Jodie Looker
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Staffordshire Police has told BBC Radio Stoke new, tougher penalties on using hand-held mobiles while driving will be a massive deterrent. 

Penalties for using a phone at the wheel double from today to six points and a £200 fine.

Image source, Department for Transport

New drivers who get six points or more must retake their practical and theory tests. 

More experienced drivers can be banned if they get 12 points in three years. 

Both Staffordshire, external and Cheshire police forces, external , along with the Central Motorway Police Group, external , say they've started a seven-day crackdown on the issue.

Emma Thomas
Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Proposals for a new shopping and leisure complex on the site of Hanley's old bus station in Stoke-on-Trent could be approved today. , external

Image source, Realis Estates

The city council's planning committee will decide on the Unity Walk project, external this morning. 

The private developer, Realis Estates, wants to construct shops, restaurants, a cinema, a hotel and a multi-storey car park on the site, creating an estimated 600 jobs.

Follow Final Score, reaction, images and social media from Saturday's Premier League action.

Caroline Gall
BBC News Online

A woman who kept a £20 note she found in a shop has been convicted of theft .

Nicole Bailey, 23, picked up the cash at a branch of One Stop, in Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent, after it was dropped by a customer who withdrew it from a nearby cash machine, police said.

Bailey pleaded guilty at North Staffordshire Justice Centre after seeing CCTV evidence.

Her defence team  reportedly, external  argued the case should have been dealt with through a police caution.

Bailey, of Highfield Drive, Blurton, must also pay £20 compensation, a £20 victim surcharge and £135 in court costs.

People in parts of Crewe may be without water this morning because of a leak.

United Utilities says it's happened on Weston Road/University Way , external and its engineers arrived on site at 08:30 to start repairs.

Graham McGarry
Crewe Alexandra commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell has described his team's performance in last night's 4-0 defeat at Hartlepool as totally unacceptable.

Image source, Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

The Alex conceded once just before half time and three times in the last 20 minutes to stay 20th in League Two, seven points above the relegation zone. 

BBC News England

Train passengers planning to take services from Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street are being warned there'll be no trains in or out of that destination "for several days".

A section of trackside wall "loaded with concrete and cabins by a third party" fell on to the railway, blocking all four lines into the station, Network Rail said.  

Image source, Network Rail

The collapse on Tuesday evening left rubble strewn across the tracks and overhead wires damaged.

Commuters and travellers are being urged to seek alternative routes.

All services from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester, Warrington and Wigan are suspended , external , although some replacement buses are in operation.  

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

A bright start across the West Midlands this morning,with perhaps an isolated shower for some.

The skies will slowly cloud over through the morning, with patchy rain likely to arrive from the south west during the late afternoon, with highs of 8C (46F).

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

Morning everyone, it's started off pretty dry in Stoke-on-Trent today at the BBC Stoke headquarters.

This sunrise has come today from BBC Weather Watcher Z70 in Stafford.

Image source, Z70

We'll have a full look at your morning's weather shortly and there'll be news, sport, travel and other updates through the day for Staffordshire and Cheshire.

I'll also feature more of your pictures of the area so keep them coming on email or, if you use Instagram, you can put them there, external - just tag them #bbcstoke so I know you agree to share them.

Two Lewis Alessandra goals help Hartlepool go six points clear of the League Two relegation zone with victory over Crewe.

Nicole Bailey pocketed the cash after finding it on the floor of a local shop.

We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow.

Keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning.  

Rochdale's League One match against Port Vale is postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Chris King
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

A Stafford woman who let her dog run free around a cemetery in the town has been fined a total of more than £900.

The borough council says the charge rose because she failed to pay a £75 penalty when caught with her dog off the lead at the Eccleshall Road site last October.

She was fined £660, ordered to pay costs of £206.20 with a £66 victim surcharge.    

Image source, Google

A British Museum expert says the Leekfrith Iron Age Torcs are of international importance.

The Sentinel

Developers are planning to demolish empty buildings in Newhall Street, Hanley, external , and replace them with a four-storey complex on the site.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

The waste collection company run by Cheshire East Council is to collect rubbish on behalf of Staffordshire Moorlands and High Peak councils. 

The authority says its firm, Ansa, will help save the two councils money, and all existing employees will be transferred, external to a new partnership arrangement.

Image source, Cheshire East Council

Poor industrial relations, staff shortages and some significant prisoner unrest are being blamed for a sharp decline in standards at HMP Featherstone near Wolverhampton .

Image source, PA

The Chief Inspector of Prisons says there has been a "shocking worsening in standards" at the Category C jail which holds 650 men. 

Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke told us prison managers need to get to grips with the situation.

Peter Spencer
Reporter, BBC Radio Derby

Olympic gold medal-winning City of Derby swimmer Adam Peaty had been due to be made an MBE at Buckingham Palace today, but we've been told by his mother that it's had to be postponed because he's currently training in the US.

Image source, Getty Images

Tim Wedgwood
BBC Local Live

The second stage of consultations on changes to Staffordshire's electoral boundaries starts today. 

One of Stoke-on-Trent's three seats would be removed under current proposals to cut the number of MPs from 650 to 600. 

The government says it makes each constituency a fairer size, but Labour says it unfairly affects them.

You can take part by going to the Boundary Commission for England, external 's website.