Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

Simon Antrobus, who is representing Merlin Entertainments, says he is at Stafford Crown Court today "to re assert a public apology to those affected".

He says the company accepts its responsibility "this should never have happened" and the accident was avoidable. 

The Recorder of Stafford, Judge Michael Chambers QC says no one doubts the apology is heart felt.  

Oli Woodcock
Journalist, BBC Local Live

Residents and community groups, external in Yorkshire are being encouraged to apply for funding to set up their own Yorkshire Bank Bike Library, as a new round of funding opens. 

Image source, YBBL

Since the launch of the first Yorkshire Bank Bike Library last year, more than 20,000 chances to ride a bike have been offered to children and around 4,000 bikes have been donated - by people like you and me.

Donated bikes make up the Bike Libraries and will be available to individuals, local enterprises and community groups to borrow so more people, young and old, can enjoy the benefits of cycling.

Immediately after lunch, the prosecution laid out the timetable of events following the crash on 2 June 2015.

• 13:00: Fault reported
• 13:51: Crash happened
• 14:08: First 999 call
• 14:09: Community first responder on site
• 14:37: Ambulance and air ambulance arrive
• 14:57: Police arrive 

BBC Weather

This afternoon cloud will increase to bring outbreaks of rain, perhaps becoming locally heavy, especially over high ground. 

Workers on Virgin Trains East Coast are to stage a 24-hour strike on Monday 3 October, the RMT union has announced.

The union said the action was being taken over threatened job cuts, as well as disputes over working conditions and safety.

It said talks aimed at resolving the issues had failed and staff had been instructed not to work any shifts between 00:01 and 23:59 BST on the day.

Virgin Trains said it would be running a full timetable during the strike.

Image source, PA

The company said it was making changes to customer-facing roles which will see a single person take responsibility for the "customer experience".

What a stunning picture sent in by, Bails, one of our BBC Weather Watchers.

He took it just before seven this morning at, Carlecotes, a village near Barnsley.

Image source, Bails - BBC Weather Watcher

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

In addressing what level of fine might be considered by the court, the prosecutor raised a number of aggravating factors including:

• How long it took it took to treat all 16 of those on the rollercoaster carriage
• How hard it was for emergency services to get there, and the lack of provision for them to get on site
• First people on the scene couldn't see the injured and didn't realise how severe it was. This added to the frustration and disbelief of the victims who were stuck on the ride and couldn't understand the slowness of the response
• The numbers exposed to actual harm, not just those on the carriage at the time

Mark Ansell
BBC Look North reporter

The mother of an alleged victim of child sex abuse in Rotherham has told Sheffield Crown Court via a statement that her daughter changed from being a lovely girl to an animal and horrible.

Her daughter, who is a key witness in the trail, says she was repeatedly raped in Rotherham when she was 13 years old. 

Eight men deny 16 charges in connection with the sexual abuse of three girls in Rotherham between 1999 and 2003. 

The case continues. 

Former England, Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and Hull City forward Jackie Sewell dies at the age of 89.

Katie Galbraith
Local Live, BBC Sheffield

Two further arrests have been made in connection with the death of Craig Nelson, external, from Rotherham.  

Two 15-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of murder and will remain in custody today, where they will be interviewed by detectives.  

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

Five previous arrests have made in connection with Mr Nelson’s death. They include three 15-year-olds, two boys and a girl, who were previously arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail.  

A man and a woman were also arrested and charged with murder.  Mr Nelson, also known as Craig Preston, was found on Monday 22 August on the moors on the A628 at Woodhead Tunnels, Derbyshire. He died as a result of head injuries.   

Stephanie Barnard
BBC Local Live

The Health and Safety Executive is putting its case forward at Stafford Crown Court against the owners of The Smiler rollercoaster following the crash at Alton Towers last year. Here's what's happened so far:

• The 16 victims injured in the crash are in court for the hearing
• The Health and Safety Executive has opened its case against Merline Entertainments, the owners of Alton Towers
• What went wrong - what the prosecution says: A train stalled, engineers overode the computer and a 16-seater carriage crashed into a stationary one
• Injuries "life changing" - not just for 16 victims but their family members too
• HSE says the crash wasn't the fault of employees but the employers. The individuals followed procedures but they were wrong
• The hearing is scheduled to last two days

Police teams searching for missing toddler Ben Needham on the Greek island of Kos say they are "optimistic" about new excavation work.

Latest update from BBC reporter Danny Savage on the Greek island of Kos where police are searching for Ben Needham who disappeared 25 years ago. 

Prosecution barrister Bernard Thorogood says engineers were doing their best without any system to follow and that there was a risk of bad practice as well as good being handed down.

He also questioned the level of training and said none of the four engineers involved had a full understanding of what was going on.

The court heard staff at the theme park had come to distrust fault signals on occasions, hence the view the fault showing was an error.

BBC Radio Sheffield

We've been finding out more this morning about the latest search for missing Ben Needham from Sheffield.

Our reporter Kevin Larkin is out on Kos this week and has been talking to officers from South Yorkshire police who are on the island.

They've been telling him about the size of the operation......

BBC Travel

One lane is closed and there is slow traffic on the M1 southbound between Junction 31, A57 (Sheffield) and Junction 30, A616 (Worksop).

It's because of a broken down vehicle.  

Image source, Google

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

The force of the collision was the equivalent of a family car crashing at 90mph, the court heard.

While those in the front row of the ride suffered the worst of the injuries, all in the third row, suffered high impact whiplash injuries, again likened to a car crash.

In outlining the case, the prosecution say the effects of the crash have not only beenlife-changing physical injuries, but also long-term psychological ones.

Image source, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue

Emma Thomas
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke

The passengers on the front row of the Smiler rollercoaster crash are sitting on the front row in court.

Sixteen people who were on board the ride that day are in court for the hearing which could last up to two days.

The prosecution says that gale force winds of 46mph are the "likely cause" of an empty Smiler carriage stalling on the track before the collision.

Prosecutors say the manufacturer's manual says it shouldn't be operated at speeds above 34mph.

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

I'm at Stafford Crown Court where the hearing has begun to sentence the operator of the Alton Towers theme park for health and safety breaches.

First of all we are hearing from the Health and Safety Executive who are explaining what happened that day. 

What we've heard in the past is that it was operator error which led the crash that saw a carriage carrying 16 people hit an empty car stalled on the track. 

We don't know the exact details and what went wrong - was it the training or the design of the ride which is one of the biggest rollercoasters in Europe. 

We'll then hear mitigation on behalf of Merlin Entertainments.  

The judge will then retire to consider what kind of sentence to handout. We are thinking it will be very hefty. 

We'll hear statements from the victims afterwards reacting to the judge's decision. 

It could end today or tomorrow.  

Leah Washington and boyfriend Joe Pugh arriving in court earlier this morning hand-in-hand.

The 18-year-old from Barnsley had her leg amputated and also fractured her hand in the crash.

Joe was treated at the Royal Stoke University Hospital last year after his knees were shattered in the accident.