Live updates from Cheshire and Merseyside have finished for the day, but we'll be back from 08:00 on Friday with the latest news, sport, weather and travel from around the region.

BBC Weather

It will be dry through the evening and overnight with cloud and patches of frost and fog will form beneath clear skies. 

Any early frost or fog will soon clear leaving a dry day with bright or sunny intervals tomorrow.

More from BBC Weather 

Liverpool Echo

A gangland banker who helped Liverpool drugs gangs launder their money by ‘washing’ it through seemingly legitimate businesses has been jailed., external

Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham has confirmed he will not stand again for the Labour leadership.

Image source, PA

The Leigh MP met students from Lowton Church of England High School as part of the BBC's School Report project.

Andy Burnham, who was beaten byJeremy Corbyn last year, told them: "I wouldn't say I'd necessarily go to be leader again." 

Plans to create a £19m Shakespearean theatre and education hub in Merseyside are set to receive a £6m boost from Knowsley Council. 

Image source, Shakespeare North

The 350-seat Shakespeare North Playhouse is planned for Prescot, where the first Elizabethan indoor theatre outside of London was built and will be constructed alongside a new international university college focusing on Shakespearean drama.

The council planning committee will consider the plans next month.    

Today's top stories in Cheshire and Merseyside:

• Swedish police clarify Viola Beach crash comments
• The jury in the trial of a teenager accused of killing a Merseyside police officer has visited the scene where PC Dave Phillips was knocked down
• Three men have been arrested following the discovery of a cannabis farm in Liverpool

Swedish police say they do not believe the Viola Beach crash driver "intended to kill himself or the band".

The lead investigator was seeking to clarify earlier comments by a colleague that suggested some of the driver's actions were deliberate.

Band members Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Jack Dakin and Tomas Lowe died, along with manager Craig Tarry, 33, near Stockholm on 13 February.

Lars Berglund said the driver's "only intention was to avoid a crash".

A teenager arrested for allegedly making racist remarks at a football match will face no further action, Cumbria Police has said. 

Image source, PA

The 15-year-old was held on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment at the FA Cup game between Carlisle United and Everton on 31 January. 

Liverpool Women’s Hospital, which provides specialist health services for women, babies and their families, has announced Robert Clarke as its new chairman.

Image source, Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust

The 48-year-old has held an eight-year tenure as non-executive director at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he was also vice-chairman.  

Merseyside Police is appealing for the public's help in tracing a Wirral man who was last seen yesterday afternoon.

Image source, Merseyside Police

Colin Griffiths, 55, was last seen at lunchtime in the Bromborough area.  

The jury in the trial of a teenager accused of deliberately running over and killing a police officer have visited the scene of the collision. 

Father-of-two PC Dave Phillips, 34, died after he was hit by a pick-up truck in Wallasey, Wirral, in October.

Image source, Merseyside Police

Clayton Williams, 19, denies murder and claims he did not intend to injure the Merseyside officer.  

Runcorn and Widnes World

The best friend of a Runcorn teenager, external who died after being hit by a train in Winsford has described him as ‘the most kind and gentle person’ he had ever met.  

Merseyside Police has arrested three men after the discovery of a cannabis farm with an estimated 1,000 plants in Lilley Road, Fairfield this morning.

Image source, PA

A 19-year-old man, 20-year-old man and a 45-year-old man, all of no fixed address, have been arrested on suspicion of production of cannabis.  

Swedish police believe the driver in a car crash that killed four members of indie band Viola Beach and their manager may have "acted deliberately".

Band members Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Jack Dakin and Tomas Lowe died outside Stockholm on 13 February along with manager Craig Tarry, 33, when the car crashed through a barrier on a bridge and fell 80ft (24m).

Image source, AFP

Police said the driver's actions appear deliberate, but they can't be sure if he meant to crash the car.  

Today's top stories in Cheshire and Merseyside:

• The jury in the trial of a teenager accused of killing a Merseyside police officer has visited the scene where PC Dave Phillips was knocked down. 
• Shadow culture secretary and Liverpool Garston MP Maria Eagle has told a gathering of the creative industries in Liverpool that arts and culture are essential to the success of cities outside London 
• Police are trying to trace a man missing from his home in Wirral for more than a day

The chandeliers at Liverpool Cathedral will be taken down tomorrow for a yearly maintenance check.

Huge chains are used to lower the central chandeliers, which weigh 965kg each, to the cathedral floor over 52m below.

Image source, Liverpool Cathedral

Former Liverpool and England midfielder John Barnes, whose lyrical skills were the highlight of the Anfield Rap and World in Motion more than 25 years ago, has turned his attention to the Sugarhill Gang's Rappers' Delight.

Image source, Getty Images

An outdoor community sport venue in Warrington has opened following a £4.5m investment from the council.

Image source, Warrington Borough Council

The five-year transformation at Victoria Park includes a fully accessible stadium with changing rooms and showers, a 320-seat stand and a multi-function space for functions and events, with a balcony overlooking the new athletics track.  

Two men who died after becoming ill at a club night in Liverpool had taken ecstasy, an inquest has concluded.

Image source, Family handouts

John Milburn, 19, of Crosby, and 47-year-old Andrew Glaister from the Isle of Man, became ill after taking the drug during the Cream event on 26 December at the Nation club.

Liverpool Coroner Simon Holder ruled both men had died due to MDMA toxicity.

Liverpool Echo

More than 600 staff at John Lewis in Liverpool are seeing their bonuses cut, external for the third year in a row amid plunging profits.