Employers across the region are being invited to promote career opportunities in their industry through virtual work experience sessions for students at Wolverhampton College.

Plans to create a new shop and eight apartments in Willenhall have been thrown out over fears the development would be "cramped".

An otter – one of the UK’s rarest mammals more commonly at home in Britain’s rivers – has been spotted in a Wolverhampton canal.

Council tax in Dudley will increase by just under five per cent in April after councillors clashed over who should pay for the pandemic.

Waste management company Biffa has upgraded its annual outlook as second-half performance continued to track above expectations amid a less severe than expected impacted from the third lockdown on earnings.

DS Smith said that the boost from the holiday season to its packaging business had continued into 2021, with more people shopping online, and there were signs of recovery in demand from its industrial customers.

A record store has made the best of lockdown by turning its sales online – selling as far afield as the US and Mexico.

Persimmon has kicked off 2021 on a better footing than last year as Government and Bank of England policies helped boost the housebuilder.

A taxi driver said he thought a murder victim had been pushed by another man – only later realising he had been stabbed after seeing blood, a court heard.

Covid hospital admissions across the Black Country and Staffordshire have dropped by almost a quarter in a week, according to new figures.

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

New aerial footage shows how a multi-million-pound road project is progressing in Stafford.

BritAsia Fund has announced a new creative collaboration with Moving Pictures Media and Checklist Films to produce and finance film and TV projects.

A Black Country charity is offering one lucky person the chance to win a signed football shirt as part of a fundraising initiative.

Fire chiefs in Staffordshire have welcomed a decrease in the number of recorded fires in the last year.

A fitness instructor and a chef who work as on-call firefighters are urging members of the public to join them as part of a recruitment campaign.

Foodbank heroes who have helped keep shelves stocked for those in need during the pandemic have been praised.

Around 700 oil-filled heaters are going into homes – as part of an ongoing project to keep the most vulnerable warm throughout winter months.

A couple who met at a Christmas dance were today celebrating their sapphire wedding anniversary.

Car parking in Lichfield City centre is being put under the microscope to determine how things can be improved for visitors, residents and local businesses.

Comedian Jimmy Fallon wryly observed that while 64 per cent of Americans owned a smartphone, 100 per cent of smartphones owned an American.

Rishi Sunak will also announce further support for newly self-employed workers.

A pharmacist who diverted more than £1 million of prescription drugs onto the black market has been jailed for 12 months.

A 46-year-old woman who was hit by a car in Birmingham has died.

A series of new deployable CCTV cameras are to be installed across fly-tipping hot spots across Dudley.

The latest crime and emergency updates.

A burst water main has led to delays on a busy Black Country road.

A further 20 coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in hospitals in the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire as well as 17 further deaths in care homes.

A knifeman from Stourbridge who stabbed a stranger to death on a hilltop had no clear symptoms of psychosis and was not "acting randomly or in a frenzy" on the day of the killing, a forensic psychiatrist has told a court.

Construction work is underway on the Sprint bus route linking Walsall, Birmingham and Solihull.

A driver has been taken to hospital after a crash between her car and a lorry on the M6 near Stafford.

A council is training up an "army of volunteers" to spread awareness of Covid vaccines - as the number of infections have dropped sharply since January.

Repairs have been completed at a leisure centre after five months of work.

A new B&M store and a Tim Hortons drive-thru are to be built on the site of a former Toys R Us branch in the Black Country.

Residents of a quiet Staffordshire street have had their lives "turned upside down" by walkers using their street to park when visiting a nearby green, a villager has claimed.

A Wolverhampton primary school rated inadequate by education chiefs is now taking “effective action” to avoid going into special measures, a recent monitoring review has found.

A murder investigation has been launched after a man was stabbed to death this morning.

Council bosses are drawing up plans to help Black Country pubs and restaurants partially reopen next month.

The former HM Revenue and Customs building in Wolverhampton city centre will be turned into 95 new flats, city council planners decided this week.

An urgent call has been issued for people to stop breaching coronavirus rules after police were called to groups congregating in the sun.

A plan to convert an old kitchen shop into bedsits has been given the green light – six months after it was first refused.

A group of creepy dolls that were mysteriously tied to trees in Cannock Chase were removed by police, it has been confirmed.

Distraught members of the traveller community say they would not be wanted anywhere after a row over a proposed transit site in the Black Country.

A mother and daughter enterprise that runs play sessions for under-fives in Wolverhampton has created a new range of free activity packs for children to enjoy at home during lockdown.

A taxi driver who made racist and intimidating remarks to a passenger before threatening to throw her out of his car has lost his licence.

A second teenager has been charged over the stabbing of a 16-year-old boy who was left seriously injured in Walsall.

