A new ‘adult gaming centre’ looks set to open in a disused Walsall town centre bookies prompting fears it could encourage poor people to gamble their money away.

Police chiefs have demanded more officers to help crackdown on the "vile" crime of pet theft.

The JCVI has announced it is widening the Covid vaccination programme to more children aged between 12 and 15 who have underlying health conditions.

A family has received a substantial payout from a care home following failings in the care of a 94-year-old great-grandmother which led to her death.

The parents of a Willenhall schoolboy who was hit by a car have give their support to a petition calling for urgent improvements to traffic calming measures.

Dominic Raab is not on holiday.

The backdrop of a landmark Black Country memorial to Sikh Soldiers has been set in place.

A major refurbishment project to restore the Grade 1 listed Old Curzon Street Station in Birmingham, one of the world's oldest surviving pieces of monumental railway architecture, has started.

Walk-in vaccination clinics will be opening across Staffordshire over the weekend to get their Covid jabs.

A former Staffordshire police officer who pretended to have attended London Pride has pleaded guilty to fraud and data protection offences.

A permanent memorial to those from the mining industry who gave their lives for their countries has finally been unveiled.

Lex Warner, from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, died in 2012.

Tributes have been paid to Honorary Alderman of Sandwell and former deputy mayor Margaret James, who has died aged 85.

Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council will consider their views on a proposal to extend the footway outside the Halifax Bank on Birmingham Road.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said it is expanding the rollout to more children with underlying health conditions.

Work to transform the rest of the former Sunbeam factory in Wolverhampton into flats could restart after the building was bought for £7.5 million.

Police are searching for four teenagers after three boys were robbed on a bus in the Black Country.

A final loud boom signalled the end of an era as the last major structure at the Ironbridge Power Station was blown up.

A woman who died after being hit by a car near Stafford Castle has been named as Alison Meadows.

Two solicitors from a firm which was based in Wolverhampton have been suspended in connection with an allegedly fraudulent "quick sale" property scheme.

Lichfield residents, businesses, sports clubs and community groups are being asked to comment on the planned location for the city's new leisure centre.

Owners of a Cannock Chase holiday park who were denied permission to add more static homes by councillors are planning to appeal the decision.

A bid to turn a Stafford town centre office block into housing has been rejected after concerns were raised that future residents would be unable to open their windows without being affected by noise from the nearby railway station.

Plans to add 40 extra homes to a rural development currently under construction have been sent back by Stafford Borough councillors for a redesign.

A Black Country NHS trust will be sentenced in November over safety failings in the cases of two patients who died.

A further 10 coronavirus death have been confirmed in the region's hospitals – in the latest figures released by NHS England.

Paralympic bronze was worth its weight in gold to Halesowen's Jordanne Whiley, who proclaimed Tokyo singles success as the happiest moment of her life.

A row over the treatment of bin workers has escalated further after union bosses said a council had "falsely" announced strikes had been called off.

A man from the Black Country who advertised his waste removal services on Facebook only to dump rubbish in a car park has been ordered to pay more than £1,200.

The primary school's budget was plundered for potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A man from Walsall who denies causing the death of a two-week-old boy by dangerous driving has had his trial date pushed back.

Alexanda Kotey, who grew up in London, attended a two-hour change of plea hearing at US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday.

One of the world’s rarest cars has been unveiled anew having been restored by a Bridgnorth firm.

A Bridgnorth firm has completed its restoration of one of the world’s rarest cars and unveiled it in London.

A council in the Black Country has pledged to relocate a further 40 refugees from Afghanistan on top of the 80 already being rehomed.

Two stars of Peter Kay's sitcom Phoenix Nights will head the bill in the comedy tent at this month's Black Country Musicom.

Two men have pleaded not guilty to murdering a father-of-five who was found dead at an industrial estate in the Black Country.

A Wolverhampton private hire driver who overcharged a customer, while taking her on an uninsured journey that wasn't pre-booked, has had her licence revoked.

Student Rattan Bhorjee has organised a successful donation drive for Afghan refugees in the Black Country, all while finishing his masters dissertation at the University of Warwick.

Walmley Golf Club has applied to make renovations to its club house.

A fraudster who took almost £83,000 from a vulnerable woman's bank account has been locked up for more than two years.

Headteachers insist it is crucial children aged 12 to 15 are given the coronavirus vaccine to ensure schools are not hit by yet more disruption.

One lucky Express & Star reader has been celebrating after bagging a glamping getaway.

There’s something comforting about primary school life, like being wrapped in a cosy blanket with a mug of hot chocolate.

Boldmere Swimming Club has spoken of its pride after seeing Tully Kearney claim Paralympic gold.

The Prime Minister urged world football’s governing body to take ‘strong action’.

Sutton Coldfield RFC kicked off their season centenary celebrations by staging a rugby-themed festival of family fun last weekend.

A dancing thief stripped his victims of expensive watches in Birmingham using bizarre fancy footwork.

