Summary

  • New 24-hour emergency mental health team for Staffordshire

  • Colleges complete merger with 11,000 students

  • Football: Burton's Ben Turner banned for racial abuse

  • Saido Berahino: Former manager Tony Pulis says 'life is too short' to dwell on the past

  • Updates from Friday 31 March 2017

  1. RHS Tatton to host dementia-friendly gardenpublished at 15:15 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Lee Thomas
    Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

    A garden aimed at bringing comfort for people with dementia will form part of the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park this summer. , external

    Two Cheshire designers, Jane Bingham and Penny Hearn, are behind it and say they will fill it with features and plants popular in the 1960s and 1970s.

    It'll be called "Remember Me" and support the Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity.  

    Leighton Hospital sign

    After the show, Leighton Hospital in Crewe will then get elements from RHS Tatton as they say they're looking to develop a future garden for people with dementia.

  2. 'Your legacy is our way of life' - Prince lays wreath for London attack PC published at 14:57 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Lisa Wright
    Journalist, BBC News Online

    A wreath with a note saying "your legacy is our way of life" has been laid by the Duke of Cambridge at the National Memorial Arboretum in tribute to London attack victim PC Keith Palmer. 

    Prince William placed it at the police memorial at the site during a visit to officially open its £15.7m new Remembrance Centre.

    Note on the wreathImage source, PA

    In the programme for the event, he wrote: "This is a place for special memories, many of them sad, but hopefully, many of them happy too. 

    "We all have an important job to do in keeping these memories alive for future generations and this new Remembrance Centre will play a significant role in that duty." 

    The 150-acre (61 hectare) site contains more than 330 memorials dedicated to all the armed forces, emergency services and civilians.

  3. Watch: Bid to secure future of birdspublished at 14:36 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    John Acres
    Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke

    A wildlife trust says it's hoping to secure the future of upland wading birds in Staffordshire if it can raise funds to buy about 30 acres of land.  

    Media caption,

    Hazel Barrow

    It's in the Staffordshire Moorlands and called Hazel Barrow - the trust is asking for public donations towards its £108,000 target.  , external

    Staffordshire Wildlife Trust says statistics for the birds, which include lapwing, snipe and curlew, show their numbers have "plummeted" in the county since 1985.  

  4. Football: Stoke told defence is key for Leicester City gamepublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Matt Sandoz
    Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

    The former Stoke City and Leicester defender Gerry Taggart has told BBC Radio Stoke he thinks his former team will have to be solid at the back if they're to stop Leicester scoring this weekend.

    
          Leicester and Stoke players in action in their last game in December
        Image source, PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

    Leicester have won all four games since they sacked manager Claudio Ranieri and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. 

    Quote Message

    In four games, Leicester have scored 11 goals. The key for Stoke, to try to get anything out of this game, is to make sure that they cope with what Leicester's forward line will throw at them."

    Gerry Taggart , Former Leicester and Stoke City defender

  5. Prince lays wreath for London attack PCpublished at 13:51 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    The tribute was paid as a new Remembrance Centre was officially opened.

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  6. Police claim extra cash for abuse probespublished at 13:48 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    A "substantial increase" in football-linked child sex abuse claims leads Cheshire Police to request more funding.

    Read More
  7. Prince William lays wreath to terror PCpublished at 13:39 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    The prince lays flowers at a national memorial to police officers killed in the line of duty.

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  8. On Midlands Today from 13:30: Prince William in Westminster attack tribute published at 13:14 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Liz Copper
    Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

    On Midlands Today this lunchtime, the Duke of Cambridge is in Staffordshire today to meet veterans, volunteers and schoolchildren at the National Memorial Arboretum. 

    Children waiting at the Remembrance Centre

    Prince William has opened the new Remembrance Centre and paid tribute to the police officer killed in last week's terror attack at Westminster. 

    I've been at the site for the visit and will bring you more from 13:30 on BBC One.

  9. Photo: Prince William officially opens Remembrance Centrepublished at 12:31 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Heidi Booth
    Journalist, BBC Radio Derby

    The Duke of Cambridge has visited the National Memorial Arboretum today to officially open its new Remembrance Centre. 

    Prince William is patron of the fund that raised almost £16m to build the centre. 

    Before leaving the site he also laid a wreath in memory of PC Keith Palmer who died in the Westminster attack a week ago.  

    Prince William at National Memorial Arboretum
  10. Mrs May Triggers An Indefinite Articlepublished at 12:22 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Theresa May Triggers An Indefinite Article: But What Is The Exit Strategy?

