Summary

  • Updates from the past week

Live Reporting

  1. T shirts 'offensive' to the Gypsy and travelling community on sale

    Nicola Goodwin
    Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

    A Worcestershire-based Romany Gypsy has condemned the sale of products using a word that's offensive to the traveller community.

    Items like baseball caps and t-shirts emblazoned with the word "pikey" being sold on websites like Amazon and eBay.

    Amazon screengrabAmazon

    Lisa Smith, from Leigh Sinton, says people often forget that racism also affects her community.

    Because Romany Gypsies and Irish travellers are white skinned you wouldn't necessarily realise that you are coming into contact with Gypsies and travellers maybe every day of your life - that we are integrated members of society working every day as administrators, as teachers, as journalists and we are normal people."

    Lisa Smith

    Both eBay and Amazon told the BBC they had been removed or were in the process of removing the products from sale.

  2. Illegal elver smuggling crackdown 'all intelligence led'

    Watch: Chris Bainger speaks on the importance of gathering information

    This is peak elver fishing season on the River Severn but there are worries about illegal poaching and smuggling of elvers to the Far East.

    Chris Bainger, from the Environment Agency, says it's important to get out and gather as much information as possible.

  3. Watch: Your 50-second weather forecast

    Charlie Slater
    BBC Weather presenter

    It will be a bright start to the day, but thicker cloud and outbreaks of light rain will soon spread in from the north for a time. 

    However, skies will brighter again later, although it will feel fresher - highs of 14C (57F).

    Latest weather forecast for the West Midlands

  4. Good morning from today's Herefordshire and Worcestershire live page

    Jerry Chester
    BBC News Online

    Welcome to the Local Live service for Herefordshire and Worcestershire on Wednesday morning.

    I'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather as it happens. 

    If you'd like to get in touch you can email, tweet us on @bbchw or message via Facebook.

  5. Elvers on the River Severn at risk of poachers

    Watch: Baby eels make millions for slippery smugglers

    The Environment Agency is growing more concerned about the threat of illegal Elver smuggling to the Far East. 

    It's now peak season for legal Elver fishing on the River Severn.

    Exporting Elvers outside the EU is banned but those who break that law can make millions. 

    Following a recent Elver bust at Heathrow efforts to tackle illegal fishing have been stepped up.

  6. The baby eels worth more than caviar

    Efforts to tackle the illegal trade of endangered elvers from the UK to China are stepped up.

    Read More

  7. Our live coverage across the day

    We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning.

  8. £25k from contaminated fuel case goes to public purse

    A man serving a two-year prison sentence for selling contaminated fuel to unsuspecting motorists through his fuel distribution company, has forfeited nearly £25,000 of his criminal profits, HM Revenue and Customs says. 

    Charnjit RandhawaHMRC

    Charnjit Singh Randhawa, 51, of Main Road, Hallow, Worcestershire, was arrested when investigations by HMRC  found he had sold more than 1.4 million litres of illegal fuel to members of the public and commercial customers through his company, GR Fuels. 

    Randhawa used the profits from the £79,000 fraud to live a comfortable lifestyle, owning a Range Rover and an Aston Martin. 

    Randhawa not only defrauded taxpayers but he conned honest customers, who thought they were buying legitimate fuel

    Peter McDermott, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC

  9. Fire affects services on Severn Valley Railway

    A grass fire along a railway embankment has been affecting trains running on the Severn Valley Railway this afternoon.

    Eardington

    Firefighters were called earlier to put out a fire along a 50m stretch of embankment near Eardington.

    The fire is now out.

  10. Robotic legs 'pick up my shifting balance'

    Claudia Berry
    Producer, BBC Hereford & Worcester

    A motocross rider who was left paralysed after an accident in Worcestershire hopes to be the first to complete the London Marathon within 12 hours using robotic legs which work by picking up his shifting balance.

    Spencer Watts wants to enter the event in 2018 using legs made by Rewalk, which combine a brace support suit, a computer-based control system and motion sensors.

    Spencer at an eventGeorge Rowson of GR Media
    Spencer demonstrating robotic legsGeorge Rowson of GR Media

    The Matt Hampson Foundation awarded Spencer a grant of £60,000 to purchase his own set of robotic legs.

