South Shropshire councillor quits Tories
Flying Scotsman returns to the county
Archaeologists "shocked" by "sacred" Neolithic finds
Children's eye unit moves from Shrewsbury to Telford
Updates on Friday 19 May
If you're lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the Flying Scotsman today.
The steam locomotive is passing through Shropshire and Herefordshire on its way to Cardiff.
Last year around 35,000 people were in and around Bridgnorth trying to spot it, with 15,000 lucky enough to get tickets to ride on it between the town and Kidderminster.
Drone captures Flying Scotsman crossing River Severn
Parents and staff at a Shropshire school are being consulted over a plan to become an academy, external.
Image source, Shropshire Star
Ian Perry
Reporter, BBC Radio Shropshire
The RAF Museum in Cosford is giving visitors the chance to get a close-up view of two iconic World War Two German fighter aircraft.
A Messerschmitt 109 and a Focke Wulf are the highlights of the museum's open cockpit evenings today and tomorrow.
This is the Focke Wulf, which was a tight squeeze to get into!
The Flying Scotsman's passing through Shropshire and Herefordshire again today.
The historic train is travelling from north to south, passing through Whitchurch and then Shrewsbury at around 12:00 on its way to Hereford and then on to Cardiff.
@NorthShropCops, external managed to snap this photo as it passed through Whitchurch earlier.
Image source, West Mercia PoliceThousands of people went to catch a glimpse during the steam train's extended stay in the counties last year - this time it's quite literally a flying visit.
Children who need hospital eye appointments will have to travel to Telford from the end of the month until the autumn.
It's part of plans to increase capacity at the struggling ophthalmology department.
Image source, SaTHThe service is moving to a new site at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's Copthorne building.
Adults will be seen there from next month, but more building work's needed to accommodate child appointments.
Part of an £18m power line to improve supplies for thousands of homes, external in Shropshire is set to run underground, officials have today revealed.
Image source, Shropshire StarA dig at a church in Shrewsbury has shocked archaeologists.
They were expecting a wooden post found at the Greek Orthodox Church on Oteley Road to be Anglo Saxon, but carbon dating revealed it was in fact 4,050 years old - making it a contemporary of some of the pyramids.
Archaeologist Janey Green, owner of Baskerville Archaeological Services, which carried out the dig, said the evidence suggested it was the oldest sacred site in continuous use in Britain.
"The only other site of a Christian church that is known to date back to the late Neolithic period is at Cranborne Chase, in Dorset, but it is a disused Norman church," Janey Green said.
"Most of these Neolithic sites have long since been abandoned, like Stonehenge. They are monuments, but this is a living monument. People are still worshipping here".
Michele Paduano
Health correspondent, BBC Midlands Today
The smooth running of 16 GP practices and clinics across the West Midlands could be at risk if a medical company doesn't complete its paperwork by the weekend.
Integral Medical Holdings has until Sunday to get its accounts to Companies House or it will be wound up.
The firm is already five months overdue, but the company has assured thousands of patients the problem will be resolved in time.
The Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury will be leading celebrations at the town's cathedral later, to mark the end of building work there.
Alterations have been taking place at the cathedral on Town Walls, with a new entrance, garden area and visitor centre created with the aim of making it more accessible.
The new porch will be blessed by Bishop Mark Davies, and the visitor centre is expected to open on Sunday.
Image source, Google
Nick Southall
Journalist, BBC Shropshire
Britain's Eddie Hall is set to compete for the title of the World's Strongest man in Africa this weekend.
The 23-year-old worked at the Robert Wiseman Dairies site in Market Drayton from 2008 before dedicating his time to strongman events.
He finished third in last year's international competition but hopes to do better in Botswana this time round.
Quote MessageI've been preparing as usual. Lots and lots of heavy weights, lots of event training, tyre flips, pulling trucks and I think the difference this year is I'm just a lot lot stronger and heavier and obviously a lot more experienced."
Eddie Hall, Strongman
Charlie Slater
BBC Weather presenter
Some dry weather around today, but also the possibility of heavy and thundery showers this afternoon with highs of 15C (59F).
Latest weather for the West Midlands
Mark Elliott
Reporter, BBC Shropshire
Good morning from BBC Local Live in Shropshire.
We're in the BBC Shropshire newsroom to let you know the latest news, sport, travel and weather. You can get in touch by email, tweet, external or comment on our Facebook , externalpage.
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.
Joanne Gallacher
Political reporter, BBC Shropshire
The Greens' candidate for Telford says the party offered not to stand to help Labour win the seat in next month's general election.
Luke Shirley says Labour turned down the deal, that involved the ruling party in Telford and Wrekin not standing in certain council wards in 2019.
I hope to put that to Labour shortly.
The Conservatives won a majority of 730 in Telford in 2015.
For a full list of candidates standing, take a look at the constituency page.
Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today
Plus you can use the BBC Weather website to get the latest forecasts at any other time.
Shefali Oza
A conference has been held in Shropshire to look at ways of improving care for people living with dementia.
Around 200 people attended the "Changing Dementia Care" event at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital today.
Image source, SaTHDelegates took part in a range of workshops as well as hearing presentations from keynote speakers including Chris Roberts and Jayne Goodrick, who featured in a BBC Panorama documentary about living with dementia.
Archaeologists working at Shrewsbury's Greek Orthodox Church, say that in early medieval times, there was a church there twice its size.
Diggers found a 15 inch wooden post in the Sutton Farm area that's been shown to date back to 2033 BC.
Image source, Sarah Hart
Image source, Sarah HartIt means the Oteley Road site could be the earliest-known sacred centre in Britain that's still in use today.
Quote MessageIt's still all sinking in... most sites like this are monuments in ruins like Stonehenge... it's been recognised and honoured by our ancestors from at least 2,000 years before Christ."
Janey Green, Archaeologist
The National Lottery's promising up to £1m for the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, if it can raise a similar amount over the next four years.
The money would be put into an endowment scheme and used to preserve and protect the old furnace next to the Museum of Iron in Coalbrookdale.
Details of the scheme were announced at a lunch today celebrating the trust's 50th anniversary.
Image source, Ironbridge Gorge Museums TrustThe Jackfield Stabilisation Project, to stop land falling into the River Severn, has cost millions of pounds, but engineers say it's an "oustanding solution" to a complex problem.
It's received an award courtesy of the Institution of Civil Engineering, being declared winner ahead of 25 other projects across the West Midlands, as well as schemes from New Zealand and Turkey.
Image source, Telford and Wrekin CouncilQuote MessageBy stabilising this hillside, which has been moving for hundreds of years, not only has the local community been protected, but also the works helped to protect Ironbridge Gorge, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, for future generations.”
Mark Downes, Institution of Civil Engineering judging panel
Alex Seftel
BBC Local Live
An idea put forward by Shropshire's Local Medical Committee to reduce demand by asking people to pay to see GPs has drawn mixed views from readers on Facebook, external.
Laura Gregory says: "No. People don't go to the dentist because they can't afford it. It will be the same with the doctors."
Image source, PAPeter Wright argues: "If they don't turn up for an appointment without a reasonable excuse - yes."
Dawn Joyce wonders how the system could be made fair: "How would this work for children? What would be the impact if you had a condition which requires regular checks i.e. type 1 diabetes / heart condition?"
