Shropshire Star

Shropshire's A49 will be closed overnight to traffic for more than a month while resurfacing work is carried out., external

BBC Weather Watchers

It's turning into a fine afternoon in Shropshire and we've been getting some great shots of Shropshire from the BBC Weather Watchers this lunchtime,

These photos were taken in Longnor and Oakengates.

Image source, Peter Steggles

Image source, Ray

Ludlow Rugby Club have been named Shropshire club of the year by the North Midlands Rugby Football Union.

Last season they won the Midlands West third division title, scoring more than 1,000 points in the process.

Image source, Thinkstock

Whitchurch Herald

Doors and windows of homes in Whitchurch have been smashed by someone blasting an air rifle at the houses., external

Image source, Whitchurch Herald

The Lakelands Academy in Ellesmere has paid tribute to teacher Craig Colley who died last week, after a suspected cardiac arrest.

It said the school community had been devastated to learn of his sudden death and that he had been teaching there for 12 years and had "inspired generations of young people who were lucky to have known him".

Image source, Lakelands Academy

Mr Colley died after he collapsed and stopped breathing last Wednesday on the playing fields at the Grange School in Shrewsbury.

Scott Quigley has thanked the management at TNS for giving him his chance, but says he can't wait to prove himself in the English league now.

He said after eight years with the Welsh champions "it's about time I made the step into the English system".

Image source, PA

Quigley came through the TNS youth system and is leaving for £50,000 plus sell-on fees, which is a record for the club.

Shropshire Council says it has been able to convert more machines in its car parks to take the new £1 coins.

It said all the machines in Shrewsbury would now accept them, along with machines in Ludlow, Much Wenlock and Church Stretton car parks.

Three car parks in Bridgnorth now have the machines too and the authority said other machines would be converted "shortly".

The council says it has been waiting in a queue with other councils to get the machines delivered.

The old £1 coins will go out of circulation on 15 October.

The former Shrewsbury Town footballer Ryan Woods has been getting messages of support from the footballing community after revealing he and his partner lost their baby.

Image source, Getty Images

Woods was sold to Brentford for a reported £1m two years ago and has been a surprise absentee for the past two games.

Improvements to the way mothers and babies are cared for is "going to take a little while" the chief executive of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has said.

Simon Wright was responding to a CQC report, external, published this morning, which said further improvement was needed in maternity services, including their management, and that "learning from safety incidents was not always being shared with all staff".

It also said "a lack of regular postnatal ward rounds meant that high risk postnatal women were not regularly reviewed".

Image source, SATH

Mr Wright said the new management team put in place to run women and children's services have "not been there long enough really to give the CQC confidence that the learning is embedded in the way that they would want to see".

And he said the hospital trust had always said the turnaround would take time.

James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

TNS striker Scott Quigley has signed for League One Blackpool on a two-year deal with the option of a further year.

The 24-year-old joins for a fee of £35,000 which could rise to £50,000 and said he was glad to have the chance to prove himself in the English league.

Quigley scored eight goals last term as they won a sixth consecutive WPL title and also scored goals in their Champions League run this season.

Three cars were set on fire in Telford this morning.

Police say someone poured accelerant over one vehicle in Overdale at about 04:25, then set it alight and ran off.

The fire then spread to other two vehicles.

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

Armed officers will be on patrol for this weekend's V Festival in Staffordshire, Staffordshire Police say., external

Image source, PA

Tens of thousands of people will head to Weston Park to watch the likes of Pink and Jay Z perform.

The force says the patrols are only for reassurance as there's no specific threat but say they're being "prudent" given the UK terrorism threat level is currently at severe.

Shropshire Star

A Paralympian is recovering after he was placed on life support following an emergency operation., external

Ian Perry
BBC Radio Shropshire

People in All Stretton have persuaded Shropshire Council to reset the speed-warning sign in their village, so it flashes for any motorist passing at 32mph or above.

They were unhappy that the sign on the B5477 to Church Stretton was letting vehicles through at speeds of up to 37mph.

The villagers are hoping it might lead to more signs in the county being reset.

Shrewsbury Town's bid to become the first club in the country to have a safe-standing area is off to a slow start.

A crowdfunding appeal set up by the club's supporter's parliament to raise the £75,000 needed to install around 500 rail seats has raised £14,218 after the first 16 days - roughly 18% of their target.

Image source, Getty Images

The appeal, run by an organisation which specialises in crowdfunding for sports clubs has set itself a deadline of 12 September to raise the cash.

Brazil's under-17s team will be coming to play a friendly at Shrewsbury Town next month, against the England under-17s team.

England are using it as preparation for the under-18s world cup in India, which takes place in October.

The match will be played on 1 September, the day after England's under-20s are play Holland at AFC Telford United's Bucks Head ground.

Alex Seftel
Journalist, BBC Shropshire

A hedgehog census has been launched by a south Shropshire-based charity.

Image source, Science Photo Library

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, based near Ludlow, is one of the partners working on the project to find out more about how and where the animals are living, to help stop a sharp decline in numbers.

The research is being done in partnership with the University of Reading and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.

Mark Elliott
Reporter, BBC Shropshire

Shropshire's cricketers won their final match of the Minor Counties Championship season, with Will Parton's unbeaten 73 helping them to a six-wicket victory over Wiltshire.

David Wainwright took 6-73 to limit the visitors to 208 in their second innings and Shropshire comfortably reached their target of 238 at Bridgnorth.

Image source, Stuart Dunn

Shropshire end the season unbeaten, with two wins and four draws.

Maternity services was also singled out for criticism, with inspectors saying they weren't convinced the service had "an embedded safety and learning culture".

It's not the first time the department has faced criticsim.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ordered an investigation into the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in April after reports that a number of babies may have died unnecessarily.

A ninth avoidable baby death was uncovered at the trust by the BBC in June.

Image source, Thinkstock

Mark Elliott
Reporter, BBC Shropshire

A lack of senior doctors and nurses, improved but insufficient end-of-life care and problems with ambulance handovers at Shropshire's two main hospitals have all been highlighted as problems by inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission has published its latest report into the care provided by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust.

Overall, the trust, which is currently in the middle of a protracted reorganisation process, has been told it still requires improvement but inspectors have said that things are better compared with the last time they visited in 2014.