MP says more midwives needed to cope with rural births
Man guilty of child sex offences sentenced to 16 years in prison
DIY SOS family thank community
Updates on Friday 23 June 2017
The inquest into the death of an 11-year-old Shrewsbury schoolgirl, external Olivia-Violet Reeves was today opened and adjourned.
Image source, Reeves FamilyFormer environment secretary and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson says the issue of getting enough seasonal workers to UK farms has always been an issue.
A BBC survey has found that British salad and fruit producers are having trouble recruiting pickers. More than half say they don't know if they'll have enough migrant workers to harvest their crops.
Many growers blame the weak pound and uncertainty over Brexit.
Quote MessageThere's no doubt we do need to have a scheme which can bring in targeted skilled workers whether they are fruit pickers or eye surgeons."
Owen Paterson, MP North Shropshire
Tracey Higgins
BBC Local Live
Increased workloads and a rise in the number of patients are contributing to Shropdoc spending more than it's earning.
Shropshire's out of hours GP service, recently named as one of the best in the country, is having to consider redundancies to save money.
Image source, PAIts chairman Dr Russell Muirhead, says the changes won't affect patient services though.
Quote MessageThe potential redundancies are not in services which patients access. So the front line, the call handlers, the clinicians, the drivers etc. Those roles are not part of this cutback that we're looking at at the moment."
Dr Russell Muirhead, Chairman of Shropdoc
A woodpecker that was trapped in discarded fishing line over a Wolverhampton canal is due to be released back into the wild by the RSPCA today.
You can see its predicament here...
Woodpecker in a flap
The bird was treated at a rescue centre in Shropshire after a barbed hook got stuck in its wing.
Fran Hill, from the rescue centre, said the woodpecker arrived "incredibly stressed" after the ordeal and said it had been "very, very lucky".
The RSPCA will take the woodpecker back to the canal where it was found later today, with the release to be followed by BBC Midlands Today at 18:30 on BBC One.
Emma Simpson
Business correspondent, BBC News
Fruit and vegetable growers in the Midlands are warning that uncertainty over Brexit will lead to a shortage of seasonal workers.
It's thought 80,000 pickers are needed in the UK annually - the majority come from Eastern Europe.
Many growers blame the weak pound which has reduced their workers' earning power, as well as uncertainty over Brexit, according to a BBC survey.
Joanne Writtle
BBC Midlands Today
It's almost a year since Britain voted to leave the European Union, and formal Brexit negotiations began this week.
One hundred people work at Salop Design and Engineering in Shrewsbury, making parts for the motor industry - 15% of goods made there are exported to Germany and USA.
Boss Chris Greenough says many firms are concerned about how Brexit will affect business.
A vicious sex attacker from Telford, external who attacked a vulnerable teenager with a bottle and repeatedly raped her has had his 10-year prison sentence backed by top judges.
Image source, Shropshire Star
BBC Sport
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the new League One season.
The opening game of the season for Shrewsbury is at home to Northampton on 5 August.
Image source, BBC SportMichael Buchanan
Social Affairs Correspondent, BBC News
There had been no hint of anything being wrong when Katie Wilkins went to hospital in February 2013.
The labour ward was full so Katie and her partner Dave Jackson were put into a side room.
Staff refused the family's request for Katie's waters to be broken in the side room, saying there was a risk of infection.
When Katie was checked a few days later, staff realised her baby Maddison had died.
A letter to the parents in July 2013 said "Maddison would likely have been born alive" if she had been induced sooner.
BBC News has uncovered a ninth avoidable death at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital NHS Trust.
Maddison Dawn Wilkins Jackson died in 2013 after staff at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital could not find her mother a bed on the labour ward.
The trust says it has apologised to Maddison's family for her death and introduced key changes.
Maddison's death is at least the ninth avoidable death at the Shrewsbury and Telford Trust since 2013. Seven of the babies died in a 20-month period between September 2014 and May 2016.
An inquiry has been launched by the health secretary.
Quote MessageFollowing Maddison's death we made changes to our practices which have included improving advice for midwives around foetal movement and monitoring in line with national NICE guidelines."
Deidre Fowler, Director of Nursing, SATH
A DIY SOS project to transform the home of a Telford boy living with a brain tumour is to air on BBC One tonight.
More than 200 volunteers from across the area came together in March to adapt the home of 12-year-old Matthew Cooper in Trench.
Mark Millar, the build manager for DIY SOS described it at the time as a "powerful" community response.
The work includes an extension and extra space on the ground floor.
DIY SOS and a team of volunteers have finished making improvements to a house in Telford
The programme airs tonight at 21:00 on BBC One.
Quote MessageYou know it took this many people to get Matthew home, but they did it in 10 days. I am so proud to be part of the whole thing, every one of them are superstars. Telford, where's my hat? Hat off. I love you Telford, well done!"
Mark Millar, Build Manager, DIY SOS
Thanks to BBC Weather Watchers Foggy and Balgreen Di for sending us these lovely pictures of how it's looking in Ludlow and Shrewsbury this morning.
It will be cooler today than of late, with the chance of a shower. Temperatures will peak at 22C (72F).
Image source, foggy
Image source, Balgreen DiThieves made off with £13,500 worth of jewellery, external in a raid at a Whitchurch family business, bosses revealed today
Image source, West Mercia PoliceTracey Higgins
BBC Local Live
Health campaigners claim a Ludlow mum was forced to give birth at home without a midwife present because the town's maternity unit was closed.
Kay Smith was being told on a daily basis whether a midwife would be on duty, but when she went into labour the midwife hadn't arrived and Mrs Smith was helped by paramedics.
Image source, GoogleBoth Oswestry and Ludlow midwife-led units will be closed until the second week in July. Bridgnorth will be closed for five days from tomorrow.
Unlike paramedics, the midwife, who was in the Ludlow area, took over an hour to reach Mrs Smith, by which time she had given birth.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust has apologised and said the midwife was delayed by roadworks. It said that even if Ludlow's maternity-led unit had been open, the process would have been the same.
Quote MessageKay did not want a home birth. She wanted to give birth at Ludlow maternity unit. She didn't do that because the maternity [unit] like Bridgnorth, like Oswestry, they keep closing and closing and closing."
Gill George, Defend our NHS campaigner
Tracey Higgins
BBC Local Live
It's emerged that police missed an opportunity to confiscate a shotgun, shortly before a Telford sports coach used it to kill himself.
Thirty-nine-year-old Matt Kendall, based in Wolverhampton, shot himself on the Long Mynd two days after being arrested in Bolton on suspicion of grooming.
Image source, googleOfficers realised he was a licensed gun holder, but a message between two police forces to confiscate the gun, didn't get through, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
However, the IPCC said the message was just a precaution and a full risk assessment had "not raise any concerns around increased risk of self-harm".
Tracey Higgins
BBC Local Live
A new crackdown's on the way against litter, fly-tipping and dog mess around Telford.
There's a plan for 40 council staff to get training and new powers, including issuing on-the-spot fines of between £80 and £400.
Councillor Richard Overton says it's not about making money, but ridding the borough of unsightly rubbish.
Lucy Martin
BBC Weather
After a mild cloudy start, some brighter, sunny intervals later with things feeling fresher than of late and top temperatures of 22C (72F).
Latest weather for the West Midlands
Welcome to live updates from BBC Shropshire on Thursday 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.
Matthew Kendall used a weapon to kill himself at a beauty spot after being arrested over abuse claims.
Read MoreWe'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.