A 31-year-old man was fatally stabbed by a teenager as he waited for pizza at a Black Country shopping parade, a trial heard.

HMP Birmingham has been described as a “difficult setting” to reduce Covid transmission by a health chief following news of an outbreak.

A leisure centre in Wolverhampton has begun to support local GPs to deliver the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

An 11-year-old girl was threatened and had her school bag stolen in Wolverhampton.

Wolverhampton City Council is urging employers to ensure staff can access regular Covid-19 testing.

During five decades of marriage Christopher and Patricia Clinton have seen a lot.

A team set up to disrupt local crime and focus on early intervention is hiring more officers.

The story of love and national service lives on through a collection of letters owned by a Staffordshire man.

Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic the Tipton and Coseley Building Society has reported another set of strong results for 2020.

A Facebook group aimed at encouraging anyone who enjoys wild camping to collect litter when they are out and about has been launched.

A new end of life support service for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) patients and their families has been launched – thanks to charity funding.

Pupils at a catholic school are using the Lent period to help those most in need.

Residents living in a quiet Sandwell street were evacuated from their homes after a potentially explosive discovery.

West Midlands small and medium-sized firms are calling on the Chancellor to announce an extension to the furlough scheme when he delivers his Budget tomorrow, according to the latest data from Lloyds Bank’s business barometer research.

Dudley Council has appointed a new deputy chief executive.

People aged 60 to 63 years old in the region are now being invited for their coronavirus vaccination.

Delivery solutions group DX has reported a seven per cent rise in revenue to £182.7 million for the 27 weeks to January 2.

Truckman, the UK’s leading manufacturer and supplier of hardtops and 4x4 accessories, has invested in additional warehousing and distribution space at its headquarters in Dudley to meet growing customer demand.

A Walsall family mourning the loss of a 22-year-old woman are campaigning to get a law introduced in her name.

There are many challenges to come, but experts today explain why there is room for optimism as we look ahead.

A mother is appealing for help to fund potentially life-saving equipment for her three-year-old daughter who suffers from a very rare form of epilepsy.

Parish councils across the Midlands have been urged to join forces in a bid to reduce the damage caused by HS2.

Champagne, balloons, hot tub and a big cake marked the 21st birthday celebrations for leap year triplets India, Savannah and Alicia Bullock.

M3 is celebrating a high-profile account win after it was appointed as the creative agency for MG Motor UK Ltd, one of the UK’s best-known automotive brands.

Former teacher and pop art man Pete Mason has got Covid regulations licked and is determined to boost the take-up of vaccinations among people across the country.

A hospital worker who was drinking every day after getting "stuck in a rut" during lockdown has helped raise more than £4,000 with her friend after giving up the booze for January and February.

A further 13 coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in hospitals in the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire.

Emergency crews were called to a reservoir near Bridgnorth after reports that someone was in the water.

A man had his watch stolen on a train near Wolverhampton by a robber who he feared would shoot him.

Thousands of children across the region have been told which secondary school they will be attending.

An alleged murderer will stand trial next month accused of stabbing a man to death in the Black Country two years ago.

The family of a man killed in a hit-and-run crash in the Black Country have made a heartfelt plea for witnesses to come forward.

A new mobile coronavirus testing unit has hit the road in Wolverhampton.

CCTV pictures have been released of youths wanted over an attack which left a man needing surgery.

Boris Johnson visited one of the three large coronavirus vaccination centres in Staffordshire today.

Bridgnorth has been chosen as a focal point for a government-funded research project into living and working in a rural community.

It would make a great set for a James Bond film.

A community campaigner has called for action over large potholes along a Black Country road.

New aerial photos show building work continuing on a £34 million housing estate in Wolverhampton.

Major improvements to busy roads in the Black Country have moved a step closer after the projects secured funding to allow leaders to make the case to Government for full approval.

Lottery bosses are hoping a new beer will be just the tipple to help track down the missing West Midland winner of a unclaimed £1 million prize.

Hundreds of furious residents have signed a petition demanding a decision to place a travellers transit site in their area be reversed.

Becoming ‘fit to do the job’ to meet workplace demands, thinking about how to cope with busy places and being hyper-vigilant about germs will help in adapting to life post-lockdown, an occupational psychology expert has said.

A date has been set for the trial of a woman accused of killing her mother.

The boss of the Marston's brewing arm says the beer industry needs urgent Budget support or pubs will simply not reopen.

A fundraising initiative is working to help support cultural institutions during the coronavirus pandemic.

A spiralling crisis of paranoid delusions and misplaced fury at a world he believed was set against him led a mentally ill 22-year-old man to stab a complete stranger to death in the Shropshire countryside last year, a court heard.