Bridgnorth

Any early mist and fog should clear leaving a dry and bright day with highs of 5C (41F).

It's forecast to be a cold, clear night for most of us and in some places the temperature will drop below freezing.

Temperatures tomorrow will remain cold, and further ahead there's some stormy weather expected at the weekend.

Postman Les

A decision on whether to build up to 3,000 homes on green-belt land near Tong has been put back until May.

Shropshire councillors had been due to discuss the principle of developing the land, just off junction three of the M54, on 12 February.

The council said it was "in light of further recent evidence published by the Black Country authorities regarding their ability to meet their own housing and employment needs".

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Shropshire Council previously said the development was being considered with the needs of neighbouring authorities in mind.

But the idea appeared to be dead in December last year after those authorities failed to follow up their interest.

At that time, Shropshire Council Conservative leader Peter Nutting said the development was "very unlikely" to go ahead.

Here are three of the stories from the Shropshire Star today:

• Restaurant owner guilty of causing death by dangerous driving
• M54 and M6 link road plans submitted
• Shrewsbury MP criticised by Jewish leaders

It's a foggy and misty start to Wednesday across the West Midlands but that should lift over the morning for a bright afternoon.

It's going to start to change though, and a yellow weather warning is already in place for high winds that are due to develop ahead of the weekend.

It will be a clear and dry night with some cloud likely in the early hours with lows of 1C (34F).

BBC Weather Watchers/Jon

You can find a detailed weather forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

Former Shropshire opening batsman John Hulme has been appointed as the county's new cricket chairman.

Hulme, 69, who played cricket for Shropshire between 1970 and 1983, will replace Toby Shaw, who has been chairman since 2011.

Shropshire County Cricket Club

Hulme, from Oswestry, whose appointment was confirmed at the club’s AGM, said: “It will be no easy task in trying to fill Toby Shaw’s very sizeable shoes.

"He has made an immense contribution to Shropshire cricket in recent years, promoting the interests of the county club and securing a very sound financial base, which is the envy of many other National Counties Cricket Association clubs.”

The footbridge leading to the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth has been closed for up to five weeks for repairs.

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Shropshire Council engineers say the bolt anchorages failed two years ago - and although temporary repairs were done at the time - a more permanent fix is being carried out.

These are some of the Shropshire Star headlines:

• Council hires £1,000-a-day highways consultant for six months in war on potholes
• West Midlands Trains to keep railway franchise for now
• Two-car crash causes rush hour delays on A458 near Shrewsbury

Shropshire Council has defended its decision to pay a consultant £1,000 a day to "get a grip" on road maintenance.

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There are 35,000 complaints in the system and the council's contractor Kier is being scrutinised over its working practices.

Councillors have raised concerns over the company's work.

Steve Davenport, the councillor in charge of roads, said the new role would cost about £130,000 for six months, but it would be money well spent.

"It's all down to doing more for less - we know there are better ways of doing it and we've just got to get there," he said.

It will be a mostly clear and sunny day with highs of 10C (50F).

It will be a cloudy and misty night with the chance of showers and lows of 8C (46F).

Patchy rain should move away, leaving a brighter day tomorrow.

BBC Weather Watchers/Terry Eyre

You can find a detailed weather forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

It will be a cloudy day with some rain this afternoon and highs of 13C (55F).

The Health and Safety Executive says it's prosecuting two companies, following the death of a 45-year-old Bridgnorth man who died after an ammonia leak at a Carlsberg brewery in Northampton.

The leak from the site’s refrigeration system which killed David Chandler in November 2016 also seriously injured a 56-year-old man and another 22 needed hospital treatment.

Northamptonshire Police

The HSE said Carlsberg Supply Company and contractor Crowley Carbon UK Ltd would both face charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The first hearing is due to begin at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on 6 March.

From the Shropshire Star:

• Concerns raised over roads firm used by council
• Calls to pedestrianise more areas of town centre
• No jail for teenager caught with machete

It will be a cloudy day with some patchy drizzle and highs of 12C (54F).

The West Midlands Mayor says, although performance on West Midlands Trains has improved, it is still far from good enough.

The firm runs the under-fire West Midlands Railway routes as well the London Northwestern operator.

