Man jailed for 'child-like' sex doll import bid
Crewe crane collapse: Killed men identified
Hugh Grant offers £1,000 for return of WW2 veteran's medals
World Transplant Games competitor 'didn't expect to be here'
Updates from Friday 23 June 2017
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
Here are two pictures from our area which have been sent in by Paul Guest in Northwood, Stoke-on-Trent and Cliff Salt in Leek.
You can send your photos of the area in on email or, if you use Instagram, put them there with the tag #bbcstoke , externalin the description to show you agree to share them.
Image source, Paul Guest
Image source, Cliff Salt
Graham McGarry
Crewe Alexandra commentator, BBC Radio Stoke
The Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell says he has players "ready to be ripened" for clubs higher up in the leagues to enquire about buying.
Image source, Rex FeaturesThe club have in recent years had a relative dearth in big-money exits since the departures of Nick Powell, Ashley Westwood and Luke Murphy.
But Artell's told BBC Radio Stoke that he is confident that, if next season goes as he expects, his phone will be ringing with offers from managers higher up the EFL.
Quote MessageTo leave a club in League Two, you need to be in the top seven. If we're successful, don't be surprised if my phone doesn't ring a bit more with enquiries about our players. I envisage that to happen as I envisage us being successful."
David Artell, Crewe Alexandra's manager
BBC Sport
Port Vale have made their sixth summer signing - and their fifth in three days - by bringing in defender Graham Kelly from Sheffield United.
The 19-year-old left-back has signed a one-year contract, with the option of a second year.
Image source, Port Vale FCKelly made his debut for the Blades against Coventry City at the end of the 2015-16 season - and also played last term in the EFL Trophy.
Kelly's arrival follows the return to Vale Park of striker Tom Pope and this week's signings, winger Cristian Montano, goalkeepers Rob Lainton and Sam Hornby and defender Joe Davis.
BBC Newsbeat
Harry Styles' stepfather Robin Twist has died aged 57 after a "long cancer battle".
The singer acted as the best man at Robin's wedding to his mum, Anne Cox, in Congleton, Cheshire, in 2013.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe family has released a statement saying: "Harry's stepfather, Robin Twist, sadly passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. The family asks for privacy at this time."
#RIPRobin has been trending on Twitter and fans have been paying tribute.
Robin and Anne had just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.
BBC Business News
A Chinese firm could end up running the West Coast Main Line through Staffordshire and Cheshire in the future.
That's because it's part of one of the three bids revealed to be looking to run the new West Coast Partnership rail franchise.
Image source, PAThe franchise would run both the West Coast Main Line and the HS2 high speed services between London and Birmingham.
The Department for Transport (DfT), external said First Trenitalia West Coast, MTR West Coast Partnership and West Coast Partnership had all been shortlisted.
All three bidders have a non-British partner with the Chinese Guangshen Railway Company one of them.
The operator will be responsible for services on both the West Coast main line from 2019 and running the initial HS2 services in 2026.
Emma Thomas
Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke
A council project to use rescued bees to produce honey for charity has raised enough money to pay for a community defibrillator.
Stafford Borough Council's pest control team re-homes bees in hives, external where they can safely create their natural product.
The authority says it currently has around 150,000 of the creatures at work in Staffordshire and says it hopes the project continues to grow.
A parent and child are taken to hospital as a precaution as the crane strikes house when it falls.
Read More
Liz Ellis
Presenter, BBC Radio Stoke
The MP for Crewe says she's going to make sure the families of people who died when a crane collapsed in the town get the support they need.
Laura Smith told BBC Radio Stoke she got the first train back from London after hearing of the incident on Dunwoody Way yesterday.
She says she visited the site last night and wants to make sure people get supported following this "absolute tragedy".
Quote MessageIt's going to be very important for me today to find out the people who have been affected and make sure the residents are supported and also sending all my thoughts to the families who have lost members."
Laura Smith, Labour MP for Crewe and Nantwich
Allen Cook
BBC Local Live
The funeral's taken place this afternoon of Nell Jones, the 14-year-old who died last month in the Manchester Arena bombing.
It was held in Middlewich and here are some photos from the event from the Press Association.
Image source, Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Image source, Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Image source, Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Phil McCann
Cheshire Political Reporter, BBC News
After eight years in the pipeline, a government inspector has finally approved an official plan, external earmarking land for housing in east Cheshire.