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  11. Watch: Today's selection of your pictures of Staffordshire and Cheshire published at 12:09 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Allen Cook
    BBC Local Live

    Here are four more of the pictures you've sent in of Staffordshire and Cheshire.

    If you've got a recently taken picture to share, email it in or, if you use Instagram, post it there and add #bbcstoke, external as a tag to show you agree to share it.

    Media caption,

    Your pictures

  12. Duke opens Remembrance Centre: Site 'aims to be a focal point' published at 11:38 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Allen Cook
    BBC Local Live

    The Remembrance Centre at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire , which Prince William is officially opening today, was finished back in October. 

    Costing £16m, officials at the site say its aim is to be a focal point to honour those who have given their lives in wars and serving the country. 

    Remembrance Centre this morning

    It contains several exhibition galleries and new learning spaces , external and was paid for through a fundraising campaign supported by groups including Staffordshire County Council and the Royal British Legion.

    Earlier this week it was revealed the centre had been shortlisted in the Royal Institute of British Architects' (RIBA) West Midlands Regional Awards. , external

  13. RSPCA reports rise in animal cruelty cases in Staffordshirepublished at 10:51 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Allen Cook
    BBC Local Live

    Cases of animal cruelty investigated by the RSPCA in Staffordshire, external went up last year. 

    The organisation's released its latest figures and says there were 3,350 cases in the county last year compared with 3,192 in 2015 - a rise of 4.9%.

    Terrier with matted furImage source, RSPCA

    Among the cases they investigated was a Yorkshire terrier (pictured) which was found in Bucknall with fur so matted he "was barely recognisable". 

    They also reported a cat which the RSPCA says was dragged across pavement for a quarter of a mile in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

    In Cheshire, cases fell last year to 2,778 from 2,929 in 2015.

  14. Your say: Shoppers 'scared to park' at Aldi storepublished at 10:24 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Allen Cook
    BBC Local Live

    You've been having your say on the story that drivers in the Staffordshire Moorlands are unhappy about fines at a supermarket car park. 

    Aldi in Leek offers free parking once numberplates are registered but some drivers say they're still receiving fines. 

    The firm running the car park says it encourages people to appeal.

    Aldi in LeekImage source, Google

    On BBC Radio Stoke's Facebook page, Julie Thorp posted, external : "It's only typing your numberplate in, what's to be scared of?" 

    While Hazel Ball wrote, external : "People didn't seem scared on Sunday, the queue to get on there was blocking the road." 

    And Ray Daniels added, external : "Simple solution - go elsewhere, hit them where it hurts, in the pocket!"

  15. 'Hero' from Chell helps deliver his son in Potteries lay-bypublished at 09:55 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    The Sentinel

    Dad Darren Rogers was forced to help his fiancée deliver their baby boy on a lay-by close to KFC, external - and even had to remove the umbilical cord from his little neck.

    Darren Rogers and his family including new arrivalImage source, The Sentinel
  16. Man charged after armed police called to schoolpublished at 09:32 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Lee Blakeman
    Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

    A man's been charged by police after an incident at a Stoke-on-Trent primary school yesterday which saw armed police called to the area., external

    The 38-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent is charged with one count of assault by beating and one count of possession of a knife in a public place.

    Packmoor Ormiston AcademyImage source, Google

    Staffordshire Police says officers were called to Packmoor Ormiston Academy yesterday morning and add that nobody was injured. 

    They say the man from Goldenhill was arrested at Stafford services and is due before magistrates in Newcastle-under-Lyme this morning.

  17. Duke of Cambridge to lay wreath in memory of PC Keith Palmerpublished at 09:06 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    BBC Midlands Today

    The Duke of Cambridge will lay a wreath at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire today to remember PC Keith Palmer, the police officer murdered in last week's attack in Westminster.  

    General view of the Armed Forces MemorialImage source, Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

    Prince William will also officially open the new £16m Remembrance Centre at the site , external

    The centre has been designed to be a focal point to honour those who have given their lives in wars and serving the country. 

  18. More money requested by police to investigate football child sex abuse claims published at 08:43 British Summer Time 29 March 2017

    Phil McCann
    Cheshire Political Reporter, BBC News

    The Home Office is being asked to give Cheshire Police more money for an investigation into claims of historical child sex abuse in football. 

    A number of former Crewe Alexandra players made allegations last year.

    Children playing footballImage source, Thinkstock

    The force is assembling a dedicated team of over 20 officers and staff. 

    Cheshire Police have been given £130,000 so far to fund the investigation - they've asked for double that amount as the number of allegations made has gone up. 

    The county's police commissioner also said "good progress" is being made on four "critical" investigations.