We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 on Monday, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening. 

Owen Phillips
BBC Sport Online

Uttoxeter's Adam Peaty says the chance to become the first British swimmer to defend an Olympic title is driving him towards Tokyo 2020 . 

Image source, Rex Features

The reigning Commonwealth and European champion destroyed the field by more than a second and a half in winning the 100m breaststroke gold at Rio 2016.

But the world record holder's drive to succeed is showing no signs of abating.

Matt Lee
BBC Radio Stoke

More than 300 tonnes of fly-tipped commercial waste is having to be checked for hazardous materials before it can be cleared, the county council says , external . 

The rubbish was dumped on woodland in January between Madeley and Betley at Gladings Wood, which is owned by the Forestry Commission.   

The council says offenders broke open a gate to get to the land.

The authority says it is now set to be cleared and they hope to do so by Easter, but samples need to be taken to check it is not hazardous.

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

You've been having your say on news that eight branches of NatWest are set to shut later this year in Staffordshire. 

Owner RBS revealed the news yesterday, blaming a "dramatic shift" in banking.

Image source, Google

On the BBC Radio Stoke Facebook page, Jax Holt posted, external : "First Tunstall and now Burslem! I think there will only be one bank remaining in Burslem when not too long ago there were at least six." 

While Kerry Alcock added, external : "Great, Cheadle again. Moved from Co-op to HSBC due to closure, then from HSBC to NatWest when that closed. Now NatWest." 

And Dorothy Burton added, external : "Another nail in the coffin for our High Street and don't think customers have been given a thought."

Staffs Live

A Staffordshire University academic is working to make sport a level playing field, highlighting the successes of women in sport and campaigning to break down barriers faced by women working in the sport and exercise industry.   , external

Image source, Staffs Live

Laura Mcmullan
Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

On Midlands Today this evening, there've been major problems for motorists on the M6 and surrounding roads in Staffordshire all day. 

Disruption was down to Highways England completely shutting a stretch of the motorway for emergency bridge repairs. 

I'll have the latest on the situation, and what the impact's been, on BBC One from 18:30.

Rebecca Wood
BBC Weather

 It will be dry, clear and cold tonight with a touch of frost , particularly in rural areas. 

We may see a few mist and fog patches forming by dawn in places. Lows of  2C (36F).

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

Cannabis with a street value of about £60,000 has been seized by police , external after they found a drugs factory in the West Midlands. 

Staffordshire Police say they arrested a driver on Hednesford Road, Cannock after they saw him using a mobile phone at the wheel and then found cannabis in the car. 

Image source, Google

The force says the 38-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis with intent to supply. 

Officers say they then searched a house in Lothians Road, Pelsall, where they found 51 cannabis plants and "a large amount" of harvested cannabis.

Chris King
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

A 91-year-old former soldier has been awarded France's highest honour for his role in the D-Day landings.   

Harry Gould, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, will be presented with the Legion d'Honneur by the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire. 

Mr Gould served with the Royal Army Service Corps and was involved in the transportation of supplies to troops. 

The charity which helped him apply for the honour said Mr Gould had been unaware he was eligible until he was told over a cup of tea.  

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

Highways England says it does expect the southbound side of the M6 between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford to reopen this evening. 

Image source, Highways England

The whole motorway was shut between junctions 14 and 15 after the organisation found, during scheduled roadworks, that concrete panels needed removing from the A51 bridge. 

The northbound side reopened this afternoon, external after hours of disruption on the M6 and surrounding routes.

Jason O'Connor is jailed for stealing from several elderly victims in Staffordshire.

Emma Thomas
Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

The teenage pregnancy rate in Stoke-on-Trent has fallen to the lowest level in almost two decades, according to the city council.  , external

The authority says the number of pregnant 15, 16 and 17-year-old girls has reduced by 61% since 1998. 

Image source, PA

But with 111 such pregnancies in 2015, the city's rate still remains higher than the national average. 

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said Stoke-on-Trent's rate in that year was 27 conceptions per 1,000 15 to 17-year-old girls. 

By comparison, the ONS said the rate in England and Wales in 2015 for the same age group was 21.0 conceptions per 1,000., external

It's Red Nose Day, external today and this year it's all about making your laugh matter. 

Comic Relief funds 163 projects in the West Midlands and there's loads of fundraising going on around Staffordshire and Cheshire - including the folks at Staffordshire University:

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

A former Bishop of Lichfield, the Right Reverend Keith Sutton, has died aged 82 , external .

The news has been confirmed by the Lichfield Diocese - he served in the role from 1984 to 2003. 

Image source, Andrew Festing

Before becoming Bishop of Lichfield he'd been a special envoy for the Archbishop of Canterbury in South Africa during the apartheid period in the 1980s. 

The diocese says the former bishop, who had been living with dementia for several years, died today at a care home in Surrey.

The diocese covers large parts of Staffordshire, northern Shropshire and the Black Country.

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

Dave Hall shared these photos of an unusual sight today - a deserted M6 motorway between junctions 14 and 15 in the middle of a weekday.

It's all down to Highways England closing that stretch between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford to make emergency bridge repairs. 

Image source, Dave Hall

Image source, Dave Hall

Lee Blakeman
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Highways England say just the southbound side is now shut as they work on emergency bridge repairs between junctions 14 and 15 of the M6.

Stone's Olympic champion Joe Clarke's tweeted his pride at today picking up the MBE he was awarded in the New Year Honours list . 

Russell Truran
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke

A burglar who stole the rings from the fingers of an elderly woman has been jailed for 18 years.

Staffordshire Police say Jason O'Connor broke into Elsie Bird's Trentham home in October and took her rings and jewellery, leaving her shaken , external and with bruised fingers.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

Her family told BBC Radio Stoke the 98-year-old never really recovered from the incident and died just before Christmas.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard another of O'Connor's victims was pinned to the floor in a burglary and threatened with a knife. 

The 41-year-old, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two charges of robbery, two of burglary and one of handling stolen goods. 

Parts of the M6, completely closed due to an "unsafe" bridge in Staffordshire, may not reopen until Friday evening.

Matt Jackson
Producer, BBC Radio Stoke

People in Cheshire have been told to expect to see more police officers on their streets, external "over the coming days", following the attack in Westminster this week . 

Image source, EPA

The county's chief constable, Simon Byrne, says there's no specific threat to the county, but the force is "doing everything in its power" to make sure a terror attack can't happen in the area.

A book of condolences has also been opened in Cheshire at Chester Town Hall.

Staffordshire's chief constable, Jane Sawyers,  also says there are no raised concerns in her area., external