BBC Weather Watchers

BBC Weather Watcher videoman sent in this picture from Leek. 

The cows aren't lying down, so hopefully that means there's no more rain on the way. 

Image source, videoman

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Staffordshire Police is appealing for help from the public after a 30-year-old Stoke-on-Trent man drowned at a fishing pool.

Detectives believe he was Aaron Nixon, of Norris Road in Burslem.

He was declared dead on Sunday night at a pool off St Michael's Road in Pittshill. 

Two men from Stoke-on-Trent, aged 29 and 35, remain in custody on suspicion of murder. 

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

This afternoon's headlines for Staffordshire and Cheshire are: 

- A man's been arrested on suspicion of drug and driving offences after a car was driven the wrong way up the M6 in Staffordshire

- 30-year-old Aaron Nixon was found drowned in the water off St Michaels Road in Pittshill in the city on Sunday evening

- Experts working on the Staffordshire Hoard have put together part of a golden helmet which it's believed was worn by a king

James Bovill
Staffordshire Political Reporter, BBC News

Rock star Bryan Adams will get to perform at this year's Betley Farm concerts. 

Newcastle Borough councillors met this morning to discuss the application to extend the farm's licence to a fourth day of concerts. 

Five households around Betley had objected to next week's show on the grounds of traffic and noise 

Max Mallen
Presenter, BBC Radio Stoke

Gnosall, in Staffordshire, has won the award for best large village in the Best Kept Village competition and is also the county winner. 

The parish council said on its Facebook page, external: "We are 'the best of the best!' Very well done to all the BKV team members and everyone who helped."

Image source, Gnosall Parish Council

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

- A man has been banned from driving for two years following a crash on the M6 in Cheshire in which his close friend died

- Experts working on the Staffordshire Hoard have put together part of a golden helmet which it's believed was worn by a king

- A man who died after being pulled out of a pool had drowned, a post-mortem has found

Lee Blakeman
Port Vale commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Port Vale midfielder Michael Brown could be out for up to three months with a knee ligament injury. 

Brown, who is also the club's assistant manager, sustained the injury during a closed doors match against Benfica. 

He won't need an operation and is visiting the physio twice a week. 

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Weather Watchers

You wouldn't believe it is August, the weather is far more like it would be in autumn. 

This picture was sent in by JR from Gnosall, in Staffordshire. 

Image source, JR

A man found in a pool in Stoke-on-Trent had drowned, police say.

Falling home ownership has coincided with a rise in renting from private landlords, says a report from The Resolution Foundation. 

Whether you are house-hunting or just daydreaming, try using this calculator to see where in the country you could afford to live - and would it be cheaper to rent or buy?  

Lamont Howie
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Plans to run a land train in Crewe between the bus station and Grand Junction retail park are being considered by the town's council. 

The authority says it is one idea it's looking at to try to revitalise the town centre, which now has about 40 empty stores.

The council also wants entrepreneurs to come up with other suggestions to revamp the area. A land train, if approved, would see a truck pulling carriages along the town's roads.  

Nantwich News

A young Nantwich girl has had her lovely locks shaved off to help raise money for cancer sufferers, external.  

Experts working on the Staffordshire Hoard have put together part of a golden helmet which it's believed was worn by a king.

BBC Midlands Today

Conservation work on the Staffordshire Hoard will finish this month - marking the 7th anniversary of its discovery.  

There will be more on this at 13:30 on BBC One. 

Jodie Looker
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Some of this afternoon's headlines for Staffordshire and Cheshire are: 

- Eight out of 111 football fans screened for prostate cancer at Burton Albion were found to have the disease

- A report into a major fire in Stafford has been unable to find what caused it

- Cheshire Police says a fraudster who was on the run for more than four years has been jailed for 14 months

Burton Mail

Two vehicles, including one lorry, have been involved in a collision in Burton this morning, external, with ambulance crews treating one female patient.

BBC Travel

The Staffordshire road policing unit has an update on the wide load. It's now stopped for traffic near Trentham. 

Prostate screening tests run by Burton Albion Football Club to make men less fearful about seeking a diagnosis finds eight people with the cancer.

Conservation work on the Staffordshire Hoard is set to finish this month, marking the seventh anniversary of its discovery. The hoard is the world's largest collection of gold and silver Anglo-Saxon treasure. Archaeologists have spent years working on the thousands of pieces that were discovered in a farmer's field near Lichfield in 2009. Pieta Greaves, Staffordshire Hoard Conservation Coordinator, (featured in video) says they've now been able to put many of the fragments together for the first time.

Lamont Howie
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Cheshire Police says a fraudster who was on the run for more than four years has been jailed for 14 months. 

Thirty-one-year old Marius Lucian Anton pleaded guilty to possession of articles for use in fraud, possession of criminal property and breach of court bail.

Image source, Cheshire Police

The charges related to an incident in the Crewe area in May 2012. 

He was also ordered to pay just over £1,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.