23/02/2017 Midlands Today

A woman has been killed in Wolverhampton, after being struck

on the head by a piece of debris, blown off a roof

An eye witness described the object as a piece of wood

West Midlands Ambulance said the pedestrian died

at the scene in the city centre, after suffering very

From a busy shopping thoroughfare to a no-go zone.

West Midlands Police say a 29-year-old woman was walking past

Starbucks on Dudley Street when wooden debris from the rooftop

Some shoppers say the strength of the wind in Wolverhampton has

With how windy was, it's a wonder to me that there were not more

things falling off the roofs than what there were.

My auntie phoned me on the bus on the way here, she said,

did you know the main street in Wolverhampton has

She said there had been an accident and to be careful.

Everything has been shaking, nonstop.

It's what you expect from the wind, don't you?

Police and fire crews have been busy here all day and, as a consequence,

some of the shops in the Mander shopping centre had to close.

Five hours on, the cordon is still very much in place

as emergency services continue their investigations.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said that it received no fewer than 15

Unfortunately, when paramedics got here, it was clear the victim

suffered very serious head injuries, and they confirmed that she had

This wooden panel has now been taken away to be forensically examined,

and the Health and Safety Executive has been informed.

Police are now trying to piece together the sequence of events that

And Amy is in Wolverhampton for us tonight.

Mary, the cord and has been taken down, we can move closer to the spot

where the tragedy happened to -- cordon. Starbucks earlier released a

statement saying that they were shocked and saddened by the incident

and were supporting police with their investigation and the store

would remain closed until further notice. West Midlands Police have

yet to release the victim's identity but we are told her family has been

informed and is being supported. Officers are working with colleagues

in the emergency services and the City Council to establish how the

wooden debris became loose from a rooftop on top of one of these

nearby buildings. What is extremely sad is that there is a family who is

coming to terms with the loss of a loved one.

