Engineering contractor Babcock said the civil aviation market continued to struggle in its third quarter as the sector was hit by a resurgent Covid-19.

A crash between a car and lorry closed a busy road in Wolverhampton this morning.

Council officials in the region are visiting supermarkets to make sure coronavirus rules are being followed.

GDP at the end of the month was 8.5% below its pre-pandemic peak and is expected to fall further.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says it is a ‘precautionary’ measure to ensure the vaccine rollout is not disrupted.

The Met Office has warned of the risk of icy surfaces and “difficult” travel conditions.

Lichfield District Council chiefs have voted “with heavy hearts” to sell off two coveted areas of green space in the city to enable the building of affordable housing.

A Black Country council has launched an investigation after a massive heap of rubbish was dumped in a street.

Hospital chiefs in Dudley are redeploying staff to critical care wards as they battle to treat “very high numbers” of Covid patients.

This is the site of a former police station which was reduced to rubble two years ago.

Boris Johnson has warned there is a risk that intensive care units will be overwhelmed by Covid cases.

Panama and Cape Verde will also be included in the ban.

Signs that the virus may be being brought under control came as it was announced three million people have been vaccinated.

Senior Tory backbencher Steve Baker has called on colleagues to write to the chief whip over the issue.

Prof Lucy Chappell, specialist in women with medical problems in pregnancy, sees ‘no basis for concerns about any of the Covid-19 vaccines’.

Police in Staffordshire are reminding residents to be vigilant around keeping their vehicles safe after a spate of incidents.

Police are appealing for information following a burglary in Wolverhampton.

A Birmingham man has been jailed for nearly three years after pleading guilty to assault and criminal damage.

A Black Country pizza takeaway boss has been ordered to pay more than £2,600 for a string of food hygiene and health and safety offences - including dirty sinks, surfaces and equipment.

Women’s cricket pioneer Rachael Heyhoe Flint and West Midland businesswoman Manjit Wolstenholme are among the latest luminaries to be added to an influential book about the people who have shaped British history.

Police are appealing to trace three women who were sexually assaulted outside a McDonalds restaurant in the West Midlands.

More than 100 motorists were caught ignoring the speed limit on a busy road near Wolverhampton.

Police have appealed for the public’s help in tracing a man who stole a doctor’s car from outside a Black Country hospital.

A man has pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent after an assault in a Dudley alleyway which left a man in serious condition in hospital.

A further 76 coronavirus patients have died in hospitals in the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire.

Jury deliberations on four men accused of murdering Wolverhampton teenager Keelan Wilson have started today.

Rugeley Power Station’s 183m-high chimney will be demolished using explosives next week.

Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘Every high street has a pharmacy and I want to see every possible pharmacy deployed to help.’

Priti Patel today insisted tougher lockdown restrictions will not be imposed “today or tomorrow”, as speculation grew that new rules could be imposed next week.

Scientists found that readings from a person’s fingertip and eye provide a more reliable reading to help identify those with a fever.

The fashion retailer said revenues rose 40% to £660.8 million on the back of strong Christmas and Black Friday sales.

The measure is expected to be considered at an afternoon meeting of the Government’s key ‘Covid-O’ committee which oversees restrictions.

The budget fashion chain said 305 of its 389 shops worldwide are currently shut.

The supermarket giant is the latest grocer to report positive sales momentum over the Christmas period.

Britain’s struggle against the rampaging coronavirus and Donald Trump’s impeachment dominate the front pages.

A number of facilities across the country have had to close while beds are taken up by Covid-19 patients.

Grant Shapps said the rules requiring travellers to have a negative coronavirus test would now come into effect at 4am on Monday.

London in particular is seeing a drop in the number of positive coronavirus tests, alongside some parts of the South East and the east of England.

Self storage company Safestore, which has three sites in the Black Country, saw turnover and profits rise in its latest financial year.

Failure to regulate 'buy now pay later' firms could lead to a fresh "Wonga-style scandal", a cross-party group of MPs has warned.

Doctors today made a direct appeal for people to follow lockdown rules as rising infection rates risk swamping hospitals.

A husband accused of killing his seamstress wife at their home in Wolverhampton is "no murderer" and loved his wife, a jury has been told.

A decision on a £48 million scheme that could deliver 1,200 new jobs is expected this week.

