Pupils at a Staffordshire school got a nice surprise when they returned from the holidays to a new-look playground.

The mobile Covid testing unit will be available at Wednesfield Community Hub until Sunday.

Art lovers will be able to view the impact of American lifestyles on Britain through works set to go on show at Wolverhampton Art Gallery from May 17 to December 5.

Talks between Birmingham City and Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council over a future vision of Sutton Park have been described as “extremely constructive”.

Kate and William thrilled youngsters as they brought their mission to highlight mental health issues to the heart of the Black Country.

A female swan has been found dead after being shot twice while sitting on her nest of eggs.

A hospital boss said there would be no need for further measures to combat the Indian strain of Covid, should there be a rise of cases in the Black Country.

Further action is set to be ordered by ministers to help slow the spread of the highly transmissible variant of concern.

Burglaries and robberies have all fallen across the West Midlands and Staffordshire, latest figures show.

Police have launched an investigation after a report of a man trying to buy a baby from a woman in Dudley.

"We've faced everything that they can throw at us and we're still here, so bring on next week."

A milestone has been reached on the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension with the first new bridge lowered into place over a canal.

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas with a Sutton Coldfield church deciding to spread festive cheer – in June!

Tributes have been paid to a heroic Sutton Second World War pilot who passed away peacefully at the age of 99.

A nursery that has been established for more than 20 years and achieved its third consecutive 'outstanding' report from Ofsted last year is relocating.

A couple who moved to south Shropshire to escape the stresses of London life are now leading a more down-to-earth existence by running a worm farm.

Public health experts in the West Midlands are urging people to exercise care and common season as the region eases out of lockdown on Monday.

A former Sandwell Mayor who served as a councillor for more than 40 years has been awarded the Freedom of the Borough.

Plans for a new multi-million pound state-of-the-art special school in Dudley have been lodged with council bosses.

Visitors will be welcomed back on to Walsall Manor Hospital wards from Monday – as long as they have no coronavirus symptoms and local case numbers continue to fall.

From archery to table tennis and football keepy uppies, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge showed their sporty side on a visit to Wolverhampton.

Two men have been charged with murder after a hit-and-run moped crash in which a 16-year-old boy died.

Three types of the Indian variant have been identified in the UK, one of which is a variant of concern.

A man was taken to hospital after jumping to escape a fire at a West Midlands property.

An e-fit image has been sent out to help in the search for the mother of abandoned baby George.

William and Kate’s first stop was The Way Youth Zone in Wolverhampton.

A play by Stafford terrorist Usman Khan which foretold elements of his Fishmongers’ Hall atrocity did not give security services cause for concern, a senior MI5 official has said.

Leading Walsall councillors attempted to persuade a judge to go easy on a gunman who almost killed a man when he blasted him with a shotgun in a barber shop, it has emerged.

No new coronavirus deaths have been confirmed across the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham – for the third day this week.

A GP surgery's staff have been regularly abused by patients and relatives during a time with "unprecedented demand".

The roads around the site of a new multi-million-pound hospital have become a dumping ground for mountains of waste.

Marston’s has confirmed that all of its pubs across Wolverhampton will be able to reopen for both indoor and outdoor service from Monday.

The ONS said decreases in overall crime were mainly driven by ‘substantial falls’ of 15% between April and June 2020 during the first lockdown.

Detectives have praised a brave shooting victim and members of the public for coming forward and helping them to convict a violent gunman.

CCTV footage shows two men before and after a shooting at a Walsall barber shop.

More than 30 new apartments could be created in West Bromwich if plans to convert empty offices are given the go-ahead.

Historic Sandwell Hospital buildings are to be lost to make way for a 120-home development for vital key workers.

Talks are to take place between developers and planning officers to save a potential £80 million regeneration scheme in Smethwick.

A gunman who blasted a man with a shotgun in a barber shop in broad daylight has been jailed for 25 and a half years.

People aged 38 and over are now being encouraged to book to receive a Covid-19 vaccination jab in Wolverhampton.

It takes between two and three weeks after infection or vaccination for the body to make enough antibodies to fight the virus.

The number of people waiting more than a year to start treatment also hit a record high.

The European Medicines Agency has said it is ‘pretty confident’ that vaccines currently in use will be effective against the Indian variant.

The CMA has reminded firms of their legal obligations and the need to ensure refund options are clear and accessible.

A rapid Covid-19 testing centre is set to close its doors for the final time.

Flight and cabin crew will be invited to take the ultra-rapid antigen test.

Earlier this week Boris Johnson set out the next stage of lockdown easing in England.

Business leaders in Sutton Coldfield are urging the public to support firms across the Royal Town as many more prepare to reopen next week.

A 12-year-old boy was hit with a hammer in a Black Country park.

Deliveries group DX, which has sites in Willenhall and Tipton, says trading since the beginning of March has been stronger than expected.

