A man who was driving at almost motorway top speed moments before a two-car crash that resulted in the death of a baby told a trial there was no explanation for his actions.

Homes across the Black Country and Staffordshire are at their least affordable since records began in 2002 amid the cost of living squeeze, new figures show.

Property owners have given an insight into the plans for Wolverhampton’s dilapidated eye infirmary at a public consultation.

Motorists have been hit with delays after the introduction of a new seven-day contraflow on Junction 10 of the M6.

A frantic husband is desperately trying to get his trapped Belarusian wife safe passage to the West Midlands so they can begin a new life.

Parking issues, roadworks and a lack of footfall are just some of the reasons traders in an area of Wolverhampton believe the high street is suffering.

A former Methodist church in the Black Country went under the hammer for £670,000.

Toby Neal casts his eye on the world of politics.

He is set to celebrate his 75th birthday next year but the nation's favourite puppet Sooty is still going strong and ready to return to the stage in the region.

Police and paramedics have descended on a Wolverhampton street after a teenage boy was stabbed.

Two suspected knifemen have been charged with attempted murder after an attack on two police officers in the Black Country.

An appeal has been launched for information after two police officers were attacked while patrolling a shopping centre in the Black Country.

Covid-19 test centres across Dudley borough have been closed and free lateral flow tests are being phased out.

Five people accused of being involved in the shooting of a man in Stourbridge have appeared in court.

A man accused of stabbing an insurance company worker in the Black Country has denied murdering him.

A trial date has been set for a 32-year-old man charged with murdering his elderly relative.

Residents have told of their shock as police began scouring a Black Country house for clues in the 23-year-old case of a missing boy.

Forensic tents have been set up in a garden at a Black Country house as detectives hunt for clues on a teenager missing since 1999.

A house in the Black Country is being searched by detectives looking for clues on what happened to a teenager who vanished more than 20 years ago.

P&O Ferries sacked nearly 800 seafarers and replaced them with cheaper agency workers on March 17.

The man accused of killing two-week-old Ciaran Leigh Morris today started his defence at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

A council's street scene team has been out in force to tackle issues on a litter-hit stretch of road.

A garden fire which spread out of control has caused devastating damage to a miniature railway at a garden centre in Eccleshall.

The results of inspection reports for a number of care providers across the Black Country and Staffordshire have been released.

On Friday, a hearing at the High Court in London before Mr Justice Saini was told the dispute has been resolved through a settlement.

Walsall Council has been awarded £2.6m to ensure Darlaston Swimming and Fitness Centre is energy efficient.

Using analysis by Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, we explore the impact and options for Europe.

A daily snack trolley has been introduced for critical care patients to help build up their strength and aid their recovery at Walsall Manor Hospital.

But prevalence of the virus remains highest among children between the age of two and school year 6.

Stories from the region's brickmaking industry will be saved from being lost forever thanks to a new Black Country Living Museum project.

A specialist police unit aimed at tackling surging violence across the West Midlands has been allocated £14.5 million in Government funding.

Your Co-op Travel is looking to take on 33 new staff at its head office in Walsall and travel agency offices.

A woman who worked in factories during the Second World War is celebrating her 100th birthday with her family this week.

Dudley Zoo has welcomed its latest arrival, and it is a first in its 85 year history.

An academy in the Black Country has leaped two grades in a recent Ofsted inspection.

Police were dealing with environmental activists on Friday after a group blocked access to a West Midlands oil terminal.

Works are set to start for planned improvements to public spaces in Wednesbury town centre.

A man has been sent to prison for raping a young girl after being investigated for having indecent images of a child on his electronic devices.

British Olympian Adam Burgess has set a unique challenge to JCB apprentices and graduates – designing the look of his new canoe.

A Midlands soldier’s archive including some of the last words ever written by evil SS leader Heinrich Himmler has sold for £6,710 at auction.

More than 100 pallets of vital aid have been delivered to people affected by the conflict in Ukraine in a mercy mission spearheaded by a Wolverhampton logistics company.

Households and businesses are set to feel the pinch from April.

The energy price cap for those on default tariffs who pay by direct debit is rising from £1,277 to £1,971 from April 1.

Unveiling his 'living with Covid' plan, Boris Johnson has said there is no longer a legal requirement to isolate for those who test positive.

The RAC claimed many motorists will be unfairly punished once councils across England get the power to enforce yellow box junctions.

Three youths have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder a man who was shot dead.

Most people will now need to shop on the high street for paid-for tests if they want them.

Work has started on an £850,000 revamp of Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust’s almshouses.

The British wife of a Ukrainian-born woman said the visa scheme took away the humanity of her relatives.

‘President Putin is not the force he used to be,’ Ben Wallace has said.

‘It just seems crazy that we’re asking people to do forms first in a humanitarian crisis, in the middle of a war zone,’ Simon Hay said.

Steph Christensen, from Cornwall-based ShelterBox, said support has been given to thousands of people fleeing to continental Europe.

