Prompted by our photographer, Clive Jones raises half a smile.

Anti-vaxxers gathered along Wolverhampton's Ring Road on Wednesday evening to protest against the Covid vaccination of teenagers.

A total of 70 firefighters have been battling a blaze in Birmingham city centre that started in the early hours of Thursday.

The hotel chain is targeting parents wanting to return to work.

Parents of pupils at a troubled Black Country school have submitted a petition calling for the removal of senior leaders.

Health chiefs have warned people to get fully jabbed as quickly as possible as cases of coronavirus rise in the community.

A city palliative care charity is putting part of its site for sale as it looks to the future.

A rail station is aiming to conquer the world with help from its furry companion.

An apprenticeship was the last thing Cody Harper considered as a teenager.

The supermarket also called on the Government to temporarily make it easier to bring in workers from abroad to ease the issue, reports said.

Extra tickets for the festive Polar Express are available at a heritage railway which will be operating the service for the first time.

An appeal for witnesses has gone out following the theft of a car from a quiet road.

A man was left needing hospital treatment after hitting his head during an early-hours fight in the Black Country.

Four West Midlands’ teenagers have made the final of a national driving competition – despite not being old enough to hold a driving licence.

Boris Johnson has announced that kebabs, kofta, burgers and cuts of lamb in the US could come from Britain as a result of the ban’s lifting.

Human antibodies have been used for serious coronavirus cases during the pandemic.

Damien Bendall was charged with four counts of murder on Tuesday.

Damien Bendall is accused of killing a mother and three children at a house in Derbyshire.

A former counter-terrorism officer who served in the Royal Ulster Constabulary is set to land the top job in a county's police force.

Patients at many Black Country surgeries are finding it harder than the national average to access GP telephone appointments, research has shown.

Gourmet meals and lots of walks have helped a Black Country dog to live to a ripe old age.

Staff at Dudley Zoo and Castle are celebrating after the birth of a baby emperor tamarin.

Children of people living with cancer are set to benefit from special kits designed to help them talk about their feelings thanks to a donation of more than £3,000.

Lanes on a busy route into Wolverhampton will be closed as 12 weeks of renovation work get under way.

A Wolverhampton educated chemistry student who put the colour into stainless steel with an invention that has been reflected in buildings around the world, has donated a prototype "peacock" to the city's university.

Tenpin bowling centre operator Ten Entertainment Group has reported the most successful summer trading period in the group's history.

Buses have been diverted and traffic held up after a water pipe burst underneath a city road.

A tall tree in a Wolverhampton park has had to be chopped down after being damaged in a fire.

A specialist nurse is appealing to people to make their loved ones certain of their wishes regarding organ donation.

As many as 100 tractors are set to form a festive charity convoy through the Staffordshire countryside during the run-up to Christmas.

No coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in the region's hospitals – for the first time in months.

Planned strike action by workers opposing the closure of an engineering factory has been suspended.

Residents in a Black Country borough are desperate for housing as properties lie empty across much of the area.

A company behind several Black Country supermarkets has been told to pay more than £500,000 after issues with pet infestations and safety.

Tributes have been paid to a mother stabbed to death in Wolverhampton - as a man was charged with her murder.

Two men armed with a baton have stolen a till from a shop in Staffordshire.

Alastair Campbell has labelled a decision to block a Walsall councillor becoming deputy mayor over mental heath issues as “disgusting”.

A cat has been reunited with its family in the Black Country – after it was found 130 miles away having been missing for four months.

Police are appealing for information after a "distressing and frightening" fight between football fans at a motorway service station.

Angry residents say they feel ignored by a consultation into plans to build thousands of homes on green belt sites across the region.

Campervan showrooms are enjoying record sales, all thanks to a post-lockdown rush for self-drive holidays.

A youth seriously wounded a man during a violent break-in at a house where cash and jewellery were stolen.

Under local plans, councils have put forward potential sites for development, some of which lie on the green belt.

A popular music venue which has run as part of Wolverhampton's Civic halls for more than a decade is to remain closed.

A police investigation has been launched after two gunshots were fired at a car in a Wolverhampton street.

A multi-million pound care facility has been opened by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.

A probe has been launched into the use of a controversial weed killer used on roads and pavements across the Dudley Borough

Union workers at the historic lock makers Henry Squire and Sons in Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, will begin strike action next month in a dispute over pay.

by sue smith

A pensions management firm has been named as the second tenant of a new city office block which houses a government department.

A memorial to servicemen and women who have lost their lives since 1945 is set to be installed at Lane Head, Short Heath, in preparation for an official dedication on October 3.

A Black Country father is set to take on his biggest challenge for a charity close to his heart.

A man accused of beating up a man who later died was previously diagnosed with several mental disorders, a jury has heard.

Neath Port Talbot, West Dunbartonshire and Merthyr Tydfil are currently recording the highest rates.

Two new members have been welcomed to Hednesford Town Council by the mayor.

New clinical vehicles offering Covid-19 tests are being rolled out across Staffordshire this week.

Police are warning residents in the Black Country after a spate of catalytic converter thefts in the area.

The Good Law project claims more than £80 million in contracts for antibody tests were awarded unlawfully.

Angry Labour members walked out of a full council meeting in a dramatic protest in Walsall after accusing the Tories of ‘shaming’ the town.

Two brothers have been convicted of unlawfully killing their younger sibling who was stabbed in the chest after a family feud.

A man has been taken to hospital with burns after a fire at a house.

A Wolverhampton homeowner says he feels lucky to be alive following an explosion outside his house which has left a workman seriously injured.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisted he was focused on helping ‘vulnerable’ customers heat their homes.

Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s hit musical School of Rock has broken out of the West End and headed to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.

Sporty siblings from a Sutton school enjoyed a dream meeting with an Olympic legend.

A service that cares for people living with a disabilities has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures by inspectors.

A Black Country MP has been promoted in the latest Government reshuffle.

A further 21 coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in the region's hospitals, in the latest figures released by NHS England.

Young pupils in Cannock Chase volunteered to help their community with hands-on support on a conservation project.

More than a quarter of the tyres on a sample of Birmingham’s e-scooters have worn-away tread, a campaigner has claimed.

Police are searching for a convicted criminal suspected of attacking a police officer.

News of four new tram routes in the West Midlands including Hagley Road got a mixed response from residents.

A long-standing private sex shop has had its licence renewed despite a councillor’s “family” objections.

A new drive-thru Costa Coffee shop could be opened on the car park of a Black Country supermarket.

The sun was out, the music was blaring, the crowds were jumping – and everyone's weekend was made at an authentic Black Country festival.

Walsall’s main shopping centre has plummeted in value by more than £8.5 million since it was bought by the council four years ago.

Rent arrears at a Walsall shopping centre shot up by more than £60,000 in just four months, a private report has revealed.

It takes the total returned to HM Revenue and Customs since July 2020 to £1.3 billion.

GPs have come under fire in the media for not offering enough face-to-face appointments.

The pandemic had dropped as low as the 26th leading cause in the summer.

Community leaders and residents have told of their shock after a woman was found stabbed to death in the second suspected murder in Wolverhampton in two days.

A man has been charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and attacking an emergency worker after an incident on a major road through the region.

A fundraising campaign has been launched to help secure the future of a church and community centre.