Shropshire Star

The Shropshire Star is covering these stories today:

• Serial burglar stole items worth £3,800 as family visited mother in hospital, external
• Newport street remembers five residents who died during lockdown, external
• Ironwork centre to create new monument against violence from weapons haul, external

The owners of a Staffordshire manor house damaged by a fire last year want to open its gardens to the public.

Image source, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue

Building work to restore Betley Court to its former glory will take a number of years, but owner Nigel Brown said the team were working to open the gardens to the local community, who helped them in the wake of last year's fire.

About 20 people lived in flats at the grade II-listed converted manor when the fire, which started accidentally, tore through the building in August 2019.

League One newcomers Crewe Alexandra sign defender Donervon Daniels after his departure from Luton Town.

Sophie Calvert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Dozens of people who were homeless in Stoke-on-Trent and moved into hotels during lockdown are still in accommodation, a charity's said.

Image source, PA Media

Local homeless charity Concrete provided rooms for 66 people in the city when the government announced everyone should have somewhere to stay.

It said 40 of them had gone on to supported accommodation while 16 have their own tenancy either with the city council or a housing association.

The 40 include George, who didn't want to give his real name, who has been homeless since he was 16 when he left his parents' home in Trent Vale and started taking heroin at 17.

He told BBC Radio Stoke the charity had got him into a rehabilitation scheme and he was now hoping to get his own flat so his daughter could visit him.

"I'm angry with myself because I haven't seen my daughter for six years. That's a big motivator," he said.

BBC Radio Stoke

People who visited other pubs in or near a village in Staffordshire are being urged to get tested for Covid-19 after an outbreak linked to a working men's club.

Seven people have now tested positive following the bingo event at Silverdale Working Men's Club on 16 August, as well as a further three suspected cases.

The county council said today it wanted people who visited the Bush Pub and The Vine in Silverdale and the George and Dragon in Newcastle-under-Lyme, between 20-22 August, to also get tested.

Several pubs and clubs in the area have now decided to close to limit the spread.

Gill Sherwin, from the Best of British Beer firm in Silverdale, said: "They'll have really been looking forward to this weekend because the following week, that's when schools go back and numbers naturally drop off then.

"So this was like a little bit of an end of month payday for them and now they've lost that."

Port Vale sign South African goalkeeper Dino Visser on a one-year contract after a successful trial.

BBC Radio Stoke

Six workers from the same food manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent have tested positive for coronavirus.

The city council, which hasn't named the firm, said the results came back last week.

All six are self-isolating along with anyone who had been in close contact with them.

The local authority added the business had been following government guidelines around Covid-19.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

The Stoke-on-Trent Live website has these headlines today:

• Workers at Stoke-on-Trent food manufacturer test positive for coronavirus, external
• Driver 'didn't know' he'd hit and killed woman just moments after she left club, external
• Popular Staffordshire social club shuts as coronavirus cases continue to rise, external

In Stoke-on-Trent, there were 75 new cases for the seven days to 21 August.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Door-to-door coronavirus testing is going to be carried out in Burton upon Trent, external this week as officials continue to try to cut the number of positive cases in the town.

Image source, Staffordshire County Council

NHS staff will be dropping off home testing kits tomorrow in parts of the Anglesey area of the town.

Staffordshire County Council said it was one of four areas in Burton which had seen the most cases since 4 July, with 110 confirmed cases in the town up to 23 August.

The latest figures from Public Health England for East Staffordshire, which covers Burton, show 9.2 new cases per 100,000 in the seven days to 22 August, down from 18.4 per 100,000 for the previous week.

BBC Weather Watchers

We've got a wildlife theme going on in today's selection of photos taken by our local BBC Weather Watchers.

These are from users Liam Ball, in Ironbridge, Shropshire; Poetic Verse, in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire; and Cumulo Jimbus, in Colwall, Herefordshire:

Image source, Liam Ball

Image source, Poetic Verse

Image source, Cumulo Jimbus

Stoke-on-Trent Live

From the Stoke-on-Trent Live website today:

• Five pubs, two social clubs and football ground shut in latest coronavirus outbreak, external
• Rough sleepers set up makeshift camp next to Stoke-on-Trent hotel, external
• Police seize knife as gangs continue to plague Stoke-on-Trent square, external

Julie Parton said she was "distraught" when Jack was diagnosed weeks after brother Ben's funeral.

An event in Hanley due to be held this weekend has been postponed because of a rise in coronavirus cases in Stoke-on-Trent.

The spike is being linked to a small area of Normacot, where there have now been 79 positive tests since 5 August.

Image source, Getty Images

The organisers of the Smithfield Summer Social said postponement was a precautionary measure and the event would be rescheduled when case numbers fell.

Children have been sharing their feelings on the return to the classroom after months away.

Port Vale sign former Macclesfield Town defender David Fitzpatrick on a one-year contract.

BBC Weather Watchers

It appears the thunderstorms are behind us for now, but the rain is continuing to fall in parts of the West Midlands and we're still seeing high winds in places.

Elsewhere the sun is out and there are blue skies.

These photos were taken by BBC Weather Watchers in the last hour.

Here's how things were looking near Leek in Staffordshire...

Image source, Videoman

By contrast, this was the scene near Hanbury in Worcestershire.

Image source, Mrs_Strivzy

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of arson following a flat fire in the early hours of Tuesday.

Staffordshire Police said, external a 36-year-old man from Newcastle-under-Lyme and a 33-year-old woman from Meir were being held in police custody.

Image source, Google

Fire crews were called at 02:30 to Belle Vue Road in Leek where they put out a blaze near the front door of the flat. No one was hurt.

Police said inquiries were continuing.

A sycamore laced with shoes, an oak bound in chains and an ancient yew are among the contenders.

An oak tree said to be the inspiration for an Alton Towers rollercoaster has been nominated for England's tree of the year 2020.

Image source, PA Media

The Chained Oak in Alton is so named due to a legend stating the Earl of Shrewsbury had the tree bound in chains after a curse warned that for every branch that fell, a member of his family would die.

The Woodland Trust said it had more than double the number of nominations compared to previous years which it said was "perhaps no surprise given that lockdown had so many of slowing down and taking more note of nature".