is described as white, with short brown hair and was wearing a fluorescent orange jacket.