A fly in the cab television series is putting ambulance crews across the West Midlands in the spotlight.

Witnesses are being searched for after an attack which left a hedgehog close to death.

A Black Country charity has closed one of its shops for a good after the latest act of vandalism.

A construction manager who beat cancer during lockdown has won a top-of the range Mercedes and a cash prize of £50,000.

A haul of suspected counterfeit goods with an estimated value of £1 million has been seized at a shop in the Black Country.

A pensioner was found impaled on a bannister at her home in South Staffordshire.

A man has been charged with the manslaughter of a father who died after being attacked in Birmingham city centre.

Nobody has been charged over the murder of a woman more than three weeks after her body was dumped in a layby and set on fire.

A developer is looking to “raise the bar” and change perceptions of houses of multiple occupation with a planned project in Walsall.

Revamp work at a popular recording studio that has been saved from closure has been completed.

An historic glass cone – one of just a handful left in the country – has been given special recognition by Visit England.

Community groups in a city have been invited to bid for grants from a funding pot of £18,000.

Members of the public are invited to have their say on plans to transform a former magistrates’ court into an arts venue.

Mr Johnson told reporters at Merville Barracks in Colchester that the eligible teenagers were ‘a very important group for potential transmission’.

A Staffordshire domestic abuse charity has received a funding boost from a regional housebuilder.

A drug driver who drove at twice the speed limit while being chased by police at school leaving time has avoided prison.

Angry residents have accused Dudley Council of failing them over crucial plans which could see thousands of homes built on greenbelt land.

Coronary heart disease, breast cancer, childhood obesity and self-harm rates vary widely between wards across Birmingham according to a report addressing health inequalities.

A Stone Olympian’s achievements are to be recognised by community leaders who have hailed him one of the top canoeists in the world.

A Staffordshire town is set to hold a virtual Christmas lights switch on for the second year in a row after community leaders raised concerns about thousands of revellers flocking into the High Street while Covid-19 remains an issue.

A care home where a resident set their bedding on fire has been rated inadequate after inspectors were alerted to concerns for people's safety.

Dilapidated sports ground facilities in Wolverhampton look set to be demolished amid calls to reopen playing fields for the public.

The new figures come as research suggested being double-jabbed almost halves the likelihood of long Covid in adults.

A new Starbucks drive-thru and cafe has opened at Merry Hill, creating 20 new jobs.

A woman found dead in a Black Country canal has been identified after an appeal by police.

A prison near Wolverhampton has been praised for safety and its overall treatment of inmates - but concerns have been raised around the use of force and education provision.

Further strikes by bin workers in Sandwell have been called off after an agreement was reached with union bosses.

An appeal has been launched to identify a woman who was found dead in a Black Country canal.

A man was stabbed at Lichfield City Station last night.

A scheme providing food and activities for disadvantaged youngsters during school holidays can help "close the attainment gap" in education, a Government minister has said.

She’s currently in Tokyo covering the Paralympics for TV’s The Last Leg – but fast-rising comedy hotshot Rosie Jones is on her way to Sutton Coldfield this November.

A wedding day hitch was narrowly averted when police drove a stranded bride and her parents to church after the wedding car broke down.

A council is appealing for information after a “truck-full of rubbish” was dumped in a lane.

However, Dominic Raab said there was an important scope for engagement and dialogue.

A teenager has been charged with killing a bus driver who died after being hit by a car as he walked along the pavement.

The professor’s modelling was instrumental to the UK going into lockdown in March 2020.

Committee says ministers must establish whether the plans would lead to ‘hesitancy’ to vote among black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Disadvantaged communities face the ‘biggest challenges’ as they have seen larger cuts in per pupil spending, researchers warn.

Schools in England can sign up with this year’s external tuition providers through the National Tutoring Programme.

A cross-party group of more than 100 MPs have urged ministers to ban the import and sale of animal fur in the UK.

The latest footfall monitor by retail researchers at Springboard showed that footfall in August was 18.6% lower than the same month in 2019.

Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation deputy chairman Professor Anthony Harnden said they will decide ‘in the children’s best interests’.

The CMA said the move could see customers facing ‘higher prices, fewer discounts and less choice of products in store’.

From September, more than half a million people with severely weakened immune systems will be offered another dose of a vaccine.

But the minister did not rule out a rise in Covid-19 infections being caused by children going back to class after the summer break.

The Ladder for the Black County team has been delighted by the progression made by Ben Bates from a study programme with Juniper Training to starting an apprenticeship as a roofer.

The company said it was hiring staff for its World Headquarters and plants in Staffordshire.

The story of a murder victim who disappeared while out shopping will be recounted in a television crime show.

A man has been charged with assaulting two women after information from a public appeal led to his arrest.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a father was killed during a night out in Birmingham city centre.

A Black Country house was sealed off and the bomb squad called when a Second World War grenade was found.

Work on a £3.6m town-centre road scheme will begin next week in a bid to ease congestion.