Lorry rams house: 'Sheer luck' no injuries, plus more

1. House rammed by lorry: 'Sheer luck' family was unhurt
2. Referee speaks of abuse and being head-butted ahead of strike
3. Former pottery site set for almost 200 new homes
4. 'Lucky escape' after 50ft fall from tree
5. Paving scheme gets that sinking feeling
6. Updates from Friday 3 March 2017

Bristol City 0-0 Burton Albion

Stoke City 2-0 Middlesbrough

By Alex Bysouth

BBC Sport

Pub-crawlers reach 20,000th ale house

Our live coverage across the day

We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 on Monday, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening. 

NHS shortage of key surgery staff

Sian Grzeszczyk

Staffordshire Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

A shortage of key workers in operating theatres is being faced by the NHS in Staffordshire.

Operating department practitioners are the people who make sure the operating room is safe as well as delivering aftercare to patients. 

BBC

Staffordshire University says it can't get enough students trained to meet local demand. 

A trust running hospitals in Staffordshire says it's been forced to pay £200,000 to fund 12 students through university to try and meet demand. 

Football: Berahino 'in thoughts' of Stoke manager for Middlesbrough game

Matt Sandoz

Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Stoke City have just one injury concern ahead of this weekend's game with Middlesbrough.

Xherdan Shaqiri (pictured) is back in training, but unlikely to play following six weeks out with a calf injury.  

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Jon Walters and Glen Johnson are fit again and in contention, while Saido Berahino is pushing for a first start.  

Stoke go into the match off the back of a third successive 4-0 beating by Tottenham Hotspur, which came off the back of a return from "warm weather" training.

(Berahino) is doing extra work over and above the main group, on sharpness and finishing. He's clearly very much in my thoughts."

Mark HughesStoke City manager

Watch: Weather for the evening and the weekend

Rebecca Wood

BBC Weather

Outbreaks of rain will continue for many this evening and for a time overnight, but there will be some drier interludes too . 

Rain will clear during the early hours. 

Cloudy skies will keep temperatures up overnight, preventing an overnight frost.  Lows of 6C (43F).

Weather for the West Midlands.

Newborn puppies found in car park dumped in box were 'exposed to carbon monoxide'

Express and Star

A litter of newborn puppies - thought to have been exposed to carbon monoxide - have been found dumped in a box in a car park.

On Midlands Today from 18:30: Taxi row and a 'most-wanted' woman

Nick Owen

Presenter, BBC Midlands Today

On Midlands Today this evening - why a partially-sighted man in the region says he's repeatedly been refused taxis operated by Uber. 

Wallet containing £1,600 picked up by driver

Plus we'll be hearing about the woman who was seen on CCTV picking up a businessman's wallet containing £1,600. 

We'll also look ahead to a busy weekend of sport and have your crucial weather update, all on BBC One from 18:30.

80,000 illegal cigarettes found in Burton raids

Allen Cook

BBC Local Live

More than 84,000 illegal cigarettes, worth more than £28,000 in duty and VAT, have been seized by customs officers in Burton. 

HMRC

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) say they checked 43 retailers in the town and Derby this week and made seizures from 18 of them. 

As well as the cigarettes, they also found 6.3kg of tobacco and 150g of shisha in Burton, worth almost £2,000.

Pub crawl team complete 20,000th ale house

Lee Thomas

Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

A team of devoted charity pub-crawlers have reached their 20,000th ale house in Stafford, after three decades of touring pubs. 

The West Bromwich-based Black Country Ale Tairsters - Black Country dialect for tasters - began visiting establishments listed on a map, issued by Wolverhampton brewer Banks's, in 1984.

Peter Hill

They arrived to complete their latest milestone in a minibus at the Knot and Plough in Stafford. 

Several veterans of the group, including co-founder Peter Hill, went to the event where they were given free beer.

Man found next to moped and a wall dies

Allen Cook

BBC Local Live

A man has  died after being found lying next to a moped and a wall. 

West Midlands Ambulance Service say they were called to Main Street, Clifton Campville in Tamworth, this morning . 

They say they found a moped stuck between a lamppost and a wall. 

Paramedics found the man lying on the other side of the wall, trapped, but he died at the scene.

British Basketball League live

BBC Sport

British Basketball returns to BBC Sport this evening for the BBL league fixture between Cheshire Phoenix and Leeds Force. 

Both sides languish in the bottom four, with only two points separating them. 

Coverage is live from 19:30 across the BBC Sport website, app and selected Connected TVs. To watch online   click here   and to learn more about the BBC's coverage of the BBL and WBBL  click here.

BBC Sport

Magic moments from FA People's Cup

Cheeky chips, celebrations and managerial sackings - watch 10 magic moments from the first round of the  FA People's Cup...... 

FA People's Cup: Top 10 magic moments

You'll be able to watch a highlights programme from the first round of the  nationwide five-a-side competition  on the  iPlayer from 06:00 Saturday, 4 March  and on the red button from 14:10 on Saturday and throughout the weekend.