BBC Local Live: Stoke & Staffordshire on Friday 13 January 2017

Summary

Tristram Hunt: 'Jeremy Corbyn not the reason I'm quitting'
Stafford's County Hospital: Consultant-led maternity 'not possible'
Baby born in back of police car after breakdown
Raccoon dog rescued from trap 'will make a full recovery'
Updates from Friday 13 January 2017

Live Reporting

Allen Cook

Doubts cast over future of Stafford's A&E in health reviewpublished at 11:00 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Chris King
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke
Further doubt has been cast over the future of Stafford's A&E, as health bosses say services in the town need to better meet the needs of patients.
All local health and care providers in England are putting together five-year sustainability and transformation plans to make savings.
In Staffordshire, proposals to save £542m, revealed last month, suggested one of the county's three emergency departments be turned into an Urgent Care Centre.
There are lots of people who think it'll be Stafford and, at a meeting to discuss the proposals yesterday, health managers said they want services in the future that better meet the needs of the town's changing population.
Officials say any specific areas of the plans will go out to public consultation, with decisions not being taken until the end of 2017.
Quote Message
What we want to look at is how we can provide 24/7 services across the patch that may not say A&E on but will still provide the range of services some of the A&E department provides."
Andy Donald, Chief Officer, Stafford and Surrounds Clinical Commissioning Group
Crewe had to stop their slide - Ashtonpublished at 10:43 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Steve Davis' sacking may have come "at the right time" if Crewe are to stay in League Two, says ex-Alex striker Dean Ashton.
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'Spike' in burglaries in villagepublished at 10:34 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
More police patrols are going to be put on in a Staffordshire village after a "spike" in the number of burglaries. , external
Image source, Google
Staffordshire Police say there have been four break-ins in the last week with offenders targeting two pubs, a garage and an office.
In one case, officers say burglars got away with tills, cash and charity boxes.
Quote Message
The number of burglaries in the Brewood area has spiked recently and we will increase patrols to address this. I would urge residents and business owners to be vigilant and to check their building's security."
Insp Giles Parsons, Local Policing Team Commander for South Staffordshire
West Brom v Liverpool in union clashpublished at 10:21 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
A Midlands challenger bids to overthrow a top Jeremy Corbyn ally in a battle for leadership of Britain's biggest trade union.
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MP's call for extended train platforms on the Chase Linepublished at 10:19 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
BBC WM
The MP for Cannock Chase has urged the government to provide funding to extend railway station platforms on the Chase Line.
Image source, Google
Amanda Milling met the transport secretary to discuss an expected increase in passenger numbers once the line is fully electrified in 2018.
It will mean faster and longer trains - and more of them - so the Conservative MP thinks extending the platforms will address potential problems.
Headlines: Doubts over A&E's future; snow preparations in Staffordshire; extra police patrols after burglaries 'spike'published at 10:11 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Lee Blakeman
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
Our main stories this morning include:
- Further doubt has been cast over the future of Stafford's A&E as health bosses reviewing its future say services in the town need to better meet the needs of patients
- Gritters have been out across Staffordshire overnight as the county prepares for snow, external
- More police patrols are going to be put on in a Staffordshire village after a "spike" in the number of burglaries, external
Travel: Rail lines reopen between Tamworth and Nuneatonpublished at 09:53 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
BBC Travel
National Rail say all the lines have reopened between Tamworth and Nuneaton after the earlier incident attended by emergency services this morning.
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One dead after being hit by a trainpublished at 09:53 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Alec Blackman
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire
A person has died after being struck by a train between Nuneaton and Tamworth, British Transport Police says.
It's not treating the death as suspicious and the line's expected to be blocked until about 12:00.
Staffordshire prepares for snowpublished at 09:39 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
BBC Midlands Today
Gritters have been out across Staffordshire overnight as the county prepares for snow, external.
Image source, Staffordshire County Council
The county council says its crews have been monitoring conditions ahead of freezing temperatures predicted by the Met Office, external.
With the weather expected to change rapidly through today and into tomorrow, drivers in the county are being reminded to take extra care.
Travel: Severe delays due to police incident at Nuneatonpublished at 09:20 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
There are delays of up to an hour and some cancellations on services between Tamworth and Nuneaton due to emergency services dealing with an incident.
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Tickets are being accepted on CrossCountry services.
More details on BBC Travel.
Travel: Train services disrupted between Tamworth and Nuneatonpublished at 09:11 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
BBC Travel
There's disruption to London Midland and Virgin Trains services between Tamworth and Nuneaton this morning, due to emergency services dealing with an incident.
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News: Doubts over A&E's future; probation officer warning; preparations for snowpublished at 09:10 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Lee Blakeman
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
This morning's headlines include:
- Further doubt has been cast over the future of Stafford's A&E as health bosses reviewing its future say services in the town need to better meet the needs of patients
- Some probation officers in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent are supervising up to 80 offenders at any one time, external, leaving the public at greater risk, a watchdog has warned
- Gritters have been out across Staffordshire overnight as the county prepares itself for snow, external
Watch: Stoke and Staffordshire's weather this morningpublished at 08:53 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Charlie Slater
BBC Weather presenter
A dry start to the morning but that's not going to last, here's my look at this morning's weather.
The BBC Weather website also has the latest forecasts if you need one at any other time.
Media caption,
Charlie Slater
Travel: All lanes reopen on M6 after multi-vehicle crash in Cheshirepublished at 08:33 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
All lanes have now reopened on the M6 northbound in Cheshire at junction 20, police say, after this morning's multi-vehicle accident.
BBC Travel has the latest news.
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Travel: Traffic light failure and broken-down bus on A53 near Stoke-on-Trentpublished at 08:22 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
BBC Travel
There's slow traffic on the A53 Leek New Road in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent at Holden Bridge due to a traffic light failure in the roadworks area.
There's also, slightly further along the same road, a broken-down bus partially blocking the route westbound at the Norton Lane junction in Stockton Brook.
Travel: Multi-vehicle crash on M6 in Cheshirepublished at 08:12 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Drivers heading north on the M6 through Cheshire are being warned there are three lanes closed at junction 20, near Warrington, due to a multi-vehicle accident.
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Good morning and welcome to Thursday's live coveragepublished at 08:00 Greenwich Mean Time 12 January 2017
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Hello everyone, the skies are pretty clear over Stoke-on-Trent and it was dry on the way through Hanley this morning.
Charlie Slater will give us a look at this morning's weather forecast shortly and then there'll be news, sport, travel and other updates for Staffordshire and Cheshire.
You can be part of this too, by sending in your recent pictures of the area on email or, if you use Instagram, popping them on there with the tag #bbcstoke, external.
Relive Saturday's EFL actionpublished at 20:07 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017
Relive Saturday's EFL action, as Wolves beat Aston Villa, Brighton's unbeaten run ends and Newcastle go top of the Championship.
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'Lucky escape' for driver after branch smashes windscreenpublished at 18:07 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017
A driver on the Staffordshire Moorlands had an "incredibly fortunate escape", ambulance crews say, after a fallen branch smashed through his windscreen, hitting his head.
It happened on a country road in Warslow, in the Staffordshire Moorlands, at about 7:40 this morning.
Image source, WMAS
"Fortunately, he had been driving at an appropriate speed and was able to stop rapidly but not before the branch struck his face, an ambulance service spokesperson said.
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Astonishingly, he had suffered no serious injuries other than a bloodied nose and some swelling."
Our live coverage across the daypublished at 18:00 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2017
We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning.