Genevieve Tudor
Journalist, BBC Shropshire

Kaleidoscope Theatre, from Kemberton, is making a return visit to Edinburgh Fringe after a gap of 12 years.

The group, which is run by Carolyne Revell and her husband John will be performing 'Dreaming Amidst the Thorns'.

Some people will be disadvantaged by changes to hospital services, the chair of the Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group has said.

The proposals would see Shrewsbury get the county's emergency care department and specialist maternity services, while planned surgery would move to Telford

David Evans said the key would be to make provision for those who lose out as a result.

The decision to bring in a new operator for trains between Shrewsbury and Birmingham has been welcomed by Telford and Wrekin Council.

West Midlands Trains is promising more services to and from the county and refurbished carriages.

Image source, West Midlands Trains

The authority says it is looking forward to meeting representatives of the consortium and wants their support in lobbying for the electrification of the line to Wolverhampton.

Andy Giddings
BBC Shropshire

There is still some way to go before changes can be made to services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital.

Before the proposals can go to consultation they need the backing of the county's two Clinical Commissioning Group boards and NHS England, although that is expected to be a formality now.

The next step would be a 12-week period of public consultation on the proposals and following that a decision on whether to move ahead with the plans.

Image source, SATH

If all that happens without a hitch, change could start to happen as soon as next February.

But, it's possible there could be change even sooner, with the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust warning that it might have to close A&E overnight, if staffing levels get any worse.

Ian Perry
BBC Radio Shropshire

The 130th Shrewsbury Flower Show has opened its gates, with up to 35,000 people expected to visit The Quarry over the two days.

Celebrity gardeners Joe Swift and Penny Meadmore will be attending along with celebrity chef John Torode.

As well as the flower displays there will be trade tents, show jumping, live music and fireworks.

The man chosen to independently chair last night's health commissioners meeting, which voted to move ahead with plans to reorganise hospital services, says action has to be taken.

Simon Brake is the chief officer of the Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group and said the "fragility" of staffing at the hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford meant services would degrade if nothing changed.

He also praised the work done on the proposals and said that the decision to put them to public consultation would allow "positive steps towards a new service configuration".

Shropshire health campaigner Gill George said "we are all going to be losers" as a result of the decision to move ahead with plans to alter hospital services in Shrewsbury and Telford.

Mrs George, who represents Shropshire Defend our NHS, said the move was "clearly catastrophic" for people in Telford, who would see their A&E downgraded and lose their women and children's centre.

She said people across the county would lose out because "this is about cutting costs".

She went on to say that the decision is "very,very, bad news for people in Shropshire who face extremely long journeys to access routine planned care, which will be in Telford".

And she said it was wrong to move ahead to public consultation, after an independent report said there was no guarantee of funding for the plans and no clear plan for community healthcare.

The decision to move ahead with plans to reorganise Shropshire hospitals and consult with the public on the proposals has upset some Telford and Wrekin councillors.

The authority has opposed the idea of downgrading Telford's accident and emergency department and moving women and children's services to Shrewsbury.

Deputy leader Richard Overton was also disappointed with the way the consultation is to be run, saying people shouldn't be given a "preferred option" by the health service.

Shropshire Star

A man who was armed with a machete when he threatened and chased a taxi driver outside a Telford flat has been jailed, external.

The plans have been put together by the Future Fit board, rather than the hospital trust - a project that was first set up in October 2013.

Since then, it has spent millions of pounds in coming to its recommendations and faced considerable criticism along the way.

Health bosses unanimously backed hospital reorganisation plans at a meeting last night.

They include basing a new enhanced Emergency Centre in Shrewsbury, along with women and children's services.

Elective surgery, orthopaedics and specialist centres for bariatric services and breast services will be based in Telford.

The decision last night at a sometimes heated meeting means the proposals, once rubber-stamped by other NHS bodies, will go out to public consultation.

After a dry start with sunny spells, expect some outbreaks of rain this afternoon with top temperatures of 18C (63F).

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 on Friday, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning

More than 2,400 staff work for London Midland, but no jobs are at risk after it was announced the firm lost the franchise to West Midlands Trains.

The roles will pass to the new operator when the franchise is taken over, a spokesperson for Abellio confirmed.

The company has also pledged to invest £13m on staff training and development and will create more than 900 new apprenticeships over the course of the franchise.

West Midlands Trains Ltd said the new franchise would bring "much welcomed investment in new services and extra capacity across the network".

The MP for Shrewsbury, Daniel Kawczynski, has accused the MP for the Wrekin of "narrow political posturing" following his comments about Shropshire's hospitals.

Mark Pritchard has criticised the leadership of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust and called for further scrutiny of its plans to reorganise services in the two towns, because he believes Telford should retain a full A&E department and its women and children's centre.

Mr Kawczynski backs the hospital's plan to move women and children's services to Shrewsbury and make the Royal Shrewsbury the county's centre for emergency medicine, rather than Telford.

In a tweet, he said calls by his fellow Tory MP, external risked derailing the "Doctor/ Surgeon led initiative for patient safety".

The newer offences happened in the 1980s and bring the number of victims to 35.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

It's going to be a cloudy night, but it should stay dry for most of us and temperatures will fall no lower than 8C (46F).

Tomorrow, we could see some rain blowing over from the west in the morning, but it should clear as the day goes on.

A rail consortium's promise of £1bn investment in the West Midlands network has been welcomed by an industry expert.

More services, more carriages, more seats for passengers along with free wi-fi has been promised after West Midlands Trains Ltd was awarded the franchise.

It takes over services currently run by London Midland in December. However, it could be some time before we see new carriages on the network.

The routes cover many trains coming into Birmingham, external, and services to Liverpool and London.

BBC Weather Watchers

It's been a fine afternoon in Shropshire and the BBC Weather Watchers have been sharing photos from all corners of the county.

These ones were taken near Trefonen (top) and Longnor (below).

Image source, Bingoswestry

Image source, Peter Steggles