A former Wolverhampton nurse has revealed how she felt compelled to come out of retirement to return to the frontline to support the NHS's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Parents and carers are being urged to be vigilant after a young child was approached by a stranger outside school grounds.

Police have closed an investigation into a care home after finding no evidence of abuse.

As many as 450 extra community police officers have been promised by newly-elected West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) as one of his first acts in office.

A council leader says political infighting has cost her party votes at the local elections.

A young man accused of murdering a man outside a Black Country bar bought the knife he was carrying that night for £20 through Snapchat, his trial has heard.

A former Chelsea footballer has been named as the ambassador for a mental health and wellbeing charity based in the Black Country.

The father of a Black Country murder victim has said his son's killers "do not belong where we live" after they laughed and joked during their murder trial.

Footage has been released showing the moment a young father was beaten to death outside a pub - as a detective condemned the killers for failing to cooperate with police.

Neighbours have raised "grave concerns" about a skip hire company they say is operating unsafely and leaving rubbish to blow onto nearby roads.

Residents have raised concerns about a lift which keeps breaking down at their blocks of flats.

The goal of a new foodbank in the centre of a Black Country town is to go beyond just providing food.

More libraries in Sandwell are now ready to reopen their doors to book lovers from across a borough. Rounds Green, Brandhall, Hamstead and Oakham libraries in Sandwell will welcome back customers offering an order and collect service for books, as we...

HS2 was today launching Florence – the first of 10 tunnel boring machines that will dig 64 miles of tunnels between London and the West Midlands on phase one of the UK’s new high speed railway.

Compton Care has benefitted from the kind donations from a car tuning company.

Not many young people leave school thinking “I want to be a roofer” – unless they have a family member or colleague already in the trade.

A Black Country man is offering to be a school prom chauffeur in a bid to raise money for a cause close to his heart.

A road will close in a Black Country village for five days this month due to sewerage works.

Six men who beat to death a young father who tried to break up a fight on a night out have been locked up for nearly 100 years.

The partner of a young father beaten to death outside a Black Country pub has described her torment at losing the love of her life on the sixth anniversary of the day they met.

A man suffered minor burns following a lorry fire on a Black Country road.

Plans to knock down an historic Black Country pub to make way for houses have been withdrawn after a string of objections.

The independent probe would be able to take oral evidence under oath in public.

Two "cocaine wholesalers" from the West Midlands who supplied up to £700,000 of the drug have been jailed for more than 17 years combined.

People under 40 are being offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Ryan Passey died after being stabbed outside a Stourbridge nightclub in 2017. The man accused of his murder was cleared after he admitted stabbing Mr Passey, but claimed he did so in self-defence.

The Muslim festival marks the end of Ramadan.

Detectives investigating a shooting in Walsall have arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder.

Police have issued a dispersal order in a Black Country village where yobs have been throwing stones at vehicles.

The Chancellor said jobs was the Government’s top priority.

A trio of vending machines have been unwrapped at Mere Green Primary School – only instead of dispensing snacks, they offer an appetising selection of books for children to tuck into.

A tropical aqua park in Staffordshire has been given a makeover in readiness for its grand reopening on Monday.

No new coronavirus deaths have been confirmed across the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham.

Mutant strains of the virus have the potential to cause ‘even greater suffering’ than that endured in January.

Clients of Allard’s Lounge, Tynemouth, North Tyneside have been asked to get tested.

The Taser fired at Dalian Atkinson was working properly in tests carried out after the former Aston Villa star’s alleged murder, a court has heard.

Residents fear an increase in rats running along a Smethwick street after plans for a new supermarket were given the go-ahead.

A sex attacker who targeted lone women on trains across the West Midlands has been jailed for four years.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a shooting and stabbing in Birmingham.

An elderly woman was struck by a BMW in a hit-and-run last month - and now police are urgently seeking help in tracing a man.

Birmingham’s Paradise Circus is being proposed to reopen with a new name – but not to cars.

A new apartment block is to be built on their site of a former Wolverhampton garage.

Arsonists have been condemned after a fire caused substantial damage to a community space in Wolverhampton.

A handful of local areas have seen rates increase sharply in recent days.

A new study estimates that between 100,000 and as many as 900,000 infections may have been averted because of the app and its exposure notifications.

The Financial Conduct Authority said that £701.3 million has been paid through more than 17,000 separate claims.

The Prime Minister backed a memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral and set out plans for a commission to mark ‘this era in our history’ across the country.

Feeling pressurised often exacerbated Covid-19 vaccination concerns and hardened stances on declining a jab, according to a pre-print study.

More of the facilities for passengers at Birmingham Airport will be reopening from Monday.

Staffordshire attraction, Drayton Manor Park, is celebrating the birthday of one of its much-loved characters this week.