Victim feels 'pure hatred' to surgeon who needlessly harmed her
New £400 fines for fly-tippers considered in Stafford
Plane pulls banner over city as part of culture bid
Football: Former MP pledges local support for Port Vale in survival bid
Updates on Friday 28 April 2017
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Flowers, candles and an ornament have been reported stolen from graves in Burntwood. , external
Image source, GoogleStaffordshire Police say the thefts were reported today at Burntwood Cemetery in St Matthew's Road.
The force says they've been told of three cases of thefts over the past three weeks.
The skies have been grey over Staffordshire today with patchy rain around but that's not stopped our local BBC Weather Watchers getting some great photos.
Here are two from users Geoffrey Bungle in Eccleshall and Mrs Penberthy Photos in Oakamoor.
Image source, Geoffrey Bungle
Image source, Mrs Penberthy PhotosAllen Cook
BBC Local Live
A huge woodland fire covering over two acres of land may have been caused deliberately. , external
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service says crews spent several hours yesterday from 17:30 tackling the blaze near Nanny's Rock, Kinver Edge.
Image source, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue ServiceThey found an area of around 10,000 square meters of bracken and woodland on fire and say it caused "a significant drain" on resources.
The cause of the fire's now under investigation but the service says it suspects it was either started accidentally, by carelessly thrown-away smoking materials, or deliberately.
Image source, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service
Phil McCann
Cheshire Political Reporter, BBC News
It's been revealed all three of the most senior official roles at Cheshire East Council are now being carried out by different people, two weeks after the chief executive was suspended.
Mike Suarez's (pictured) role is being covered on an interim basis, amid an investigation into officer conduct.
Image source, Michael MooreThe council has now announced its chief operating officer's legal duties are being carried out by someone else, and the monitoring officer has been replaced with an interim while he is "not in work".
The authority won't comment on whether the changes are linked to its investigation into concerns about conduct.
An inspirational Lichfield woman has raised more than £7,000, external for MENCAP by completing the London Marathon.
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Football fans heading to the Manchester derby this evening and planning to use the M6 through Staffordshire are being warned to expect delays, external.
Highways England says it's on the northbound side of the carriageway between junctions 15 and 16., external
Image source, Getty ImagesThe agency says there are delays of around an hour through the stretch.
It's urging supporters of either Manchester City or Manchester United coming from "farther afield" to allow extra time to get to the game at the Etihad Stadium which kicks off at 20:00.
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Staffordshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) says the force's former Stafford headquarters has been sold, external, subject to contracts being signed.
Deals to sell the 16-acre (six-hectare) site in Cannock Road, Baswich, have previously fallen through.
Image source, GoogleThe force relocated to its current £16m headquarters in Weston Road in 2010 having been in Baswich since the 1950s.
In 2012, the PCC Matthew Ellis had hoped to have it sold within six months - five years later he tweets to say the sale has been "complex" but it has been "sold, subject to contract".
Leek Post and Times
Expensive jewellery buried under an extension has been found by police, external – six years after it was stolen in a burglary.
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Some stunning views and local wildlife in today's selection of the many pictures you send in of Staffordshire and Cheshire.
To get a photo which you've taken featured, send it on email or put it on Instagram, adding the tag #bbcstoke, external to show you agree to share it.
Your photos
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
A child rapist who fled the UK is about to start an 11-year jail term after being extradited from Brazil.
Portuguese national Antonio Pedro De Olivera Alves, 45, was convicted in his absence at Stafford Crown Court of raping a 12-year-old girl.
Image source, Staffordshire PoliceAt the time of arrest, he lived at Aneurin Bevan Place in Rugeley and worked in Stafford.
Alves was sentenced in 2013, and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
He was arrested in South America last year and Staffordshire Police say he was brought back to the UK this morning, external. He is due to appear before a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court tomorrow.
Liz Ellis
Presenter, BBC Radio Stoke
A TV soap's controversial child grooming storyline has been praised by Staffordshire Police.
ITV's Coronation Street has seen 16-year-old Bethany Platt being manipulated by the much older Nathan Curtis, who she believes she's in a relationship with.
