Early years settings including nurseries and childminders are set to remain open in the Black Country and Staffordshire during the third national lockdown.

The reliability of CCTV evidence has been called into question in the trial of a husband accused of murdering his seamstress wife.

Sports halls, community hubs and old department stores have been lined up as mass vaccination centres.

All the evidence has now been heard in the trial of the four men accused of murdering a 15-year-old boy in the Black Country.

A ban on takeaway pints during lockdown could be the “death knell for many pubs”, the Campaign for Real Ale has warned.

A man has launched a legal battle for compensation of £150,000 from the NHS after suffering serious complications during surgery.

A former museum and art gallery could be turned into a cocktail bar, forming the cornerstone of a new town centre leisure quarter, a council leader has revealed.

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

The Bishop of Worcester has written to parishes to offer his support to those churches uncertain about opening.

To millions he was known for his novels about werewolves and plagues of killer crabs.

A series of murals are helping to brighten up a town centre's former market hall.

A Black Country woman has published two books during lockdown - one a children's tale and the other about Punjabi songs.

A unique charity fundraising campaign is helping people to feel more connected to a Sandwell green space.

A council has secured a grant to construct a new full-sized third generation artificial grass football pitch at a leisure centre.

The Black Country Consortium has been awarded funding from UK Research and Innovation to support clean industrial growth through the Repowering the Black Country Project.

A series of online classes are helping people across South Staffordshire keep fit.

The West Midlands is set to lose two parliamentary seats under plans to shake-up the UK's electoral map.

A leading manufacturer of aluminium windows and doors has completed two heritage projects in the West Midlands.

Researchers are still finding out about the long-lasting effects seen in some patients.

More than 40 per cent of South Staffordshire Council's binmen are off work leaving a backlog of waste collections.

The only survivor of a horror crash that left four youngsters dead has been discharged from hospital.

Personal items left in tribute to four young people who died in a crash have disappeared from the tree they were attached to.

Grieving relatives visiting graves at a Wolverhampton cemetery are being warned to be on their guard following a spate of thefts from cars over the Christmas and New Year period.

Britain's oldest twins, who live in Tipton, have sent out a message to advise people about coronavirus after both tested positive.

England is in its third national lockdown after Boris Johnson shut schools to most pupils and imposed the toughest restrictions since March in an attempt to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed by surging coronavirus infections.

A body has been found in the search for a missing Wolverhampton man.

A Black Country education chief has called for all teachers and school staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before schools reopen.

Paramedics were called to a crash involving a car and a van in Lye.

A man has been arrested after a driver failed to stop for police in Stafford.

School closures will lead to "more inequality" and damage to children's education unless families are provided with the right kit for home learning, an MP has warned.

A further 41 coronavirus patients have died in hospitals in the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire.

Businesses in the Black Country and Staffordshire have warned the new package of measures to support retail and hospitality through yet another lockdown does not go far enough.

A man who has absconded from HMP Sudbury open prison could be in the West Midlands.

A 23-year-has been putting his strong social media following to use for good causes.

Alcohol could be served at a Stafford park currently covered by a booze ban if councillors give new plans the green light.

West Midlands Ambulance Service workers are well on course to use more than a million more face masks than they did last year.

A couple who met on a blind date have celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary.

A model mad couple have started to spring clean their record breaking collection.

The new national lockdown has been introduced as Covid case rates surge across the Midlands, with new peaks being hit on a daily basis.

Headteachers across the region have been left scrambling to set up remote work for pupils after a Government U-turn over school closures.

A Walsall-based specialist castings and engineering group has suspended trading of its shares until it reports its annual results.

Council leaders in the region have been reacting after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a third lockdown for England.

Teachers and school staff are eligible for priority Covid-19 rapid testing in Wolverhampton, council chiefs have said.

The number of employees at a Rugeley business doubled in size in 2020 despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

The hospitality sector has majorly struggled during the coronavirus pandemic but one business has thrived as it serves customers at home.

A Black Country prison worker has won £15,000 on the ITV game show Beat The Chasers.

A meat processing factory which closed with the loss of 650 jobs could reopen if planning bosses allow a Halal abattoir to be built on the site.

A brewery pub chain has completed work on its latest refurbishment in the Black Country . . . at a pub said to be Britain's most haunted.

A Black Country restaurant has launched plans to expand its premises.

A grandfather was repeatedly punched, kicked and cut with a saw after being attacked in his own bed by intruders.

A temporary drive-through coronavirus test site will reopen at Himley Hall and Park tomorrow.

A further 17 coronavirus patients have died in hospitals in the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire.

A teenager was arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill after reports of disorder in a Black Country street.

A new £800,000 park and play area is being built on a large area of unused land in one of Wolverhampton’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

Police have ramped up patrols around a Staffordshire beauty spot in a bid to clampdown on anti-social behaviour.

A crumbling Black Country building which has been left without a roof and in a state of disrepair for two decades could become a new restaurant and shops.

A Black Country health chief has backed calls for teachers to be prioritised in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination.

Dozens of primary schools across the Black Country and Staffordshire are keeping their gates shut despite government advice to open classrooms again today.

A car was snatched by masked thieves who targeted a delivery driver in a carjacking in the Black Country.

A cannabis factory has been raided by police leading to the arrests of six people.

A housing scheme set to transform a vandal-plagued former Walsall copperworks is set to clear a final planning hurdle.

The percentage of coronavirus cases in the West Midlands caused by the new Covid strain has more than tripled in two weeks, analysis of official figures suggests.

When coronavirus first came to Russells Hall Hospital, nurse Beth Farney said the scene looked like something out of ET.

A man from Stone has been charged with two counts of making threats to kill, assault and possessing a bladed article.

Many schools schools will remain closed in Wolverhampton on Monday due to concerns over rising Covid rates.

The Black Country's Doreen Tipton has launched a one-off online pantomime to raise funds for Acorns Children's Hospice.

Some students will be able to study on campus at the University of Wolverhampton as part of a phased return plan.

A pensioner who was left unable to speak or swallow after a stroke was able to enjoy her Christmas dinner this year thanks to an innovative treatment.