The new £73 million Sandwell Aquatics Centre is on track for completion next year – as it passed another milestone with the roof being installed.

See the full list of candidates for the Wyre Forest district ahead of the 2021 Worcestershire County Council election.

A controversial plan to build new homes on Cradley land is set to be approved despite fears it could “ruin a thriving High Street”.

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

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

See the full list of Wolverhampton Council election candidates ward by ward.

The Transport Select Committee said the Government’s report to resume travel did not inspire confidence in the industry or holidaymakers.

More than 40 new jobs could be created at the IKEA Wednesbury store as the furniture giant looks to expand to meet online demand.

See every candidate standing in the 2021 Staffordshire County Council election. Full list of Cannock, Stafford, South Staffordshire and Lichfield seats.

We've done it! Acorns Children's Hospice in Walsall has been saved almost two years after a major appeal to secure its long-term future was launched.

The Rank Group has said it is focusing on the reopening of its venues next month after suffering plummeting sales during lockdown.

A punter is on the verge of being crowned the UK’s top tipster, and with it a prize for £4,000.

Domestic abuse has risen by 39 per cent in Wolverhampton over the past 12 months, a council meeting heard.

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

A Black Country landmark was illuminated orange as part of an international campaign to show support for a baby girl, who has an aggressive form of cancer.

The Russian leader proposed new incentives to help the economy recover from the pandemic.

The figure raises India’s total past 15.9 million cases since the pandemic began.

Mark Drakeford is fronting a Welsh Government press conference on Friday to detail the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

Lateral flow tests for pregnant women and their partners are among measures ‘urgently’ recommended by NHS England.

Britons returning to the UK after 4am on Friday will be forced to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.

Experts have called for more support for vulnerable groups.

The Trussell Trust said food bank use has risen a third in a year.

The England striker has joined forces with the celebrity chef and some famous friends to encourage low-income families to cook more.

Around 723,000 businesses were in ‘significant financial distress’ in the quarter to the end of March following a 15% increase.

Developments in the fight against Covid-19 and a maelstrom over missing Marmite feature on the Thursday front pages.

The majority of families believe their child has fallen behind at school since the first lockdown, a survey suggests.

Transparency International UK said those with political access appeared to be favoured.

Health officials said a single positive case of the variant first identified in South Africa had been found.

Gunmen fired 10 shots at victim.

Centre finally opened its doors last week.

The pandemic has put the handbrake on driving tests, with more than 7,000 cancelled in the Black Country and Staffordshire last year.

Region rallied round to rescue much-loved hospice.

Hundreds of pounds has been raised for the family of two boys who were taken to hospital after a crash in the Black Country.

A man accused of the murder of Reece Cox said he kicked and punched him "to stop him fighting with everyone".

A city school has begun an appeal for funds to help replace a sandpit left contaminated by vandals.

Blind Dave Heeley is delighted to have a new canine companion by his side after the sadness of losing his old guide dog one Christmas morning.

A Black Country bingo hall has helped to improve the lives of hundreds of people during the coronavirus pandemic by engaging with charities from across the region.

The team behind building the Aquatics Centre in Smethwick, is lending a hand to a local community group.

Black Country Skills Factory, supported by Ladder for the Black Country are once again hosting their virtual World of Work weeks with the focus this time on the health and social care sector.

A major burst water pipe left homes and businesses across Wolverhampton without supplies today.

A 15-year-old who stole a car with two young children inside has claimed he took the vehicle to settle a £40 drug debt after mistaking the youngsters' father for a delivery driver.

The Prime Minister faced accusations of cronyism after promising to fix a tax concern raised by Sir James Dyson.

In the study, most vaccinated people who displayed Covid symptoms had become infected before their immune system had a chance to respond to the jab.

Wales has given both jabs to nearly a quarter of its adult population.

Carer by day, crooner by night – Jordan Adams is now raising money for a children’s charity through a festive song.

More than 40 new jobs could be created at Ikea's Wednesbury store as the furniture giant looks to expand to meet online demand.

A former leader of Sandwell Council has quit Labour, claiming the party was attempting to "bury the truth about wrongdoing" at the authority.

Three coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in hospitals in the Black Country and Birmingham.

A petition was launched calling for a one-off bonus of £500 for NHS and social care workers in England.

The owner of Telford's Forge Retail Park has agreed to sell all of its retail parks to Canadian investor Brookfield.

A teenager has been jailed for more than six years for a “vicious and cowardly attack” on a man in Great Wyrley who was left with serious injuries to his arm and hand.

