:00:08. > :00:13.Accident and Emergency departments across our region are once again
:00:14. > :00:15.struggling to cope with growing numbers of patients.
:00:16. > :00:17.Ambulance crews are reporting long delays in getting patients
:00:18. > :00:19.into casualty departments, while in Worcestershire
:00:20. > :00:21.patients have been treated on trolleys in corridors.
:00:22. > :00:25.Health bosses in Shropshire are once again asking people not to use A
:00:26. > :00:30.Here's our Health Correspondent Michele Paduano.
:00:31. > :00:33.This was the scene in Dudley this evening, ten ambulances lined up
:00:34. > :00:44.This morning, across our region, Dudley, along with Stoke-on-Trent
:00:45. > :00:46.and Walsall, were on the highest level of alert.
:00:47. > :00:48.Yesterday, according to the Ambulance Service,
:00:49. > :00:51.there were more than 500 hours of delays as crews waited outside
:00:52. > :00:59.Doctors are warning it might not be over.
:01:00. > :01:02.Obviously, when we've had more patients in hospital who are sick
:01:03. > :01:04.and needed treatment, they often may stay in hospital
:01:05. > :01:07.So I would expect this would have an effect
:01:08. > :01:11.The situation in Worcester is now beginning to ease,
:01:12. > :01:13.but at its height earlier this week, three corridors were
:01:14. > :01:16.Yesterday, 50 patients waited more than four hours.
:01:17. > :01:19.The BBC has learned of three deaths over the past week here in Worcester
:01:20. > :01:27.A man who bled internally in the corridor and he
:01:28. > :01:30.A man who bled internally in the corridor and who
:01:31. > :01:33.An elderly woman who was terminally ill who spent 35 hours
:01:34. > :01:36.in the corridor, and a patient who hanged themselves on a ward.
:01:37. > :01:39.There is nothing to link the deaths directly with winter pressures.
:01:40. > :01:42.The trust won't comment on them but it admits it has been busy.
:01:43. > :01:45.Some people are waiting a long time and for that we're really,
:01:46. > :01:47.really sorry but it's just the intense pressure we're under.
:01:48. > :01:50.And I think it's not just us as well, there's other hospitals
:01:51. > :01:53.across the county that are equally in a difficult position.
:01:54. > :01:55.With Accident Emergency departments struggling to hope,
:01:56. > :01:57.they're hoping for a break from the weather.
:01:58. > :02:03.And it's also been announced that the Midwife-led maternity unit
:02:04. > :02:07.in Ludlow is closed tonight until 8:00am tomorrow morning due
:02:08. > :02:12.Women who've been booked in and who are expected to go
:02:13. > :02:15.into labour have been contacted and offered a home birth
:02:16. > :02:22.Two men have been jailed and one has yet to be sentenced after a major
:02:23. > :02:24.cannabis factory was found at a farm in Staffordshire.
:02:25. > :02:27.It was described as a "sophisticated and commercial" operation which had
:02:28. > :02:29.been carefully hidden behind bales of hay in a barn
:02:30. > :02:35.This is police footage of what was described
:02:36. > :02:40.in court as a sophisticated and well-established commercial
:02:41. > :02:46.Detectives say it had the potential to produce
:02:47. > :02:52.Stafford Crown Court heard how police seized plants and packages
:02:53. > :03:00.It was located here at Newchurch near Burton upon Trent.
:03:01. > :03:04.Police said the cannabis factory at this remote location had been
:03:05. > :03:09.And it's believed plans were afoot to expand
:03:10. > :03:19.Martin Young, on the right, paid ?28,000 a year to rent the farm
:03:20. > :03:24.He was jailed for three years and two months.
:03:25. > :03:27.Ian Locke, wearing a hat was jailed for two years and three months.
:03:28. > :03:30.The court heard how the former landscape gardener from Newport
:03:31. > :03:35.in Shropshire, had moved to the farm shortly before police raided.
