People in Lawley, Telford, who have complained their homes are being damaged by work on a new housing estate have been told it is all being done in accordance with planning consent.

The Shropshire residents believe the problem is being caused by underground work to make the common safe for 600 new homes, but The Lawley Village Developer Group said it was being closely monitored and measures were in place to "keep inconvenience to a minimum".

Image source, Google

Telford and Wrekin Council has said it has carried out enforcement action where necessary, to keep roads clean and to stop material being brought into the site without permission.

It said it was also monitoring the work.

A proposal to introduce elected mayors for rural areas is 'not wanted', the leader of Telford and Wrekin Council has said.

The Ministry for Local Government has suggested those parts of the country could elect mayors to directly lobby Westminster for funding and more proposals are due to be outlined in the autumn.

Labour's Shaun Davies said: "I don't think anyone's asking for another layer of politicians in this country and what we do need is the councils to be trusted with our local areas, resourced by the government."

Big families react as they are told gatherings of more than six will be banned in England from Monday.

The Ludlow Food Festival starts today but this year it is online.

The annual event usually attracts about 20,000 visitors.

Image source, Ashleigh Cadet

Shropshire chefs Marcus Bean and Adam Purnell are hosting online cooking demonstrations, tastings and chatting to producers.

BBC Weather

A cool start followed by some sunny spells before it turns cloudier although it should stay dry. High: 18C/64F.

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher NB Adagio

Some sunny spells this evening but it will be mainly cloudy tonight with the chance of some patchy drizzle or a shower. Low: 12C/54F.

You can stay up-to-date on your local forecast at any time by going to the BBC Weather website.

Fire crews from Shropshire remain at the scene of a barn fire which broke out overnight.

The blaze, at Middleton near Oswestry, involves wood chip and machinery.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Shropshire Council could have to pay £11m to transform one of Shrewsbury's shopping centres, a report has revealed.

It plans to spend £16m on the Pride Hill centre, which it bought with two other centres for £51m in 2018, and has been given a grant of £5m by the government.

The authority said it was hoping to find more funding for the project and also had plans to improve the Darwin Centre and to demolish the Riverside Centre.

The value of the three shopping centres bought by the council has fallen to £17.5m in two years.

No-one came forward to take the Victor aircraft away, says RAF Marham.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Telford Steam Railway has been given permission to more than double the number of days it operates on, but it's unlikely to make any changes soon because of the coronavirus.

Its previous planning permission, which was granted in 1992, only allowed trips between 09:30 and 18:30 on 35 days a year.

It can now run on 75 days a year, until 21:30.

The steam railway has decided to cancel all services for the rest of 2020, including its lucrative Polar Express rides, and has invited people with tickets to rearrange their visits for next year.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

It's known Birmingham currently has one of the highest Covid rates in the UK, and there are concerns about the rate of infections in Solihull and Wolverhampton, but some parts of the West Midlands are near the bottom of the infection rate tables.

Wyre Forest is the local authority area with the lowest rate, with just 7.9 cases per 100,000 in the week to 6 September.

Image source, Getty Images

That puts Wyre Forest in the bottom 100 of the England league table, along with Redditch, Shropshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Worcester, Cannock Chase and Herefordshire.

They all have a rate of 11 per 100,000 or less.

Shropshire Star

Here are three stories from the Shropshire Star today:

• Testing appointments resume in Telford after ‘shambles’, external
• Mother in tears after being denied Covid test, external
• Date set for new NHS 111 first policy launch, external

The festival will hold a virtual event due to the pandemic, with people asked to donate online.

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

The New Saints of Oswestry manager Scott Ruscoe is looking to make up for the disappointment of surrendering their league title last season, after coronavirus ended the season early.

They lost out to Connah's Quay on a points-per-game basis, denying them the chance to make it nine league titles in a row and Ruscoe said they wanted to prove how good they are.

Image source, TNS

TNS kick off the season on Saturday with a match against Barry Town and Ruscoe added: "There's no greater incentive than to go back and get our hands on that trophy."

You've been telling us your stories about long journeys you've had to make to coronavirus testing centres.

Jodie Brampton wrote this on the BBC Midlands Facebook page, external: "My daughter had to go for one. She has special needs and we had to drive from Evesham to Cardiff in Wales."

And Saul Faulkner commented: "Some friends of mine have been trying to book tests for their kids for two days. Drove to Telford and suffered the same result. They were offered South Wales, Essex or Inverness."

Nicola Spears said: "I live in Worcester. Nearest test available yesterday was Gatwick, 111 miles away, and no test kits available to order. Kids are back at school and all need testing before being allowed to go back in."

But some people appear to have been getting tested closer to home.

Donna Marie Mason wrote: "Me and my partner got a test today two miles away from us, no problems and there was no queue or hold up, nothing."

Jelena Sofronijevic tells a story of Serbia, Yugoslavia - and Telford.

In this talk Jelena explores questions of diasporic identity through her family's connection with Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists. On a visit to Serbia, she discovers that her upbringing in Telford had been more traditionally ‘Serbian’ than that of her Belgrade and Novi Sad relatives. And she finds herself, despite being born after Yugoslavia ceased to exist, drawn to its blended nationalism; her lived experiences traversing harsh borders. And she likens Yugoslavia, a country born of republics, to her home town of Telford, itself a collection of small, independent towns.

Producers: Giles Edwards and Peter Snowdon.

A teenager has been airlifted to hospital after collapsing during a football match in Shropshire.

Emergency services were called to the Ellesmere Rangers ground shortly after 19:15.

Paramedics arrived to find the boy in a critical condition and receiving help from a bystander, said the ambulance service.

Paramedics treated him at the scene, before he was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

BBC Weather

It's going to be a little bit cooler today, with a bit more cloud, with temperatures reaching 17C (63F).

But the weekend is forecast to be hot and sunny, with temperatures up to around 25C (77F).

Image source, Manifoldvalley

The former health minister Philip Dunne has apologised for the overcrowding at the Ironbridge testing centre yesterday.

Mr Dunne, who represents the neighbouring Ludlow constituency, said it "seems to have been a computer error" and that it was "something that should not have happened".

The police had to step in to close the centre down because of what Telford and Wrekin Council called "chaotic scenes", but Mr Dunne said "what we've got to recognise is that we're in a dynamic situation".

Mr Dunne said testing capacity is "going up very significantly" and is hopeful that easier saliva-based tests will soon become available to make the process quicker.

He also said there has been "a particular spike or surge in demand this week", possibly connected to children going back to school and more people going to work from this Monday".

And Mr Dunne warned there are likely to be more restrictions as case-numbers go up, but the aim was to avoid another national lockdown.

A man drove for two hours to Telford's test site said there was "utter confusion" at the centre.

People in Telford are being urged to only make an appointment to be tested if they have coronavirus symptoms.

The appeal has come from Telford and Wrekin Council, after what it described as "chaotic scenes" outside the Ironbridge testing centre, which led to it being closed by the police.

The council said the problems at local testing centres were being caused by limited lab testing capacities.

It warned "people may be turned away from the Ironbridge Park and Ride is they turn up without an appointment or do not have coronavirus symptoms”.