Updates on Wednesday 6 April 2016
News, sport, travel and weather updates to resume at 08:00 on Thursday
Retail giant Amazon have announced that more than 200 people who worked in seasonal roles at Rugeley Fulfilment Centre during the Christmas period will be offered permanent, external positions.
Image source, Cannock Mercury/PA
Jack Dowling
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
The main headlines this afternoon include:
- A tanker fire has caused the closure of the M6 northbound at junction 16 in Staffordshire this afternoon as emergency services tackle the blaze
- Hundreds of hospital appointments have been cancelled in Staffordshire as junior doctors stage their latest 48-hour walkout
- A memorial garden's set to be officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester tomorrow at the Staffordshire Regiment Museum in Lichfield
Lucy King
News Editor, BBC Radio Stoke
We've got more information now on the tanker fire on the M6 at junction 16 this afternoon, as emergency services tackle the blaze.
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Cheshire Police tell us the tanker broke down just after midday and it caught light just after 14:00. The driver escaped unharmed.
Fire crews are on the scene, external.
The northbound side remains closed but North West Motorway Police say the southbound side has reopened - it was shut because of drifting smoke.
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Jack Dowling
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke
This picture of the tanker on fire at junction 16 of the M6 northbound has been tweeted by @M6_Patrol, an officer working with North West Motorway Police.
Image source, North West Motorway Police
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
This is the scene on the M6, following the tanker fire on the northbound carriageway at junction 16.
North West Motorway Police say they are putting a full closure on both carriageways as a results - get the latest from the BBC Travel website.
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BBC Travel
A tanker is on fire on the hard shoulder of the M6 at junction 16, police say.
Get the latest from the BBC Travel website.
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A beacon will be lit in Stone on Thursday 21 April , externalto celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday.
Image source, A Little Bit of StoneBBC Travel
A lane is shut on the M6 southbound between junctions 10a and 10 because of a vehicle fire and recovery work.
Congestion is back to junction 11a.
Monica Rimmer
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke
Here's some of the great pictures from our local BBC Weather Watchers, who let us know the weather where they are.
This photo was uploaded by user Ticketyboo in Baddiley, Cheshire.
Image source, TicketybooAnd this next one was taken by Southdene Lass in Meerbrook, Staffordshire.
You can be a BBC Weather Watcher by heading to the website and signing up - and maybe I'll feature your photo in the future.
Image source, Southdene LassA memorial garden's set to be officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester tomorrow at the Staffordshire Regiment Museum in Lichfield.
The Mercian Regiment says it is dedicated to Staffordshire and Mercian soldiers.
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Max Mallen
Presenter, BBC Radio Stoke
Newcastle-under-Lyme's Jake Shakeshaft has told BBC Radio Stoke it's a huge responsibility to represent the UK at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
The 20-year-old, from Clayton, will duet with 21-year-old Joe Woolford from Wales in Sweden next month.
Jake told BBC Radio Stoke he's going to try not to think about how many people are watching.
Quote MessageIt's very hard to say you can just put 200 million viewers out of your head but, at the same time, you can't see those 200 million - you can see the 20,000 in the stadium, I think that's what gives you that buzz and that feeling."
Jake Shakeshaft
BBC News UK
Dog owners who have not had their pets microchipped could face fines of up to £500, as a new law comes into force.
All dogs in England, Scotland and Wales are now legally required to be chipped by the time they are eight weeks old.
Image source, PAJack Dowling
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
The main headlines for Staffordshire and Cheshire this afternoon include:
- Hundreds of hospital appointments have been cancelled in Staffordshire as junior doctors stage their latest 48-hour walkout
- A Stoke-on-Trent charity's, external appealing for donations after they say vandals threw a brick through a window of their building
- Former Stoke City manager Lou Macari says he thinks they're a different side when Ryan Shawcross is not in the team
BBC Midlands Today
What can be done to save our bees? That's a question we'll be asking in this lunchtime's BBC Midlands Today.
Experts are meeting at the University of Warwick for a conference on protecting them, after a dramatic fall in the bee population in recent years.
We'll have more from 13:30 on BBC One.
Angry parents in a village near Tamworth have vowed to fight council plans, external to make their children walk a five-mile round trip to school - or pay almost £400 bus fare.
Image source, Tamworth Herald
John Acres
BBC Radio Stoke
I've been down to the Royal Stoke University Hospital this morning where junior doctors have joined a national walkout for 48 hours.
So far today the University Hospitals of North Midland says 321 outpatient appointments have been cancelled because of the strike.
The BMA said it had been left with "no choice" in its fight against the government's plan to impose a new contract in which, it said, the profession had "no confidence"
But a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "This strike is irresponsible and disproportionate."
Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather
The BBC website also has the latest weather at any time for Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Lee Blakeman
Port Vale commentator, BBC Radio Stoke
Port Vale's assistant manager Paul Bodin says plans are already in place to build on the squad for next season.
Image source, Port Vale FCVale currently have just nine players contracted past this summer.
Bodin told BBC Radio Stoke that they know what they want the squad to look like.
Quote MessageWe're slowly putting things into place and there's lots of work going on behind the scenes in terms of looking at players for next season."
Paul Bodin, Port Vale assistant manager
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
Ministers and junior doctors are locked in an increasingly fraught dispute in England.
Today has seen the start of the latest strike - but what exactly is this row about?
Image source, Science Photo LibraryI've been examining the causes, who it involves and the wider context to this and you can read more here.