Andy Street is threatening to recommend it loses its Midlands franchise if there aren't improvements by the end of this month.

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Transport Focus' latest figures put the operator in the bottom five for satisfaction nationally with about three quarters of commuters satisfied with the rail firm's performance.

"I know there is still huge, huge concern and 'fed-up-ness', if that is the word, over this," he said.

"If we decide not ask for the franchise to be removed now, let's be clear, they are not in any way off the watch list.

"And I will need to discuss with the Secretary of State for Transport what is an appropriate way of keeping them very firmly on that watch list to make they continue to deliver improvement."

Shropshire- born author Jack Fairweather's book The Volunteer has won the Costa Book of the Year award for 2019.

The Volunteer profiles Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki who infiltrated the Nazi death camp Auschwitz to smuggle out information.

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"I stumbled across this historical figure and wanted to know more," said Mr Fairweather, a former war reporter, earlier this year.

"When he arrived at the camp in 1940, it was a brutal place for political prisoners and he witnessed the steps of the Nazis arriving at the final solution."

Tonight will be cold and largely dry with long clear spells and lows of 0C (32F).

BBC Weather Watchers / AJthewalker

Wednesday will be dry and fine with long sunny spells and patchy cloud.

You can find a detailed weather forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

Council gritting teams will be heading out later with temperatures set to drop overnight.

Wintery showers and ice could lead to travel disruption in parts of the West Midlands, the Met Office is warning.

Met Office

A yellow warning is in place until 10:00 for Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire.

It will be a chilly and breezy day with some bright spells and mainly dry with highs of 7C (45F).

It will be a cold and breezy night with some wintry showers and lows of 1C (34F).

There will be sunny spells tomorrow with some showers drifting eastwards.

BBC Weather Watchers/Laura and Glenn

You can find a detailed forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

People in parts of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire are being warned of slippery conditions due to ice this evening and overnight.

The Met Office has put out a yellow weather alert which runs from 19:00 until 10:00 on Tuesday.

Met Office

It will be a chilly breezy day with sunny spells and highs of 8C (46F).

Telford councillors have called for those planning the reorganisation of hospital services in Shropshire to look again at the possibility of building a brand new hospital.

Under the current proposals - given the go-ahead by the health secretary last autumn - the Royal Shrewsbury Hospiotal will become the centre for emergency care, while Telford's Princess Royal will specialise in planned care.

BBC

Telford politicians have complained the current plan will effectively mean the downgrading of the A&E unit there.

The Future Fit project dates back to 2013 and a new hospital was weighed up as part of initial plans. It was dropped due to cost, but the projected figures are now several years old.

Last night's successful Labour motion to look at the alternatives once again has been supported by the Conservative MP for Telford, Lucy Allan.

She said she was "delighted that Telford and Wrekin Council are supporting proposals for a standalone emergency care centre" and that she would meet the leaders of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, to push that case.

It will be a cloudy night with the odd clear spell and lows of 4C (39F).

BBC Weather Watchers/Littleacorns

Saturday will be another mostly cloudy and dull day with the possibility of some sunny spells in the afternoon.

You can find a detailed forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

It will be another cloudy misty day with some light drizzle and highs of 9C (48F).

It will be a mild night with areas of fog and cloud with occasional drizzle and lows of 5C (41F).

Liam Ball

Friday will again be mainly cloudy and misty with some fog.

You can find a detailed weather forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

Here are three of the stories from the Shropshire Star website today:

• Extra long-stay parking spaces for town
• MPs ask minister for more care money
• Lorry sheds its load of wood in crash

The cloudy skies are set to continue tonight with patches of fog forming. Low: 6C (43F).

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Then staying cloudy tomorrow with mist and fog around and a few spots of drizzle later in the day. High 8C (46F).

Get a latest forecast from the BBC Weather website.

A road maintenance worker has suffered multiple injuries after being hit by a car on the A458 between Much Wenlock and Bridgnorth this morning.

West Mercia Police said it happened at around 11:00 and the 56-year-old is being treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for a broken leg, broken arm and facial injuries.

BBC

Police said the road was very foggy at the time the collision took place.