Terrorist was living in Stafford.

A communications manager who bravely helped wrestle the Fishmongers’ Hall attacker to the ground begged police not to give the suspect the “satisfaction” of shooting him dead, an inquest jury heard.

Officers found cash stashed away.

The surge in India has exacerbated the slowdown in global vaccination campaigns.

Android, iPhone and tablet users can download the new ad-free Express & Star app and enjoy a 30-day free trial.

Campaigners delighted as development scrapped.

The Prime Minister made an unannounced visit to a Wolverhampton pub on Monday as he joined Andy Street on the campaign trail ahead of next month's West Midlands' mayoral election

A Birmingham woman has admitted murdering a 28-year-old woman whose remains were found in two suitcases.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said it was also right to look at how fans can have a stake in their clubs.

The entrepreneur is said to have lobbied the Prime Minister for assurances his workers would not have to pay extra tax.

Members of the PCS union will walk out for four days in May.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has said there is a possible link between the vaccine and ‘extremely rare’ blood clots.

A Black Country care worker has scooped £300,000 on the National Lottery after picking up two winning scratchcards.

The organiser of a petition to get an ice rink constructed in Dudley is feeling optimistic that her campaign has been successful.

The long wait is finally over after the consecration of the new Bishop of Stafford.

On the one side of the road is an industrial estate, on the other a wedge of woodland between two housing estates.

Virus infection rates across the West Midlands are starting to return to levels last seen at the end of the summer in 2020.

Some pupils at a Wolverhampton school are to work from home after 40 members of staff went on strike over concerns about workload and safety.

A young dance teacher is celebrating lockdown restrictions being finally lifted so that she can achieve her dream of opening her own studio in Wolverhampton.

A lap dancing club that has entertained punters in West Bromwich town centre without any problems for years will continue for another 12 months.

A blame game erupted between councillors in Dudley after a deal to allow some residents to use a Wolverhampton tip collapsed.

Clothes discounting was still unseasonably high, the ONS said

Unit has undergone a renovation.

Physical activity which gets you slightly out of breath could also increase the effectiveness of vaccines.

Car dealerships group Pendragon has reported a profit for the first three months of this year despite the lockdown.

Reece Cox died in attack outside pub.

The effects of Covid-19 vaccine supply constraints are being felt across the Black Country and Staffordshire, where the number of first jabs administered has dropped, figures show.

A Stourbridge man used boots which had been adapted with a hole drilled into the toe to carry out upskirting offences.

Groups and unions representing NHS workers have penned a letter to Boris Johnson urging him to massively increase investment in staffing.

Businesses in Wolverhampton have been reminded of the deadline to apply for financial support for rapid Covid-19 testing.

Kidderminster-based carpets and flooring firm Victoria has bought two Italian firms in a deal worth just over £30 million.

Boris Johnson said people should not be deluded that the threat from Covid-19 had receded.

But Dr Nikita Kanani warned ‘our job is not done’.

A survey of health professionals for NHS Charities Together found 88% of NHS staff feel proud to work for the NHS.

The former prime minister warned that global inoculation efforts could be undermined if vaccines were discredited ‘based on unjustified anxieties’.

Researchers discovered communities of similar bacteria that largely remain in drains after hand washing.

The rise could be due to the Covid-19 pandemic leading to millions of workers being furloughed, or working from home, according to the company.

The apparent collapse of the European Super League leads most of the papers on Wednesday.

The green shoots of recovery are continuing to emerge in the Black Country and Staffordshire with thousands of new jobs being created.

Jurors have been shown more CCTV evidence in a murder trial where a Black Country man was fatally stabbed.

A bus company is the first in the UK to introduce a Covid safe fogging system which will make public transport safe for passengers.

The plight of families living with domestic violence prompted a Stafford teenager to launch an appeal to collect dozens of gift-filled boxes and donations for a local refuge.

For nine years the mother of House of Cards actor Christopher Owen was in a children's home in Aston, Birmingham, and for the rest of her life she hid the "socially unacceptable" truth about the reason for the family's destitution.

Cash raised for cancer charities.

Open air theatre is set to return to Wolverhampton in late summer with a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at Bantock House Museum and Park.

The taskforce hopes to bring two at-home Covid treatments online this year.

The vaccine is yet to be approved for use in the UK.

More than 20 cannabis plants and cash have been seized after a Cannock property was raided by police.

Luton, Doncaster and Bradford are recording the highest rates.