:03:36. > :03:38.The court heard that Raymond Nicholls from Birmingham had
:03:39. > :03:41.been diagnosed with cancer and will be sentenced later.
:03:42. > :03:43.All three men admitted cultivating cannabis and possession
:03:44. > :03:50.They had growing rooms, they had nursery rooms for plants
:03:51. > :03:52.and they also had preparation rooms that were specifically
:03:53. > :03:59.The Recorder, Michael Elsom, said that although involved, Young,
:04:00. > :04:01.Locke and Nicholls were not the overall directing minds behind
:04:02. > :04:07.Another man is still wanted by police.
:04:08. > :04:15.JCB has won one of the biggest single orders in its 71-year
:04:16. > :04:25.history, a $142 million deal to supply the United States Army
:04:26. > :04:29.The Staffordshire diggermaker will produce more than 1,600 rough
:04:30. > :04:31.terrain forklifts for use around the world, including for loading
:04:32. > :04:34.and unloading aircraft and shipping containers.
:04:35. > :04:36.Warwickshire Police has agreed to pay more than ?20,000
:04:37. > :04:39.to the family of a woman who was found dead after officers
:04:40. > :04:45.The force's apologised to the family of 44-year-old Luisa Mendes,
:04:46. > :04:49.acknowledging errors were made in the handling of her call.
:04:50. > :04:51.Officers didn't attend the property until 14
:04:52. > :04:57.hours after she reported an alleged assault.
:04:58. > :05:00.More now on the tributes which have been paid to Jill Saward,
:05:01. > :05:03.the renowned campaigner for the rights of victims of sexual
:05:04. > :05:06.violence, who died today at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.
:05:07. > :05:10.The 51 year-old was the first person in the UK to waive her anonymity
:05:11. > :05:12.after she was raped during a burglary in
:05:13. > :05:20.Our reporter Audrey Dias joins me in the studio.
:05:21. > :05:23.Now, Jill and her family had lived in Staffordshire for many years.
:05:24. > :05:29.What have people been saying about her?
:05:30. > :05:35.There are tributes to her courage and the difference she made by
:05:36. > :05:39.and the way it treats victims of and the way it treats victims of
:05:40. > :05:45.sexual violence. Local Warwickshire MP, Jeremy White and also the
:05:46. > :05:48.Attorney General, said she opened the eyes of many politicians and
:05:49. > :05:53.helped make sure victims are placed at the heart of the criminal justice
:05:54. > :06:00.system. There are those who have been leaving messages on her
:06:01. > :06:06.Facebook page. She was an inspiration, fearless and kind lady.
:06:07. > :06:10.Her family have been talking about what has happened today. They have
:06:11. > :06:14.taken comfort in knowing that our wonderful wife, mother and sister
:06:15. > :06:19.was able to help other people to the very end. Thank you.
:06:20. > :06:22.A Birmingham MP has urged the Education Secretary to step
:06:23. > :06:24.in to protect the anonymity of witnesses in the
:06:25. > :06:27.Those who gave evidence about whether there was an Islamic
:06:28. > :06:30.plot to take-over some non-faith schools were told their names
:06:31. > :06:34.But the Department for Education is now considering revealing
:06:35. > :06:37.their identities to teachers facing disciplinary action so their lawyers
:06:38. > :06:44.I want the Education Secretary to get a grip of this process,
:06:45. > :06:48.Because on the one hand you've got some teachers accused
:06:49. > :06:52.They need British justice, fair, open and transparent.
:06:53. > :06:54.On the other hand, we have 50 witnesses who came
:06:55. > :07:04.forward on the proviso that they were guaranteed anonymity.
:07:05. > :07:07.Now, it's not that usual to have lambs at this time of year,
:07:08. > :07:10.as most farmers opt to lamb in the spring.
:07:11. > :07:12.But one farm in Staffordshire is looking after 11
:07:13. > :07:17.A sneaky escape by two rams in the summer has led
:07:18. > :07:25.This little one is the result of a bit of early
:07:26. > :07:31.You'd normally have to wait until spring to see newborn lambs,
:07:32. > :07:36.but at this farm in Staffordshire, 11 have come along already.