  11. Your photos: Tulips galore

    The warm weather has brought on the tulips across Worcestershire. 

    Thanks to BBC Weather Watchers Mikesnapper, in Lower Broadheath, and Toppo, in Doddenham, for capturing these lovely displays. 

    TulipsMikesnapper
    TulipsToppo

  12. Weather: Cloudy overnight and a chance of showers tomorrow

    Charlie Slater
    BBC Weather presenter

    We're expecting some grey cloud tonight and tomorrow, with the chance of some showers tomorrow afternoon.

    Temperatures will be similar to today, reaching about 13C (55F).

    Charlie Slater has your forecast

  13. Friday's non-league football

    Listen to live BBC local radio commentary from Friday's action in the National League and National League North.

    Read More

  14. Cat air-rifle attack: 'Not as rare as we would like'

    The RSPCA has described the shooting of a cat in Redditch with an air-rifle as "a deliberate act of cruelty, but also a breach of the law".

    Xray showing air pellet in Squiggles neckRSPCA

    Tabby cat Squiggles was found shot in the neck by his owner near his home in Oakham Close on Thursday. 

    Vets managed to save him, but he's been left with neurological issues that cause him to twitch. 

    Unfortunately, air rifle attacks are not as rare as we would like. The injuries caused by such attacks are horrific and often fatal. Cats and wildlife are normally the animals that are more susceptible to these incidents simply because they are out in the open with no-one to protect them

    Adrian Langley, RSPCA inspector

  15. Cat shot with airgun 'left with neurological issues'

    A cat was seriously injured when he was shot with an airgun in Redditch.

    Squiggles at the vetRSPCA

    Tabby cat Squiggles was found shot in the neck by his owner near his home in Oakham Close on Thursday.

    He was heard to miaow in a nearby garden and found in a collapsed state.

    Thankfully the vets have been able to save him - but he has horrific injuries and seems to have been left with neurological issues as he is now twitchy in his movements after being shot

    Adrian Langley, RSPCA inspector

  18. Uncertain future for tenant farmers in council sell-off

    Dozens of families are facing an uncertain future as 43 farms owned by Herefordshire Council go up for sale later this month.

    George DunnTenant Farmers Association

    Councillor Johnson stood up at the cabinet meeting on 3 December to say no-one was going to be kicked out of their homes, no-one was going to lose their businesses, no-one was going to be left without a future and that's exactly what's happening to a large number of individuals as we speak

    George Dunn, Tenant Farmers Association spokesman

    Despite widespread criticism from the National Farmers Union and opposition councillors, most of the council's smallholdings will go on the market on 24 April.

    George Dunn, from the Tenant Farmers Association, (pictured) says the decision is causing people major stress and upheaval. 

    Herefordshire Council says the smallholdings disposal plan will help it ensure best value for money for taxpayers.

  19. Scammed pensioner hands over 'extortionate sum of money'

    A Worcestershire pensioner has been cheated out of " an extortionate sum of money " by a cowboy workman who later returned and stole even more, police say.

    The woman, who's in her 80s and lives in the Mount Pleasant area of Redditch, was approached on Saturday 8 April by two men offering to clean her gutters.

    distraction burglaryWest Midlands Police

    Police say after being overpaid for five minutes' work, one of the men returned a day later with a third to carry out work on her loft. 

    When the victim said she'd changed her mind, one of the men distracted her while another took money from her handbag. 

    "Don't be fooled by the charm and the low cost of potential guttering, roof work or damp-in-walls fixes."

    DS Scott Chivers, Kidderminster CID

  20. Teenager suffers severe facial injuries

    Joanne Malin
    Reporter, BBC Hereford and Worcester

    A 19-year-old man on a night out with friends in Worcester suffered severe facial injuries when he was assaulted by two strangers, police say.

    St Swithins StreetGoogle

    The incident at 01:50 on 2 April began on Mealcheapen Street and then escalated into an assault outside the Halifax bank in St Swithins Street.  

    West Mercia Police says the attack by a man and a woman left the teenager needing hospital treatment.