A minister today said HS2 was crucial to the region's economic recovery post-Covid, as he told residents: "We won't ignore your concerns about the line."

The funeral cortège for Doris Hobday, one of the beloved Black Country twins, will visit her favourite supermarket.

A Black Country council has one of the worst records in the country for paying out test and trace support payments, new figures show.

Three vehicles have been seized by Walsall Council following a spate of fly-tipping incidents in the borough.

One of the last of the old-style ‘jobbing’ jewellers has died at the age of 84.

Local authorities across the Black Country and Staffordshire have received nearly £270 million in extra funding during the pandemic, new figures show.

Councils across the West Midlands have been handed £13 million to help support domestic abuse victims and their children.

Rugby fans and couples trapped at home because of lockdown restrictions are being offered a taste of pub life with an “emergency” beer delivery service.

“There is one thing that is indisputable: serious reading seriously engages you cognitively.”

Boris said a little while ago that he is "optimistic" that we could have a summer holiday this year, so it's time to start drawing up your plans.

The human condition and the differences between a public and private face will be discussed by one of the country’s top comedians.

Young apprentice engineers have been commended by a national organisation for their “stunning” work restoring a classic car.

Shropshire MP Mark Pritchard has spoken of his delight and surprise at being elected to the privy council.

Children have put their artwork on show to the public at the entrance to their day nursery.

Families in Staffordshire are being reminded of the continued need to stick to the current lockdown guidelines during the half-term break.

A car was seized and two men arrested after a series of early-morning drug arrests.

A former councillor has lost his life to Covid, prompting a call from his family for people not to become complacent as they start receiving their vaccinations.

"Serious questions" need to be asked of the Government's handling of the Covid-19 once the pandemic is over, a council leader has said.

Around 20 people from red-list countries are expected to arrive at Birmingham Airport a month, leaders have said.

More than 300 fines have been issued to people in the West Midlands in one week for breaching coronavirus rules.

Vandals smashed the window of an ambulance - forcing it out of operation for patients needing emergency treatment.

A further case of the South African strain of coronavirus has been found in the Black Country.

A massive RAF transport aircraft made an emergency landing after reporting smoke in the cockpit as it flew over the Midlands today.

A life-saving charity has revealed that one of its major fundraising streams has been cut by 40 per cent.

Lists of important local heritage sites in the Black Country are set to be updated and extended after the region won £70,000 of Government funding.

A health chief has said efforts to test 10,000 people in areas affected by the South African Covid-19 strain was "on track".

A man has been charged with the murder of Dudley shooting victim Mohammed Haroon Zeb.

A review into help given to vulnerable Walsall people during Covid has praised how the community came together to offer support.

An alternative budget put forward to a council has called for a £400-a-year members’ IT allowance to be scrapped and replaced with tablets and training.

Community leaders have raised concerns about the safety of elections due to take place in May – and the impact of restrictions on campaigning for candidates.

A major shake-up of a council health committee has been called for after it emerged councillors failed to attend its meetings.

Young people in Wolverhampton struggling to find work are being given a boost through a new fast-track training initiative being launched by the council.

Residents in Walsall are facing a near-five per cent rise in their council tax bills as the authority balances its books in the face of financial pressures.

Council taxpayers in Sandwell face a 2.9 per cent increase in their bills after councillors approved a proposed budget with no opposition.

The £24.1 million Dudley Interchange linking bus and trams has been given the go-ahead by the combined authority’s board.

Plans to turn a Victorian house into an asylum seeker hostel have been rejected - despite councillors being told fears over Covid-19 were not good enough grounds to refuse.

Volunteers delivering testing kits in a Walsall Covid hotspot have been fiercely defended after used swabs were mistakenly handed to one family.

The owner of a Walsall shop has lost his licence after more than 15,000 illegal cigarettes were found hidden in in the ceiling.

A Sikh temple in Oldbury has applied for permission to build a new extension just months after winning a controversial planning decision.

See the latest figures for coronavirus cases and deaths in your area.

A further 35 coronavirus patients have died in hospitals in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham.

Plans to turn Wolverhampton’s landmark Beatties building into 300 new apartments have met with a mixed response from people in the city.

An appeal has been issued for people to donate Easter eggs for children and adults in need and those in temporary accommodation.

An 81-year-old Walsall man has been jailed for more than a year for child sex offences.

A Severn Valley Railway train was forced to make an emergency stop after nearly hitting trespassers appearing to be planning to abseil down a bridge near Bridgnorth.

A talented singer and songwriter from Cannock is hoping her debut single will prove a hit when it is released later this month.

HS2 bosses have been criticised after wrongly claiming a consultation into the line would ignore the views of respondents.

Footage from body-worn cameras captured the moment a teenage driver sped off after a routine police stop in the Black Country – dragging a police community support officer with him.

Easing lockdown "too quickly" could lead to more Covid-19 variants and new surges in infection, an expert warned today.