The exchange of control happened amid growing indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup.

Organisers of a concert in Bridgnorth this weekend to raise funds for Ukraine say they have been delighted with the “excellent” advance ticket sales so far.

More than £2,000 has been raised towards installing a public defibrillator at a school in Staffordshire after almost 70 people turned out for a sponsored walk.

A pharmacy in the Black Country has sent medical supplies to the Ukraine after ordering extra to help those most in need amid Russia's invasion.

A charity black-tie ball set to drum up tens of thousands of pounds has been cancelled because the Wolverhampton hotel where it was due to be held is to continue as a courtroom for longer than planned.

A crash investigation found no defects on a car being driven by a man accused of causing the death of a baby near Walsall.

Transport bosses have admitted they are struggling to get people onto public transport as it emerged there are now more cars on the road in the West Midlands than before the pandemic.

A drugged-up danger driver who led police on a chase was read the riot act for "hurtling around in a ton of metal" after smoking a joint.

Delegates from a host of Commonwealth nations were given a guided tour of the venues their athletes will compete at during the summer.

Prmie Minister Boris Johnson has hailed work to transform Stafford's Shire Hall – as council chiefs confirmed the iconic pile is on track for an early summer reopening.

The lives of those lost in the Falklands War will be honoured at a ceremony in Wolverhampton.

A 76-year-old veteran fundraiser is getting ready to take on a wild camping trek along the south of the country for the second time.

Roger Goodwin observed the Falklands War from the front line. He spoke to Peter Rhodes 10 years on, in 1992, reproduced here.

Express & Star columnist Peter Rhodes regaled visitors to an arts festival with ripping yarns about his half century in journalism.

Residents are being urged to start sprucing up their neighbourhoods ready for the re-launch of a long-running best-kept village competition.

An Olympic swimming champion is offering schools across the region investment to maintain and keep swimming pool facilities open.

Peter Rhodes visited the Falklands in July 1988. Here in an article reproduced fom the time, he saw how even in death, the vanquished struggled for dignity.

One Centenary Way, a landmark commercial building in the heart of Birmingham and a new gateway to the city’s rapidly expanding commercial core, marked another milestone as it was officially topped out.

Councils criticised for sending staff to a major property conference on the French Riviera meant to attract investors say it was worth every penny - with some already landing deals.

The letter warns of children experiencing ‘severe trauma – both physical and psychological’ as a result of air strikes.

A councillor could become the first LGBT+ Mayor of Sandwell after being nominated by the Labour group.

The Chief of the Defence Staff said Vladimir Putin was a ‘weaker and more diminished figure today’ than he was before the invasion.

Sir Howard Morrison QC will act as an independent adviser to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

Digbeth Dining Club is coming to Wolverhampton, Stafford, Dudley, Brierley Hill and Lichfield to celebrate its tenth birthday.

Customers have been advised to send in their readings ahead of a jump in energy prices on Friday.

An allegation that a Tory candidate standing in the 2019 general election had previously sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy was not "taken very seriously" by the party's press office, a court has heard.

Inna Sovsun, the deputy leader of the Holos Party, said her country needs weapons to remove Russia from its territory.

Both Russia and the West are competing for Indian support in the wider geopolitical dispute triggered by the invasion of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to US President Joe Biden for more help.

Earlier this month, the company paused all sales in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, affecting 185 stores.

The head of GCHQ said Vladimir Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth about the state of the conflict.

The club wants to be to strike a balance between its heritage and being ‘socially aware’.

Valeriia Starkova and nine members of her family, aged between 10 and 90, are now living in Caldecote, Cambridgeshire.

The Kremlin-funded TV-Novosti broadcaster and the organisation behind the Sputnik news agency have been hit with sanctions.

No 10 said the Government would respond in due course.

He is accused over an incident in Cheshire last September.

Russian football’s governing body is not suspended from FIFA, but its national teams and club sides are.

Parking charges will not be reintroduced for NHS staff at the majority of hospitals in the Black Country and Staffordshire when the Government scraps free parking tomorrow.

A 20-year-old carpenter died after he lost control of his van and hit a tree in a horrific crash, an inquest has heard.

About 48,000 households across Wolverhampton will not automatically receive the £150 council tax rebate they are due in April.

A West Bromwich Albion fan who made racist monkey gestures has received a lifetime ban from the club.

Tributes have been paid to a former Black Country police chief who was an inspiration to his colleagues.

Plans to create a modern health and wellbeing facility alongside new homes on the site of a former training centre in Wolverhampton are set to be approved by city council bosses.

A man and a woman found dead in a flat died as result of gunshot wounds.

Council chiefs have signed off on plans that could see up to £1.8 billion ploughed into Sandwell over the next five years.

"The numbers coming to us needing more help has increased and we can't see that ending any time soon."

The PA news agency takes a look at the other cost pressures facing consumers and businesses.

Tram bosses are ‘very confident’ the tram system will be back up and running in time for the Commonwealth Games despite concerns.