Fire crews from Shropshire remain at the scene of a barn fire which broke out overnight.

The blaze, at Middleton near Oswestry, involves wood chip and machinery.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Shropshire Council could have to pay £11m to transform one of Shrewsbury's shopping centres, a report has revealed.

It plans to spend £16m on the Pride Hill centre, which it bought with two other centres for £51m in 2018, and has been given a grant of £5m by the government.

The authority said it was hoping to find more funding for the project and also had plans to improve the Darwin Centre and to demolish the Riverside Centre.

The value of the three shopping centres bought by the council has fallen to £17.5m in two years.

No-one came forward to take the Victor aircraft away, says RAF Marham.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Telford Steam Railway has been given permission to more than double the number of days it operates on, but it's unlikely to make any changes soon because of the coronavirus.

Its previous planning permission, which was granted in 1992, only allowed trips between 09:30 and 18:30 on 35 days a year.

It can now run on 75 days a year, until 21:30.

The steam railway has decided to cancel all services for the rest of 2020, including its lucrative Polar Express rides, and has invited people with tickets to rearrange their visits for next year.

The festival will hold a virtual event due to the pandemic, with people asked to donate online.

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The New Saints of Oswestry manager Scott Ruscoe is looking to make up for the disappointment of surrendering their league title last season, after coronavirus ended the season early.

They lost out to Connah's Quay on a points-per-game basis, denying them the chance to make it nine league titles in a row and Ruscoe said they wanted to prove how good they are.

Image source, TNS

TNS kick off the season on Saturday with a match against Barry Town and Ruscoe added: "There's no greater incentive than to go back and get our hands on that trophy."

You've been telling us your stories about long journeys you've had to make to coronavirus testing centres.

Jodie Brampton wrote this on the BBC Midlands Facebook page, external: "My daughter had to go for one. She has special needs and we had to drive from Evesham to Cardiff in Wales."

And Saul Faulkner commented: "Some friends of mine have been trying to book tests for their kids for two days. Drove to Telford and suffered the same result. They were offered South Wales, Essex or Inverness."

Nicola Spears said: "I live in Worcester. Nearest test available yesterday was Gatwick, 111 miles away, and no test kits available to order. Kids are back at school and all need testing before being allowed to go back in."

But some people appear to have been getting tested closer to home.

Donna Marie Mason wrote: "Me and my partner got a test today two miles away from us, no problems and there was no queue or hold up, nothing."

Jelena Sofronijevic tells a story of Serbia, Yugoslavia - and Telford.

In this talk Jelena explores questions of diasporic identity through her family's connection with Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists. On a visit to Serbia, she discovers that her upbringing in Telford had been more traditionally ‘Serbian’ than that of her Belgrade and Novi Sad relatives. And she finds herself, despite being born after Yugoslavia ceased to exist, drawn to its blended nationalism; her lived experiences traversing harsh borders. And she likens Yugoslavia, a country born of republics, to her home town of Telford, itself a collection of small, independent towns.

Producers: Giles Edwards and Peter Snowdon.

A teenager has been airlifted to hospital after collapsing during a football match in Shropshire.

Emergency services were called to the Ellesmere Rangers ground shortly after 19:15.

Paramedics arrived to find the boy in a critical condition and receiving help from a bystander, said the ambulance service.

Paramedics treated him at the scene, before he was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

The former health minister Philip Dunne has apologised for the overcrowding at the Ironbridge testing centre yesterday.

Mr Dunne, who represents the neighbouring Ludlow constituency, said it "seems to have been a computer error" and that it was "something that should not have happened".

The police had to step in to close the centre down because of what Telford and Wrekin Council called "chaotic scenes", but Mr Dunne said "what we've got to recognise is that we're in a dynamic situation".

Mr Dunne said testing capacity is "going up very significantly" and is hopeful that easier saliva-based tests will soon become available to make the process quicker.

He also said there has been "a particular spike or surge in demand this week", possibly connected to children going back to school and more people going to work from this Monday".

And Mr Dunne warned there are likely to be more restrictions as case-numbers go up, but the aim was to avoid another national lockdown.

A man drove for two hours to Telford's test site said there was "utter confusion" at the centre.

People in Telford are being urged to only make an appointment to be tested if they have coronavirus symptoms.

The appeal has come from Telford and Wrekin Council, after what it described as "chaotic scenes" outside the Ironbridge testing centre, which led to it being closed by the police.

The council said the problems at local testing centres were being caused by limited lab testing capacities.

It warned "people may be turned away from the Ironbridge Park and Ride is they turn up without an appointment or do not have coronavirus symptoms”.

BBC News Travel

There will be overnight road closures starting next week on a stretch of the A49 near Marshbrook in Shropshire.

Shropshire Council said it would allow workmen to resurface the road, replace road markings and improve the drainage.

Image source, Google

The work is due to start at 20:00 and continue until 06:00 each day and should be complete by 2 October.

People living in the area area being told they'll have to use a escort to get in and out.

BBC Shropshire

People in Ironbridge have complained about queues of traffic around the coronavirus testing centre at Jiggers Bank.

The police were called and the testing centre was forced to close yesterday, with cars being turned away.

Image source, Getty Images

At the same time, people in Shropshire are asking why the NHS computer booking system is sending them to places like Oldham, Builth Wells, Chester and even Scotland, when there are testing centres much closer to home.

The Ironbridge testing centre has since reopened.

Most homes in the Telford area will stop getting free liners for their food-waste bins.

Waste collection company Veolia said it had given out more than 10 million since introducing the caddies last summer and the free liners were no longer financially viable.

Image source, Telford and Wrekin Council

People living in flats and homes which use communal caddies will continue to get the liners.

Everybody else will get their final roll of 52 liners next week.

A bronze statue of a stag has been stolen overnight in Shropshire.

West Mercia Police said, external the monument, which officers described as "very distinctive", was taken from a property on Broad Lane, Bridgnorth.

Image source, West Mercia Police

Plans by Pizza Express to close 73 of its restaurants, putting 1,100 jobs at risk, have been approved by creditors.

Image source, PA Media

The chain said nearly 90% voted for its restructuring deal, which will also see it secure a cut in rent costs.

Last month, the firm said it was forced into the move by the enforced closure of restaurants during the pandemic, the cost of reopening and the uncertainty over the UK's economic future.

Pizza Express has said these sites in the West Midlands were earmarked for closure:

• Birmingham - Corporation St
• Birmingham - Mailbox
• Bromsgrove
• Dudley - Merry Hill
• Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Hereford
• Ludlow
• Moseley
• Stafford
• Stourbridge
• Walsall

Travel could be affected on the Heart of Wales line until Christmas, fears deputy transport minister.

Ashley Fletcher scores twice as Middlesbrough edge out Shrewsbury in a seven-goal thriller to progress to round two of the Carabao Cup.

The Bishop of Shrewsbury says Elizabeth Prout "risked violence" in Manchester's most dangerous slum.