Shoppers across the Black Country and Staffordshire welcomed the return of non-essential shops last week with a spending spree, new figures suggest.

A pedestrian has been treated for serious injuries and taken to hospital after a crash in Walsall.

Wolverhampton Grand has announced Hairspray is returning to the theatre later this year.

Shane Mayer was stabbed to death outside a Darlaston bar in July 2019. Four men are on trial, accused of murdering the 21-year-old.

Hospital trusts across the Black Country and Staffordshire potentially lost more than £36 million due to missed appointments through the pandemic, figures show.

Staff working at a hospital took more than 1,000 extra days off sick in 2020 compared to 2019.

A turbulent year has left more youngsters than ever eager to get outside and learn skills for life.

The new owners of a uniform shop in the Black Country have vowed to make the business succeed after its former owner was killed in a crash.

Shopkeeper Malcolm Crump is retiring after 52 years of work in the family business – but admits he will miss his customers.

Visitors will be able to sit safely outside and enjoy alfresco dining thanks to the launch of a specially-designated area to consume food and drink.

A graduate is hitting all the right notes after being selected as a drummer for a new all-female Jazz band.

A grandfather has put pen to paper during the pandemic and written his memoirs – detailing how he moved his young family to work abroad in Singapore and Thailand, before later returning to set up home again in Britain.

A store’s community champion is hoping people will join in the 20th anniversary celebrations of the formation of a partnership between Tesco and Cancer Research UK.

An appeal for witnesses has gone out following a collision which left a quad biker with serious injuries.

A survey has found most office workers in the West Midlands are worried about going back to their workplace before everyone is vaccinated.

A new non-invasive test for people with stomach and bowel problems can now be given in the Black Country and West Birmingham to help rule out bowel cancer and potentially avoid a trip to hospital.

Bishops from across the region have given their support to a report proposing a culture of change in the Church of England.

County poet laureate Mel Wardle Woodend will be celebrating this year's Staffordshire Day with a series of special activities.

A teenager has been arrested in connection with a fatal stabbing.

Thirty unemployed people have been given jobs at a Black Country hospital through a new initiative.

Fly-tippers have been caught on camera dumping furniture on a Staffordshire car park.

A pub licensee is excited to welcome back customers into a Staffordshire pub.

See the full list of 2021 Sandwell Council election candidates ward by ward.

A musician is hoping to become a breath of fresh air on the political scene in Sandwell, campaigning for a town he feels is undervalued.

A Black Country burglar armed with a machete was fought off by a man armed with a plank of wood.

Two teenagers have been found guilty of kidnapping two brothers aged two and four whose family car was stolen as their father dropped off food at a friend's home.

Some 80.4% of eligible staff working at older adult care homes had received the jab by April 18, according to NHS England.

More than 120 firefighters tackled a huge factory fire overnight in Birmingham - with 40 nearby homes evacuated.

A 15-year-old boy has been stabbed in the back in what police believe was a targeted attack in a Bearwood park.

A paedophile from Staffordshire has been locked up for 16 years after a series of attacks on two young girls.

This is the scene of a huge fire which ripped through a factory in Birmingham.

Three former post office workers from the Midlands who were wrongly jailed because of a glitch in the computer system have had their convictions overturned and their named cleared at the Court of Appeal today.

A stunned Willenhall man was told to dial 999 to get help for his elderly mother who had suffered a fall – while she was sat right outside A&E.

One coronavirus death has been confirmed at one of the region's hospitals, in the latest figures.

Motorists in Wolverhampton are being warned of delays and diversions due to road closures as part of the ongoing Metro extension works in the city centre.

Police chased a suspected stolen car and used a helicopter and a dog to try to hunt down the suspects.

Police have arrested 10 people after a 31-year-old man was shot dead near City Hospital earlier this month.

The Government has spent more on furlough than its entire deficit in the year before the coronavirus pandemic.

The restrictions come in response to mounting concern about the number of Covid-19 cases in India and the emergence of a variant of the virus.

A coronavirus testing centre at Dudley Leisure Centre will close next week – as the facility is expected to reopen fully for leisure activities next month.

The team behind a fund which gives cash grants biannually to good causes, has announced that £250,000 has been distributed in its first decade.

More than 120,000 across Wolverhampton have been given at least one vaccination jab.

Men were more likely to report an increase in alcohol consumption than women.

Mark Drakeford’s indication of May 17 for reopening indoor service for pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes would align Wales with England’s reopening.

Measures are being eased on different dates across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dominic Cummings and David Cameron feature prominently across Friday’s front pages.

Experts want to know more about animal infections.

Changes to restrictions mean Wales will now complete its move to Alert Level 3 by May 3 – three days before the May 6 Senedd election.

The ONS said total retail sales in March beat pre-pandemic levels for the first time – up 1.6% compared with February 2020.

Police are urgently appealing to find the mother of a newborn baby who was found in a community park in Birmingham.

Priti Patel has said she will back West Midlands Police to go after criminals "in a way that hasn't happened for 10 years".

During a visit to the Black Country the Home Secretary said she was "unapologetic" about deporting foreign offenders "who have committed the most vile crimes to British citizens".

A man accused of murdering a young father could not justify kicking him while he was defenceless on the ground, a trial heard.

A parent has criticised teachers for going on strike at a Black Country school where concerns have been raised about working conditions.

Friends of a teenage moped rider who died in a collision with a car in the Black Country have been informed that tributes in his memory will be allowed to remain in a West Bromwich park.

"We really have to act now."

A Midlands-based journalist is calling for a change in the law to help tackle child abuse in sport.

As England marks St George's Day in lockdown, Mark Andrews explores what we know and what we don't about England's patron saint.

Restaurant owners and operators across the West Midlands are being invited to join the Restaurant Collective.

Lichfield traders have hailed the relaxing of Covid restrictions which has enabled customers to make a return to their premises in person.

A business owner has thanked a Black Country hospital for caring for her poorly son by donating wall art to a children's area.

A production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth will kick start this year's open air theatre programme at Bantock House Museum and Park.

Airline Jet2.com has added more skiing flights for the 2021-2022 season from Birmingham Airport.

A choir which has raised more than £13,000 with the help of American philanthropist Bill Gates to help prevent polio has been presented with a trophy named in memory of a prominent campaigner.

The amount of therapy for mental health delivered to children in areas of the Black Country and Staffordshire has soared since the start of the pandemic, figures reveal.

A student has created an alternative narrative about historical racism through glassworks and ceramics.

A long-awaited £100 million transformation of derelict contaminated land to create more than 1,000 jobs looks set to clear another hurdle.

More than a dozen new homes are set to be built on the site of a former community centre, despite objections from neighbours.

Liam Byrne is facing a call for an inquiry over allegations he used parliamentary expenses to fund his mayoral campaign.

A former Sandwell Council cabinet member has become the second senior councillor to quit Labour within two days.

Families and staff have celebrated at Acorns Children's Hospice in Walsall in the glorious sunshine after news the hospice had been saved.

The letter to the Competition and Markets Authority comes after many students have been told to stay away from campus until mid-May at the earliest.

Driving tests resumed in England and Wales on Thursday.

Councils across the Black Country have joined together to seek a new injunction banning car cruising in the region.

Ireland’s Health Minister earlier said the case had been launched over the company’s ‘complete failure’ to meet its contractual agreements.

The country has confirmed 15.9 million cases of infection, the second highest after the United States, and 184,657 deaths.

A major cannabis farm has been discovered at an events centre and wedding venue in the heart of Wolverhampton.

Aquatics Centre will host Commonwealth Games events.

A grandfather has spoken out about the "whole new challenge" of his rehabilitation process a year after he was ventilated with Covid.

A junction of the M6 Toll has been closed along the southbound carriageway today due to an "incident".

A murder investigation has been launched after a man was found fatally wounded in Birmingham this morning.

One coronavirus death has been confirmed at one of the region's hospitals, in the latest figures.

A prisoner who killed a fellow inmate with a single punch has been jailed for more than two years.

The survey of 288 manufacturers found a 38% jump in its reading for business sentiment, representing the greatest uptick since April 1973.

Permanent secretary Sir Tom Scholar told MPs that David Cameron rang him directly on his mobile phone.

Downing Street had initially said there would not be a probe into how the messages were made public.

Office for National Statistics data shows it caused 9.2% of deaths in England and 6.3% in Wales in March.

The young birds were found under a grate in Penkridge.

Jaguar Land Rover's Castle Bromwich factory in Birmingham is having to temporarily stop production due to a shortage of computer chips because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The closing date for Debenhams' Walsall branch has been revealed.

Margaret Keenan – whose face has appeared in media around the world – also praised the ‘incredible’ NHS staff.

Clay bricks and concrete products group Ibstock is making a £60 million investment in production at its two sites in Aldridge as demand for building products soars with the UK recovery from the coronavirus pandemic stepping up.

There was intelligence that Fishmongers’ Hall attacker Usman Khan “might commit an attack” around the time he was released from prison for a terror offence, an inquest jury has heard.

Centre finally opened its doors last week.

The Lichfield Greenhill Bower has been postponed again this year due to Covid but organisers have also been left dismayed by the theft of a trailer containing 150 of their collection buckets.

A new House of Lords report says ‘the future will be hybrid’ and services will need to be ‘provided both remotely and face to face’.

The hiring spree comes only six months after the chain said it would axe 1,300 roles across its 360 UK restaurants.

The scheme will enable holidaymakers to prove they have been vaccinated or recently tested.

Radar technology is the latest tool being used in an effort to convince us that smart motorways are safe.

More than 90 new canalside homes look set to be built on a disused Netherton industrial site.