The new woman in charge of the Severn Valley Railway says it will have to look at its carbon footprint in the future and conceded "we're using a lot of coal".

Helen Smith has taken over as the heritage railway's general manager and said part of her role was to prepare it for the future and said the board was "very active" on issues like this.

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Ms Smith, who was previously deputy director of the Tank Museum in Dorset, said there had to be a balance, and at the same time, "we want to carry on operating steam engines as they were always operated".

The line, which runs roughly 16 miles between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth, operates a mix of steam and diesel locomotives, carrying some 250,000 passengers a year.

Those kind of challenges are going to have to be faced in the future. We're going to have to really kind of look at what we're doing and how we're doing it to make sure that we are acceptable in another 20, 30 years' time and are we going to be able to operate the same way?"

Women are to be allowed to play in the Shropshire Premier Bowling League, for the first time in its 25-year history.

League chairman Mark Shore explained it was established to prepare "the best players in Shropshire to compete in the county championships", which is an all-male competition and that there had been "plenty of opportunity for people to play in mixed leagues".

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The change was agreed at a league meeting last night, after a motion was put forward by Meole Brace Bowling Club and it will come into force when the new season starts in April.

Mr Shore said he thought the league had acted democratically and that the introduction of women would strengthen the league, because the county is "blessed with some of the best female bowlers in the country".

Cloudy and misty to start today with fog patches around. It'll then become a cloudy day with the odd bright spell and there could be drizzle this afternoon. High: 10C/50F.

Then some clearer spells this evening but it'll be mainly cloudy tonight with the chance of drizzle and mist spreading across most areas. Low: 6C/43F.

Get a latest forecast for your area at any time from the BBC Weather website.

There will be a few clear spells overnight but mainly it will be cloudy and misty with lows of 3C (37F).

BBC Weather Watchers/Postman Les

Tomorrow is set to be a mainly cloudy and misty day with a few bright spells.

You can find a detailed forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

Early patches of fog will clear to leave a cloudy day with some bright spells and highs of 7C (45F).

A few of today's stories from the Shropshire Star:

• Support plea after dramatic rise in dementia cases in five years
• Vow to tackle rise in West Mercia knife offences over last 12 months
• Cash machine theft gang member has to pay back £200k

After a cold start it will be a dry day with sunny spells and highs of 6C (43F).

Lives will be lost if a town's community ambulance hub is shut, a former paramedic's told the BBC.

West Midlands Ambulance Service wants to remove the response base in Cheadle, Staffordshire, by the end of March.

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Instead, it wants to convert the rapid response vehicle there into an ambulance as it says the current vehicle only attends 2.2% of calls in the area.

But former paramedic Carole Winning told BBC Radio Stoke she believes lives are at stake: "They're saying they'll have an ambulance here but they won't because they're so busy, they'll never get here."

Cheadle Town Councillor Dave Sargeant said it would take longer for ambulances to respond: "You've got areas like Whiston, Ipstones, Foxt. These are difficult places to get to and, if you think of somebody coming from Newcastle to Cheadle, a minimum time to get here, it's going to be 25 minutes."

The ambulance service said it believed the move would save money and would not change the level of ambulance cover in the area, "if anything, this will increase over the coming months".

It will be a cold night with clear periods and lows of -1C (30F).

A mostly dry and fine day can be expected tomorrow with lengthy periods of sunshine.

BBC Weather Watchers/Steve Blackman

You can find a detailed weather forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site.

A father who pushed for an independent review into the maternity scandal at hospitals in Shropshire says he's convinced more families will contact the investigation.

Richard Stanton

A debate in the House of Commons yesterday heard more than 900 had already contacted the review, led by Donna Ockenden.

The probe is focusing on claims a number of babies and mothers died or were harmed in the care of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.

Richard Stanton and his wife Rhiannon Davies, whose baby Kate died in 2009, were among the families who first pushed for the independent inquiry.

"We have had families approach us saying the care that they had at maternity services at that trust last year was so bad that they want to be put in touch with the Ockenden review, so I'm absolutely convinced more families will come forward," he said today.

The NHS trust said in a statement it was committed to working with the review and had made improvements - a point also made by CQC inspectors following unannounced visits in November.