13/07/2014 Midlands Today

An area of the Midlands once plagued by metal

theft has seen the biggest drop in the crime anywhere in the country.

Last year the Sandwell area saw a 76% fall in the theft of metal.

Police there have also become the first in the West Midlands to

enforce new legislation regulating scrap metal dealers.

With all this metal around, it's easy to see why this company

in Bilston was a prime target for thieves.

In 2011, a break`in cost the business tens

of thousands of pounds, but since laws have been tightened

on the sale of scrap metal, things have significantly improved.

We haven't seen any major events where we've been targeted

Major changes to the law, including the banning of cash payments and

proof of the seller's identity, mean thefts have dropped dramatically

across the West Midlands, with Sandwell seeing incidents fall last

year by more than three`quarters, the best anywhere in the country.

You'd be surprised how many people are happy to go into a scrapyard

and give their photographic identification and try to sell them

stolen metal, thinking they will never get caught.

At this scrap metal business in Dudley, the new law means things

Until just two years ago, this is how customers used to get paid.

Money was put in here, it was sent through these tubes and they

But due to the changes in law, everything is now done by computer,

In fact, this system has become so successful,

We are not a backward industry.

We feel we have really come to the forefront of modern business.

Police say they'll continue to work closely with the scrap metal trade

and any firm found flouting the new law will risk losing

The Birmingham teenager and education campaigner

Malala Yousafzai is in Nigeria to meet the families of

Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban

in her native Pakistan in 2012. After being treated in Birmingham,

she became a campaigner for girls' education.

It's three months since the Nigerian girls were abducted by the militant

A thousand Morgan car owners descended on the company's factory

in Worcestershire today to celebrate the 100th year of production there.

The company claims to be the world's oldest privately`owned

car manufacturer. Joanne Writtle reports.

Deep in the Malvern Hills, the 200 people who work

for the Morgan Motor Company enjoy a picturesque journey to work.

Today was a celebration of the century the factory's been

in this setting, with a car for every year of production on show.

She was registered in September 1914.

She's only got two gears, no reverse.

If you see someone's driveway which goes uphill, then you just

ease up into it and float back. Fantastic.

Roger Orford bought his 1925 Morgan for ?25.

I used to drive it from home in Stourbridge, the town I lived in, to

the technical college when I was 16 with another schoolmate in the front

and if we were lucky we would bring two girls back from school at night.

Over the years, the cars have developed, although

And this is the latest model, a centenary special edition,

Only 60 have been built and they cost ?70,000.

Jill Price's grandfather Harry made the first Morgan

for the simple reason that he was fed up of cycling to work.

He made this little three`wheeler runabout and

his sister Dot liked it so much, she thought, "Could you make me one?"

So he made her one and then he started production after that.

Little did Harry Morgan know that years later, so many enthusiasts

would descend on his factory to celebrate what he started.

Time for the weather now. Here's Sara Blizzard.

It's a fine finish to the night and it is not as humid as last night so

you might get a bit of sleep. The night`time temperatures dropping to

a minimum of 10 Celsius, small amount of cloud around and early

tomorrow morning maybe a bit of mist. The best part of the day will

be the morning with some sunshine. In the aptly named the cloud

increases and small amounts are patchy rain moving but it will still

be a warm day, maximum temperature around 22 Celsius.

Midlands Today will be back during Breakfast tomorrow

at just before 6:30am. Have a good night.

Good evening. A fine night ahead. A few showers are lingering across

eastern England and eastern Scotland. They should fade away into

the small hours. There will be clear skies and it will be a fresher night

and last night. Temperatures will slide down into the mid-teens and

lower. A decent start to the new week. The emphasis really is on

start because, once the morning gets under way, wetter and windier

weather. To work its way into Northern Ireland probably reaching

most part by the end of the rush-hour and pushing into western

Scotland by lunchtime. The same weather system will also see the sky

is greying across the south-west of England and Wales. Cloud will build

further east. Still with some spells of sunshine. Temperatures of 23, 24.

Sunny skies across Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Wetter weather pushing

into Cambria. A bit brighter for Northern Ireland later in the

afternoon. A wet story. . It will continue to push