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����ý Midlands Today

Businesses in Sandwell are to be spot checked to make sure they are managing the risk of spreading Covid-19.

Working with the Health and Safety Executive, the move by Sandwell Council will include telephone calls and visits to premises, offering help and advice on safety measures.

The HSE will also check businesses have measures in place to manage work-related stress and to support workers.

A man's died after the car he was travelling in hit a tree in Coventry.

Neil Keenan, 52, was a rear seat passenger when the crash happened on Eastern Green Road at the junction of Alspath Lane on Saturday.

Three other people in the car were taken to hospital, with another rear seat passenger sustaining minor injuries, a front seat passenger suffering a broken arm and the driver suffering a broken arm and leg.

Police are trying to establish the cause of the crash and have asked any witnesses to come forward.

Image source, West Midlands Police

A man who was shot in the leg by officers in Worcester on Saturday remains in a serious but not life-threatening condition, the police watchdog said.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said armed officers responded to reports of a man who was sitting in a car with a firearm, according to initial information.

"A single shot was discharged by officers resulting in the man receiving a gun shot wound to the leg," an IOPC spokesman said.

West Mercia Police said it referred the shooting in Ronkswood Hill at about 09:00 BST to the watchdog.

The IOPC added its investigators were deployed to the scene and had secured police bodycam video as part of the inquiry.

His wife says "it's a great comfort to know he will never be forgotten".

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For Haroon Mota, this weekend's London Marathon was just the second of four marathons he is taking part in.

The Coventry man has already run in Berlin, but will also take on the Chicago and New York marathons in a bid to raise £50,000 in aid of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.

He completed the London Marathon in five hours and one minute.

So far, Mr Mota has raised over £13,000 said the run was "extremely hard work" but there was "phenomenal" spirit in the city.

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Schools in Rugby are asking children to wear face coverings again from Monday.

The Warwickshire town has the second-highest rate of coronavirus in the country.

Nationally a further 30,439 confirmed cases were announced on Sunday.

In Rugby there were 764 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week from 21 September to 27 September, while the average area in England had 339.

Image source, Getty Images

Masks stopped being compulsory in schools from 17 May

Emma Rose, from the National Education Union, said the area is right to reintroduce them.

"The government have taken this approach that is just Covid doesn't exist anymore essentially as far as schools are concerned so heads are having to make really difficult decisions about how to keep their communities safe," she said.

"And of course it is not just the children in the classroom but children go home to their families and out into the community and, yeah, leaving people really vulnerable at the moment actually."

Tributes have been paid to a police officer 20 years after his death.

Malcolm "Mac" Walker, 46, was

A memorial was held at Sutton Coldfield Police Station on Saturday and a short service took place.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Sgt Chris Thomas said: “I worked with Mac and was the second car at the scene the day he died. “This was the most harrowing day of my 25-year career and a day that will be with me forever. “My thoughts have always remained with Mac’s family and the legacy he leaves behind."

Mac’s wife Helen added: “Twenty years have just flown by. He is in my thoughts daily and will be in my heart forever.”

Image source, West Midlands Police

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The number of people visiting Shrewsbury's shopping centres is almost back to pre-Covid levels, the council says.

Shropshire Council bought the three precincts for £51,000,000 in 2018.

The purchase has been criticised and the value of the centres has gone down to around £12,000,000.

Image source, Google

The authority's deputy leader Ed Potter said it was right to make the purchase.

"The town has bounced back remarkably well," he said.

"Footfall has been steadily increasing and is matching that of pre-pandemic levels.

"The tourism as well as people staying more local or staycations in this country has also boosted the visitors to Shrewsbury."

A catapult has been seized after reports of ball bearings being shot into a football ground during training.

The force tweeted it had been called to Elgar Avenue in Malvern on Sunday.

Sewage which is only partially treated could be flowing into rivers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire this winter.

Water companies may face a shortage of chemicals because of Brexit and the pandemic, so the Environment Agency said they will not be fined if they release partially treated water into rivers.

The River Avon at Evesham, the Leadon in Bosbury, the Arrow in Kington and Norton Brook near Worcester could all be affected.

Image source, Getty Images

Glyn Marshall from the Severn Fisheries Group, urged people from the government to meet with campaigners.

"We're not going to put up with the state of our rivers," he said.

An investigation has been launched into allegations of racist abuse at the Sky Blues clash with Fulham at the CBS Arena.

Police say they're looking at claims a Fulham fan was targeted with monkey gestures from a group of city fans.

The Sky Blues say they're working with the police - and there's no place for racism of any form at games.

����ý Midlands Today

A climate change experiment is investigating the future impact of raised CO2 levels.

A series of large metal rings are pumping out the amount of CO2 expected globally fifty years from now.

Scientists from the University of Birmingham are then testing trees in a Staffordshire woodland to see how they react to the increased levels of the gas.

Prof Jeremy Pritchard, from the university, said: "Are they [the trees] going to expend it on defence against pests and diseases?

"Maybe they will put it in the soil and stimulate other organisms.

"So there's lots of ways that carbon can be used and we're only just starting to understand that."

The victim is thought to have managed to walk to Middleton Hall Road where an ambulance was called.

Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo says his players are "unstoppable" when they are confident after seeing them return to form in a much-needed Premier League victory over Aston Villa.

Equipment and merchandise is stolen from a locked marquee during the hospice fundraising show.

Listen to ����ý Radio WM commentary as Peterborough Panthers face Wolverhampton Wolves in the Premiership Speedway play-off semi-final

The latest news, sport, travel and weather from across the West Midlands and south Cheshire.