The number of people waiting more than a year for treatment at Russells Hall Hospital has more than tripled during the second wave of coronavirus.

Council tax will rise by almost five per cent in Wolverhampton, it has been confirmed.

The opening of Tesco in a former Waitrose store in Wolverhampton has been delayed until July.

A husband and wife have been found guilty in relation to the killing of their brother-in-law after a heated argument between the three.

A teenager with links to a Wolverhampton gang who stabbed a schoolboy in the chest in an unprovoked attack has been put behind bars.

Jurors in a murder trial were shown CCTV of the defendant going to and from a building multiple times.

Jurors in a murder trial were shown a second day of CCTV of the defendant going to and from a building.

The number of cancer patients waiting more than 104 days for treatment has fallen at a hospital in the Black Country, health chiefs have said.

A health chief in the Black Country has welcomed a fall in the number of Covid-19 patients being admitted to hospital.

A council candidate has vowed to fight plans for 14 homes on the site of the former Wolverhampton Environment Centre if elected.

Drivers are being warned against speeding in roadworks areas across the West Midlands and putting the safety of highways workers at risk.

A kind Black Country schoolboy is preparing to push himself to help people living halfway across the world.

A true metal God will come home to share his near five decades of stories about the world of rock-n-roll.

The project to deliver the new Metro extension between Wednesbury and Brierley will intensify this spring when main construction works get underway in Dudley.

Wolverhampton has been hailed as a model of "best practice" by the Government over its roll-out of rapid Covid-19 testing in the community.

The figures don’t lie – and now pupils are spreading the word at their school gate.

A cannabis farm growing plants worth up to a quarter of a million pounds was the target of a raid that ended with two people being killed by crossbow bolts.

CCTV played a key part in bringing the Black Country crossbow killers to justice, the detective in charge of the murder investigation has said.

A loving tribute has been written to Captain Sir Tom Moore by a Black Country youngster.

BT is supporting more than 21,700  jobs across the West Midlands, a report says.

The figures don’t lie – and now pupils are spreading the word at their school gate.

A book release by a West Midlands poet aims to help raise a thumbs up to the fight against cancer.

This is the scene now after major work was undertaken to remove the Perry Barr flyover.

A pair of keen apprentices have been taken on by a historic Birmingham engineering company thanks to employment courses they completed with support from PTP Training.

A Wolverhampton supermarket has put the community first in its latest initiative.

Businesses are being offered the chance to help elderly people who may be struggling during lockdown with the launch of a new marketing venture.

Easing lockdown "too quickly" could lead to more Covid-19 variants and new surges in infection, an expert warned today.

For decades the sign outside Jack Wall the barber was one of the most familiar landmarks in the Black Country.

Four people were treated for smoke inhalation at a caravan site after a fire broke out.

A temporary transit site is to be created in Walsall to help tackle “renegade” travellers who have caused trouble when they have set up illegal camps.

Police have launched an appeal for help in tracing a wanted man from Wyre Forest.

A Kidderminster man has been jailed for more than two years for indecent assault.

A landlord in Wolverhampton has been fined £6,000 for failing to licence a house in multiple occupation.

An accountant and his father have been found guilty of mistakenly killing their own relative with a crossbow – and murdering a cannabis farm burglar seconds later.

People in Staffordshire are being urged to not attend gatherings or unlicensed music events for Valentine's Day.

Police have charged a further three teenagers with the murder of Keon Lincoln in Birmingham.

A lot of coronavirus cases in Sandwell are still coming from noisy workplaces where it's hard to socially distance and still hear each other, a council chief has warned.

A man who was found dead at a house in Birmingham last weekend has been named as Hassan Ghafar.

A further 49 coronavirus patients have died in hospitals in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham.

The first case of the South African variant of Covid-19 has been identified in Staffordshire.

The second section of HS2 - which will carve through Staffordshire on its way from the West Midlands to Crewe - has today been given the green light.

Historic department store was sold for £3 million last year.

A new multi-million pound 'Boris bike' scheme is set to be rolled out in parts of the Black Country later this year.

A mother-of-three found unresponsive at her home died as a result of pressure being applied to the neck, a jury has heard.

Plans to revamp netball facilities at a university campus have been backed to boost the sport in the region.

American investors have pulled out of attempts to takeover Wolverhampton-based pubs and restaurants group Marston's.

Firefighters have paid tribute to their much-loved colleague who died last month after contracting coronavirus.

More than 1,300 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment in Black Country and Staffordshire hospitals but admission rates are falling, figures show.

Police have issued a number of people with fines after they were spotted driving home 'erratically' from a party on the M5.

Stafford’s Market Square could be re-surfaced as part of town centre improvements to be funded using a £14.3 million Government windfall.

A Wolverhampton neighbourhood highlighted as being one of the ‘worst hit’ by Covid-19 in the whole of the city, has tested more than 1,600 of its residents negative for the virus.