:00:00. > 3:59:59more throughout the evening on the BBC News channel. We are back with
:00:00. > :00:16.the late news Good evening. Stratford`upon`Avon is
:00:17. > :00:19.gearing up for a major tourhsm boost as they celebrate the 450th
:00:20. > :00:25.anniversary of the birth of their most famous son, William
:00:26. > :00:28.Shakespeare. The tourist industry is worth hundreds of millions of pounds
:00:29. > :00:31.to the town and to make surd everything goes smoothly thdy're
:00:32. > :00:37.asking residents to get involved. Ben Sidwell reports. If you can go
:00:38. > :00:41.down to the clock... Lending a hand to help tourists get most ott of
:00:42. > :00:44.their visit to Stratford upon Avon. But with tens of thousands dxpected
:00:45. > :00:47.for Shakespeare's 450th Birthday celebrations, the town is c`lling on
:00:48. > :00:53.residents to become voluntedr Play Makers. We are seeking volunteer
:00:54. > :00:57.Ambassador or is that can boost the service to group select your
:00:58. > :01:03.visitors and they will be ddployed at key points that we cannot
:01:04. > :01:07.currently resource. Between ten and 20 Play Makers are needed. @ll will
:01:08. > :01:09.be trained up in time for the celebration weekend and alrdady a
:01:10. > :01:15.few volunteers have come forward, including the town's former ferry
:01:16. > :01:20.man. Yes, this is what I want to do. That was really how I thought of it.
:01:21. > :01:28.Because I think I may be quhte good at it, but I don't know. Evdry year,
:01:29. > :01:32.almost 5 million people comd to this area to visit the attractions of
:01:33. > :01:39.Shakespeare, bringing ?335 lillion to the economy. 198 jobs here relies
:01:40. > :01:44.on tourism. College students in the town are keen to take to thd
:01:45. > :01:48.streets. It is a good idea that local people should be involved with
:01:49. > :01:54.the celebrations. It is helping to show Shakespeare and Stratford to
:01:55. > :01:57.everybody else. Although thdy'll only be used initially for this one
:01:58. > :02:01.event, the hope is the Play Makers could soon become a regular sight on
:02:02. > :02:05.the streets of the Bard's home town. A man's in a critical condition in
:02:06. > :02:13.hospital after being attackdd in the street in Stoke. It happened in the
:02:14. > :02:16.early hours of this morning in Brownlee Road in the Smallthorne
:02:17. > :02:19.area. Police say the victim was badly beaten and is being c`red for
:02:20. > :02:22.at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. They're appe`ling for
:02:23. > :02:25.anyone with information to call them on 101. A prison worker has been
:02:26. > :02:29.sacked and others disciplindd over the escape of a convicted drug
:02:30. > :02:33.dealer. John Anslow, who's 33 and from Tipton in the Black Cotntry,
:02:34. > :02:36.was on his way to court when he was freed by a masked gang near HMP
:02:37. > :02:40.Hewell in January 2012. He was arrested in Cyprus two months later
:02:41. > :02:42.and sentenced to seven years for escaping custody. He was already
:02:43. > :02:45.serving 22 years for drugs offences.The Prison Service says the
:02:46. > :02:50.disciplinary action was takdn against a number of staff. Let's
:02:51. > :02:53.move onto today's football, starting with the Barclays Premier Ldague,
:02:54. > :02:57.and Aston Villa ended up with a 2`1 defeat there against Fulham. West
:02:58. > :03:04.Brom put a troubled week behind them with a 1`0 win at Norwich. Stoke
:03:05. > :03:07.City are at Chelsea, and ard losing 2`0. In the Championship, Bhrmingham
:03:08. > :03:12.City beat Doncaster away ` 3`1, easing their relegation fears. In
:03:13. > :03:15.League One, a loss for Coventry ` 2`1 against Milton Keynes Dons. Port
:03:16. > :03:18.Vale beat Walsall, 1`0. Shrdwsbury beat Stevenage 1`0. And a 2`0 win
:03:19. > :03:24.there for Wolves who were entertaining Peterborough. Onto
:03:25. > :03:30.League Two: Burton Albion bdat Plymouth 1`0. Cheltenham lost 2`1 to
:03:31. > :03:32.Southend. And in the Skrill Premier League, Tamworth lost 5`0 at
:03:33. > :03:36.Gateshead. Hereford ` still trying to pay their tax bill ` lost 2` to
:03:37. > :03:38.Woking. Kidderminster lost 0`0 to Grimsby. And Nuneaton lost 0`0 to FC
:03:39. > :03:46.Halifax. Let's take a look at the Midlands
:03:47. > :03:52.weather, with Mel Coles. Good evening. The rain has been hit and
:03:53. > :03:59.miss, but we will see furthdr showers as we go on then to delight
:04:00. > :04:04.us back as we go on into tonight. Temperatures will remain in double
:04:05. > :04:07.figures, but low temperaturds of around 11 Celsis. Tomorrow, we will
:04:08. > :04:13.see further outbreaks of rahn. It will be breezy but temperattres not
:04:14. > :04:16.doing too badly. The rain starts off with showers, but becomes more
:04:17. > :04:20.persistent in the middle part of the day, and we could see some loderate
:04:21. > :04:26.downpours. We might catch some late evening sunshine. Temperatures not
:04:27. > :04:31.doing too badly, it will be breezy and remaining unsettled for the
:04:32. > :04:34.start of the league. Finallx, congratulations to Dr Richard
:04:35. > :04:38.Newland, who trained the horse that won today's Grand National. The
:04:39. > :04:40.former GP trains just 12 horses at a small stables in Claines in
:04:41. > :04:45.Worcestershire. Pineau de Rd, who wasn't one of the favourites, was
:04:46. > :04:49.ridden by jockey Leighton Aspall. That's it. Sunday Politics will be
:04:50. > :04:52.talking about 'zero`hour' contracts as 150,000 people in the West
:04:53. > :04:53.Midlands region struggle to find full`time jobs.
:04:54. > :04:57.That's tomorrow morning at 01am Midlands Today is back tomorrow
:04:58. > :05:16.evening at 6:50pm. For now, bye`bye. Good evening. We may have got to 18
:05:17. > :05:20.Celsius today in parts of East Anglia but it was the bright spot in
:05:21. > :05:23.an otherwise cloudy day and it is the cloud that will dominate
:05:24. > :05:26.tonight, bringing splashes of rain and dryer moments as well
:05:27. > :05:29.particularly in the north-east of Scotland but heavy bursts can't be
:05:30. > :05:34.ruled out in the West, where it will be misty and murky and breezy later
:05:35. > :05:37.in the night. The breeze is south to south-westerly and temperatures in
:05:38. > :05:42.the morning higher than they should be in the afternoon this time of
:05:43. > :05:47.year. Sunday, whilst milder, is going to be breezy and a bit matter
:05:48. > :05:52.for many of you. Again, not -- no one is immune from the wet weather.
:05:53. > :05:54.We could start with splashes of rain down eastern areas but there will be
:05:55. > :05:55.dryer moments.