Elderly people in the West Midlands have been told they can ignore letters inviting them to travel more than 100 miles to get their Covid jab at mass vaccination centres.

Plans for the second phase of improvement works for an art gallery are set to be finalised next week.

An annual duck race raised nearly £700 for charity.

As a nine-year-old boy, Matthew 'Ollie' Ollerton watched in awe as television cameras broadcast a crack team of SAS troops abseiling from the roof of the Iranian embassy in London to rescue hostages being held by an Arab terror group.

A independent retailer has been commended for decades of fundraising for charity worth more than £100,000.

Food poverty in a town has increased by 40 per cent in recent months, a food bank has said.

A family have been left devastated after thieves stole their car and specialist wheelchair belonging to their five-year-old son with cerebral palsy.

A new grant scheme is hoping to help charities working with some of the most vulnerable people.

A total of £93 million has been stumped up to transform land at Birmingham’s Edgbaston Stadium into a homes, shopping and leisure complex.

Police have taken enforcement action at Birmingham's indoor markets after complaints Covid regulations were not being adhered to.

Two new coronavirus testing sites are set to open in the Dudley borough in the next few days.

A Black Country council leader has urged people to report Covid-19 rule breaking in shops, businesses and workplaces to enforcement officers.

Two men have been jailed after a spree of violent armed robbery attempts across the West Midlands and Staffordshire.

A 20-year-old man will stand trial for the murder of Paulius Petrasiunas later this year.

A secondary school in Wolverhampton has been given permission to build four extra classrooms, a new changing room and an extension to its dining room – which will result in the creation of 16 new jobs.

Residents in some parts of Walsall face a frustrating wait to get coveted allotment plots, figures have revealed.

A temporary waste treatment plant in Wolverhampton that handles tonnes of contaminated and hazardous soil products has been given permission to extend the terms of its operation, despite protests.

A West Midlands man has been given a 12-week suspended sentence after he was found with 24 dogs – including puppies – housed in filthy and cramped conditions in his backyard.

Plans to build ten new bungalows on the derelict site of a former Wolverhampton tennis club have been given the go-ahead.

An empty Georgian office building in Wolverhampton city centre is to be turned into a guest house under plans submitted to the council this week.

A council leader has offered to take elderly villagers to their Covid vaccination appointments if they are unable to manage the 20-mile round trip on their own.

Stafford residents have been urged by community leaders to speak up if their mental health is suffering – and look out for loved ones and neighbours who may be experiencing difficulties.

Plans for a new hot food takeaway with two one-bedroom flats above in Wolverhampton city centre have been given the go-ahead.

A “vibrant” new apartment block could replace a Walsall car wash and tyre sales business, if plans are given the green light.

A disused railway siding just outside Wolverhampton is to be turned into a car auction holding area capable of storing 432 vehicles.

A 22-year-old Black Country man has denied murdering a pensioner whose body was found at a hilltop beauty spot last summer.

A new walk-through coronavirus testing facility for those with symptoms has opened at a school in Rugeley.

A further 89 coronavirus patients have died in hospitals in the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire.

A man will appear at court charged with racially aggravated assault following an alleged incident in a village near Wolverhampton.

Alton Towers Resort is to test both local people and staff without Covid-19 symptoms, as part of efforts to curb the rise in cases across Staffordshire.

Dozens of Lichfield postal workers are isolating due to Covid disrupting the delivery of mail to homes across the city.

A second man has been arrested after a robbery at a baker’s shop in Lichfield.

The Government’s failure to support the hospitality industry through the Covid crisis has left the sector “on its knees”, an MP has claimed.

Health chiefs are pleading with Wolverhampton residents to follow the Covid-19 restrictions as New Cross Hospital has had to increase its intensive care capacity up to 200 per cent.

Supermarket chain Asda is transforming the clothing section of one of its stores in the West Midlands to host a Covid-19 vaccination centre.

Police are no longer investigating the death of a 19-year-old who was pronounced dead in the Black Country.

A 19-year-old man has died after being found unresponsive at an address in Walsall.

A judge has told a jury there had been rising tensions between rival “postcode” gangs prior to the death of Keelan Wilson.

The kindness of a community has helped a boy celebrate a late Christmas – after he missed the original date due to Covid.

More than £17,000 has been raised for Mary Stevens Hospice as part of their Treecycle weekend.