05/04/2014 Midlands Today

more throughout the evening on the BBC News channel. We are back with

the late news Good evening. Stratford`upon`Avon is

gearing up for a major tourhsm boost as they celebrate the 450th

anniversary of the birth of their most famous son, William

Shakespeare. The tourist industry is worth hundreds of millions of pounds

to the town and to make surd everything goes smoothly thdy're

asking residents to get involved. Ben Sidwell reports. If you can go

down to the clock... Lending a hand to help tourists get most ott of

their visit to Stratford upon Avon. But with tens of thousands dxpected

for Shakespeare's 450th Birthday celebrations, the town is c`lling on

residents to become voluntedr Play Makers. We are seeking volunteer

Ambassador or is that can boost the service to group select your

visitors and they will be ddployed at key points that we cannot

currently resource. Between ten and 20 Play Makers are needed. @ll will

be trained up in time for the celebration weekend and alrdady a

few volunteers have come forward, including the town's former ferry

man. Yes, this is what I want to do. That was really how I thought of it.

Because I think I may be quhte good at it, but I don't know. Evdry year,

almost 5 million people comd to this area to visit the attractions of

Shakespeare, bringing ?335 lillion to the economy. 198 jobs here relies

on tourism. College students in the town are keen to take to thd

streets. It is a good idea that local people should be involved with

the celebrations. It is helping to show Shakespeare and Stratford to

everybody else. Although thdy'll only be used initially for this one

event, the hope is the Play Makers could soon become a regular sight on

the streets of the Bard's home town. A man's in a critical condition in

hospital after being attackdd in the street in Stoke. It happened in the

early hours of this morning in Brownlee Road in the Smallthorne

area. Police say the victim was badly beaten and is being c`red for

at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. They're appe`ling for

anyone with information to call them on 101. A prison worker has been

sacked and others disciplindd over the escape of a convicted drug

dealer. John Anslow, who's 33 and from Tipton in the Black Cotntry,

was on his way to court when he was freed by a masked gang near HMP

Hewell in January 2012. He was arrested in Cyprus two months later

and sentenced to seven years for escaping custody. He was already

serving 22 years for drugs offences.The Prison Service says the

disciplinary action was takdn against a number of staff. Let's

move onto today's football, starting with the Barclays Premier Ldague,

and Aston Villa ended up with a 2`1 defeat there against Fulham. West

Brom put a troubled week behind them with a 1`0 win at Norwich. Stoke

City are at Chelsea, and ard losing 2`0. In the Championship, Bhrmingham

City beat Doncaster away ` 3`1, easing their relegation fears. In

League One, a loss for Coventry ` 2`1 against Milton Keynes Dons. Port

Vale beat Walsall, 1`0. Shrdwsbury beat Stevenage 1`0. And a 2`0 win

there for Wolves who were entertaining Peterborough. Onto

League Two: Burton Albion bdat Plymouth 1`0. Cheltenham lost 2`1 to

Southend. And in the Skrill Premier League, Tamworth lost 5`0 at

Gateshead. Hereford ` still trying to pay their tax bill ` lost 2` to

Woking. Kidderminster lost 0`0 to Grimsby. And Nuneaton lost 0`0 to FC

Halifax. Let's take a look at the Midlands

weather, with Mel Coles. Good evening. The rain has been hit and

miss, but we will see furthdr showers as we go on then to delight

us back as we go on into tonight. Temperatures will remain in double

figures, but low temperaturds of around 11 Celsis. Tomorrow, we will

see further outbreaks of rahn. It will be breezy but temperattres not

doing too badly. The rain starts off with showers, but becomes more

persistent in the middle part of the day, and we could see some loderate

downpours. We might catch some late evening sunshine. Temperatures not

doing too badly, it will be breezy and remaining unsettled for the

start of the league. Finallx, congratulations to Dr Richard

Newland, who trained the horse that won today's Grand National. The

former GP trains just 12 horses at a small stables in Claines in

Worcestershire. Pineau de Rd, who wasn't one of the favourites, was

ridden by jockey Leighton Aspall. That's it. Sunday Politics will be

talking about 'zero`hour' contracts as 150,000 people in the West

Midlands region struggle to find full`time jobs.

That's tomorrow morning at 01am Midlands Today is back tomorrow

evening at 6:50pm. For now, bye`bye. Good evening. We may have got to 18

Celsius today in parts of East Anglia but it was the bright spot in

an otherwise cloudy day and it is the cloud that will dominate

tonight, bringing splashes of rain and dryer moments as well

particularly in the north-east of Scotland but heavy bursts can't be

ruled out in the West, where it will be misty and murky and breezy later

in the night. The breeze is south to south-westerly and temperatures in

the morning higher than they should be in the afternoon this time of

year. Sunday, whilst milder, is going to be breezy and a bit matter

for many of you. Again, not -- no one is immune from the wet weather.

We could start with splashes of rain down eastern areas but there will be

dryer moments.