Work has started to demolish an eyesore former pub and neighbouring derelict garages to transform the site.

Police are appealing to identify a teenager after an attempted knife-point robbery in the Bullring Shopping Centre – where an offender threatened to stab a schoolboy.

MPs will vote later on the £12 billion a year package funded by a major hike in national insurance.

A struggling Black Country garage could be shut down to make way for more than 15 apartments.

One in five claimants of Universal Credit in the West Midlands say they are "very likely" to need to skip meals if the benefit is cut next month according to a new survey.

Shoppers and business owners have spoken of their shock after a man was stabbed to death in a supermarket car park.

Drivers have been warned to expect delays when two slip roads on a main route are closed for HS2 works.

Aaron O’Halloran drove the vehicle through a gate at Duddeston station and travelled half a mile down the railway tracks towards Aston in Birmingham.

Residents had to be evacuated after a three-metre deep sinkhole opened up in a front garden in the Black Country.

A primary school has been forced to close for two days after more than 20 staff refused to turn up for work over a bullying row.

Thunderstorms are set strike in the West Midlands this week as the Met Office issues a yellow warning for large swathes of the UK.

A report by the Northern Health Science Alliance measured the effect of the first year of the Covid-19 outbreak on the different English regions.

The online retail giant said it made £20.63 billion in total revenues in the UK during 2020, up from £13.73 billion in 2019.

An announcement on the Government’s booster programme is expected soon.

A dangerous driver who reached speeds of 100mph during a police chase across the West Midlands has been locked up.

Badger culling will take place in 40 zones across England this year and see between 33,045 and a maximum of 75,930 badgers killed to tackle Bovine TB

An e-scooter rider travelled nearly the length of a marathon in one trip after hiring one of the devices during a year-long trial in Staffordshire, it has been revealed.

The county's police force is investigating the "unacceptable" failure of its 999 call system – the third in a matter of weeks.

At least 500 people have been fined for flouting Covid rules across Staffordshire since the pandemic began, health bosses have said.

Former carpenter and sheet metal worker Leslie Beeston has celebrated his 100th birthday in style with a family trip to the Black Country Living Museum.

An arson hit former Walsall care home site is set to be transformed into a stunning new apartment block.

A new McDonald’s in Sutton Coldfield inside a Asda store could be set to remain open until midnight through most of the week.

A pair of climbing enthusiasts have so far raised almost £600 after taking on a sponsored trek up Ben Nevis.

Urgent repairs need to be carried out to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery – with water reported to be leaking into the building and threatening artworks within.

A massive solar farm which with thousands of panels to harness the power of the sun is set to be granted permission in Wolverhampton.

The former teacher heading up a major review of children's social care hailed the "huge opportunity" of overhauling the sector during a visit to the Black Country.

Brownhills Canal Festival will take place again later this month after Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust decided to revive the event.

A dedicated charity campaigner is getting on his marks to raise money in aid of a trust which encourages good mental health.

They were "Vikings with wings" who had escaped their enemy-occupied homeland and were determined to continue the fight against Hitler's Germany.

The PM said the £12 billion National Insurance hike is needed to deal with Covid backlog in the NHS and to overhaul adult social care.

Parents of students set to lose their school bus seats for good are considering quitting their jobs so they can get their children to class safely, a campaign group has said.

A drop in air pollution levels in Bath is a possible indicator of “greater benefits” for Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone, legal advisers have said.

Plans to open a children’s home in a Stafford street have been withdrawn.

Up to £150 will be awarded to 8,000 families across Sandwell as £500,000 worth of government support remains unspent.

Police are appealing for help tracing a missing Black Country woman.

Police are appealing for help identifying two suspects after a knifepoint robbery in Wolverhampton.

Nadhim Zahawi said coronavirus will be ‘with us for many years’ but he hopes ‘severe measures’ will not be needed in future.

Teenagers can consent to receiving the jab themselves in some rare circumstances, the schools minister suggested.

Big acquisitions of G4S and RSA led a takeover boom in the second quarter of this year.

Dash-cam footage has been released showing police chasing a white van which went on the wrong side of the road, drove over the central reservation and reached double the speed limit.

Declan Jones has yet to be sentenced for the assaults, both carried out in Birmingham.

A further 17 coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in the region's hospitals – in the latest figures released by NHS England.

Julie Hambleton was charged after attending a motor rally through Birmingham on the anniversary of the attacks.

The team at a Sutton business which is backing a charity run from Lichfield Cathedral to Tamworth Castle has praised the ‘incredible effort’ that has gone into making the event happen despite the pandemic.

Community heroes from across the Black Country and Staffordshire are set to receive the British Empire Medal at a special presentation next week.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said he hoped the virus can be dealt with in future without having to take the ‘severe measures’ seen previously.

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.

The increase in National Insurance contributions will go towards the Government's health and social care reforms, but costs millions of people hundreds of pounds per year

Self storage company Safestore, which has three sites in the Black Country, has seen revenue rise, driven by a higher closing occupancy rate.

The increasing levels of home improvement are continuing to help Kidderminster-based floor coverings group Victoria.

The Prime Minister announced a new UK-wide 1.25% health and social care levy based on National Insurance contributions.

Two Lichfield enterprises are being featured in a special celebration of small businesses across the country.

A man has died after being stabbed multiple times in the stomach during a fight in a supermarket car park.

Retail chain Screwfix is taking on 600 more staff in Staffordshire as a result of growing online and in-store sales.

A pensioner has been found to have killed his elderly wife at their home in the Black Country.

Stourbridge MP Suzanne Webb has been backed by the Education Secretary in recommending the new T-Levels to Black Country employers.

David Venables was charged with murder earlier this year, after his wife’s body was found in a septic tank in 2019.

A man has needed hospital treatment after being stabbed in the leg.

A stretch of the M6 will be closed again for a whole weekend as a second four-lane bridge is constructed as part of a £78 million scheme to cut congestion.

A man has been taken to hospital with burns after a severe fire which ripped through a Bloxwich home.

A 17-year-old was reportedly robbed at knifepoint by a gang of boys wearing face coverings at Merry Hill shopping centre.

A new parking system has come into force at Lichfield's Tesco Extra store today (Monday, September 6) aimed at keeping car parking spaces available to its customers.

Ambulance service staff who deal with care home patients must be double jabbed or face losing their jobs.

“Today has so many mixed emotions because of Covid, but I’m just so happy to see my child back at school.”

"I'm sad about the situation in Afghanistan, but it makes me more determined to help those who come here to make it easier for them to integrate into the community."

More than 900 chain stores closed across the West Midlands in the first half of 2021, with others facing a make-or-break few months in their fight for survival.

Stafford's biggest pantomime in years is breaking box office records for the Gatehouse Theatre – proving that Snow White really is the fairest panto of them all.

A memorial plaque in honour of Lichfield's much-missed town crier Ken Knowles has been sited at Minster Pool.

Three Lichfield golfers have pitched and putted their way to victory in a prestigious celebrity Par 3 tournament.

A serving officer from West Midlands Police has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm after an investigation by the police watchdog.

Police officers have launched an appeal to find two men wanted on suspicion of an attempted murder in the West Midlands

Major landmarks across the region will be lighting up red to mark the work of a vital lifesaving service.

Green space that residents say protected their mental health during the pandemic should be kept wild and not built on, say campaigners.

Strong calls have been made for Wolverhampton to follow Birmingham into having ‘all-out’ elections to boost “appalling” turnout figures.

A new school building in Oldbury has opened for pupils after a decade of campaigning for its expansion.

The organiser of a music event in Lichfield's Beacon Park, parts of which have been described as "shambolic", says he is sorry that it failed to deliver all that was promised.

A further 16 coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in the region's hospitals – in the latest figures released by NHS England.

Prospective parents would be given the option to keep or dispose of the frozen sex cells or embryos at 10 year intervals under the new system.

A teenage boy has been taken to hospital after falling from an escalator in a Tesco store in Staffordshire.

A man was bitten on the arm when violence broke out after a crash in the Black Country.

Weekend Police patrols in Birmingham city centre have been stepped up after a series of fatal attacks.

Two robbers have been jailed after attacking two men at knifepoint in a church car park.

The Lichfield Garrick Theatre has announced its new season which features "a star-studded programme", the return of cinema and live-screened performances, and a brand-new escape room.

A teenager was taken to hospital after being attacked by a dog in Staffordshire.

A Black Country school has brought its corridors to life in a bid to inspire students returning after 18 months of Covid disruption.

Estate agent group Belvoir, which has offices in Cannock, Dudley, Telford, Wednesbury and Wolverhampton, enjoyed a 51 per cent rise in pre-tax profits in the first six months of this year.

The furniture company is facing supply chain problems.

A popular Lichfield choir has been nominated and shortlisted for a prestigious national award in recognition of its positive influence during the pandemic.