The storm force winds caused wide spread problems

on our roads and rail, with many commuters facing long

Rebecca Wood has been looking the impact of storm Doris

Driving rain and gale force winds, signalling the arrival of Storm

Doris on the Staffordshire Moorlands. I am here on the A53 come

though there are winds of over 70 mph, vehicles are struggling and it

has been a difficult day for the emergency services. As the wind

strengthened, it was too much for these HGVs, one by one they toppled

over. Thankfully there were no injuries but fire crews battled

against the elements to rescue this driver. He was unable to get out

because of the vehicle being on its side. This is as bad as it gets. We

are struggling just to stay on our feet. The winds are in excess of 80

mph at the moment. Often they see the worst of the weather here but

is quite a windy time comes you get is quite a windy time comes you get

the brunt of things but this is extreme. It is just a windy day! We

are high up! It was not just the North Midlands that felt Storm

Doris's effects. With callers to BBC local radio stations charting the

storm's progress. How has it affected you? I was driving a coach,

I thought it would topple over. There is a tree down and electricity

cables are sparking over the road, approach with caution stock across

the Midlands, Doris toppled countless trees, some bringing

downstream and is an power lines with them. -- bringing down street

lamps. This the scene on the A452

near Leamington. In Hereford damage to the roof

of a new petrol station forced the closure for a time of the city's

main river bridge causing Away from the roads there were

delays for train travellers too - this the Cross City line

near Sutton Coldfield. Many bus journeys were cut short

and long queues formed at Birmingham In West Bromwich garden furniture

came blowing down the street - In Smethwick, a poplar 80 feet tall

crashed into the roof of a leisure centre,

causing extensive damage to a gymnasium - there were half

a dozen people people inside, There were many narrow escapes

across the Midlands, For the emergency services,

one of their busiest days in years as the power of Doris held sway

across the region. And you can keep up to date

with the latest travel situation tomorrow morning by listening

to your BBC local radio stations. The polls have closed

in the Stoke-on-Trent It was triggered by the resignation

of Labour MP Tristram Hunt. There are ten candidates,

with a result expected in the early Our Political Editor Patrick Burns

is in Stoke for us tonight. Patrick, has the bad weather had

an impact on the number That is the big question that we are

all waiting for the answer to, there will be more than the usual amount

of interest and the turnout when it is confirmed, we think, when it is

confirmed in an hour or so. A lot of speculation about an ultralow

turnout in a constituency where less than half turned out in the general

election in 2015. Normally it is bad news for Labour if the turnout is

low but conversely, a Tory strategists told me at the start of

the campaign that a high turnout would favour them. Ukip? Remember

the referendum turnout was significantly higher, in an area

like the Bentley housing estate, which recorded an 80% leave vote in

the referendum, that is their best hope year. It adds another

uncertainty to candidates already under pressure? Absolutely, there

could hardly be more pressure on Labour. Remember, this part of the

country has been held by Labour for more than 80 years. Ukip on the

other hand, will want to show that they can sustain momentum. If not

after the referendum, a sense of maybe Mission accomplished. Maybe

the party has had its best days and the Conservatives will hope that

they can maybe, maybe, sneak it. More likely it would not be entirely

bad news if Labour cordon and reinforce the leadership of Jeremy

Corbyn. Briefly, when do we get the result? Officially at 3am, if it is

a low turnout, more like 2am. Thank you.

And there's an election special on BBC Radio Stoke from 2 o'clock

on tomorrow morning, and there will be updates from

the count during Graham Torrington's late show on BBC local up until 2.

West Midlands Police have tonight arrested a man on suspicion

The 26-year-old was detained at Heathrow Airport after arriving

He's currently in custody in the West Midlands area.

Police say his arrest was pre-planned - and there was no

threat to the safety of the flight or airport.

A jury's been told that a firearms dealer manufactured and supplied

home-made bullets found at more than 90 crime scenes -

including fatal shootings and a gun attack on a police helicopter.

It's claimed Paul Edmunds, from Hardwicke near Gloucester,

sold antique firearms to another dealer, along with ammunition -

who passed them to a criminal gang based in the West Midlands.

He denies the charges and the trial continues.

Final approval has been given in parliament for building to begin

for the first phase of the HS2 high speed rail link between

The line is scheduled to open in December 2026.

Critics say the multi-billion pound project is a waste of money.

But, supporters believe it will boost the economy.

It is a key catalyst for the greater gender in and around the UK central

hub. Without it, I think growth opportunities are limited. It is the

world are in it has come to this after seven years, after this, we

have won every argument that politics has seen this through.

I'll leave you with the weather from Shefali.

The damage has been done that IMP is to say the strength of Storm Doris

from our Weather Watchers pictures from our Weather Watchers pictures

of the trail of damage, destruction and debris that was left in its

wake. It is what meteorologists referred to today as they weather

bomb, an exceptionally deep area of low pressure. This is a sample of

wind speeds from across the region. Leak got the brunt of the strongest

gusts. Elsewhere they ranged from 54-66 mph. Doris has gone to the

east, taking be strong winds with it. I pressure will settle things

down tomorrow, this system from the North West moves in at the start of

the weekend. On Saturday we have gusts of 50 mph, nothing like today.

Amber warning is for strong winds have been lifted, and they are

replaced by a yellow warning for ice, in Staffordshire later tonight.

Showers are across us right now which begin to die out. There is a

wintry element in some of them, near freezing in some rural areas. In the

North, there could be some ice were mostly dry with clear skies. High

pressure gets to work. They mainly dry picture tomorrow with sunshine,

temperatures ranging from seven to 9 degrees. In much lighter winds, in a

moderate north-westerly. Time for the national forecast here

is the outlook for be much milder. I will leave you

with Thomas Shelter. Good evening. It was quite a day for

some of us. We get these sort of storms every couple of years also.

Difficult to give an exact number, but it was certainly