Residents in Wyre Forest district are being asked for their views on plans to turn off – or dim – street lights at night to save money.

The coalition endured a battering as Labour racked up hundreds of new councillors in local elections.

Elections were taking place at councils across the West Midlands today as the Conservatives fight to hold on to seats won four years ago.

Jobless queues in Wolverhampton are getting longer, new figures revealed today – bucking the national trend of unemployment falling for the first time in almost a year.

Hundreds of people turned out today to pay their final respects at a memorial service for much-loved schoolteacher Betty Yates.

Local schools stepped forward to join a special campaign to help some of the world’s poorest children, simply by having a school meal.

Scores of people braved icy conditions to take part in an eight mile run at a Midlands beauty spot. The 16th Wyre Forest Multi-Terrain 8 was held yesterday.

A retired teacher killed at her secluded Wyre Forest cottage was stabbed in the neck and found at the foot of the stairs, an inquest was told today.

Disabled people in Staffordshire will not have to pay the £10 charge for their blue badges despite Government recommendations.

The cost of benefits in the West Midlands jumped by almost £56 million last year, with some areas claiming more than twice as much as parts of the same borough.