:07:37. > :07:39.We did put the tups away from the ewes, we thought,
:07:40. > :07:45.But nevertheless, they got into the ewes and it was a big
:07:46. > :07:52.surprise at the end of November when there was a lamb in the field.
:07:53. > :07:56.And this lamb that Deborah is holding now is number seven
:07:57. > :08:01.of the 11 born three days before Christmas Day, and a real cutie.
:08:02. > :08:07.Lambs are normally timed to be born when the grass is starting to grow.
:08:08. > :08:11.Fortunately, mild conditions mean there is still some grazing to be
:08:12. > :08:16.had, so the new offspring are let out for a few hours a day.
:08:17. > :08:19.It is a beautiful day, we've got a lovely frosty
:08:20. > :08:22.morning and on top of that, we've got lambs running around
:08:23. > :08:28.It's nearly six weeks since the first lamb was born.
:08:29. > :08:30.Deborah still can't get over the lengths the tups went
:08:31. > :08:37.They ran all the way from over there, all the way through that,
:08:38. > :08:39.through the fence there, through the fences there,
:08:40. > :08:42.ended up at that gate there and got to the ewes,
:08:43. > :08:46.Even though she loves the lambs, Deborah is determined
:08:47. > :08:55.Any further misplaced passion won't get the chance to be fulfilled.
:08:56. > :08:59.Bob Hockenhull, BBC Midlands Today, Staffordshire.
:09:00. > :09:01.The Black Sabbath star Tony Iommi has composed a song
:09:02. > :09:07.But the guitarist, who's acknowledged as the man
:09:08. > :09:09.who invented heavy metal, has taken a very different
:09:10. > :09:16.He's taken as his inspiration Psalm 133, which is about people living
:09:17. > :09:19.in peace and harmony, to create a five minute work
:09:20. > :09:21.for acoustic guitar and the men and boys of the cathedral choir.
:09:22. > :09:24.I've done stuff, instrumental acoustic stuff on Sabbath
:09:25. > :09:27.But to do something like this for Birmingham as well,
:09:28. > :09:30.be involved with the Dean, with the choir and the whole thing,
:09:31. > :09:39.And you can see more on this story on our Facebook page.
:09:40. > :09:42.But is it going to be as peaceful on the weather front?
:09:43. > :09:49.I'll leave you with the forecast from Rebecca, but from me, goodbye.
:09:50. > :09:57.It is nice and peaceful at the moment, but it was a chilly start
:09:58. > :10:02.today. Temperatures last night dipped down to minus seven. Tonight
:10:03. > :10:07.perhaps, a degree or two above that, although it is already minus five
:10:08. > :10:10.out there in some spots. But the change is on the way in the form of
:10:11. > :10:14.this weather system pushing in from the West. Cloud thickening up and it
:10:15. > :10:19.will affect the temperatures by the time we wake up tomorrow morning. It
:10:20. > :10:22.is very cold out there at the moment underneath the clear skies but from
:10:23. > :10:25.the West we see the cloud working its way in. By tomorrow morning, we
:10:26. > :10:31.start to see those temperatures lifting. But it is still in minus
:10:32. > :10:36.figures, so a chilly start to the day tomorrow. It will be bright,
:10:37. > :10:41.bright further south and east and the cloud starts to come in and the
:10:42. > :10:45.rain arrives. The rain will be heavy at times, pepping up across the
:10:46. > :10:49.Midlands at times, temperatures between four and six Celsius. Usable
:10:50. > :10:52.weather across the weekend, although temperatures on paper will be
:10:53. > :10:57.higher, but with the grey weather about it will not feel too pleasant.
:10:58. > :11:00.More information in the National forecast the I will leave you with
:11:01. > :11:01.the outlook for the next few days. Good night.
:11:02. > :11:03.creeping up by a notch or two, 10, maybe nine Celsius. Here is Louise
:11:04. > :11:04.with