Charities have praised the TV show with Barnardo's saying it is "shining a light on this serious but little discussed issue".
Image source, ITVThe NSPCC says the number of child sex offences recorded across Staffordshire, external rose to more than 1,300 last year.
Staffordshire Police says the protection of vulnerable children is an "absolute priority" and the increase is partly due to more victims having the confidence to come forward.
Quote MessageI think it's really important that such a soap like Coronation Street is tackling such an issue. They have millions of viewers and for Coronation Street to have recognised this storyline is excellent."
Det Ch Insp Becky Hyde, Officer with Staffordshire Police's Child Exploitation Team
Lee Blakeman
Port Vale commentator, BBC Radio Stoke
The Port Vale defender Nathan Smith says the team have what it takes to win at promotion-chasing Fleetwood on Sunday.
Image source, Pete Norton/Getty ImagesVale need to win to stand any chance of staying up, while Fleetwood know that three points for them could see them promoted.
Quote MessageWe beat them at home and it's something we feel we can do. We're going go away, work hard and battle."
Nathan Smith, Port Vale defender
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Two major roads in Stoke-on-Trent could be turned into "smart" trunk roads in what's claimed would be the first such change in the UK.
The city council's come up with a "transport vision", external which includes the proposals for the A500 and A50.
It says they would go alongside the planned so-called smart motorway upgrade to the M6 between junctions 15 and 16.
Smart motorways, external operate variable speed limits and can open the hard shoulder to traffic to reduce congestion.
The authority's "transport vision", which also includes overhauling traffic junctions and new link roads, will be discussed by the council's cabinet on 16 May., external
An inspirational Lichfield woman has raised more than £7,000 for Mencap by completing the London Marathon., external
Image source, Lichfield Mercury
BBC Midlands Today
On Midlands Today this lunchtime, how the drugs spice and black mamba are causing "diabolical" levels of harm in part of the region.
We'll also feature the new £2m bridge which is due to open this afternoon in the Midlands, a year after the old one collapsed.
Those stories and more, including your lunchtime weather forecast, from 13:30 on BBC One.
BBC Sport
Gambling companies should refuse to take bets from "vulnerable" footballers because they are easy targets, says ex-Stoke winger Matthew Etherington.
The 35-year-old lost £1.5m, external at the height of his gambling addiction.
Matthew Etherington says that since he has retired from football, agents have been in touch asking if he would advise players
He sympathises with Burnley midfielder Joey Barton, who admitted suffering from the problem on Wednesday after being banned for 18 months for betting.
"Gambling companies need to recognise those that are vulnerable and don't take bets from them," Etherington said.
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Armed police were called out in Stoke-on-Trent after police say they had reports of shots being fired at windows., external
Staffordshire Police says officers found windows damaged at two homes when they got to the Windermere Street area of Hanley yesterday evening.
Image source, GoogleThree people from Stoke-on-Trent were arrested by the force which says they seized two air guns after searching a house.
Detectives say, of the three, a 22-year-old man and a 23-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
The third, a 17-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
A Staffordshire zoo's welcomed the arrival of two new babies from a critically endangered species.
Drayton Manor Zoo near Tamworth says Kit and Leo, twin cotton-top tamarins, were born at the site in March.
Kit and Leo
They say there are only around 6,000 of the primates in the wild, adding the new arrivals are part of a "captive population as a safety net in case the worst happens".
The zoo says the twins are both baby males and, when they arrived, weighed around a third of the weight of a hamster at 40-45g (1.4-1.6oz).
The Chase Line will be closed for more than two weeks this summer causing major frustration for commuters., external
Sarah Robertson
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke
After being cancelled due to increased costs, it's been revealed there will be a Mow Cop Killer Mile race this year. , external
The popular event should have taken place tonight but it'll be on 21 September instead.
The event's Facebook page says it's going to be hosted by Mow Cop Runners.
The Mow Cop Residents' Association, who used to organise the Killer Mile, blamed costs and legal requirements for not putting it on. , external
The race gets its name from the gradient as it goes up one of the steepest hills in the county and has been described by some runners as "short but brutal".
