The Home Office minister Sam Gyimah has been to visit the work being done at HMP Stoke Heath near Market Drayton.

During a meeting yesterday he spoke to Governor John Huntington about the challenges the prison faces and what the government is doing to recruit more prison officers.

Image source, Google

The prison is installing a car mechanics workshop to train inmates and give them a better chance of employment on release.

It's also approaching Shropshire businesses about any job opportunities for ex-prisoners to help them rebuild their lives.

Droitwich Spa Advertiser

Action is being demanded to improve safety at a road junction between Ludlow and Tenbury that has been described as a death trap. , external

Telford took pride of place on BBC One for DIY SOS last night.

The episode, that was filmed in Trench earlier in the year, showed the work and community effort that went into transforming the home of 12-year-old Matthew Cooper.

He spent more than a year in hospital fighting a brain tumour - but before he could return home his house needed major work.

Here's the moment his parents were finally able to bring him home.

If you missed the really touching episode, you can watch in full on BBC iPlayer.

Teams from all over the world compete to build the agricultural robot to rule them all.

David Gregory-Kumar
Science correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

Robots from across the world have been battling against each other in a competition at Harper Adams University in Shropshire.

They've been carrying out farming tasks from identifying weeds to spraying.

The organisers say one day programming a robot will be as familiar as maintaining a tractor.

Researchers at Harper Adams are themselves trying to sow, look after and then harvest a field of barley using only robots and antonymous vehicles. No humans are allowed into the pilot-plot at all.

Shropshire Star

Repairs to a road bridge have been held up because resources are being used in terrorist prevention, external.

A century before the term eco-friendly became popular, one man was commuting to work in an electric car.

Born in Ironbridge, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Thomas Parker built his electric vehicle in Wolverhampton in 1884.

The Victorian pioneer even designed a steam-powered generator to recharge it.

Perhaps most amazingly, Parker built his electric car 10 years before the first petrol car in Britain.

Invented In The Midlands can be seen on Friday, 23 June at 19:30 on BBC One and afterwards on the BBC iPlayer.

A group of people are due to appear in court today charged with conspiring to use drones to fly drugs, weapons and other banned items into jails, including Stoke Heath in Shropshire.

Two women and seven men are also accused of throwing items over prison walls.

Lucy Martin
BBC Weather

A cloudy and breezy day with some bright intervals but the possibility of some showers too with top temperatures of 19C (66F).

Welcome to live updates from BBC Shropshire on Friday morning.

We'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 @bbcshropshire, external or message via Facebook, external.

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.

Mary Rhodes
Presenter, BBC Midlands Today

On Midlands Today this evening, we'll be looking at how safe tower blocks are in the region following the Grenfell Tower fire - and new plans from some of our councils.

Plus, a year on from the Brexit vote, we'll be hearing how opinions have moved on in the Midlands since that decisive day.

Join us for those stories and more from 18:30 on BBC One.

Katherine Sellgren
BBC News education reporter

Harper Adams University in Shropshire has been rated gold under a new ranking of degree teaching standards.

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) has rated 295 institutions bronze, silver or gold according to their standard of undergraduate teaching.

Image source, Getty Images

Gold went to Harper Adams and 58 others, with silver going to 116.

A gold award means a university is of the highest quality found in the UK, providing "consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students".

Peter Sherlock
BBC Data unit

Music festivals fail to reflect the diversity of the UK music scene, with headline slots being dominated by a small band of male rock acts over the decades, a study suggests.

Some eight out of 10 top slots were occupied by all-male acts, analysis of more than 600 headline appearances across 14 major festivals found.

The V Festival at Weston Park is an honourable exception. Born in the midst of Britpop, it's re-positioned itself as a festival for pop connoisseurs, booking acts like Calvin Harris, Beyonce, Rudimental, Olly Murs and Pink as headliners.

It's proof that audiences will embrace diversity - in gender, in genre and in the race of their artists - if they're given the chance.

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

It's felt much fresher today, with highs of 22C (72F).

And it's going to stay that way for the next few days.

Tracey Higgins
BBC Local Live

Police are searching for a man in connection with a violent incident in Telford.

Police said they had been unable to trace 20-year-old Shaquil Sultan, from Wellington following an incident in Ketley on 14 June.

Image source, West Mercia Police

Three other men, aged between 21 and 33, have been charged with a series of offences including fighting, dangerous driving, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.

Carlie Swain
BBC Local Live

The transformation of a house in Telford will feature on DIY SOS on BBC One this evening.

Twelve-year-old Matthew Cooper spent more than a year in hospital fighting a brain tumour - but before he could return home his house needed major work.

The local community got the TV show on board. The episode is on BBC One at 21:00.

Ian Perry
BBC Radio Shropshire

The organiser of a 10K road race being held in Ludlow next month says he's followed all of the correct procedures in applying for roads in the town centre to be shut, while the race is on.

Some residents who live on the route are angry that Shropshire and Ludlow Town Council, didn't consult them about the road closures and that it's taking place on a Saturday evening, rather than a Sunday morning.

But organiser Dermot Heyes says when they did their research they concluded that Saturday night was the best option.

Ian Perry
BBC Radio Shropshire

Ludlow's choral society is voicing its concerns about the town's 10k road race next month.

The night-time run, due to take place on Saturday 8 July between 18:00 to 22:00, clashes with the society's summer concert and people won't be able to get to St Lawrence's Church because of the road closures.

Organisers say it'll bring a welcome economic boost for the town, but some local people are angry and say that they can't drive anywhere while the race is on and that there was no consultation.

Faith Page
Reporter, BBC Shropshire

A vigil's being staged in Wellington this evening after the attack on worshippers at a mosque in north London.

Telford Stand Up to Racism are gathering from 18:30 by the peace garden at the Civic Centre.

Image source, Getty Images

Detectives are still trying to work out the cause of a man's death at the mosque in Finsbury Park.

A van was driven at worshippers, some of whom were giving Makram Ali first aid after he'd fallen ill.