Without the Local Plan, which earmarks areas where homes should be built, it's been much more difficult for Cheshire East Council to stop controversial plans for housing in the countryside getting the go-ahead.
The process to get a plan approved began in 2009, but suffered a major setback three years ago when the council's proposals were rejected by a government inspector.
But the same inspector has now approved the strategy.
The council says it'll give the borough the best protection against unplanned and unsustainable development.
Jennie Aitken
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke
An eyewitness to the crane collapse yesterday in Crewe's told the BBC that the crane "slowly started tilting" before it fell on to the building site.
Image source, PACheshire Police confirmed two men had died and a third was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.
A man who lives nearby, who only gave his name as Jason, told BBC Radio Stoke the crane - being used to help build new homes - had been lifting tools before it fell.
Quote MessageThe guys finished their work and they were still up there when all of a sudden, it slowly just started to tilt, tilt tilt. Guys started shouting and it completely fell on the floor."
Jason, Eyewitness
Calum McKenzie
BBC Local Live
A new footpath, designed to raise awareness of the Peak District's "magnificent landscapes" has been officially opened.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe 190-mile route, designed by the Friends of the Peak District, takes in parts of Staffordshire and Cheshire,the Derbyshire Dales and the edges of Sheffield and Oldham.
Julie Gough, from the Friends of the Peak District, said: "One of the reasons for devising the route was to raise awareness of the edge of the National Park and its magnificent landscapes - and to encourage people to cherish and protect them."
"The walk follows existing paths and trails and takes you away from the usual ‘honeypots’, into quieter, less well-known corners of the Park, giving you a new perspective on the Peak District."
Macclesfield Town sign 23-year-old winger Ryan Lloyd on a two-year contract following his release by Port Vale.
Read More
Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
Two women are this morning said to be in a serious condition in hospital after a crash in Cheshire.
Image source, GoogleCheshire Police says their Ford Fiesta was in collision with two other cars on Wrenbury Road near the Cholmondeley Arms yesterday afternoon.
Officers say the women, aged 74 and 76 and from Wrexham, were airlifted to the Royal Stoke University Hospital with serious injuries.
The force says they were in a critical condition but this morning it's now a serious condition.
A major £335,000 crackdown on anti-social behaviour in the city centre could see street drinking and begging criminalised., external
Image source, The Sentinel
Lee Blakeman
BBC Radio Stoke journalist
A protest is due to take place in Newcastle-under-Lyme today over plans by the borough council to close a leisure centre.
Members of Kidsgrove Sports Centre , externalsay they're "outraged" at the plans and dozens of clubs are set to have to find alternative premises if it shuts at the end of the month.
The borough council says it can't afford to maintain the building, external which is owned by Staffordshire County Council.
Emma Thomas
BBC Radio Stoke
The funeral service for Nell Jones has ended in Middlewich and her coffin has been taken away for a private, family burial at a nearby church.
After a moment of reflection at the end of the service, it concluded with a northern soul track Do I Love you (indeed I do) by Frank Wilson.
Outside, there were hugs and words between Nell's parents and the vicar, before they left St Michael and All Angels Church.
Emma Thomas
Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke
The brother of Nell Jones, the Manchester attack victim whose funeral is taking place this afternoon, has told the service "she should be at my funeral years from now".
Crowd outside church
A crowd of family, friends and people in Middlewich gathered outside the church to pay tribute and hear the service on loudspeakers outside the venue.
One of the teachers at Nell's school, Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, told her family "she walked into every lesson with a smile on her face".
Emma Thomas
BBC Radio Stoke
Funeral cortege arrives for Nell Jones funeral
The church bells rang out in Middlewich just before the funeral of Nell Jones began.
The 14-year-old, who died in the Manchester Arena attack, was carried into St Michael and All Angels Church in a pale wooden coffin which arrived covered in flowers.
Family and friends had gathered outside under umbrellas as the rain poured down in the town.
The service then began with the first hymn, One More Step Along The World I Go.
Emma Thomas
Political reporter, BBC Radio Stoke
The funeral of Nell Jones, the 14-year-old from Goostrey who died in the Manchester Arena bombing last month, is under way in Middlewich.
It started with music from Ed Sheeran who was of her favourite musicians, with his song Photograph being played.
I've been told that the singer apparently sent flowers to the family as he'd heard how much of a fan Nell was.
