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.

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.

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.

The average selling price for new homes from housebuilder Persimmon was up by nearly £15,000 in 2020.

Ministers have been urged to strengthen the lockdown after Covid deaths in the region passed 5,000.

A Wolverhampton carpet shop has been fined £1,000 for operating during lockdown.

Carpets and flooring group Victoria achieved record revenue and operating profits for the final three months of 2020.

DIY retailer Screwfix has once again been accused of ignoring coronavirus rules after a video emerged showing staff waiting in long queues with little social distancing.

Lockdown rule-breakers are increasingly likely to be fined as Covid laws are enforced "much quicker", police chiefs have warned.

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

The start of the pandemic almost financially destroyed some charities, now the region’s hospices and health care services have revealed the impact on them.

Directors of attractions across the West Midlands today spoke of their frustration as they face the ongoing challenge of surviving the latest lockdown.

Educational packs are being delivered to families with children stuck at home.

A Staffordshire woman has published a book which has been a hit in America.

Plans to redevelop Bridgnorth's former council offices are set to be approved by planning officers, despite the town council objecting to the "over development" of the site.

His name was Kieron, and he rode the fastest milk cart in the West (Midlands).

Gavin Hill looks at the picture of a small boy handing Winston Churchill a cigar at an airfield in the West Midlands.

Another 78 coronavirus deaths have been confirmed across the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire.

A derelict old Walsall leather goods factory will finally get a new lease of life after plans to convert it into a restaurant and shops were approved.

A decision to place a large inflatable buoy to help stop people falling into the canal in Walsall has been met with hilarity and scepticism.

Dudley Zoo's sloths have taken the top spot for the most adopted animals of 2020.

A Sandwell man is wanted in connection with an officer being assaulted, stalking and drug offences.

The trial of a Black Country man who is accused of murdering his five-month-old daughter is due to begin on Monday.

Two men who wielded a machete as they attempted to rob security vans in Walsall, Cannock and Birmingham have been jailed.

A drink-driver who ran over a firefighter, pinning him to another vehicle and breaking his legs, has been jailed after she was found to be almost three times the legal limit.

A dog that was stolen just before Christmas has been found and reunited with her elderly owner.

An appeal has been launched after a kitten in a cat carrier was dumped in an alleyway in West Bromwich.

A reduced timetable will be brought in for West Midlands Railway from next week due to the national lockdown.

The return of ‘Floozie in the Jacuzzi’ fountain in Birmingham city centre is set to be officially approved next week.

A former Stafford town centre pub could be converted into flats for vulnerable young adults.

A positive coronavirus test has caused a city foodbank to temporarily close its doors.

Plans to house homeless people in Brierley Hill have led to fears drug users, ex-convicts, sex offenders and undesirables will blight the area.

A leukaemia charity scored a £5,500 boost thanks to kind hearted Wolves players and staff who were inspired by ex-goalkeeper Carl Ikeme.

Five people from different households have been handed fines after being caught in the same car on the M6 at Stafford travelling from Cardiff to Manchester to visit friends.

A £1.75 million grant will help provide 25 houses for homeless people who were helped off the street during the coronavirus pandemic.

Bosses at companies across the Black Country and Staffordshire made 120 times more per year than the average worker, estimates show.

Read the latest column from the Wolves Foundation.

A family business which has been keeping people supplied with vital produce during the Covid pandemic and lockdown restrictions has been shortlisted for a national title.

Calls continue to grow for the Government to introduce stronger lockdown measures - vote in our poll to let us know what our readers think.

Coronavirus testing has been widened in Wolverhampton's schools this week.

Parking charges are being reinstated at Stafford's County Hospital for patients and visitors.

A health boss is appealing for people to stay home in Walsall after Covid rates almost doubled in a week.