Birmingham

Business leaders are meeting today to discuss how to strengthen Greater Birmingham and Solihull's economy.

One of the keynote speakers is Steve Knight, the producer and writer of hit BBC television series Peaky Blinders.

BBC

The drama is set in 1920s Birmingham and partly filmed at the Black Country Living Museum.

This will be the fifth annual conference held by the Local Enterprise Partnership.

Four West Midlands Police officers have admitted a Halloween event in Birmingham using the name of serial killer Fred West in its adverts was "insensitive" .

Tickets to a charity Ghost Hunt at the old Steelhouse Lane Lock Up are on sale for £75 and among those who spent time in it, before it closed, was notorious serial killer Fred West in the 1990s.

PA

The Peaky Blinders were also held there - but after some comments were posted on social media Fred West's name was removed from the advertising.

In a statement, West Midlands Police said: "Steelhouse Lane is where Fred West was held in custody in the 90s and his name was used alongside the Peaky Blinders to promote this worthy cause.

"On reflection the organiser of the event has agreed that using his name was insensitive and has therefore removed it from any advertising of this event."

Two ambulances have been attacked with bricks and left out of action, West Midlands Ambulance Service has said.

In both incidents, the vehicles were targeted as they went through the underpass on Birchfield Road at the junction of Aston Lane in Birmingham - firstly at about 14:30 yesterday and then again at about 15:00.

West Midlands Ambulance Service

Both vehicles are now off the road and it will cost hundreds of pounds to repair them, the ambulance service said.

Emergency Services Operations Delivery Director, Nathan Hudson, said: "It is hard to put into words how angry and disappointing these incidents are.

"Throwing a brick at any vehicle is dangerous and idiotic, but when it is an ambulance responding to an emergency, it beggar’s belief."

One of the region's largest concert venues - the Genting Arena - is changing its name again.

The NEC Group is rebranding the site and calling it Resorts World Arena, so it fits with the leisure and entertainment area of the same name - which opened three years ago.

It used to be called the LG Arena, before being renamed in 2015.

BBC

The organisers of a Halloween event in a former lock up for criminals in Birmingham have admitted that using the name of serial killer Fred West to promote it was "insensitive."

Those behind the charity event include serving officers with West Midlands Police.

Fred West killed himself in prison in 1995 while awaiting trial on 12 murder charges. His wife Rosemary West was convicted of murdering 10 young girls and women.

Gloucestershire Police

West spent time in the Steelhouse Lane lock up in Birmingham City Centre back in the 1990s.

Following criticism on social media, West's name has now been removed from advertising for the Halloween Ghost Hunt - which is raising money for modern slavery charity Hope For Justice.

Plenty of sunshine once any fog clears, it'll be dry and warmer, highs of 19C (66F).

It will be a dry night with long clear spells and the chance of a few patches of fog later - lows of 6C (43F).

BBC

The Court of Appeal will rule tomorrow on the scope of the inquests into the Birmingham pub bombings.

Coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC is challenging a ruling which said he was wrong to decide the names of suspects would not be part of the new inquests.

The ruling tomorrow is the verdict of the coroner's appeal against the decision to allow the naming of suspects in fresh inquests.

BBC

West Midlands Police says more than 1,400 drivers have been prosecuted for motoring offences since 2016 as a result of video evidence provided by the public.

PC Mark Hodson of the force's Road Harm Reduction Team says the footage can prove vital when there are no witnesses as its quality is often of a high standard.

It is unbeatable when it comes to proving an offence."

A man was shot in the shoulder after being chased down an alleyway, police say.

The 23-year-old victim was hurt in the South Woodgate area of Birmingham at about 14:40 on Sunday.

Det Sgt John Mawhinney from the West Midlands force said: "We know three men chased the victim before he was shot in broad daylight.

"This appears to be an unprovoked attack and we’re working hard to try and understand why this has happened and who is responsible."

The man is recovering at home, police say.

From Birmingham Live:

• Masked gang snatches Audi S3 from Edgbaston driveway in brazen car key burglary
• Woman suffers heart attack after cruel thieves snatch her purse
• Aunt pays tribute to 'beautiful, caring and loving' paramedic Kelly Davis

A learning and development manager from the West Midlands has been named among the 16 contestants on this year's series of The Apprentice.

Jasmine Kundra, 34, says she's built her career on training others to better themselves.

BBC

The new series starts on BBC One at 21:00 on 3 October.

After a cold start it should be a dry day with lots of sunshine and highs of 17C (63F).

There should be plenty of early evening sunshine today, leading into a dry night with clear skies and lows 0C (32F).

Claims that lorries are "racing each other" on motorways in the West Midlands have been dismissed as "absurd".

