Heroes of the pandemic from across the region have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Four members of a gang have been jailed for more than 24 years combined after a series of botched cash-point raids across Birmingham.

A police appeal has been launched to find a 14-year-old who failed to return home from school in Wolverhampton.

The owner of the Robin music venue today spoke of his deepening crisis as its closure continues.

He is best known for one of the surprise hit shows of the year, The Repair Shop, now Midlands-based Jay Blades, 51, has been made an MBE in the Queens Honours for services to craft.

Feeling confused, stressed or even guilty? Well, you might just be planning to go on holiday over the next few weeks.

Hundreds of holidaymakers desperate for a summer getaway are preparing to travel to countries on the Government's 'amber' list.

Plans for a £4 million refurbishment of Dudley Council house are being progressed despite the scheme previously being blasted as a waste of money.

About 240 workers at Dudley's hospital trust have "opted out" of having the Covid vaccine.

Police have praised residents to following the Government's Covid guidelines - as the number of fines issued have dropped since restrictions started to ease.

A new regulator for English football can stop the risk of clubs from going under and improve the enforcement of ownership rules, Lord Mervyn King has said.

Residents of a mobile homes site in Wolverhampton are concerned about moves to create access to land behind their caravans and fear that if permission is given that it could lead to houses being built.

Two Black Country parish priests have taken on a challenge to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the world.

A Staffordshire zoo is embracing the hot weather as crowds flock to enjoy the attraction in the sunshine.

Animal welfare standards in the West Midlands and nationally could be "undermined" by a trade teal with Australia, a charity said.

Police are investigating after THREE cars were stolen from a home in Sutton Coldfield.

Facilities for pharmacy students at the University of Wolverhampton will under go a £3 million refurbishment over the summer, chiefs have said.

Football fans across Staffordshire have been urged to "show domestic abuse the red card" as the Euros get under way.

All West Midlands Metro trams have been halted and removed from service until at least Monday after a fault was identified.

A council in the Black Country has managed to balance its books despite the impact of coronavirus on its services, chiefs have revealed.

Security at Sandwell Park Farm has been increased following the recent thefts of sheep and a calf.

Newly-planted trees have been snapped in half in a spate of "wanton vandalism" across the Dudley borough, chiefs have said.

Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Two further coronavirus deaths have been confirmed at hospital trusts in the region in the latest figures.

Pet owners in Birmingham have been warned to be vigilant of a scam which sees fraudsters trying to claim rewards for missing pets using the threat of euthanising them.

Hundreds of support staff in more than 20 schools across Staffordshire are being "forced" into taking pay cuts or risk facing the sack, union bosses have claimed.

People with diabetes in the West Midlands have been urged by health experts to have their Covid-19 vaccine as soon as it's offered to them.

This is the moment arsonists torched two cars at a Black Country home - with one bungling culprit setting themselves on fire as they go to escape.

Work to demolish a dilapidated brick road bridge spanning the Metro track has been completed.

The teenager used his platform to share videos documenting his time in hospital.

People who live and work in Dudley borough are being urged to be cautious and get their vaccine when called, as Covid-19 cases continue to increase in the area.

Younger age groups were more likely to be planning a trip, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Growth rates for Delta cases are high across all parts of the country, figures show.

Pfizer said in a statement that the company was ‘working relentlessly’ to support the rollout of coronavirus vaccination campaigns worldwide.

Public Health England said that 42,323 cases of the Delta variant that originated in India have been confirmed in the UK.

The pregnant girlfriend of a skip firm boss shot dead in a works yard sent a text message to the man now on trial for his murder saying "you will not get away with this", a jury heard.

One said restrictions make ‘no sense’ and they would be better off getting married during ‘half-time in a football match’.

A midwife recruitment and retention plan is being driven by hospital chiefs to tackle a lack of staff which, a health watchdog says, is causing “very low morale”.

The region’s football clubs are being invited by the West Midlands Combined Authority to help young people kick off their careers.

A summer exhibition to be staged at the Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster will explain about the importance of the people and the industry of the town.

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of car theft after a stolen car crashed in Dudley.

Bridge House, which houses Walsall County Court and Walsall Family Court, has been sold for an undisclosed sum.

Sutton Coldfield's MP is calling for safety measures for passengers with sight loss to be improved as a matter of urgency at stations serving the Royal Town.

Sutton Coldfield's cinema has yet to reopen after the easing of restrictions - but Empire insist the delay is temporary.

Wolves, West Bromwich Albion and other professional or semi-professional football clubs in the region are being invited by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to help young people kick off their careers.

Controversial plans to redraw the country's political map "run against" the Government's levelling up agenda, a Black Country MP has said.

New owners of a village pub near Stafford have described themselves as "flabbergasted" after being told by a council to remove two temporary signs or face a £5,000 fine.

Construction specialist Peter McHugh reflects on the power station's history, and looks forward to its future

Businessman Myles Holder has had his long ponytail cut off for charity and hopes to continue raising mental health awareness by holding a 'Ladies Night' and a trek to Snowdonia.

A popular city centre venue that has hosted bands including Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay is set to go under the hammer next month.

The owner of Vinyl & Vintage in Wolverhampton is hoping that collectors will be turning out for Record Store Day on Saturday for pressings they might otherwise have difficulty buying.

A town council has thrown its support behind a movement to stop a controversial proposal to build a nursing home at a town centre car park.

A packaging group with a major site in the Black Country has committed to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

A Black Country florist has spoken of his joy having been chosen to take part in a national competition.

A healthcare assistant working on a Covid ward has been convicted of using a dead patient’s bank card to buy crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks from a hospital machine.

Residents in Dudley have been enjoying hundreds of cycle rides per week since a new cycle hire scheme launched in the borough.

Officers from Staffordshire Police tasked with monitoring the activities of Khan were not not sufficiently trained to manage this level of risk, an investigation found.

Planned strikes to be held at electric wheelchair maker Sunrise Medical in Brierley Hill have been postponed to allow for fresh pay talks to take place.

Police discovered 30 cannabis plants inside a house where firefighters rescued 15 dogs and 11 cats from a severe fire.

Nearly 200 people at the barracks in Folkestone, Kent, contracted Covid-19 during a major outbreak earlier this year.

North-west England saw the largest rise, with 149.6 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to June 6, up week-on-week from 89.4.

Matt Hancock said this was according to an assessment he had seen on Wednesday evening.

A motorcycle was deliberately set on fire in Stafford.

A woman has been left seriously injured after a car overturned in Birmingham.

The Health Secretary said he told the NHS in January 2020 to ‘plan on the basis of a reasonable worst-case scenario’ of 820,000 deaths.

The former prime minister hit out at the regulations on international travel and called on the Government to be ‘upfront’ about the future.

Since the vaccine programme began on December 8 2020 up to June 6 83.7% of eligible staff had been given a first jab, the figures show.

Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick are the areas with the highest proportion of people likely to have received both jabs.

About a third of people aged 40 to 49 have also received both doses.

Stafford terrorist Usman Khan was lawfully killed on London Bridge by armed police after stabbing two Cambridge university graduates while wearing a fake suicide belt, an inquest jury has concluded.

A man has been charged with murder after an insurance company worker was fatally stabbed on Tuesday.

Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones were killed in the incident in November 2019.

Usman Khan was described as “having a chip on his shoulder” by a former teacher.

The number of coronavirus patients at a Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital remains in low single figures despite concerns over a possible third wave of cases.

Volunteers in Albrighton have been working hard to keep a green space tidy for people and the resident wildlife over the past year, ready for an open event later this summer.

Two men were shot dead in a vehicle in Dudley by a man who allegedly owed them £200,000, a murder trial jury has been told.

A spooky sight was visible across the West Midlands as the moon passed between our Earth and the sun.

Pc Benjamin Monk is alleged to have murdered the ex-Aston Villa striker in 2016.

A Cookley woman who has worked tirelessly for many years for a village charity in Uganda has won a prestigious Rotary award.

No further coronavirus deaths have been confirmed at hospital trusts in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham in the latest figures.

Gin making lessons and Georgian dinners are on the agenda at an historic mansion in rural Staffordshire now owned by TV star Charles Hanson.

An outgoing NHS trust boss who fought to save the region's new super hospital has said the £660 million facility "will be brilliant".

Three tonnes of rubbish caught fire at an industrial unit in Wednesbury.

West Midlands Police has launched a survey to better understand how people feel about women's safety.

The UK is currently holding around 12.6 billion items of PPE, such as masks, gloves and aprons, a top civil servant said.

Figures show 5.12 million people were waiting to start hospital treatment at the end of April – the highest number since records began in August 2007.

Since April 9, everyone in England has been eligible for rapid Covid-19 tests twice a week.

The vaccination rate for people identifying as white British is 93%.

The Health Secretary made the comments as he was grilled by MPs investigating the handling of the pandemic.

Two teenagers who were arrested after a family was racially abused and threatened in a park have been released pending further investigations.

More than 100,000 residents in Wolverhampton now have maximum protection against Covid-19 after receiving both doses of the vaccine.

A new pop-up coronavirus rapid testing site is now available at New Cross Hospital, joining the mobile testing unit that is also currently there.

During lockdown, the town of Eccleshall lost much of the spirit and atmosphere it had been known for, as Covid-19 guidelines forced many of its establishments to temporarily close their doors.

A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a crash with a car in Dudley.

Sandwell Council has performed a U-turn on plans to develop a Wednesbury park for housing after a backlash from residents.

A Black Country apprentice engineer has received a regional award for his work.

It was love at first sight when Margaret and Trevor Clinton first met in a bar bar in Wolverhampton city centre and today they are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary with a meal out with close family members.

Police are investigating reports of a drive-by shooting in the Black Country.

Hospital chiefs in Sandwell and West Birmingham who fear the area could be “one of the hardest hit” by a third wave of Covid-19 have developed a “surge plan” to protect services.

An initiative that provides potential victims of sexual violence with a secret phrase to ask for help in public places has been renewed in Wolverhampton.