The former health secretary said that when he passed on the warning to the Cabinet the reaction was ‘shrug shrug’.

A struggling city school has been rated inadequate after government inspectors slammed poor leadership and safeguarding standards.

A bid to build a brand new Aldi store and care home on the site of a crumbling pub and former football ground in Walsall has been given the red card.

Dozens of homes across the Black Country with guide prices as low as £9,000 will go under the hammer at auction.

As pubs continue to battle the cost of living crisis, the Express & Star continues its new series, Love Your Local, which celebrates our local inns.

Plans to increase rail services through the West Midlands in December are set to be scuppered by strike action, ministers have warned.

Plans to convert a lodge in the grounds of a historic Wolverhampton building into a children’s care home have been given the green light.

A Staffordshire turkey farmer is confident "utmost precautions" in protecting flocks from bird flu will head off any threat of a bird shortage this Christmas.

The happiest places to live in the Black Country and Staffordshire have been revealed in a new survey.

Two men have pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis after a factory at a town centre shop unit was raided this week.

The 25-year-old star admitted violent disorder after being caught on CCTV using a tree branch to hit a stabbing victim.

A rat-infested eyesore old shopping centre which has become a magnet for trouble looks set to finally be removed from Brownhills High Street.

Tributes have been pouring in for a "thoughtful, funny and happy girl" who was hit by a car in Cannock.

An amateur handyman and Army veteran has started creating homemade disability rehabilitation equipment to help those who need them – all from his Wolverhampton shed workshop.

A choir and a novelty act will be entertaining shoppers at Merry Hill which is extending its opening hours for the festive period.

A car fire on the Black Country Route is causing traffic delays.

A Black Country church will be transformed into a nursery despite concerns over parking.

Staffordshire police have released CCTV images of a man following a robbery in Cannock town centre.

Changes in the way elections are conducted have been outlined to Wolverhampton’s civic chiefs in readiness for next May, when all 60 of the city’s council seats will be up for grabs.

A former police station will stay as an independent school after a headteacher was granted retrospective planning permission despite objections from residents over “the type of pupils being taught at the education facility”.

NHS bosses are expecting more people to be admitted to hospital with flu and parents are being urged to get their children vaccinated.

Two men have been jailed for a total of more than 13 years for drugs and firearms offences.

With so many workers from different walks of life going on strike this month for many it seems "the whole country wants a pay rise."

A Wolverhampton man has been given a 20-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to drug offences in Telford.

A team of runners from a Streetly school has raised more than £4,000 in memory of former student.

The Mayor of Sandwell is appealing for donations of Christmas presents for Santa's Black Country Toy Appeal.

Health officials are understood to have seen a slight rise in cases of Strep A, which can cause scarlet fever.

Participants in the 40th anniversary of a West Midlands running event have helped raise thousands for charity.

Two men have been charged after police discovered a cannabis farm in Willenhall town centre.

Plans to create a huge battery storage site on green belt land in Great Barr would have been an “unwelcome intrusion” to the area.

Public access and environmental problems caused by cars repeatedly being parked on grass verges in Wolverhampton are set to be addressed by council bosses.

Firefighters were called out to tackle a blaze involving a vehicle in Stourbridge.

A new "lifestyle store" has opened in Birmingham has opened where customers can buy vintage clothing, browse rare memorabilia, get tattooed and pierced as well as marvelling at original Damien Hirst artwork.

Terminally and seriously ill children are set to have their dreams fulfilled thanks to an incredible fundraising effort by letting agents from across the UK.

A campaign to officially recognise the work done by Wolverhampton’s St John Ambulance volunteers has been launched by a city councillor, in line with this year marking the centenary of the first cadet unit in the country.

Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid has announced he will not stand at the next general election.

A family has been granted permission to live on a field 10 years after their first request was refused – despite objections from almost 400 people.

The Mayor of Dudley has praised a group of school crossing patrols who have clocked up more than 200 years’ service between them.

An Army officer cadet from Dudley found dead in her room at Sandhurst was failed by the service when she took her own life months after she was reprimanded for self-harming, an inquiry found.

Nearly 2,000 abandoned chickens have been reported to the RSPCA already this year and the charity fears bird flu could make the problem worse.

Residents could be placed on scrutiny panels to explain their "horrific" experiences in dealing with Sandwell Council.

A popular outdoor Shakespeare festival will be temporarily relocated to secure its financial future.

The owner of a popular Black Country hair salon has retired after 46 years of ownership.

A man was robbed after being knocked to the ground from behind while walking and kicked in the head and body.

A Wolverhampton theatre has announced its pantomime for next year.

Sir Gavin Williamson has called out the "reckless" use of hotels to house asylum seekers after two sites in his constituency were taken over by the Home Office.

A toddler has been reunited with his teddy bear, after losing it while watching his father turn on the Christmas lights in Wolverhampton.

A three-bedroom property in Wolverhampton can be yours for £39,000 if you want to put the work in – and there is a lot that needs to be done.

A pair of Black Country manufacturers played a crucial role in helping Atkinson Vos win component of the year in the UK Cast Metals Industry Awards 2022.

Is our love affair with online shopping on the way out?

Lichfield Cathedral is putting on a light show with a difference.

A volunteer who provides food for the hungry is throwing a Christmas dinner for up to 100 people.

A serving British Transport Police officer was over the drink and drive limit when he was caught travelling the wrong way down a one-way street.

Our love affair with online shopping may have peaked.

Police have been urged to "keep a close eye" on a trouble-plagued Wednesbury pub when it reopens for the first time in six months this weekend.

Financial experts have warned there is a "risk of significant weakness" in Wolverhampton Council’s bid to achieve value for money in the £48 million Civic Halls refurbishment project.

A Wolverhampton councillor said she is "gobsmacked" after being deselected from standing in her ward at next year's local elections.

A dentist has had a November to remember, after picking up a double scoop of ‘Best Young Dentist’ awards.

Fruit trees have been planted at seven schools in Stafford as part of the national Orchard campaign.

Motorbike riding thugs smashed the doors of a community centre in the latest anti-social behaviour incident to plague a Walsall estate.

The Dean of Lichfield, the Very Revd Adrian Dorber, is retiring in the Spring.

A woman who was arrested after a man was stabbed in Bloxwich has been released on police bail.

The inquests into the deaths of Liberty Charris and Ben Corfield, the Dudley teenagers who died when a car crashed into a group of people in Oldbury last month, have opened.

The hike in prices disproportionately hit poorer people, who tend to spend a greater share of their pay on food.

The alleged victim of Met Special Constable Paul Hoile said the 40-year-old subjected her to aggressive questioning and instructed her not to drive.

"Ow am ya?" said the three wise men! A Black Country Nativity Play is being performed for charity this festive season.

A criminal gang from the Black Country which used a religious organisation as a front for importing 400 kilos of cannabis into the UK via Birmingham Airport are facing lengthy prison sentences.

A memorial to honour those lost to Aids and those living with HIV has been unveiled in Birmingham.

Fog is set to envelop the Black Country from Thursday afternoon, with the Met Office issuing a weather warning for the region.

"It's going to be a bostin' Black Country Christmas!" with all the Christmas-themed events to get you into the festive spirit this weekend.

Troubled fashion brand Joules is to shut 19 stores and cut 133 jobs after it was bought by retail rival Next and founder Tom Joule.

Tickets are selling fast for Wolverhampton Grand Theatre's Christmas pantomime which is set to get up and running on Saturday.

The People's Orchestra is performing a special Christmas concert in West Bromwich this weekend.

A disused former history centre in Walsall could be transformed into a new community facility offering educational classes and funeral services.

A picture of a pet cat taken by a college student has earned him the title of Wolverhampton Young Photographer of the Year in a competition organised by the city's art gallery.

A rise in incidents of offensive graffiti across Wolverhampton is set to be clamped down on by the city’s environmental bosses.

Two fundraisers were egged by yobs and had abuse hurled at them from groups of people leaving bars during a charity sleep-rough night outside a church.

New equipment is being installed in gyms in Walsall.

Pupil attendance has dropped five per cent in Wyre Forest secondary schools since the pandemic, new figures have shown.

An award-winning video and animation agency based in Wolverhampton is demonstrating its commitment to providing young people with digital work opportunities by partnering with the BBC Apprentice Hub.

Transport unions walked out for several days in October, demanding better pay as their members faced a soaring cost of living.

A Kidderminster pub is to reopen on December 15 with a new name.

The long-running revamp of a major Black Country bottleneck will continue into next year after "unexpected challenges" delayed work.

Prices for EVs had fallen far more than the market average

An inquest has been opened into the death of a 78-year-old cyclist involved in a crash with a mini-SUV.

A data breach specialist fears that South Staffordshire Water employees and customers are at risk of identity fraud.

A lorry driver has been arrested after being found to be more than three times over the drink-drive limit.

Thousands of Royal Mail workers, university lecturers and sixth-form staff across the region hit the picket lines over pay and conditions.

Birmingham Airport carried out £2 million of essential airfield maintenance work throughout November.

Homewares retailer Dunelm is using its Oldbury store to trial the launch of Home to Home, an innovative ‘pass it on’ scheme.

Tributes have been paid to a “compassionate, caring and resilient” 15-year-old girl after her death on a busy Black Country road.

Chocolate maker Hotel Chocolat Group has seen strong growth in sales in the UK in its latest financial year.

A pantomime star welcomed Santa at a popular Black Country attraction and declared its Christmas grotto officially open.

Firms blamed weak new business, supply chain disruption and shortages.

Cannock Chase Council is writing off debts and benefit overpayments totalling almost a quarter of a million pounds after it was unable to recover the funds.

Regulator Ofwat recorded a 33% rise in the number of customers struggling to pay since May, up from 15% to 20%.

Around half of GP appointments are taken up with often preventable, long-term conditions.

The fallout from the mini-budget continued to affect the market, Nationwide Building Society said.

National Energy Action (NEA) said those in fuel poverty will include 5.9 million low income and financially vulnerable households.