PA

The allegation was made at a recent meeting of a West Midlands Combined Authority's transport committee meeting by councillor Diana Holl-Allen.

In a discussion around lorries and easing congestion, she said: "We’ve got to stop them. They seem to enjoy this, every now and again. Whether they get tired I don’t know, but lots of them are racing each other."

Responding, the Road Haulage Association said HGV drivers are "highly trained" and "lorry drivers don’t do joyriding”.

Care workers in Birmingham facing cuts to their hours and pay are lobbying Labour delegates at the party's Liverpool conference.

BBC

The Unison trade union said the workers from Birmingham City Council say their hours could be reduced, cutting pay by up to £11,000 a year.

The changes could take workers below the poverty line, or leave them with no choice but to look elsewhere for work - which could put "untold pressure" on the service, said the union.

The council has previously said changes were "vital" to better meet patient needs.

After losing in the One-Day Cup final to Hampshire at Lord's, then being beaten on home soil in the T20 Blast quarter-finals by Lancashire, Kent have twice been closer to winning something in 2018.

"We've had two other chances to win silverware this season and missed out," said head coach Matt Walker. "We now have a third opportunity which is a very nice situation to be in.

"We go to Birmingham knowing that whoever wins takes the spoils, which is exciting. In some ways the pressure if off us now, so I just want the guys to go there, express themselves and do themselves justice."

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It will simply add to the sense of theatre at Edgbaston that Kent have Allan Donald as part of their backroom team - as assistant coach.

The 51-year-old Warwickshire and South Africa fast bowling legend was appointed alongside Walker in January 2017, but was unable to take up his job until this year because of work permit issues. And this will be his first return to Edgbaston since then.

Warwickshire skipper Jeetan Patel says promotion back to Division One at the first attempt with the Division Two title this week would be 'the cherry on the top'.

"We've now forced a final," he told BBC WM ahead of the second v first shoot-out with Kent at Edgbaston. "A one-off game, which is all about expressing ourselves and making sure we do our jobs well.

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"We've got to take a lot from what we've done. The ultimate aim was always promotion and we've worked so hard to get to this position. Everybody's been on the same page.

"It's not easy this division. A lot of results - and we forced the ones that we needed our way. Now we have one big push to go and the cherry on the top would be silverware."

Birmingham City maintained their perfect start to the Women's Super League season with victory at Reading on Sunday.

The FA

Blues took an early advantage when Meaghan Sargeant fired in from Paige Williams' cross.

Birmingham have won all three of their league games this season by a single goal, leaving them second in the table, behind Arsenal on goal difference.

A new task force has been set up to tackle so-called County Lines gangs across the Midlands.

BBC

It's part of a national crackdown to stop criminals from sending children from cities to smaller towns and rural areas to sell drugs.

A team of 38 investigators will work from Birmingham to develop an intelligence picture of the drugs networks and their tactics.

After a chilly start it will be a fine day with sunshine and highs of 15C (59F).

A city council could be forced to strip services back to the "legal minimum" as it looks to make £100m cuts in less than two years.

Birmingham City councillors heard this week that the authority was now "priority budgeting" for next year and for 2019/20.

BBC

The authority's finance director Clive Heaphy said there is growing demand for statutory services at the same time as resources are going down.

He told them that it could mean the council resorting to its "minimum criteria" of offering services it is legally obliged to provide, such as for vulnerable adults and children.

This financial year, the city council's making £53m of cuts and still having to raid its reserves of £30.5m to balance the budget.

However, latest financial reports revealed the authority is set for a £12.1m overspend, mainly because of spiralling costs in waste collection and travel assist services.

It should be a dry night, with some long clear spells as the winds ease, allowing it to turn rather chilly with lows of 6C (43F).

A man who was part of a gang that dragged a cash machine from a shop before ramming police cars in a stolen vehicle, has been jailed.

West Midlands Police

Taron McAuley was part of a group who used stolen Land Rovers to drag the cash machine, containing an estimated £100,000,from One Mobile, in Edward Street, Balsall Heath, on 1 March.

West Midlands Police

The 27-year-old, of Hall Green, Birmingham, admitted burglary and on Wednesday was found guilty of handling stolen goods and driving dangerously.

At the Birmingham Crown Court hearing, he was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.

Take That have announced they'll be performing five gigs at Arena Birmingham next year as part of a tour celebrating their 30th anniversary.

Gary, Howard and Mark will be joined by special guest Rick Astley for the tour, announced on the Chris Evans Breakfast show on Radio Two.

Trains are disrupted between Birmingham and Lichfield as the line's blocked.

West Midlands Railway says there's a fault on a train between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley.